The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Bay of Pigs Invasion (Apr-1961) - Apr. 17th, 2003

HIstoryofCuba ^ | Compiled by J.A. Sierra

[SAMWolf]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

.

FReepers from the USO Canteen, The Foxhole, and The Poetry Branch
join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.

.

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

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The Bay of Pigs

Introduction

From the end of WWII and up until the mid eighties, most Americans could agree on one thing; communism was the enemy. Communists wanted to destroy us. To change our way of life. To subvert the values of the “free-est” country in the world. Even after Senator Joseph McCarthy went out of fashion, the concept that we were engaged in mortal combat against communism lived on.

To most Americans the idea seemed perfectly normal and very urgent. It was also understood that they didn’t play by the rules. They lied, cheated, bribed, manipulated, murdered and did whatever else they had to do to win, which meant that if we wanted to win, we’d have to beat them at their game.



Senator John F. Kennedy, the young, liberal catholic making a bid for the big chair in the oval office knew that the only way to get that chair was to ride the popular wave of anti-communism. In the process, Kennedy became obsessed with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

One reason for this obsession may be the widely believed concept that all communisms emerged from the same source and had a unified goal: to subvert imperialism and take over the world. The source, of course, was the Soviet Union.

Today we laugh at the idea of a U.S. president entertaining such uninformed and unenlightened ideas, and we shiver at the fact that he would base U.S. foreign policy on them. But Kennedy went on to become both an avid anticommunist and a U.S. president.



In this global climate of ignorance, fear, dis-information and presidential machismo, the Cuban revolution emerged in 1959. Within a year, President Eisenhower was sad to learn that Cuba’s revolution was, indeed, a social revolution and not just the exchange of one crooked regime for another, and relations with the U.S. began to deteriorate.

In July of 1960, Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev spoke of “figurative” rockets that would protect Cuba from the U.S., and President Eisenhower announced that the United States would not “tolerate the establishment of a regime dominated by international communism in the western hemisphere.”

Beginning in January of 1960, CIA planes from Florida, some with American pilots, raided Cuban fields with napalm-type bombs to burn sugar cane fields, and, as stated by Herbert L. Matthews in his book, Revolution In Cuba, the CIA “did everything that it could to bring about the overthrow of the Castro government.”



As relations between the U.S. and Cuba continued to deteriorate, U.S. Ambassador to Cuba, Philip Bonsal, was permanently recalled to Washington on October 28. On January 3, 1961, seventeen days before Kennedy took office, the Eisenhower administration broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Various assassination attempts by the CIA against Castro had failed, and the American people were confused about Cuba’s political climate. The right-wing press continued to assert that Cuba was a threat to the U.S., and “something” had to be done.

In his first State of the Union address on January 30, 1961, President Kennedy declared that Communist domination in this hemisphere “can never be negotiated.” But even before the revolution celebrated its first year, Castro and the Cuban revolutionaries knew that the U.S. would attack.



The expected attack would likely resemble the CIA invasion of Guatemala (May 17, 1954). About a thousand men gathered inside the Honduran border, where the U.S. military supplied them with planes, weapons and money. The end result was a new U.S.-friendly government, with little change for the mass peasant poverty or tiny wealthy minority of that country.

The Plan

Vice President Richard Nixon was committed to the idea of opposing Castro as early as April 1959, when Castro visited the U.S. as a guest of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. “If he’s not a communist,” said Nixon, “he certainly acts like one.” On March 17, 1960, President Eisenhower approved a CIA plan titled “A Program of Covert Action Against the Castro Regime.” This took place nine months before the official break of diplomatic relations.



The plan included: 1) the creation of a responsible and unified Cuban opposition to the Castro regime located outside of Cuba, 2) the development of a means for mass communication to the Cuban people as part of a powerful propaganda offensive, 3) the creation and development of a covert intelligence and action organization within Cuba which would respond to the orders and directions of the exile opposition, and 4) the development of a paramilitary force outside of Cuba for future guerrilla action. These goals were to be achieved “in such a manner as to avoid the appearance of U.S. intervention.”

The project came to life when Eisenhower approved an initial budget of $4,400,000; political action, $950,000; propaganda, $1,700,000; paramilitary, $1,500,000; intelligence collection, $250,000. The invasion, a year later, would cost over $46 million.

On January 3, 1961, a meeting took place at the White House, described by Richard Bissell, CIA Director of Plans, in his book MEMOIRS OF A COLD WARRIOR: FROM YALTA TO BAY OF PIGS:

“The president (Eisenhower) seemed to be eager to take forceful action against Castro, and breaking off diplomatic relations appeared to be his best card. He noted that he was prepared to ‘move against Castro’ before Kennedy’s inauguration on the twentieth if a ‘really good excuse’ was provided by Castro. ‘Failing that,’ he said, ‘perhaps we could think of manufacturing something that would be generally acceptable.’ …This is but another example of his willingness to use covert action—specifically to fabricate events—to achieve his objectives in foreign policy.”



By the time Kennedy took office in January of 1961, he had made serious commitments to the Cuban exiles, promising to oppose communism at every opportunity, and supporting the overthrow of Castro. During the campaign, Kennedy had repeatedly accused Eisenhower of not doing enough about Castro.

Eisenhower, Kennedy and other high ranking U.S. officials continually denied any plans to attack Cuba, but as early as October 31, 1960, Cuban Foreign Minister Raúl Roa, in a session at the U.N. General Assembly, was able to provide details on the recruitment and training of the Cuban exiles, whom he referred to as mercenaries and counterrevolutionaries. [The CIA recruits were paid $400 a month to train, with an additional allotment of $175 for their wives and more for their children.]

The original plan called for a daytime landing at Trinidad, a city on the southern coast of Cuba near the Escambray Mountains, but Kennedy thought the plan exposed the role of the United States too openly, and favored a nighttime landing at Bay of Pigs, which offered a suitable air-strip on the beach from which bombing raids could be operated. Once the bay was secured, the provisional Cuban government-in-arms set up by the CIA would be landed and immediately recognized by the U.S. The new government would request military support and a new “intervention” would take place.



Bissell states, “It is hard to believe in retrospect that the president and his advisers felt the plans for a large-scale, complicated military operation that had been ongoing for more than a year could be reworked in four days and still offer a high likelihood of success. It is equally amazing that we in the agency agreed so readily.”

A nighttime amphibious landing (which, according to Bissell had only been accomplished successfully once in WWII) diminished the possibility of a mass uprising joining the invading forces, and the new location made practically impossible to retreat into the Escambray Mountains.

The plan, however, seemed to breed what Néstor T. Carbonell describes in his book, AND THE RUSSIANS STAYED: THE SOVIETIZATION OF CUBA, as infectious optimism. “Castro’s fledgling air force was to be destroyed prior to the invasion,” he writes. “Enemy troops, trucks, and tanks would not be able to reach the brigade; they would be blasted from the air. To allay any fears of a Castro counteroffensive, the CIA briefer asserted that ‘an umbrella’ above would at all times guard the entire operation against any Castro fighter planes that might remain operational.”

Once Kennedy became aware of the plan, opposition to the invasion was subtly discouraged. Various memos and notes kept from meetings prior to the invasion warned of potential problems and legal ramifications. At a meeting on January 28 the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke strongly against invasion on the grounds that Castro’s forces were already too strong. At the same meeting, the Secretary of Defense estimated that all the covert measures planned against Castro, including propaganda, sabotage, political action and the planned invasion, would not produce “the agreed national goal of overthrowing Castro.”



On March 29 Senator Fulbright gave Kennedy a memo which stated, “To give this activity even covert support is of a piece with the hypocrisy and cynicism for which the United States is constantly denouncing the Soviet Union in the United Nations and elsewhere. This point will not be lost on the rest of the world—nor on our own consciences.”

A three-page memo from Under Secretary of State Chester A. Bowles to Secretary of State Dean Rusk on March 31 argued strongly against the invasion, citing moral and legal grounds.

