The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Bizarre B-17 Collision over the North Sea - August 28th, 2004

see educational sources

[snippy_about_it]

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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Bizarre B-17 Collision Over the North Sea



WWII

When a pair of B-17s collided in midair and became interlocked, the surviving crewmen experienced the ride of their lives.
By Teresa K. Flatley

At dawn on December 31, 1944, while the Battle of the Bulge raged, two young airmen took off from Thorpe Abbotts, England, and flew their Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress in formation with hundreds of others in what was to be a "maximum effort" over Germany by every available flier. That New Year's Eve would soon require the maximum effort these two men could muster to stay alive in what has to be considered one of the most unlikely incidents in aerial history.

It was the 22nd mission for 1st Lt. Glenn H. Rojohn, a native of Greenock, Pa., the pilot of B-17 No. 42-231987, and 2nd Lt. William G. Leek, Jr., from Washington state, his co-pilot. Both men had been scheduled for leave after flying several missions in a row. But their plans were interrupted at 4 a.m. that day when they were awakened for the so-called maximum effort, which meant, as Rojohn later explained, "Everyone flies." Thirty-seven heavy bombers took off with the 100th Bomb Group that day. Only 25 planes returned to England.


Thorpe Abbotts

Following breakfast and briefing at the base, home to members of the 100th Bomb Group from June 1943 to December 1945, Rojohn and Leek learned that their target would be Hamburg, a port city with numerous oil refineries and submarine pens. Second Lieutenant Robert Washington, the ship's navigator, recalled the start of that, his 27th, mission: "Takeoff on the morning of December 31, 1944, was delayed because of fog, and when we assembled the group and departed the coast of England, we learned that the fighter escort had been delayed due to the weather."

It took "almost as much time to rendezvous to go on a mission as it did to complete a mission," Rojohn recalled, "because the weather in England was always bad, and we had to circle around and around until we broke out above the overcast. Our squadrons [Rojohn flew in C Squadron] then formed, and we met other groups until we got into a long line of traffic heading toward Germany.



This particular day we flew over the North Sea to a point south of Denmark and then turned southwest down the Elbe River to Hamburg. We were somewhere in the neighborhood of 25,000 feet [altitude]. At that time I don't think much was known about the jet stream, but we had a tail wind of about 200 nautical miles an hour. We got into the target pretty quick. Over the target, we had just about everything but the kitchen sink thrown at us."

Leek's recollections of the Hamburg mission were equally vivid: "The target and the sky over it were black from miles away. The flak was brutal. We flew through flak clouds and aircraft parts for what seemed like an hour."

While Rojohn does not like to criticize his commanding officers, he thinks a mistake was made that day. "Instead of hitting the target and angling out over Germany still on a southwesterly direction and then out over Belgium, they turned us at 180 degrees back toward the North Sea," Rojohn said. "So an 80-knot tailwind became an 80-knot headwind. We were probably making about 50 or 60 mph on the ground."

"When we finally got clear of the coastal flak batteries," recalled Washington, "we turned west and skirted the flak area by flying between Heligoland and Wilhelmshaven. The flak was heavy as we crossed the coastline. I'm not certain whether we headed northwest between Bremerhaven and Kuxhaven, or due west over the little town of Aurich and across the coastline near Norden."



Over the North Sea, Rojohn remembered, they were flying at 22,000 feet when they "encountered wave after wave of German fighters. We just barely got out over the North Sea, and the sky was rumbling around us with exploding flak and German [Messerschmitt] Me-109 fighter planes so close I could see the faces of the young German pilots as they went by. They were just having a field day with our formation. We lost plane after plane."

According to an account written by Tech. Sgt. Orville E. Elkin, Rojohn's top turret gunner and engineer: "The fighters came from every direction, 12 o'clock, 6 o'clock, from the bottom and from the top. Your body becomes cold and numb from fright as you realize that only one-sixteenth of an inch of aluminum stands between you and this battery of firepower." Ten planes were quickly lost.

Leek had been at the controls when the crew came off the bomb run. He and Rojohn alternated the controls each half hour. "On this mission," Leek recalled, "the lead plane was off Glenn's wing, so he flew the bomb run. I should have kept the controls for at least my half-hour, but once the attack began, our formation tightened up and we started bouncing up and down. Our lead plane kept going out of sight for me. I may have been overcorrecting, but the planes all seemed to bounce at different times. I asked Glenn to take it, and he did."



