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Today in US military history: Chuck Yeager becomes an "ace in a day"
Unto the Breach ^ | Oct. 12, 2018 | Chris Carter

Posted on 10/12/2018 6:28:11 AM PDT by fugazi

Today's post is in honor of Capt. Dennis L. Pintor, who gave his life for our country on this day in 2004 in Baghdad, Iraq. The 30-year-old native of Lima, Ohio was killed when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. Pintor was assigned to the 20th Engineer Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. Also killed in the attack were Spc. Jaime Moreno and Spc. Michael S. Weger.

1862: Confederate cavalry commander Gen. James Ewell Brown "J.E.B." Stuart completes his "second ride" around Union Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac.

1870: Five years after surrendering his Army of Northern Virginia to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Gen. Robert E. Lee passes away after suffering a stroke. The revered general served his country 44 years, fighting alongside Grant in the Mexican-American War, and against him in the Civil War.

1944: U.S. Army Air Force 1st Lt. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager and his 357th Fighter Group surprise a flight of 22 Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters near Hanover, Germany. Yeager's P-51D "Mustang", named Glamorous Glenn II, Yeager will score five of the group's eight victories - two without firing a shot - becoming an "ace in a day." Yeager finishes World War II with 11.5 kills, and will go on to fly 127 missions during the Vietnam War. The former Army private will retire a Brigadier General in 1975, but continues flying for the Air Force and NASA.

That same day, aircraft from seven U.S. aircraft carriers of Carrier Task Force 38 attack targets on Japanese-held Formosa (modern-day Taiwan).

1945: President (and former artillery officer during World War I) Harry S. Truman awards the Medal of Honor to Cpl. Desmond Doss for saving the lives of 75 wounded soldiers on Okinawa's Hacksaw

(Excerpt) Read more at victoryinstitute.net ...


TOPICS: History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: militaryhistory
I seem to remember reading in his biography that Chuck Yeager learned to fly before he learned how to drive.
1 posted on 10/12/2018 6:28:11 AM PDT by fugazi
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To: ro_dreaming; FreedomPoster; mass55th; abb; AlaskaErik; dis.kevin

Ping list


2 posted on 10/12/2018 6:28:43 AM PDT by fugazi
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To: fugazi

JEB Stuart literally rode circles around Maclellan.


3 posted on 10/12/2018 6:52:51 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: IronJack

1870: “Strike the Tents”.


4 posted on 10/12/2018 6:57:42 AM PDT by Does so (If Trump Colluded with Russians, Why Did Hillary Win The Popular Vote?)
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To: fugazi
Side note, today in 1988, US Military History, I became a United States Sailor. Thirty (30!) years ago today, I left home in the vehicle of a relative stranger, going to MEPS Houston in the early morning hours, going through a physical, lots of paperwork, a swearing in ceremony, and finally taking a solo taxi ride (and my first on the Hardy Toll Road) to IAH to board a flight to Orlando, and NRTC. Eventually going to NTTC Corry Station for 9 months for A and C schools, then over to NRRF Imperial Beach. Today is the anniversary of the day I officially joined the Navy and became a sailor. Semper Fortis! PS - See my little ladies, I told you your dad was kind of cute back in the day!



https://imgur.com/a/WOD4v8U
5 posted on 10/12/2018 7:11:44 AM PDT by ro_dreaming (Chesterton, 'Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It's been found hard and not tried')
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To: ro_dreaming

Thanks for your service!


6 posted on 10/12/2018 7:38:01 AM PDT by fugazi
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To: fugazi

Thank you!!


7 posted on 10/12/2018 7:45:48 AM PDT by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: fugazi
I seem to remember reading in his biography that Chuck Yeager learned to fly before he learned how to drive

That's not unusual in aviation because of driving laws. General Yeager probably knew how to drive, but was unlicensed, the same situation with my son, "Ace." He had to ride his bike to the airport to "solo." He had not completed the academic requirements yet.

8 posted on 10/12/2018 8:00:34 AM PDT by Ace's Dad ("John James for US Senate. Dump Debbie!! Let's Fly, Michigan.")
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To: Ace's Dad

He grew up dirt poor in West Virginia, so it’s possible he wasn’t around vehicles, but it would be interesting to know for sure. Fascinating that our country lept forward in technology so fast during Yeager’s life that we went from using animals for most of our transportation needs to flying many times faster than the speed of sound, and then created rockets to shoot us to the moon.


9 posted on 10/12/2018 8:12:32 AM PDT by fugazi
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To: fugazi

Question from ignorance: how does a fighter pilot drop an enemy plane without firing a shot?


10 posted on 10/12/2018 8:16:18 AM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: chajin

Good question... When your tactics force them to crash. Without having looked at the report of Yeager’s actions, the Luftwaffe pilots probably dove low for cover and ran into the ground while trying to evade him, or its also possible the two planes collided.


11 posted on 10/12/2018 9:00:00 AM PDT by fugazi
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To: fugazi

Yeager was the first man to shoot down a jet. And he did it in a P-51.

He caught an ME-262 on short final and “dirtied-up” for landing. Gear down, flaps down and throttled back. Early turbojet engines had lots of “turbine lag,” which made them notoriously slow to spool up. So it was high on drag and low on power and it was going to require several seconds to change that.

It was a sitting duck. And he showed it no mercy.


12 posted on 10/12/2018 10:12:47 AM PDT by Paal Gulli
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To: fugazi
the Luftwaffe pilots probably dove low for cover and ran into the ground while trying to evade him, or its also possible the two planes collided.

OK, that makes sense; thank you!

13 posted on 10/12/2018 10:37:57 AM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: Does so

Yep. Sad day for Honor.


14 posted on 10/12/2018 10:47:53 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: fugazi

Thanks, just cant believe it’s been 30 years since I went in. And, I’d do it again, if I could.


15 posted on 10/12/2018 2:23:46 PM PDT by ro_dreaming (Chesterton, 'Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It's been found hard and not tried')
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