At a meeting on April 4 in a small conference room at the State Department, Senator Fulbright verbally opposed the plan, as described by Arthur Schlesinger in his book A Thousand Days: “Fulbright, speaking in an emphatic and incredulous way, denounced the whole idea. The operation, he said, was wildly out of proportion to the threat. It would compromise our moral position in the world and make it impossible for us to protest treaty violations by the Communists. He gave a brave, old-fashioned American speech, honorable, sensible and strong; and he left everyone in the room, except me and perhaps the President, wholly unmoved."

Five days before D-Day, on April 12, Kennedy was asked at a press conference how far the U.S. would go to help an uprising against Castro. He answered: “First, I want to say that there will not be, under any conditions, an intervention in Cuba by the United States Armed Forces. This government will do everything it possibly can, I think it can meet its responsibilities, to make sure that there are no Americans involved in any actions inside Cuba… The basic issue in Cuba is not one between the United States and Cuba. It is between the Cubans themselves.”



“One further factor no doubt influenced him," writes Schlesinger, “the enormous confidence in his own luck. Everything had broken right for him since 1956. He had won the nomination and the election against all the odds in the book. Everyone around him thought he had the Midas touch and could not lose. Despite himself, even this dispassionate and skeptical man may have been affected by the soaring euphoria of the new day.”

[SAMWolf]

Invasion

The counterrevolutionary forces, known as Brigade 2506, were assembled at Retalhuleu, on the west coast of Guatemala, where U.S. engineers refurbished the airport especially for the mission. On April 14 six ships sailed from Nicaragua’s Puerto Cabezas, cheered on by Nicaraguan president and U.S.-friendly dictator Luis Somoza, who jokingly urged the soldiers to bring him some hairs from Castro’s beard.

The Cuban government knew an invasion was coming, but could not guess exactly when or where the attack would take place. When teams of U.S. B-26 bombers began attacking four Cuban airfields simultaneously on Saturday, April 15, the Cubans were prepared. The few planes belonging to the Cuban Air Force were dispersed and camouflaged, with some obsolete, unusable planes left out to fool the attackers and draw the bombs.

As part of the CIA cover story, the attacking B-26 planes were disguised to look as if they were Cuban planes flown by defecting Cuban pilots. An exile Cuban pilot named Mario Zúñiga was presented to the media as a defector, and was photographed next to his plane. The photo was published in most of the major papers, but the surprising omission of several serious details, and the overwhelming amount of information already gathered by reporters, helped bring out the truth much sooner than anyone expected.

Prior to the start of the operation, CIA operatives were sent to Cuba. Their job was to aid the invading forces by blowing up key bridges and performing other acts of terrorism that would make it appear that the people of Cuba were joining the invasion. José Basulto was one of those operatives. He flew straight into Havana airport posing as a student from Boston College coming home on vacation.

Shortly after the attack started, Ambassador Adlai Stevenson, at the United Nations, flatly rejected Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Raúl Roa’s report of the attack to the assembly, saying that the planes were from the Cuban Air Force and presenting a copy of the photograph published in the newspapers. In the photo, the plane shown has an opaque nose, whereas the model of the B-26 planes used by the Cubans had a Plexiglas nose. Stevenson was extremely embarrassed a few hours later when the truth was revealed and he learned that Kennedy had referred to him as “my official liar.”

The landing began shortly before midnight on Sunday, April 16, after a team of frogmen went ashore and set up landing lights to guide the operation. The invading force consisted of 1,500 men divided into six battalions, with right-winger and CIA-friendly Manuel Artime as the political chief.

Two battalions came ashore at Playa Girón and one at Playa Larga, but the operation didn’t go as smoothly as expected. The razor-sharp coral reefs, identified by U2 spy photos as seaweed, delayed the landing enough to expose it to air attacks the following morning. Two ships sank about 80 yards from shore, and some heavy equipment was lost.

Cuban militia commander José Ramón González Suco was one of five men stationed in Playa Larga when the invasion began. He was the first to report the invasion.

Defending the revolution: Castro sits in a tank during the Bay of Pigs invasion

On Monday, April 17, as the invasion was well under way, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk gave a press conference. “The American people are entitled to know whether we are intervening in Cuba or intend to do so in the future,” he said. “The answer to that question is no. What happens in Cuba is for the Cuban people to decide.”

Basulto was never told when the invasion would take place. He was surprised to hear the attack had started and didn’t have time to get around to blowing up the bridge he’d been assigned. He drove out to Guantánamo and jumped the fence to the U.S. Naval Base.

By 3 a.m. Monday morning Castro knew about the landing, and the Cuban government responded almost immediately, taking a superior position in the air during the early morning hours. Cuban pilot Captain Enrique Carreras Rojas was able to quickly sink the command vessel “Maropa” and the supply ship “Houston.”

Once Ambassador Stevenson became aware of the true facts, he was so outraged at being duped that he publicly urged Washington to stop the attack and avoid further embarrassment. Soviet Ambassador Zorin said, “Cuba is not alone today. Among her most sincere friends the Soviet Union is to be found.”

The Revolutionary Army marching against Bay of Pigs

At 12:15 Kennedy received a letter from Khrushchev, in which the Soviet leader stated: “It is a secret to no one that the armed bands invading this country were trained, equipped and armed in the United States of America. The planes which are bombing Cuban cities belong to the United States of America; the bombs they are dropping are being supplied by the American Government.

“…It is still not late to avoid the irreparable. The government of the USA still has the possibility of not allowing the flame of war ignited by interventions in Cuba to grow into an incomparable conflagration.

“As far as the Soviet Union is concerned, there should be no mistake about our position: We will render the Cuban people and their government all necessary help to repel an armed attack on Cuba.”

The expected supporting air cover by the U.S. Air Force never came. In a political environment full of posturing, threats and confusion, Rusk advised Kennedy to back off, concluding that additional strikes would tilt international opinion too far against the U.S.

“At about 9:30 p.m. on April 16,” describes L. Fletcher Prouty in BAY OF PIGS: THE PIVOTAL OPERATION OF THE JFK ERA, [URL below] “Mr. McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President, telephoned the CIA’s General C.P. Cabell to inform him that the air strikes the following dawn should not be launched until they could be conducted from a strip within the beachhead.”

Prouty, the first “focal Point” officer between the CIA and the Air Force for Clandestine Operations, quotes the report by General Maxwell Taylor, a member of the Kennedy-appointed Cuban Study Group: “From its inception the plan had been developed under the ground rule that it must retain a covert character, that is, it should include no action which, if revealed, could not be plausibly denied by the United States and should look to the world as an operation exclusively conducted by Cubans. This ground rule meant, among other things, that no U.S. military forces or individuals could take part in combat operations.”

[SAMWolf]

Victory

In a desperate last-ditch effort to support the invasion, a limited air strike was approved on April 19, but it would not be enough, and four American pilots lost their lives that day. At 2:30 p.m., brigade commander “Pepe” Perez San Roman ordered radio operator Julio Monzon Santos to transmit a final message from brigade 2506. “We have nothing left to fight with, “ San Roman said, his voice breaking, “how can you people do this to us, our people, our country? Over and out.”

Without supplies or air cover, the invading forces fell. To them, the lack of air cover was a direct betrayal. In the end, 200 rebel soldiers were killed, and 1,197 others were captured.


A Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 (FAR-541) of the Fuerza Aerea Revolucionaria (Revolutionary Air Force), at the Museum at Giron, Bay of Pigs, Cuba.

“There’s no question that the brigade members were competent, valiant, and committed in their efforts to salvage a rapidly deteriorating situation in a remote area,” writes Bissell. “Most of them had no previous professional military training, yet they mounted an amphibious landing and conducted air operations in a manner that was a tribute to their bravery and dedication. They did not receive their due.”