Rojohn maneuvered to take a position to fill the void created when a B-17 (No. 43-338436) piloted by 2nd Lt. Charles C. Webster went down in flames and exploded on the ground. "I was going into that void when we had a tremendous impact," Rojohn recalled. Feeling the bomber shudder, the men immediately thought their plane had collided with another aircraft. It had, but in a way that may never have happened before or since.

Another B-17 (No. 43-338457), piloted by 1st Lt. William G. MacNab and 2nd Lt. Nelson B. Vaughn, had risen upward. The top turret guns on MacNab's plane had pierced through the aluminum skin on the bottom of Rojohn's plane, binding the two huge planes together, as Leek said, like "breeding dragonflies." The two planes had become one.

Whether MacNab and Vaughn lost control of their plane because they were seriously injured or the planes collided because both Rojohn and MacNab were moving in to close the open space in the formation is uncertain. Both MacNab and Vaughn were fatally injured that day and were never able to tell their own story.


The 350th's Glenn H. Rojohn Crew

Staff Sergeant Edward L. Woodall, Jr., MacNab's ball-turret gunner, remembered that when a crew check was called just prior to the midair collision, everyone had reported in. "At the time of the impact," Woodall said, "we lost all power and intercom on our aircraft. I knew we were in trouble from the violent shaking of the aircraft, no power to operate the turret, loss of intercom, and seeing falling pieces of metal. My turret was stalled with the guns up at about 9 o'clock. This is where countless time drills covering emergency escape procedures from the turret paid off, as I automatically reached for the hand crank, disengaged the clutch and proceeded to crank the turret and guns to the down position so I could open the door and climb into the waist of the airplane. I could see that another aircraft was locked onto our aircraft and his ball turret jammed down inside our aircraft."

In the 1946 book The Story of the Century, John R. Nilsson reported that E.A. Porter, a pilot from Payton, Miss., who witnessed the midair collision, had sounded the warning over the radio: "'F for Fox, F for Fox, get it down!' -- however MacNab, whose radio was dead, did not hear. Not to see the collision which seemed inevitable, Porter turned his head, while two of his gunners, Don Houk of Appleton City, Missouri, and Clarence Griffin of Harrisburg, Illinois, watched aghast, as MacNab and Rojohn settled together 'as if they were lifted in place by a huge crane,' and many of the 100th's anguished fliers saw the two Fortresses cling -- Rojohn's, on top, riding pick-a-back on MacNab's, how held together being a mystery. A fire started on MacNab's ship, on which three propellers still whirled, and the two bombers squirmed, wheeled in the air, trying to break the death-lock."

Washington opened the escape hatch and "saw the B-17 hanging there with three engines churning and one feathered. Rojohn and Leek banked to the left and headed south toward land."



"Glenn's outboard prop bent into the nacelle of the lower plane's engine," recalled Leek. "Glenn gunned our engines two or three times to try to fly us off. It didn't work, but it was a good try. The outboard left engine was burning on the plane below. We feathered our propellers to keep down the fire and rang the bail-out bell."

"Our engines were still running and so were three on the bottom ship," Rojohn said. When he realized he could not detach his plane, Rojohn turned his engines off to try to avoid an explosion. He told Elkin and Tech. Sgt. Edward G. Neuhaus, the radio operator, to bail out of the tail, the only escape route left because all other hatches were blocked.

"The two planes would drop into a dive unless we pulled back on the controls all the time," wrote Leek. "Glenn pointed left and we turned the mess toward land. I felt Elkin touch my shoulder and waved him back through the bomb bay. We got over land and [bombardier Sergeant James R.] Shirley came up from below. I signalled to him to follow Elkin. Finally Bob Washington came up from the nose. He was just hanging on between our seats. Glenn waved him back with the others. We were dropping fast."

As he crawled up into the pilot's compartment before bailing out, Washington remembered, "I saw the two of them [Rojohn and Leek] holding the wheels against their stomachs and their feet propped against the instrument panel. They feathered our engines to avoid fire, I think. [Shirley] and I went on through the bomb bay and out the waist door, careful to drop straight down in order to miss the tail section of the other plane which was a little to the right of our tail." Because of Rojohn's and Leek's physical effort, Shirley, Elkin, Washington, Staff Sgt. Roy H. Little (the waist gunner), Staff Sgt. Francis R. Chase (the replacement tail gunner), and Neuhaus were able to reach the rear of the plane and bail out. "I could hear Russo [Staff Sgt. Joseph Russo, Rojohn's ball-turret gunner] saying his Hail Marys over the intercom," Leek said. "I could not help him, and I felt that I was somehow invading his right to be alone. I pulled off my helmet and noticed that we were at 15,000 feet. This was the hardest part of the ride for me."



