Today in US military history: The first air strikes of Desert Storm, and US nukes fall on Spain

Unto the Breach ^ | Jan. 17, 2019 | Chris Carter

[fugazi]

Today’s post is in honor of Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher, a Naval F/A-18 aviator who was shot down by an Iraqi MiG on this day in 1991, becoming the first American casualty of Operation DESERT STORM. For years the fate of the 33-year-old from Kansas City, Mo. was unknown until Marines managed to track down his remains in 2009, which had been buried by Bedouins after being shot down 100 miles west of Baghdad. Speicher served with Strike Fighter Squadron 81 (VFA-18), the “Sunliners,” flying out of USS Saratoga (CV-60).

1781: Continental Army forces — including infantry, cavalry, dragoons (horse-mounted infantry), and militia – under the command of Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan, clash with a better-equipped, more-experienced force of British Army regulars and Loyalists under the command of Lt. Col. Banastre “Bloody Ban” Tarleton in a sprawling pastureland known as Hannah’s Cowpens in the South Carolina upcountry.

The Battle of Cowpens ends in a decisive victory for Morgan – who defeats Tarleton in a classic double-envelopment – and a near-irrevocable loss of men, equipment, and reputation for the infamous Tarleton and his “British Legion.”

1966: A nuclear-equipped B-52 bomber flying an Operation CHROME DOME airborne alert mission off the coast of Spain collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker during refueling, destroying both planes. Four B28 thermonuclear weapons fall from the sky; three landing near the village of Palomares and one sinks in the Mediterranean Sea in what is one of the worst nuclear disasters in U.S. military

[fugazi]

Ping List

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

The nuclear accident in Palomares, Spain resulted in a truly awful movie, “The Day the Fish Came Out” (1967), which incidentally included Candice Bergen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Fish_Came_Out

But the actual cleanup was very bizarre. Because nukes were involved, the Pentagon bought up all their primary crop of tomatoes, and everyone involved had to eat tomatoes three times a day to demonstrate to the locals that they were safe.

Since a staggering amount of manpower was used, most enlisted in the US military in Europe were rotated there at some point.

Several square miles of beach sand were scooped up, put into 55 gallon drums and shipped to Virginia, where it still likely remains. It was replaced by an equivalent amount of beach sand.

[dakine]

Very happy day when those F-111s took off from Taif...

[CrazyIvan]

There is a pretty good account of this event given in John Craven’s book “The Silent War”.

[real saxophonist]

I was in the Marine Corps during the Desert Shield/ Desert Storm era. I didn’t have to go over there, but I remember watching events unfold on TV, just like everyone else.

[fugazi]

Fascinating