“The reality,” writes Schlesinger, “was that Fidel Castro turned out to be a far more formidable foe and in command of a far better organized regime than anyone had supposed. His patrols spotted the invasion at almost the first possible moment. His planes reacted with speed and vigor. His police eliminated any chance of sabotage or rebellion behind the lines. His soldiers stayed loyal and fought hard. He himself never panicked; and, if faults were chargeable to him, they were his overestimate of the strength of the invasion and undue caution in pressing the ground attack against the beachhead. His performance was impressive.”

On April 20 Fidel Castro announced over Havana’s Union Radio that, “the revolution has been victorious… destroying in less than 72 hours the army the U.S. imperialist government had organized for many months.”

“We have always been in danger of direct aggression,” said Castro in a speech on April 23, “we have been warning about this in the United Nations: that they would find a pretext, that they would organize some act of aggression so that they could intervene.

“The United States has no right to meddle in our domestic affairs. We do not speak English and we do not chew gum. We have a different tradition, a different culture, our own way of thinking. We have no borders with anybody. Our frontier is the sea, very clearly defined.

“How can the crooked politicians and the exploiters have more rights than the people? What right does a rich country have to impose its yoke on our people? Only because they have might and no scruples; they do not respect international rules. They should have been ashamed to be engaged in this battle of Goliath against David—and to lose it besides.”

At the massive May Day celebrations in Havana, less than two weeks after the attack, Castro spoke again about the invasion:

“Humble, honest blood was shed in the struggle against the mercenaries of imperialism. But what blood, what men did imperialism send here to establish that beachhead, to bleed our revolution dry, to destroy our achievements, to burn our cane? [In the account of the invasion published by Castro, it was estimated that the invaders and their families between them once owned a million acres of land, ten thousand houses, seventy factories, ten sugar mills, five mines, and two banks.]



“We can tell the people right here that at the same instant that three of our airports were being bombed, the Yankee agencies were telling the world that our airports had been attacked by planes from our own air force. They cold-bloodedly bombed our nation and told the world that the bombing was done by Cuban pilots with Cuban planes. This was done with planes on which they painted our insignia.

“If nothing else, this deed should be enough to demonstrate how miserable are the actions of imperialism.”

U.S. involvement in the Bay of Pigs attack was a direct violation of Article 2, paragraph 4 and Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, as well as Articles 18 and 25 of the Charter of the Organization of American States, and Article 1 of the Rio Treaty, which makes armed attacks illegal except in self-defense.

The Act of Bogota, which established the Organization of American States, provides that:

“No State or group of States has the right to intervene, directly or indirectly, for any reason whatsoever, in the internal or external affairs of any other State. The foregoing principle prohibits not only armed force but also any other form of interference or attempted threat against the personality of the State or against its political, economic and cultural elements.

“No State may use or encourage the use of coercive measures of an economic or political character in order to force the sovereign will of another state and obtain from it advantages of any kind.

“The territory of a State is inviolable; it may not be the object, even temporarily, of military occupation or of other measures of force taken by another state, directly or indirectly, on any grounds whatsoever…”

The invasion was planned by the U.S. The exile army was recruited, trained, paid, and supplied by the U.S. The planes, boats, tanks and military equipment used was supplied by the U.S. The provisional government was assembled and funded by the U.S. The first on the beach were American frogmen. Four American pilots were killed in battle. Thomas “Pete” Ray, Riley Shamburger, Leo Francis Baker (who died in a gun battle after crashing) and Wade Gray. Joe Shannon, a Colonel in the Alabama Air National Guard and a surviving pilot, remembers them well, “We had lived with the Cubans for three months, and we were so close to them that their cause became our cause.”



On April 20, President Kennedy discussed Cuba before the American Society of Newspaper Editors and continued to deny U.S. involvement. “…This was a struggle of Cuban patriots against a Cuban dictator. While we could not be expected to hide our sympathies, we made it repeatedly clear that the armed forces of this country would not intervene in any way.

“But let the record show that our restraint is not inexhaustible… if the nations of this hemisphere should fail to meet their commitments against outside communist penetration—then I want it clearly understood that this government will not hesitate in meeting its primary obligations which are to the security of our nation.”

In his book, COLD WAR AND COUNTER-REVOLUTION: THE FOREIGN POLICY OF JOHN F. KENNEDY, author Richard J. Walton puts that speech in perspective: “Kennedy did not apologize; rather he issued threats. And he reiterated his amendment to the Monroe doctrine; that Latin American nations were free to choose their own governments, but only as long as they were not communist."

Additional Sources:

news.bbc.co.uk
www.jfklancer.com
www.laahs.com
www.photoweb.it
www.brigada2506.com
www.usni.org
www.gwu.edu
www.cnn.com
www.rose-hulman.edu
www.campus-oei.org
www.cubaheritage.com
www.btinternet.com
www.patriagrande.net
www.thegully.com

[SAMWolf]

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[SAMWolf]

Aftermath Mass trials were held for the 1,189 men captured, and each was sentenced to 30 years in prison. After twenty months of negotiation, most were released in exchange for $53 million in food and medicine. (Two men were held for 25 years, Ramon Conte and Ricardo Montenero Duque.)

As a result of the U.S. failure at Bay of Pigs and the diplomatic embarrassment that ensued, President Kennedy fired long-time CIA Director Allen W. Dulles, Deputy Director Charles P. Cabell, and the one principally responsible for the operation, Deputy Director Richard Bissell. Kennedy assumed full responsibility for the failure, although he secretly blamed the CIA and ordered a full investigation of the operation. The report on this investigation, written by CIA inspector general Lyman Kirkpatrick, upset the new CIA director John McCone (who replaced Allen W. Dulles) so much that all but one of the 20 copies produced was destroyed, and the report stayed classified until February of 1998.

The controversial inspector general’s report concluded that ignorance, incompetence, and arrogance on the part of the CIA was responsible for the fiasco. It criticized nearly every aspect of the CIA’s handling of the invasion: misinforming Kennedy administration officials, planning poorly, using faulty intelligence and conducting an overt military operation beyond “agency responsibility as well as agency capability.” The report added, “The agency reduced the exile leaders to the status of puppets.”

Aside from being at once a major victory for the Cuban Revolution and a major embarrassment for Kennedy and the CIA, the attack at the Bay of Pigs set the stage for the major confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union: the missile crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

In the meantime, perhaps as a result of the Bay of Pigs embarrassment, Kennedy’s obsession with eliminating Castro grew. A plan code-named “Operation Mongoose” spurred by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, attempted to eliminate Castro by any means necessary.

Bissell writes, “To understand the Kennedy administration’s obsession with Cuba, it is important to understand the Kennedys, especially Robert. From their perspective, Castro won the first round at the Bay of Pigs. He had defeated the Kennedy team; they were bitter and they could not tolerate his getting away with it. The president and his brother were ready to avenge their personal embarrassment by overthrowing their enemy at any cost. I don’t believe there was any significant policy debate in the executive branch on the desirability of getting rid of Castro. Robert Kennedy’s involvement in organizing and directing Mongoose became so intense that he might as well have been deputy director for plans for the operation.”

An Army memorandum from March 1, 1962 titled, “Possible Actions to Provoke, Harass or Disrupt Cuba,” outlines a number of ideas, including Operation Bingo, a plan to fake an attack on the U.S. base at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba that would provide cover for a devastating military assault on Havana. Operation Dirty Trick, in which Castro would be blamed if the 1962 Mercury manned space flight carrying John Glenn crashed, and Operation Good Times, involving faked photos of “an obese Castro” with two voluptuous women in a lavishly furnished room “and a table brimming over with the most delectable Cuban food.” The caption would read, “My ration is different.”

According to U.S. News & World Report (10/26/98) an estimated 10,000 pages of previously secret documents were quietly declassified.

Other CIA plots included hiring Mafia hit men and devising a poisoned scuba suit as a gift for Castro. There is talk in many of the newly released CIA documents of a “Remember the Maine incident” that would facilitate military intervention.