Before they jumped, Little, Neuhaus and Elkin took the hand crank for the ball turret and tried to crank it up to free Russo. "It would not move," Elkin wrote. "There was no means of escape for this brave man."

"Awhile later," recalled Leek, "we were shot at by guns that made a round white puff like big dandelion seeds ready to be blown away. By now the fire was pouring over our left wing, and I wondered just what those German gunners thought we were up to and where we were going! Before long, .50-caliber shells began to blow at random in the plane below. I don't know if the last flak had started more or if the fire had spread, but it was hot down there!" As senior officer, Rojohn ordered Leek to join the crew members and jump, but his co-pilot refused. Leek knew Rojohn would not be able to maintain physical control of the two planes by himself and was certain the planes would be thrown into a death spiral before Rojohn could make it to the rear of the plane and escape. "I knew one man left in the wreck could not have survived, so I stayed to go along for the ride," Leek said.

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[snippy_about_it]

Ground Impact



And what a ride it was. "The only control we actually had was to keep [the planes] level," said Rojohn. "We were falling like a rock." The ground seemed to be reaching up to meet them.

Washington recalled that, from his vantage point while parachuting, "I watched the two planes fly on into the ground, probably two or three miles away, and saw no more chutes. Shirley was coming down behind me. When the planes hit, I saw them burst into flames and the black smoke erupting."

At one point, Leek said, he tried to beat his way out through the window with a Very pistol: "Just panic, I guess. The ground came up faster and faster. Praying was allowed. We gave it one last effort and slammed into the ground." As they crashed in Germany at Tettens, near Wilhelmshaven, shortly before 1 p.m., Rojohn's plane slid off the bottom plane, which immediately exploded. Alternately lifting up and slamming back into the ground, the remaining B-17 careened ahead, finally coming to rest only after the left wing sliced through a wooden headquarters building, as Rojohn recalled, "blowing that building to smithereens." Russo is believed to have been killed when the planes landed.

Crawling Through The Wreckage

"When my adrenalin began to lower, I looked around," Leek said. "Glenn was OK and I was OK, and a convenient hole was available for a fast exit. It was a break just behind the cockpit. I crawled out onto the left wing to wait for Glenn. I pulled out a cigarette and was about to light it when a young German soldier with a rifle came slowly up to the wing, making me keep my hands up. He grabbed the cigarette out of my mouth and pointed down. The wing was covered with gasoline."

Rojohn and Leek sustained only slight injuries from the crash, which shocked even the two pilots when they took a look at the wreckage of their B-17. "All that was left of the Flying Fortress was the nose, the cockpit, and the seats we were sitting on," Rojohn later recalled.

Following their capture, Rojohn said, he and Leek were forced to undress "so they could search us for weapons, which we had thrown out on the way down. They put us into a truck and drove through the countryside to pick up the survivors. The Germans then put us all into an old schoolhouse where we were finally able to talk with each other."

A Devastating New Weapon?



Even though their lives were now in the hands of the Germans, the Americans were able to find a little humor in the situation. "Our captors didn't know what to do with us because we were in a part of Germany where they didn't take many captives," Rojohn said. "They put us in a dark, damp building way out in nowhere. All of a sudden the door opened up and everybody popped to attention. A German captain came in and barked something to his men. I didn't understand what he had said, but Berkowitz [2nd Lt. Jack Berkowitz, MacNab's navigator] heard the same words and fainted dead away. The next day they brought us back to the schoolhouse. Berkowitz, the only one of us who could understand German, told us the German captain had said, 'If they make a move, shoot 'em.' That was too much for him and he fainted."

Watching the planes fall piggyback to earth, German soldiers on the island of Wangerooge could not believe what they were seeing -- "crazy Americans flying with eight motors." In fact, the Germans were so concerned that the Americans had developed a devastating new weapon that Berkowitz was shipped to an interrogation center in Frankfurt, Germany, and put into solitary confinement. After questioning him for two weeks, his interrogators gave up on the idea of a new American aircraft threat, and Berkowitz was transferred to a prison camp near the North Sea.

