Posted on 05/19/2003 3:10:13 AM PDT by snippy_about_it
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are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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WELCOME HOME HUGS Senior Airman Mike Cordano, from the 111th Fighter Wing, Pennsylvania Air National Guard, Willow Grove, Pa., gets hugs from his children, after returning home from his deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Air Foce photo by Master Sgt. Patrick Cashin INCH BY INCH U.S. Air Force crews from Altus Air Force Base, Okla., and Travis Air Force Base, Calif., load a tractor trailer into a C-5 in preparation to be delivered to an undisclosed forward location in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. With clearance coming as close as four inches at one point, the trailer took approximately five hours to complete loading. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Kristi Hare DEMONSTRATION Ex-Iraqi army officers demand pay in a peaceful demonstration outside a government building in Mosul, Iraq, occupied by the U.S. Army in the morning of May 15. U.S. Army photo by Army Pfc. Mary Rose Xenikakis HUMAN FLAG Students and faculty of Akers Elementary School aboard NAS Lemoore show their appreciation for the military forces May 13 by constructing a human U.S. flag. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Gregory E. Badger. U.S. Army photo by Army Pfc. Mary Rose Xenikakis SECURITY CHECK A policewoman of the 3rd Infantry Division assists checkpoint operations in Baghdad, Iraq. The 3rd Infantry Division military police are helping bring security and stability to Baghdad streets. U.S. Army photo by Spc. James B. Smith Jr.
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Today's classic warship, USS Missouri (BB-11)
Maine class battleship
Displacement. 13,500 t.
Length. 393'11"
Beam. 72'2"
Draft. 25'8"
Speed. 18.15 k.
Complement 592
Armament. 4 12 ", 16 6 ", 6 3 ". 8 3-pdrs.
The USS Missouri was laid down by Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Newport News, Va., 7 February 1900; launched 28 December 1901; sponsored by Mrs. Edson Galludet, daughter of Senator Francis Marion Cockrell of Missouri, and commiss ioned 1 December 1903, Capt. William S. Cowles in command.
Assigned to the North Atlantic Fleet, Missouri left Norfolk 4 February 1904 for trials off the Virginia Capes and fleet operations in the Caribbean. On 13 April, during target practice, a flareback from the port gun in her after turret ignited a powder charge and set off two others. No explosion occurred but the rapid burning of the powder suffocated 36 of the crew. Prompt action prevented the loss of the warship and three of her crew were awarded Medals of Honor for extraordinary heroism. After repairs at Newport News, Missouri sai led 9 June for duty In the Mediterranean from which she returned to New York 17 December.
Fleet operations along the east coast and in the Caribbean during the next years were highlighted by her relief to earthquake victims at Kingston, Jamaica, 17 to 19 January 1907. In April she took part in the Jamestown Exposition.
With the "Great White Fleet," Missouri sailed from Hampton Roads 16 December 1907, passing in review before President Theodore Roosevelt at the beginning of a world cruise which was to show the world that American naval might could penetrate any waters. Calling at ports in the Caribbean and along the east coast of South America, the fleet rounded Cape Horn to call in Peru and Mexico before arriving San Francisco 6 May 1908 for a gala visit in July the fleet turned west for Honolulu, New Zeal and, and Australia, arriving in Manila 2 October. The most tumultuous welcome yet came in Yokohama, and with a call in Amoy, China, the fleet began the passage home by way of Ceylon, Suez, and ports in the eastern Mediterranean. Departing Gibraltar 6 February 1909, the fleet was again reviewed by President Roosevelt upon its triumphant return to Hampton Roads 22 February. An important diplomatic mission had been carried out with the greatest success.
Placed in reserve at Boston 1 May 1910, Missouri recommissioned 1 June 1911 and resumed east coast and Caribbean operations with the Atlantic Fleet. In June 1912 she carried marines from New York to Cuba where they protected American interests during a rebellion. The next month the battleship carried midshipmen for training then decommissioned at Philadelphia 9 September 1912.
Missouri recommissioned 16 March 1914 for that summer's Naval Academy Practice Squadron's cruise to Italian and English ports. She returned to ordinary at Philadelphia 2 December 1914, but recommissioned 16 April 1915 to train midshipman in the Caribbean and on a cruise through the Panama Canal to California ports. She returned to the Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia 18 October 1915, recommissioned 2 May 1916, and again conducted training along the east coast and in the Caribbean until placed in ordinary for the winter at Philadelphia.
Upon the entry of the United Stated into World War I, Missouri recommissioned 23 April 1917, joined the Atlantic Fleet at Yorktown, Va., and operated as a training ship in the Chesapeake Bay area. On 26 August 1917 Rear Adm. Hugh Rodman broke his flag in Missouri as Commander, Division 2, Atlantic Fleet, and the warship continued to train thousands of recruits in engineering and gunnery for foreign service on warships and as armed guards for merchant vessels.
Following the Armistice, the battleship was attached to the Cruiser and Transport Force, departing Norfolk 18 February 1919 on the first of four voyages to Brest to return 3,278 U.S. troops to east coast ports. Missouri decommissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard 8 September 1919. She was sold to J. G. Hitner and W. F. Cutler of Philadelphia 26 January 1922 and scrapped in accordance with the treaty limiting naval armaments.
Duty in Baghdad
Army Spcs. Jacques Andrews and Adam Volkerding, infantrymen with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, ride on the back of a light medium tactical vehicle through a market area in southern Baghdad during a patrol. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jason B. Baker Army Sgt. Vic Zacharay, an infantryman with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, and his team clear a small farmhouse in Baghdad. The paratroopers were working with local police to locate rocket-propelled grenades suspected of being on the property. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jason B. Baker Army Sgt. Vic Zachary, an infantryman with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, talks to a group of Iraqi children during a stop on a patrol through a Baghdad neighborhood. Wherever American soldiers stop there is sure to be a crowd of children surrounding them. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jason B. Baker Army Spc. Jacques Andrews, an infantryman with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, and his team clear a small farmhouse in Baghdad. The paratroopers were working with local police to locate rocket-propelled grenades suspected of being on the property. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jason B. Baker Army Spc. Jacques Andrews, an infantryman with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, and his team clear a small farmhouse in Baghdad. The paratroopers were working with local police to locate rocket-propelled grenades suspected of being on the property. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jason B. Baker Army Spc. Adam Volkerding, an infantryman with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, prepares to move during a raid on a farm in a southern Baghdad suburb. The local police were informed there were RPGs on the property, and the paratroopers were called in to help remove the weapons. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jason B. Baker Army Spc. Adam Volkerding, an infantryman with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, climbs a wall to begin clearing a farmhouse in Baghdad. The paratroopers were working with local police to locate rocket-propelled grenades suspected of being on the property. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jason B. Baker Army Pvt. Jose Lopez, an infantryman with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, mans a .50 caliber heavy machine gun to maintain a presence at a local all-girl school in Baghdad. The students were being harassed when they were let from class and walking home. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jason B. Baker
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And the US Navy can still do it today.
LOL! That's for sure. Just filling in for her while she's out of town. Don't worry she'll be back.
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