The head of Operation Mongoose, Brigadier General Edward G. Lansdale asked the Joint Chiefs of Staff for their views on these and other top-secret plans to eliminate Castro and/or concoct a pretext for a military invasion of Cuba. Records show that on March 13, 1962, the Joint Chiefs of Staff endorsed these ideas as “suitable for planning purposes.” There’s no evidence that any of them were carried out.

[SAMWolf]

[SpookBrat]

Good morning.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on April 17:
1539 Tobias Stimmer Swiss painter/cartoonist (Comedia)
1573 Maximilian I duke/ruler of Bayern (Catholic League)
1586 John Ford English dramatist ('Tis Pity She's a Whore)
1587 Marco Ivan Lukacic composer
1622 Henry Vaughan English poet (Silex Scintillans)
1644 Abraham Jansz Storck painter, baptized
1666 François Valentijn Dutch vicar/writer
1676 Frederik I [van Hessen Kassel] King of Sweden (1720-51)
1683 Johann David Heinichen composer
1699 Robert Blair Scottish poet (Grave)
1715 Johann Wolfgang Kleinknecht composer
1719 Christian Gottfried Krause composer
1738 Philip Hayes composer
1741 Johann Gottlieb Naumann composer
1741 Samuel Chase judge (signed Declaration of Independence)
1774 Vaclav Jan Krtitel Tomasek organist/pianist/composer
1788 Joseph Gilbert Totten Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1864
1797 Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Tolbecque Belgian composer/conductor
1809 Philip St George Cocke Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1861
1811 Ann Sheppard Mounsey composer
1813 Henry Washington Benham Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1884
1820 Gottfried Conradi composer
1827 French C Baeckelmans Flemish architect (St Amanduskerk, Antwerp)
1837 John Pierpont Morgan US banker/CEO (US Steel)
1845 Isabel Barrows US, editor/penologist (Conference on Negro Question)
1863 Johannes P Boskaljon Curaçao composer/conductor
1868 Charles R Gallas Dutch lexicographer (French dictionary)
1869 Johannes M Meulenhoff Dutch publisher
1870 Ray Stannard Baker US, journalist (Puliter Prize 1940)
1876 Ian Hay Scotland, novelist/playwright (PIp, Carrying On)
1881 Anton Wildgans writer
1882 Artur Schnabel Lipnik Austria, pianist (Beethoven Piano Sonatas)
1883 Hermann Darewsky composer
1885 Isak Dinesen Danish writer (Out of Africa, 7 Gothic Tales)
1885 Cecil Burleigh composer
1885 Karen Blixen-Finecke [Dinesen], Danish writer (Out of Africa)
1886 Otto Lederer Czechoslovakia, actor (Jazz Singer)
1890 Art Acord Glenwood Sevier UT, western actor (Arizona Kid, Hard Fists)
1892 Jean Haesaert Flemish lawyer/sociologist
1894 Nikita S Khrushchev 1st Secretary USSR (1953-64)
1895 Bert Wheeler actor (Nitwits, Hold 'em Jail, High Flyers, Rainmakers)
1896 Senor Wences ventriloquist (his hand acts as a puppet)
1897 Harald Saeverud Bergen Norway, composer (Saline)
1897 Antonius F "Anton" Coolen Dutch author (Village by the River)
1897 Thornton N Wilder US, novelist/playwright (Our Town)
1899 Vincent Wigglesworth entomologist
19-- Dennis Dun actor (Midnight Caller, Big Trouble in Little China)
19-- Ralphy Rodriquez rocker (Menudo-Cannonball)
1901 George Keyt artist
1902 Anton Beuving lyricist (Ketelbinkie)
1903 Gregor Piatigorsky Ekaterinoslav Russia, cellist
1903 Nicolas Nabokov Near Lubcha Minsk Russia, composer (The Holy Devil)
1904 Edward Chodorov playwright/director (Story of Louis Pasteur)
1904 Naoomal Jeoomal cricketer (pioneer Indian Test opening batsman)
1905 Arthur Lake Corbin KY, actor (Dagwood-Blondie)
1905 Louis Jean Heydt Montclair NJ, actor (Joe-Waterfront)
1906 M Rooi editor-in-chief (New Rotterdam Daily)
1909 Alain Emile Louis Marie Poher politician
1909 Humphrey Sims Moore pacifist/journalist
1909 Patrick Reilly diplomat
1911 Mikhail Botvinnik of USSR, world chess champion (1948-63)
1911 Earl of Lauderdale
1911 Jean-Pierre Herve Bazin writer
1912 Isador Caplan lawyer/Aldeburgh Festival Pioneer
1913 Paul Langton Salt Lake City UT, actor (Leslie-Peyton Place)
1913 Richard Travis Carlsbad NM, actor (Missile to the Moon)
1916 Azijn Banana [Oscar Enau], Antillean publicist
1916 David Stafford-Clark psychiatrist
1916 Donald Gibson British Vice-Admiral
1916 Ryoei Saito businessman
1916 Sirimavo Bandaranaike world's 1st woman PM (Sri Lanka, 1960..77)
1918 William Holden [Franklin Beedle Jr] O'Fallon IL, actor (Stalag 17, Bridge Over the River Kwai, SOB)
1918 Anne Shirley UK, actress (Devil & Daniel Webster, Stella Dallas)
1920 Bengt N Anderberg Swedish poet/writer (Kain)
1920 Joan "Maudie" Warburton painter
1921 Donald Barron CEO (Midland Bank)
1923 Harry Reasoner Dakota City IA, newscaster (60 Minutes, ABC, CBS)
1923 Lindsay Anderson Bangalore India, director (Thursday's Children)
1923 Lloyd Biggle Jr US, sci-fi author (Silence is Deadly)
1923 Norman Potter cabinetmaker designer/writer
1924 Patrick Sergeant founder (Euromoney Publications)
1925 Anne Harris CEO (National Federation of Women's Institutes)
1925 John Yates bishop (Lambeth England)
1925 Joyce Buck actress/interior designer
1926 Arthur Hockaday director-General (Commonwealth War Graves Commission)
1926 G M Hughes professor/zoologist
1926 Michael Vernon CEO (RNLI)
1927 Christopher Whelen composer
1927 Tadeusz Mazowiecki premier of Poland (1989-90)
1928 Cynthia Ozick US, author (Pagan Rabbi & Other Stories)
1929 Eileen Stamers-Smith headmistress (Malvern Girls' College)
1929 James Last orchestra leader/composer/arranger
1929 Lady (James) Mellon CEO (Volunteer Development Scotland)
1930 Chris Barber jazz trombonist
1930 Genevieve Paris France, singer (Jack Paar Show, Scruples)
1931 Joan Clague director of nursing services (Marie Curie Foundation)
1931 John Bartlett tennis player (Davis Cup captain-Britain)
1931 John Chalstrey alderman/Lord Mayor (London)
1931 Joyce Molyneux chef
1931 Ruth Etchells principal (St John's College-Durham)
1932 Graziella Sciutti Italian opera singer
1932 Han J A Hansen [Jansen] Dutch journalist (King Comes!)
1932 Ramsay Melhuish diplomat
1933 Monique Van Vooren Brussels Belgium, actress (Warhol's Frankenstein)
1933 Penelope Lively writer
1933 Tim Rathbone MP
1934 Don Kirshner rock & roll producer (invented bubblegum music)
1936 Lord Justice Aldous
1936 Pete Graves rocker (Moonglows)
1937 Brian Sedgemore British MP
1937 Daffy Duck animated character
1937 Eduard N Stepanov Russian cosmonaut
1937 Galina Samsova ballerina
1937 Terry Dicks British MP
1938 David Dilks vice-chancellor (Hull U)
1938 K M P O'Brien archbishop (St Andrews & Edinburgh)
1939 Robin Knox-Johnston yachtsman
1941 Bill Fury Liverpool England, vocalist/guitarist (When Will You Say I Love You)
1941 Adolphus Hailstork composer
1941 Max Stafford-Clark artistic director (Royal Court Theatre)
1942 Mario Brenta writer/director (Maicol, Barnabo of the Mountains)
1943 Roy Estrada rocker (Morthers Of Invention)
1944 John Lill professor/pianist
1945 Vincent A M van der Burg Dutch MP (CDA)
1946 Clare Francis yachtswoman/novelist (Come Hell or High Water)
1946 Henry Kelly British broadcaster
1946 J R Baines professor (Egyptologist)
1947 Charles Frank Olympia WA, actor (Chisholms, Emerald Point NAS)
1948 Jan Hammer composer (Escape from TV, Miami Vice)
1948 Viscount Bridport
1949 Heini Hemmi Switzerland, giant slalom (Olympics-gold-1976)
1949 John Oates New York NY, rock guitarist/vocalist (Hall & Oates-Rich Girl)
1951 Olivia Hussey Buenos Aires, actress (Romeo & Juliet, Death on Nile)
1954 Kim Tyler Hollywood CA, actress (Kyle-Please Don't Eat Daisies)
1954 Riccardo Patrese driver (Grand Prix)
1955 Pete Shelley vocal/guitar (Buzzcocks-Going Steady, Love Bites)
1955 Peter Michalke journalist
1955 Rob Bolland Dutch singer/guitarist (Bolland & Bolland)
1956 Kaye Young Cowher WBL forward (New York Stars, New Jersey Gems)
1956 Pillow [Therese Joan Bell] California, bodybuilder (Gold Classic 1983)
1958 Byron Cherry Atlanta GA, actor (Coy-Dukes of Hazzard)
1958 Sergei Yuriyevich Vozovikov Russian Major/cosmonaut
1959 Teri Austin Toronto Ontario Canada, actress (Terminal Choice, Knots Landing)
1959 David Hearn Washington DC, slalom single canoe (Olympics-9th-96)
1959 Elizabeth Lindsey actress (China Beach)
1959 Stephen Singleton Sheffield, rocker (ABC)
1960 Michael Whitaker showjumper
1961 [Norman] Boomer Esiason West Islip NY, NFL quarterback (Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets)
1961 Norman Cowans cricketer (England fast bowler in 19 Tests 1982-85)
1962 Nancy Hogshead Iowa City IA, swimmer (Olympics-gold-1984)/model (jockey)
1964 Ken Daneyko Windsor, NHL defenseman (New Jersey Devils)
1964 Raye Hollit American Gladiator (Zap)
1966 Lela Rochon actress (Waiting to Exhale)
1966 Susie Redman Salem OH, LPGA golfer (1995 Nabisco Dinah Shore-2nd)
1967 Leslie Bega Los Angeles CA, actress (Maria Tomlinson-Head of the Class)
1967 Timothy Gibbs Burbank CA, actor (Father Murphy, Santa Barbara)
1967 Aaron Wallace NFL defensive end/linebacker (Oakland Raiders)
1967 Marquis Grisom Atlanta GA, outfielder (Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians)
1968 Maurits Prince of Netherlands
1968 Ritchie Woodhall boxer
1968 Roger Twose cricketer (Warwickshire batsman, New Zealand 1995)
1969 Alexander McQueen fashion designer
1970 Tony Sacca WLAF quarterback (Barcelona Dragons)
1971 David Oliver Sechelt, NHL right wing (Edmonton Oilers)
1972 Benjamin Dodwell Australian rower (Olympics-96)
1972 Gordon Laro NFL tight end (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1972 Keith Lyle safety (St Louis Rams)
1972 Muttiah Muralitharan cricketer (leading Sri Lankan Test off-spinner)
1972 Tony Boselli NFL offensive tackle (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1973 Brett Maher Adelaide SA Australia, basketball guard (Olympics-96)
1973 Gene Makowsky CFL offensive linebacker (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
1973 Jeff Lewis NFL quarterback (Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32)
1973 Kenneth Carlsen Denmark, tennis star
1973 Ross Aloisi Australian soccer midfielder (Olyroos, Olympics-96)
1973 Theo Ratliff NBA forward/center (Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers)
1974 James Hamilton linebacker (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1974 Marcel Nijenhuis soccer player (NEC)
1975 Trifun Zivanovic Santa Monica, figure skater (1995 Pac Coast Jr champion)
1976 Nadine Thomas Miss Jamaica-Universe (1997)
1977 Pascal de Vries soccer player (FC Twente)
1978 Bilal Abdul-samad rocker (Boys)
1979 Tram-Anh Tran actress (Ghostwriters')
1980 Crystal Carlson Miss Maine Teen-USA (1997)