Seventeen-year-old Rudolf Skawran, who was shooting at the American bomber formations from Wangerooge, said his fellow soldiers were ordered by flak commander Captain Dinkelacker to leave the connected planes alone. Dinkelacker wrote in his log book at 12:47 p.m. that day, "Two Fortresses collided in a formation in the NE. The planes flew hooked together and flew twenty miles south. The two planes were unable to fight anymore. The crash could be awaited so I stopped the firing at these two planes." There was no way for Rojohn, Leek or the crew members to know that the Germans on the ground had ceased firing at them.

Civilians on Wangerooge stood and watched with amazement as the two planes flew over them. The youngest spectators ran to Rojohn's plane and removed what they could get away with quickly -- a machine gun and ammunition, some rations and chewing gum.

Captured Survivors

Little and Chase did not survive their jumps from the plane. Technical Sergeant Herman G. Horenkamp, Rojohn's friend and the tail gunner for all of his 21 previous missions, had not reported for the mission that day because he had frostbite from the mission the previous day. Chase, who Rojohn and Leek had never seen before and never did meet face to face, was Horenkamp's replacement that fateful day.

All of the survivors from the B-17 piloted by Rojohn were captured by the Germans almost immediately, as were four other men who bailed out of MacNab's plane -- 2nd Lt. Raymond E. Comer, Jr., Tech. Sgt. Joseph A. Chadwick, Berkowitz and Woodall.

Woodall told Rojohn years later that he was grateful to him and Leek because they carried him for several miles when broken bones sustained in his parachute landing kept him from walking after his capture. Rojohn has no recollection of that.


Rojohn receives the Air Medal from Colonel Thomas S. Jeffrey, commander of the "Bloody Hundredth." (Courtesy of Glenn H. Rojohn)

Reunion And Gratitude

After the war, like thousands of other soldiers, Glenn Rojohn came back home to marry and raise a family. He eventually went to work with his brother Leonard in their father's air conditioning and plumbing business in McKeesport, Pa. Rojohn, who received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart, said he owes his life to Leek: "In all fairness to my co-pilot, he's the reason I'm alive today. He refused my order to bail out and said 'I'm staying with you.' One of us could have gotten out of that plane. He's the reason I'm here today."

Rojohn searched for 40 years through Social Security and veterans records to find his co-pilot, Leek, but was unsuccessful until 1986, when he was given a telephone number in the state of Washington. Rojohn called the number and reached Leek's mother, who asked him if he wanted to talk to Bill, who was visiting from California at the time. The two pilots were reunited for one week in 1987 at a 100th Bomb Group reunion in Long Beach, Calif. Leek died the following year.



But Robert Washington, the navigator that day over the North Sea, still remembers the pilots' remarkably cool handling of the bizarre situation. "Glenn said that he doesn't consider himself a hero; but I do!" said Washington. "I will never forget his calm, matter-of-fact response as I paused at the flight deck on my way out through the bomb bay and waist door. He may have said, 'Get on out, Wash,' or merely motioned with his head, but I knew he and Bill Leek had made their decision and several of us who jumped over land probably owe our lives to their courage."

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Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

www.thehistorynet.com/wwii/blb17collision/index.html

[snippy_about_it]

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!



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[snippy_about_it]

John Kerry told the world we were war criminals who raped, tortured and murdered in Vietnam. Now, thirty-three years later, we will tell America the truth.

Join us at the rally we call:

What: A peaceful remembrance of those with whom we served in Vietnam - those who lived and those who died.
We will tell the story of their virtues and how that contrasts with the lies told by John Kerry.

When: Sunday, Sept. 12, 2004 @ 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM EDT

Where: The West Front of the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, DC

All Vietnam veterans and their families and supporters are asked to attend. Other veterans are invited as honored guests. This will be a peaceful event--no shouting or contact with others with different opinions. We fought for their rights then, and we respect their rights now. This is NOT a Republican or a pro-Bush rally. Democrats, Republicans and independents alike are warmly invited.