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Deaths which occurred on April 17:
0485 Proclus Greek mathematician, dies in Athens
0818 Bernhard I King of Italy, dies
0858 Benedict III Italian Pope (855-58), dies
1272 Zita/Cita Italian maid/saint, dies at about 59
1297 Willem van Afflighem Flemish poet/abbot St Truiden, dies at about 86
1427 Jan IV duke of Brabant/Limburg/wife of Jacoba van Bayern, dies
1574 Joachim Camerarius [Liebhard Kammerer] German philologist, dies
1630 Christian I ruler of Anhalt-Bernburg (battle of White Mountain), dies
1679 John van Kessel Flemish painter, dies at 53
1711 Jozef I [Habsburg] emperor of Germany (1705-11), dies at about 32
1714 Philipp Heinrich Erlebach composer, dies at 56
1726 Henriëtte Amalia ruler of Nassau-Dietz, dies at 49
1764 Johann Mattheson German composer/musicologist, dies at 82
1790 Benjamin Franklin US, (Poor Richard's Almanac), dies at 84
1835 William Henry Ireland forger (Shakespearean manuscripts), dies
1837 Edouard viscount de Walckiers very wealthy slave trader, dies
1838 J Schopenhauer writer, dies at 71
1854 Gottlob Wiedebein composer, dies at 74
1863 Daniel Smith Donelson Confederate General/cousin of Andrew Jackson, dies at 61
1873 Semyon Stepanovich Gulak-Artemovsky composer, dies at 60
1890 John Barnett composer, dies at 87
1891 Jules Eugene Abraham Alary composer, dies at 77
1899 Hans Balatka composer, dies at 74
1915 Johannes P Kelly [Kellij] Dutch actor/operetta writer, dies at 60
1936 Charles J M Ruys de Beerenbrouck Dutch PM (1918-23, 29-33), dies
1944 J T Hearne cricketer (took 49 wickets in 12 Tests for England), dies
1945 Hannie Schaft "Girl with red hair", executed
1945 Ion Pillat Romaniams poet/Senator (Umbra timpului), dies
1945 Walter Model German fieldmarshal, commits suicide at 54
1946 John Iddon cricketer (car accident 5 Tests for England 1934-35), dies
1948 Johan P Earl of Limburg Stirum diplomat, dies at 75
1948 Percy Sherwell cricketer (South Africa captain in 13 Tests 1905-11), dies
1960 Eddie Cochran rocker, dies in an auto accident at 21
1962 Louise Fazenda dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 66
1968 Margaret Seddon dies at 95
1970 Sergei Aleksi patriarch of Russian-Orthodox church, dies at 92
1971 Roberto Lupi composer, dies at 62
1974 Frank McGee Today show host, dies of cancer at 52
1974 Herbert Elwell US composer (Happy Hypocrite), dies at 75
1974 Vinnie Taylor rocker (Canned Heat), dies of a drug overdose
1976 Jean-Jacques Gailliard Belgian painter, dies at 85
1977 Marjorie Gateson actress (One Man's Family), dies at 86
1983 Felix Pappalardi rocker (Cream, Mountain), dies
1983 Peter Potter DJ (Peter Potter Show, Juke Box Jury), dies at 78
1983 Mark W Clark US General (WWII), dies at 87
1985 Ilona Bodden writer, dies
1986 Bessie Head writer, dies
1987 Dick Shawn comedian (Producers), dies on stage from a heart attack at 63
1987 Carlton Barrett Jamaican reggae drummer (No woman no cry), dies at 36
1988 Eva Novak actress (Medicine Man), dies of pneumonia at 90
1988 Louise Nevelson sculptor, dies of brain tumor at 88
1989 Charles Lampkin dies
1990 Reverend Ralph David Abernathy civil rights activist, dies at 64
1991 Jack Yellen US poet (Sons o' Fun), dies at 97
1992 Hank Penny country music singer, dies at 73 of heart failure
1993 Turgut Özal President of Turkey (1989-93), dies at 65
1994 Peter Hacker US journalist/actor (NBC, Broadcast News), dies at 69
1995 A R A (Anton) Murray cricketer (289 runs & 11 wickets in 10 Tests), dies
1995 Nancy Mayhew Youngman artist/educator, dies at 88
1996 Eva Jones poet/novelist, dies at 82
1996 Jose Luis Lopez Aranguren philosopher, dies at 86
1996 Michele Carew daughter of baseball great Rod, dies of Leukemia at 18
1997 Chaim Herzog President of Israel (1983-93), dies at 78

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 WOODWORTH SAMUEL ALEXANDER MINCO OK.
CRASH EXPLODE

1966 TROMP WILLIAM L. FENNVILLE MI.
NO INFO EVER CAPTURED

1967 CARLTON JAMES E. BIRMINGHAM AL.

1967 MC GARVEY JAMES M. VALPARAISO IN.

1968 HELD JOHN W. INDIANAPOLIS IN.

1969 DAHILL DOUGLAS E. LIMA OH.

1969 NEWTON CHARLES V. CANADIAN TX.

1969 PREVEDEL CHARLES F. FLORISSANT MO.

1969 WILLETT ROBERT V. JR. GREAT FALLS MT.

1971 GILLESPIE JOHN FRANCIS AUSTRALIA
"LANCE CORPORAL, 8 FD AMP MISSING IN ACTION"
#3170244 REFNO 1741


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

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On this day...
0858 Benedict III ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1421 Dikes at Dort Holland breaks, 100,000 drown
1492 Christopher Columbus signs contract with Spain to find the Indies
1521 Martin Luther is excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church
1524 Giovanni Verrazano, a florentine navigator, discovers New York Bay
1534 Sir Thomas More confined in London Tower
1555 Siena surrenders for Spanish troops
1596 Arch duke Albrecht of Austria occupies Calais
1629 1st commercial fishery established
1704 1st successful US newspaper; published in Boston by John Campbell
1711 Charles VI Habsburg becomes king of Austria
1747 French troops occupy Zeeuws-Flanders, Netherlands
1758 Francis Williams, 1st US black college graduate, publishes poems
1793 Battle of Warsaw
1808 Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France orders seizure of US ships
1817 1st US school for the deaf founded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc (American School for the Deaf-Hartford CT)
1824 Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54º 40' N
1839 Guatemala forms republic
1853 US Marine Hospital at Presidio (San Francisco) established
1853 Thorbecke government resigns
1861 Virginia become 8th state to secede
1861 Indianola TX-"Star of West" taken by Confederacy
1863 Grierson's Raid La Grange TN to Baton Rouge LA
1864 Battle of Plymouth NC
1864 Bread revolt in Savannah GA
1864 Grant suspends prisoner-of-war exchanges
1865 Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in Lincoln's assassination
1869 1st pro baseball games-Cincinnati Reds 24, Cincinnati amateurs 15
1875 "Snooker" (variation of pool) invented by Sir Neville Chamberlain
1892 1st Sunday National League baseball game, Cincinnati Reds beat St Louis Cardinals 5-1
1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki signed, ends 1st Sino-Japanese War (1894-95)
1900 7 high chiefs of American Samoa sign Instrument of Cession
1905 US Supreme court judges maximum work day unconstitutional
1907 11,745 immigrants arrive at Ellis Island NY
1912 1st unofficial gold record (Al Jolson's "Ragging The Baby To Sleep")
1920 American Professional Football Association forms (NFL)
1923 Longest National League opening game, Phillies & Dodgers tie 5-5 in 14
1924 Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures & Louis B Mayer Company merged to form MGM
1925 New York Yankee Babe Ruth has ulcer surgery
1925 Paul Painlevé follows Edouard Herriot on as French premier
1927 Japan's Wakarsoeki government falls/Baron Tanaka becomes premier
1930 Abkhazian ASSR established in Georgian SSR
1932 Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia ends slavery
1933 Chicago Bears win their 1st NFL Game beating New York Giants 23-21
1934 The new Fenway Park opens, Washington Senators beat Red Sox 6-5
1935 Provincial-National elections (Musserts NSB achieves 7.9%/44 chairs)
1937 Cartoon characters Daffy Duck, Elmer J Fudd & Petunia Pig, debut
1939 Joe Louis KOs Jack Roper in 1 for heavyweight boxing title
1939 Samuel Nathaniel Behrman's "No Time for Comedy", premieres in NYC
1939 Stalin signs British-France-Russian anti-nazi pact
1941 Office of Price Administration established (to handle rationing)
1941 British troop land in Iraq/Yugoslavia; surrender to Nazi's
1942 12 Lancasters bombs MAN-factory in Augsburg
1942 Operations begin to destroy Sobibor Concentration Camp
1943 Admiral Yamamoto flies from Truk to Rabaul
1943 SS-Lieutenant-General Jürgen Stoop arrives in Warsaw
1945 8th Air Force bombs Dresden
1945 German occupiers flood Wieringermeer Netherlands
1945 Mussolini flees from Salò to Milan
1945 US troops lands in Mindanao
1946 Last French troops leave Syria (National Day)
1946 Syria declares independence from French administration
1947 Jackie Robinson bunts for his 1st major league hit
1951 New York Yankee Mickey Mantle's 1st game, he goes 1 for 4
1953 Mickey Mantle hits a 565' (172 meter) homerun in Washington DC's Griffith Stadium
1955 Betty Jameson wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open
1956 USSR's Cominform (Parliament) dissolves
1956 Willie Mosconi sinks 150 consecutive balls in a billiard tournament
1956 Bulgaria premier Tchervenkov resigns
1956 Kominform disbands
1956 Premium Savings Bonds introduced in Great Britain
1958 Brussel's (Belgium) World Fair opens
1960 American Samoa sets up a constitutional government
1960 Cleveland Indians trade Rocky Colavito to Tigers for Harvey Kuenn
1961 1,400 Cuban exiles land in Bay of Pigs attempt to overthrow Castro
1961 33rd Academy Awards - "Apartment", Burt Lancaster & Liz Taylor win
1964 Ford Mustang formally introduced ($2368 base)
1964 Jerrie Mock becomes 1st woman to fly solo around the world
1964 "Cafe Crown" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 3 performances
1964 "High Spirits" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 375 performances
1964 1st game at Shea Stadium, New York Mets lose to Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3
1966 100th international soccer meet between Netherlands-Belgium (3-1)
1966 Carol Mann wins LPGA Raleigh Ladies Golf Invitational
1967 Shortwave Radio New York Worldwide goes back on the air after a week off
1967 Surveyor 3 launched; soft lands on Moon, April 20
1968 A's 1st game in Oakland-Alameda Stadium, lose 4-1 to Baltimore Orioles
1968 "Fade Out-Fade In" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 72 performances
1969 Czechoslovakia's Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubcek deposed
1969 Montréal Expos Bill Stoneman no-hits Phillies, 7-0
1969 Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Senator Robert F Kennedy
1969 The Band (formerly The Hawks), perform their 1st concert
1969 Bernadette Devlin elected to British House of Commons
1970 Apollo 13 limps back safely, Beech-built oxygen tank no help
1970 Paul McCartney's 1st solo album "McCartney" is released
1971 Egypt, Libya & Syria form federation (FAR)
1971 People's Republic Bangladesh forms, under sheik Mujib ur-Rahman
1972 Kiteman attempting to throw out 1st ball in Phillies' Veterans Stadium crashes into the centerfield seats
1972 1st Boston Women's Marathon won by Nina Kuscsik of New York in 3:10:26
1972 76th Boston Marathon won by Olavi Suomalainen of Finland in 2:15:39
1972 Revised Dutch constitution proclaimed
1973 2nd Boston Women's Marathon won by Jacqueline Hansen of CA in 3:05:59
1973 77th Boston Marathon won by Jon Anderson of Oregon in 2:16:03
1974 Ted Bundy victim Susan Rancourt disappears from Central Washington State College, Ellensburg WA
1974 Moslem fundamentalists assault military academy in Heliopolis Egypt
1975 Khmer Rouge captures Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Kampuchea National Day)
1975 Pittsburgh Penguins 6-New York Islanders 4-Quarterfinals-Penguins hold 3-0 lead
1975 Phnom Penh fell to Communist insurgents, ending Cambodia's 5-year war
1976 National League greatest comeback, trailing 12-1 the Phillies win 18-16 in 10, Mike Schmidt hits 4 consecutive homeruns
1977 "I Love My Wife" opens at Barrymore Theater NYC for 864 performances
1977 Christian-Democrats win Belgium parliamentary election
1977 Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Women's International Golf Tournament
1978 63,500,000 shares traded on New York stock exchange (record)
1978 7th Boston Women's Marathon won by Gayle Barron of Georgia in 2:44:52
1978 82nd Boston Marathon won by Bill Rodgers of Massachusetts in 2:10:13
1978 Pulitzer prize awarded to Carl Sagan for "Dragons of Eden"
1979 Brian Clark's "Whose Life is it Anyway?", premieres in London
1981 Isle Potvin's 3 playoff power-play goals tie NHL record vs Oilers
1981 Ranger's Anders Hedberg is 2nd to score on a Stanley Cup penalty shot
1982 Canada adopts its constitution
1982 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1983 1st National Coin Week begins
1983 In Warsaw, police route 1,000 Solidarity supporters
1983 India entered space age launching SLV-3 rocket
1983 Islanders tie NHL record with 3 shorthanded playoff goals vs Rangers; Rangers 7-Islanders 6-Patrick Division Finals-Islanders hold 2-1 lead; Wayne Gretzky scores 7 goals
1983 Nolan Ryan strikes out his 3,500th batter
1983 Grete Waltz runs female world record marathon (2:25:29)
1983 Lynn Adams wins LPGA Combanks Orlando Golf Classic
1984 Braves pitcher Pascual Perez suspended due to cocaine usage
1984 Libyan embassy demonstration, 1 shot dead
1986 IBM produces 1st megabit-chip
1986 Netherlands & Scilly Islands sign peace treaty (war of 1651)
1986 Pulitzer prize awarded to Larry McMurtry for "Lonesome Dove"
1987 Julius Erving becomes the 3rd NBA player to score 30,000 points
1987 Richard Wilbur appointed as US poet laureate
1987 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1988 Ethiopian Belayneh Densimo runs world record marathon (2:06:50)
1988 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA AI Star/Centinela Hospital Golf Classic
1989 Maximum New York State unemployment benefits raised to $245 per week
1989 Soviet-US agreement allows Soviets to fight US pros
1989 18th Boston Women's Marath won by Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway in 2:24:33
1989 93rd Boston Marathon won by Abebe Mekonen of Ethiopia in 2:09:06
1989 Polish labor union granted legal status
1990 Gas explodes on passenger train in Kumrahar India, 80 die
1991 Railroad workers go on strike in the US
1991 Dow Jones closes above 3,000 for 1st time (3,004.46)
1993 Police officers found guilty of violating Rodney King's civil rights
1993 STS-56 (Discovery) lands
1994 "Little More Magic" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 30 performances
1994 "Twilight - Los Angeles 1992" opens at Cort Theater NYC for 72 performances
1994 55th PGA Seniors Golf Championship Lee Trevino wins
1994 Aruba government of Oduber falls
1994 Jennie Garth weds Dan Clark
1994 Val Skinner wins LPGA Atlanta Women's Golf Championship
1995 24th Boston Women's Marathon won by Uta Pippig of Germany in 2:25:11
1995 99th Boston Marathon won by Cosmas Ndeti of Kenya in 2:09:22
1997 John Bell, 115, recieves new pacemaker
1997 New Jersey Devil Martin Brodeur is 2nd NHL goalie to score in a playoff game