Our gathering is to remember those with whom we served, thereby giving the lie to John Kerry's smear against a generation of fine young men. B.G. "Jug" Burkett, author of "Stolen Valor," will be one of our speakers. Jug has debunked countless impostors who falsely claimed to be Vietnam veterans or who falsely claimed awards for heroism. Jug recommends that we refrain from dragging fatigues out of mothballs. Dress like America, like you do every day. Dress code: business casual, nice slacks, and shirt and shoes. No uniform remnants, please. Unit hats OK.

Selected members will wear badges identifying them as authorized to speak to the media about our event. Others who speak to the media will speak only for themselves.

The program will be controlled in an attempt to stay on-message. Speakers are encouraged not to engage in speculative criticism of John Kerry but (1) to stick to known and undisputed facts about John Kerry’s lies while (2) reminding America of the true honor and courage of our brothers in battle in Vietnam.

Send this announcement to 10 or more of your brothers! Bring them by car, bus, train or plane! Make this event one of pride in America, an event you would be proud to have your mother or your children attend.

Contact: kerrylied.com

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Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

Thanks to quietolong for providing this link.

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



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

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

[SAMWolf]

Watching the planes fall piggyback to earth, German soldiers on the island of Wangerooge could not believe what they were seeing -- "crazy Americans flying with eight motors." In fact, the Germans were so concerned that the Americans had developed a devastating new weapon that Berkowitz was shipped to an interrogation center in Frankfurt, Germany, and put into solitary confinement.

Veeeery interesting, but stupid!

[SAMWolf]

Interesting thread today, Snippy.

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks. I like the part about the cigarette. The whole story is amazing.

[GeronL]

wow, what a story.

Hey, that first pic shows an Me-262 doesn't it?? The story didn't mention those.

[SAMWolf]

"I knew one man left in the wreck could not have survived, so I stayed to go along for the ride," Leek said.

That's the way a real hero talks and acts.

[snippy_about_it]

No mention of the 262's. Just a neat painting of the 100th BG.

[snippy_about_it]

That's the way a real hero talks and acts.

So true! Good night Sam.

[quietolong]

Friends and Family to Honor a Fallen Soldier Menomonie WI
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1201542/posts

[SAMWolf]

Good night Snippy.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the ping, quietolong

[E.G.C.]

Morning Snippy and Foxhole.

[GailA]

Good morning

[ken5050]

Good morning...great thread as always...but, the headline needs a "leeeettle" work..I didn't know the USAF was still flying B-17 on patrol..(g)

[tomball]

Good Morning, Foxhole -- What a story!

[The Mayor]

August 28, 2004

A Time To Cry

Read: John 11:1-7,32-36

Jesus wept. —John 11:35

Bible In One Year: Psalms 123-125; 1 Corinthians 10:1-18

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My father (Richard De Haan) had been battling a debilitating disease for many years. We asked the Lord to take him home. But as I knelt by his bed and watched him take that last breath, the tears I had choked back on other occasions came out like a flood. As my brothers and my mother hugged and prayed, the finality was overwhelming.

That event helped me understand the significance of the shortest verse in the Bible: "Jesus wept" (John 11:35). God the Son wept! He knew the reality of heaven. He was the source of all hope of a future day of resurrection. And yet, Jesus cried. He loved His friends Mary and Martha and Lazarus so much that "He groaned in the spirit and was troubled" (v.33). Jesus truly felt their heartache.

When someone we love dies, we struggle with a wide range of emotions. If a young person dies, we ask "Why?" When death comes after long-term suffering, we struggle to understand why the Lord waited so long to bring relief. We begin to think of God as distant, untouched by our sorrow. We may question His wisdom or His goodness. Then we read, "Jesus wept." God is deeply touched by our anguish.

When a painful situation invades your life, remember the Bible's shortest verse. Jesus shed tears too. —Kurt De Haan

One year ago today, Kurt De Haan,
managing editor of Our Daily Bread for 13 years,
was reunited with his father when God called him Home.
(March 29, 1953-August 28, 2003)

If you doubt that Jesus cares, remember His tears.

[alfa6]

Dang near underwater Bump for a great Foxhole Story

Had a wee bit of rain last night, some parts of the KC area recieved up to 8" inches of rain. Myself, I poured 5"+ out of my rain gauge. and all this in under 4 hours. Well we have a dry forecast for the next week or so, sure hope the weather guessers are right.

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Chieftain]

I just received this photo from a new FReeper disabled vet in West Virgina. He asked me to post it.