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

American Samoa : Flag Day (1900)
Burma : New Years
Democratic Kampuchea : Day of the Great Victory
Japan : Children's Protection Day
New York NY : Verrazano Day (1524)
Syria : Evacuation Day/Independence Day (1946)
Massachusetts, Maine : Patriots Day-Boston Marathon run (1775) - - - - - ( Monday )

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Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Anicetus, pope [150-66], martyr

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Religious History
1640 Reorus Torkillus, 41, from Sweden, landed at Fort Christie in Delaware, making him the first Lutheran pastor to arrive in North America.
1776 English founder of Methodism John Wesley wrote in a letter: 'You have now such faith as is necessary for your living unto God. As yet you are not called to die. When you are, you shall have faith for this also.'
1833 English historian and statesman Thomas B. Macaulay declared: 'The whole history of Christianity proves that she has little indeed to fear from persecution as a foe, but much to fear from persecution as an ally.'
1920 Birth of Robert G. Bratcher, principal translator of the American Bible Society's 1966-1976 "Good News Bible" (also known as "Today's English Version").
1960 Swedish statesman and Secretary General of the U.N. Dag Hammarskjld noted in his journal "Markings": 'Forgiveness breaks the chain of causality because he who forgives you -- out of love - - takes upon himself the consequences of what you have done. Forgiveness, therefore, always entails a sacrifice.'

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Thought for the day :
"Thrift is a wonderful virtue - in an ancestor."

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS North Carolina (BB-55)

North Carolina class battleship
Displacement. 35,000 t.
Lenght. 728'9"
Beam. 108'4"
Draft. 26'8"
Speed. 27 k
Complement. 1,880
Armament (as built). 9 16", 20 5", 16 1.1", 12 .50 cal. mg.

The USS North Carolina (BB-55) was laid down 27 October 1937 by New York Naval Shipyard; launched 13 June 1940 sponsored by Miss Isabel Hoey, daughter of Governor of North Carolina; and commissioned at New York 9 April 1941, Captain Olaf M. Hustvedt in command.

First commissioned of the Navy's modern battleships, North Carolina received so much attention during her fitting out and trials that she won the enduring nickname "Show boat". North Carolina completed her shakedown in the Caribbean prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, and after intensive war exercises, entered the Pacific 10 June 1942.

North Carolina and the Navy began the long island-hopping campaign for victory over the Japanese by landing marines on Guadalcanal and Tulagi 7 August 1942. After screening Enterprise (CV-6) in the Air Support Force for the invasion, North Carolina guarded the carrier during operations protecting supply and communication lines southeast of the Solomons. Enemy carriers were located 24 August, and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons erupted. The Americans struck first, sinking carrier Ryujo; Japanese retaliation came as bombers and torpedo planes, covered by fighters, roared in on Enterprise and North Carolina. In an 8-minute action, North Carolina shot down between 7 and 14 enemy aircraft, her gunners standing to their guns despite the jarring detonation of 7 near-misses. One man was killed by a strafer, but the ship was undamaged. The protection North Carolina could offer Enterprise was limited as the speedy carrier drew ahead of her. Enterprise took three direct hits while her aircraft severely damaged sea-plane carrier CHITOSE and hit other Japanese ships. Since the Japanese lost about 100 aircraft in this action, the United States won control of the air and averted a threatened Japanese reinforcement of Guadalcanal.

North Carolina now gave her mighty strength to protect Saratoga (CV-3). Twice during the following weeks of support to marines ashore on Guadalcanal, North Carolina was attacked by Japanese submarines. On 6 September, she maneuvered successfully, dodging a torpedo which passed 300 yards off the port beam. Nine days later, sailing with Hornet (CV-8), North Carolina took a torpedo portside, 20 feet below her waterline, and 6 of her men were killed. But skillful damage control by her crew and the excellence of her construction prevented disaster; a 5.6 degree list was righted in as many minutes, and she maintained her station in a formation at 26 knots.

After repairs at Pearl Harbor, North Carolina screened Enterprise and Saratoga and covered supply and troop movements in the Solomons for much of the next year. She was at Pearl Harbor in March and April 1943 to receive advanced fire control and radar gear, and again in September, to prepare for the Gilbert Islands operation.

With Enterprise, in the Northern Covering Group, North Carolina sortied from Pearl Harbor 10 November for the assault on Makin, Tarawa, and Abemama. Air strikes began 19 November, and for 10 days mighty air blows were struck to aid marines ashore engaged in some of the bloodiest fighting of the Pacific War. Supporting the Gilberts campaign and preparing the assault on the Marshalls, North Carolina's highly accurate big guns bombarded Nauru 8 December, destroying air facilities, beach defense revetments, and radio installations. Later that month, she protected Bunker Hill (CV-17) in strikes against shipping and airfields at Kavieng, New Ireland and in January 1944 joined Fast Carrier Striking Force 68, Rear Admiral Marc Mitscher in command, at Funafuti, Ellice Islands.

During the assault and capture of the Marshall Islands, North Carolina illustrated the classic battleship functions of World War II. She screened carriers from air attack in preinvasion strikes as well as during close air support of troops ashore, beginning with the initial strikes on Kwajalein 29 January. She fired on targets at Namur and Roi, where she sank a cargo ship in the lagoon. The battlewagon then protected carriers in the massive air strike on Truk, the Japanese fleet base in the Carolines, where 39 large ships were left sunk, burning, or uselessly beached, and 211 planes were destroyed, another 104 severely damaged. Next she fought off an air attack against the flattops near the Marianas 21 February splashing an enemy plane, and the next day again guarded the carriers in air strikes on Saipan Tinian, and Guam. During much of this period she was flagship for Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Willis A. Lee, Jr., Commander Battleships Pacific.

With Majuro as her base, North Carolina joined in the attacks on Palau and Woleai 31 March - 1 April, shooting down another enemy plane during the approach phase. On Woleai, 150 enemy aircraft were destroyed along with ground installations. Support for the capture of the Hollandia area of New Guinea followed (13-24 April); then another major raid on Truk (29-30 April), during which North Carolina splashed yet another enemy aircraft. At Truk, North Carolina's planes were catapulted to rescue an American aviator downed off the reef. After one plane had turned over on landing and the other, having rescued all the airmen, had been unable to take off with so much weight, Tang (SS-306) saved all involved. The next day North Carolina destroyed coast defense guns, antiaircraft batteries, and airfields at Ponape. The battleship then sailed to repair her rudder at Pearl Harbor.

Returning to Majuro, North Carolina sortied with the Enterprise group 6 June for the Marianas. During the assault on Saipan, North Carolina not only gave her usual protection to the carriers, but starred in bombardments on the west coast of Saipan covering minesweeping operations, and blasted the harbor at Tanapag, sinking several small craft and destroying enemy ammunition, fuel, and supply dumps. At dusk on invasion day, 15 June, the battleship downed one of the only two Japanese aircraft able to penetrate the combat air patrol.

On 18 June, North Carolina cleared the islands with the carriers to confront the Japanese 1st Mobile Fleet, tracked by submarines and aircraft for the previous four days. Next day began the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and she took station in the battle line that fanned out from the carriers. American aircraft succeeded in downing most of the Japanese raiders before they reached the American ships, and North Carolina shot down two of the few which got through.

On that day and the next American air and submarine attacks, with the fierce antiaircraft fire of such ships as North Carolina, virtually ended any future threat from Japanese naval aviation: three carriers were sunk, two tankers damaged so badly they were scuttled, and all but 36 of the 430 planes with which the Japanese had begun the battle were destroyed. The loss of trained aviators was irreparable, as was the loss of skilled aviation maintenance men in the carriers. Not one American ship was lost, and only a handful of American planes failed to return to their carriers.

After supporting air operations in the Marianas for another two weeks, North Carolina sailed for overhaul at Puget Sound Navy Yard. She rejoined the carriers off Ulithi 7 November as a furious typhoon struck the group. The ships fought through the storm and carried out air strikes against western Leyte, Luzon, and the Visayas to support the struggle for Leyte. During similar strikes later in the month, North Carolina fought off her first kamikaze attack.

As the pace of operations in the Philippines intensified, North Carolina guarded carriers while their planes kept the Japanese aircraft on Luzon airfields from interfering with the invasion convoys which assaulted Mindoro 15 December. Three days later the task force again sailed through a violent typhoon, which capsized several destroyers. With Ulithi now her base, North Carolina screened wide-ranging carrier strikes on Formosa, the coast of Indo-China and China, and the Ryukyus in January, and similarly supported strikes on Honshu the next month. Hundreds of enemy aircraft were destroyed which might otherwise have resisted the assault on Iwo Jima, where North Carolina bombarded and provided call fire for the assaulting Marines through 22 February.

Strikes on targets in the Japanese home islands laid the ground-work for the Okinawa assault, in which North Carolina played her dual role, of bombardment and carrier screening. Here, on 6 April, she downed three kamikazes, but took a 5-inch hit from a friendly ship during the melee of antiaircraft fire. Three men were killed and 44 wounded. Next day came the last desperate sortie of the Japanese Fleet, as Yamato, the largest battleship in the world, came south with her attendants. Yamato, a cruiser, and a destroyer were sunk, three other destroyers damaged so badly that they were scuttled, and the remaining four destroyers returned to the fleet base at Sasebo badly damaged. On the same day North Carolina splashed an enemy plane, and she shot down two more 17 April.

After overhaul at Pearl Harbor, North Carolina rejoined the carriers for a month of air strikes and naval bombardment on the Japanese home islands. Along with guarding the carriers, North Carolina fired on major industrial plants near Tokyo, and her scout plane pilots performed a daring rescue of a downed carrier pilot under heavy fire in Tokyo Bay.

North Carolina sent both sailors and members of her Marine Detachment ashore for preliminary occupation duty in Japan immediately at the close of the war, and patrolled off the coast until anchoring in Tokyo Bay 5 September to reembark her men. Carrying passengers from Okinawa, North Carolina sailed for home reaching the Panama Canal 8 October. She anchored at Boston 17 October, and after overhaul at New York exercised in New England waters and carried Naval Academy midshipmen for a summer training cruise in the Caribbean.

After inactivation, she decommissioned at New York 27 June 1947. Struck from the Navy List 1 June 1960, North Carolina was transferred to the people of North Carolina 6 September 1961. On 29 April 1962 she was dedicated at Wilmington, N.C., as a memorial to North Carolinans of all services killed in World War II. Here splendidly maintained and most appropriately displayed-including a spectacular "sound and light" presentation-"Showboat" still serves mightily to strengthen and inspire the nation.

North Carolina received 12 battle stars for World War II service.

Big Guns in action!

[Pippin]

Good Morning, Sam!

[Pippin]

Good Morning, Spookie!

[Pippin]

Good Morning, Aomagrat!

[SpookBrat]

(((((good morning hugs)))))

[Jen]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

To be removed from this list, please send me a blank private reply with "REMOVE" in the subject line! Thanks! Jen

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!

[Pippin]

((((HUGS))))! Backatya!

[Pippin]

Hi, (((JEN)))!

(NHH)

[SCDogPapa]

Mornin' Jen,,,, :)

[Reaganwuzthebest]

The Bay of Pigs was a great tragedy not only for the US by its failure, but for the Cuban people living under Castro all these years.

Too bad, if Eisenhower had been president at the time there would have been no hesitation to get the job done right.

[manna]

Present!

[katze]

How well I remember this. As a young Army wife, I thought I'd been abandoned after not seeing my husband for more than a week; he was part of the 101st Airborne Div, and while I've forgotten the term for it, he and his fellow troops were on alert and locked in for nearly 2 wks, until the crisis was over.