He is fighting with all his power to keep the Mountaineer State in Bush's column!

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on August 28:
0865 Rhazes [Abu Bakr Mohammed ibn Zakar˜ja al-Razi], Persian physician
1749 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Frankfurt, social philosopher (Faust)
1774 Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton 1st American Catholic saint
1828 Leo Tolstoi Russian writer (War & Peace, Anna Karenina)
1828 William Alexander Hammond Brig General (Union Army), died in 1900
1831 Lucy Ware Webb Hayes 1st lady
1878 George Hoyt Whipple US, astrophysicist (Nobel-1934)
1889 Charles Boyer France, actor (Algiers, Fanny, Barefoot in the Park)
1905 Sam Levene actor (Demon, Gung Ho)
1908 Roger Tory Peterson NY, ornithologist/writer (How to Know Birds)
1916 C Wright Mills sociologist, writer (The Power Elite)
1921 Nancy Kulp Penn, actress (Miss Hathaway Beverly Hillbillies)
1924 Peggy Ryan Long Beach Calif, actress (Jenny-Hawaii Five-0)
1930 Ben Gazzara NYC, actor (Run for Your Life, QB VII)
1943 David Soul Chicago, actor (Starsky & Hutch, Here Comes the Bride)
1943 Lou Pinella Yankee manager (1969 AL rookie of the year)
1946 Bob Beamon US, long jumper (Olympic-gold-1968)
1950 Ron Guidry Yankee pitcher (Cy Young 1978)
1951 Wayne Osmond Ogden Utah, singer (Osmond Brothers, Donnie & Marie)
1957 Daniel Stern Stamford Ct, actor (City Slickers, Wonder Years)
1958 Scott Hamilton Toledo, figure skating champion (Olympic-gold-1984)
1960 Leroy Chiao Milwaukee Wisc, astronaut
1968 Scarlet Annette Morgan Pfafftown NC, Miss NC-America-1991
1969 Jason Priestley Vancouver BC, actor (Brandon-Beverly Hills 90210)
1971 Janet Evans US swimmer (Olympics-1992)

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Deaths which occurred on August 28:
0030 John the Baptist is Beheaded by order of King Herod
0388 Magnus Maximus, Spanish West Roman Emperor (383-88), executed
1481 Afonso V King of Portugal, dies
1654 Axel Gustafson Oxenstierna Swedish earl/chancellor/regent, dies at 71
1798 James Wilson Scot/US judge/signer (Decl of Ind), dies at 55
1818 Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable trader, founder of Chicago, dies
1919 Louis Botha South African Boer leader, dies
1955 Emmett Till kidnapped & lynched at 14, in Money Mississippi
1961 Thomas Connolly 1st baseball umpire elected to hall of fame, dies
1964 Gracie Allen Mrs George Burns/comedian (Burns & Allen), dies at 62
1967 Charles Darrow, US inventor of Monopoly, dies
1967 Paul Muni (Muni Weisenfreund) actor, dies at 71
1968 Nick Castle choreographer (Dinah Shore, Judy Garland), dies at 58
1971 Margaret Bourke-White, US photographer, dies at 67
1971 Nathan Leopold, US kidnapper/murderer of Bobby Franks (1924)
1978 Bruce Catton, US historian/writer (Civil War), dies at 78
1985 Ruth Gordon actress, dies at 88 suffering a stroke in her sleep
1987 John Huston US/Irish actor/director (Maltese Falcon), dies at 81

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1962 SIMPSON ROBERT LEWIS PANAMA
1965 SCHIERMAN WESLEY D. ST. JOHN WA.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV INJURED, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 BABULA ROBERT L. INDIANA PA.
1966 BODENSCHATZ JOHN E. LOS ANGELES CA.
1966 BORTON ROBERT C. JR. BENTON HARBOR MI.
[FAMILY REJECTS ID REMAINS IDENTIFIED 29 MAR 95]
1966 CARTER DENNIS R. LOMITA CA.
1967 DEGNAN JERRY L.
1967 WALLACE CHARLES FRANKLIN ELLISVILLE MS.
1968 MILLER ROBERT CHARLES HAYWARD CA.
1968 PHILLIPS ELBERT AUSTIN HUNTSVILLE AL.

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

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On this day...
1521 Turkish sultan Suleiman I's troops occupy Belgrade
1565 Oldest city in the US, St Augustine Fla, established
1609 Delaware Bay explored by Henry Hudson for the Netherlands
1655 New Amsterdam & Peter Stuyvesant bars Jews from military service
1776 Battle of Long Island
1789 Sir William Herschel discovers Saturn's moon Enceladus
1850 The opera "Lohengrin" is produced (Weimar)
1861 Battle of Fort Hatteras NC
1862 Battle of Thoroughfare Gap VA
1862 Belle Boyd (Confederate spy) released from Old Capital Prison in Washington, DC
1864 Democratic National Convention nominated General George B. McClellan
1867 US occupies Midway Islands in the Pacific
1878 Zulu King, King Cetshwayo, captured by the British
1884 1st known photograph of a tornado is made near Howard SD
1884 Mickey Welsh strikes-out 1st 9 men he faces
1907 United Parcel Service begins service, in Seattle
1914 3rd day of battle at Tannenberg: violent German/Russian battle
1916 Italy declares war against Germany during WW I
1917 10 suffragists arrested as they picket the White House
1922 WEAF in NYC airs 1st radio coml (Queensboro Realty-$100 for 10 mins)
1938 Northwestern U awards honorary degree to dummy Charlie McCarthy
1942 Gunther Hagg (Sweden) sets world record for 3,000m (8:01.2)
1949 Riot prevents Paul Robeson from singing near Peekskill NY
1955 1st NFL preseason sudden death football, Rams beats Giants 23-17
1957 Sen Thurmond begins 24-hr filibuster against civil rights bill
1960 White Sox Ted Kluzewski's 3-run HR is disallowed as ump called time
1962 Dr Geza DeKaplany tortures wife with acid
1963 Evergreen Point Floating Bridge connecting Seattle & Bellevue opens
1963 Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream speech" at Lincoln Memorial
1964 Race riot in Philadelphia
1968 Police & anti-war demonstrators clash at Chicago's Dem Natl Conven
1970 Phillies Larry Bowa steals home for 2nd time in 1970
1973 6.8 quake centered in Oaxaca State in Mexico kills 527
1974 Soyuz 15 returns to Earth
1977 NY Yankee Ron Guidry faces just 28 men & beats Texas Rangers 1-0
1978 Donald Vesco rode 21'-long Kawasaki motorcycle at 318.598 mph
1981 John Hinckley Jr pleads innocent in attempt to kill Pres Reagan
1981 Sebastian Coe of UK sets 1-mi record of 3:47.33 (since broken)
1981 National Centers for Disease Control announces high incidence of Pneumocystis & Kaposi's sarcoma in gay men
1983 Israeli PM Menachem Begin announces resignation
1983 Joseph Kreckman sets record of 2,215 clay pigeons shot in an hour
1986 US Navy officer Jerry A Whitworth sentenced to 365 years for spying
1988 70 killed in crash of 3 Italian AF fighters at air show in Germany
1990 Iraq declares Kuwait its 19th province
1992 Rep. Nicholas Mavroules, D-Mass., pleaded innocent to federal charges of racketeering, tax evasion and accepting bribes.
1994 1st Japanese gay pride parade
2002 Four men, three of them working at the airport, were indicted in Detroit as suspected terrorists. Another man, suspected of trying to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon, was indicted in Seattle, Wash.

---

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

England, Channel Is, Northern Ireland, Wales : Bank Holiday
( Monday )
Hong Kong : Festival of Hungry Ghosts
Jordon : Arab Renaissance Day
Mauritius : Ganesh Chatturthi
Hong Kong : Liberation Day (1945) ( Monday )
National Religious Software Week Ends
Romance Awareness Month

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Religious Observances
Luth, RC : Memorial of St Augustine of Hippo, bishop/doctor
RC Hermes, Roman martyr
RC Julianus, martyr

---

Religious History
0430 Death of St. Augustine of Hippo, 76, the great early Latin Church Father and one of the outstanding theological figures of the ages. It was St. Augustine who wrote: 'Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in thee.'
1413 St. Andrew's University, in Scotland, was chartered by a papal decree from Gregory XII.
1645 In Poland, King Vladislav IV convened the Conference of Thorn. Through it he sought to bring reunion among the 26 Catholic, 28 Lutheran and 24 Calvinist theologians in attendance. Discussions continued through November, but no satisfying theological fusion was achieved.
1840 Birth of Ira D. Sankey, Dwight Moody's song evangelist. During their revival crusades (from 1870), Sankey penned many hymn tunes; among the most enduring today are HIDING IN THEE ("O Safe to the Rock That is Higher Than I") and SANKEY ("Faith is the Victory").
1953 Campus Crusade for Christ was incorporated in Los Angeles by founder Bill Bright. Today, CCC is an evangelical organization training Christian leaders in over 90 countries around the world.

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

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Thought for the day :
"To be clever enough to get all the money, one must be stupid enough to want it."

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Translating Southern United States Slang to English...
MUNTS - noun. A calendar division.
Usage: "My brother from Jawjuh bard my pickup truck, and I aint herd from him in munts."

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Top 10 Difference Between Cats & Dogs...
1. Dogs will give you unconditional love forever. Cats will make you pay for every mistake you've ever made since the day you were born.

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Politically Correct Terms for Females...
She is not easy,
she is horizontally accessible.

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Feel Smarter -- Instantly!...
Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.


-- Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, D.C.

[ken5050]

This thread prompted me to look for a book on Amazon..FYI..if your type "Flying Fortress" insearch there, you get related topics.."B-17" and "Passion of the Christ"..who knew?

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone!!

[stand watie]

GM snippy!

hugs,duckie/sw

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies. Flag-o-gram.

Photo courtesy of the massive alfa6 files.

[Soaring Feather]

Morning, PE!!


WOW great Flag-o-gram today!! Thank You.

Have a wonderful day with your family.

[snippy_about_it]

Oh I love it! Wonderful flag-o-gram PE. Thanks alfa6 for sharing.

[Valin]

That's the way a real hero talks and acts.


Did you know John Kerry was a hero also? It happened wheen he was on a super duper tippy top secret mission to Cambodia to drop off James Bond, when his swift boat collided with a B-52 on it's way to bomb Moscow (note: some reports say it was Ishpeming Mich.) and even though he was wounded (a 12in shell lodged in his forehead) he gallantly continued on with his suicidal mission (because heros do stuff like that all the time) dropping off James Bond,John Wayne and Joey Heatherton so they could do their super duper secret mission to save the world from alien invaders. Then leaping into the crippled B-53 and giving no thought for his own safety saved the crew of the crippled plane preforming emergency open heart surgery on the pilot and carrying them to his swiftboat. Once back on his swift boat and realizing it would be difficult to slip back across the border with a B-75 attached to his swift boat (although being a really bigtime hero kind of guy he knew if anyone could it was him) he flung the aircraft from his swift boat and snatching up his 92mm grenade launcher put 612 well placed rounds into the mangled B26 thus destroying it a preventing it's use by the enemy.




And that's the truth!

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning EGC.

[Professional Engineer]

I see you've had a laugh in your house.

[snippy_about_it]

Good moring Gail.

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. Hey, that's what the KEYWORDS are for, to give you a clue. ;-)

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning tomball.

[Professional Engineer]

Great picture!

[ken5050]

What's a "KEYWORD?"...LOL..BTW..read my #22...

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Mayor.

[snippy_about_it]

Aren't you glad you finished your roof? Good morning alfa6.

[snippy_about_it]

"Shoot'em Self Kerry", LOL. Thanks Chieftain for posting this sign.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Valin.

[alfa6]

I am not sure of the that term "massive" :-)

I have just about wrapped up the WWI and WWII folders, next stop the Aircraft Folder. I don't think I will be able to get all of the Aircraft Folder on 1 CD.

Will have some more pics for you in a day or two

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[snippy_about_it]

Christ is a flying fortress? I guess I can see the connection. ;-)

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning miss feather.

[snippy_about_it]

Mornin' stand watie. How did duckie's first week back at work go?

[Valin]

So far it is.





But I remain alert at all times, you never know when "They" will strike.

[Professional Engineer]

Hi miss Feather

[snippy_about_it]

ROTFLOL!!! You and Phil. Excellent writers. You could be famous. We're glad your both at the Foxhole. ;-)

[Soaring Feather]

GM, snippy!! Busy day today?? Quiet one here, kinda overcast, but very warm. Summer at last.

[Professional Engineer]

Howdy ma'am

[Professional Engineer]

I'm gonn have to swipe this. The world needs to know!

[Professional Engineer]

Cool, I'm building the collection.