Free Republic

In the pre-dawn hours of 30 December, Ensign Frank M. "Fuzzy" Fisler and his crew made their way through a blacked-out Pearl Harbor to the seaplane base. Their briefed flight plan was to take their PBY-5 Catalina out 500 miles on a heading of 258 degrees, turn right 90 degrees and fly 50 miles, then head home. Weather was forecasted to be rough with a winter storm passing through, churning up 30 to 40-foot seas. [...] By 1300 hours, the crew had finished their 50-mile cross-leg and made their turn for home when one of the men saw a smoke...

After World War I, the Joint Planning Committee (the predecessor to today's Joint Chiefs of Staff) created a series of strategies should we find ourselves at war against various countries. War Plan BLACK was for a war with Germany, ORANGE for Japan, GREEN for Mexico, GOLD for France, YELLOW for China, several colors for operations in Central and South America or the Carribean, and the list keeps going. We even had War Plan RED for war with the United Kingdom in addition to several sub-plans for wars against British territories like Australia, Canada, Ireland, and India. Plus, there was War...

Seventy-five years ago, at the Battle of the Bulge (fought from Dec. 16, 1944, to Jan. 25, 1945), the United States suffered more casualties than in any other battle in its history. Some 19,000 Americans were killed, 47,500 wounded and 23,000 reported missing. The American and British armies were completely surprised by a last-gasp German offensive, given that Allied forces were near the Rhine River and ready to cross into Germany to finish off a crippled Third Reich. The Americans had been exhausted by a rapid 300-mile summer advance to free much of France and Belgium. In their complacence, they...

On page 8 is a brief story that has become somewhat of a legend about the defenders of Wake Island. When Hawaii radioed the garrison asking what they needed after defeating the initial assault by the Japanese invasion fleet on 11 December, the response was "Send us more Japs!" "Send us" and "more Japs" was added to the beginning and end of the message, but that was only to confuse Japanese code breakers. "None of us was that much of a damn fool," James Devereux (commanding officer of the 1st Defense Battalion) said after the war, "We already had more...

Today's post is in honor of Gunnery Sgt. Justin E. Schmalstieg who was killed while defusing a roadside bomb he in Afghanistan's Helmand province on this day in 2010. The 28-year-old Pittsburgh native had served three tours in Iraq and was on his first deployment to Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Pendleton, Calif. 1791: The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States, become law. 1862: Union Army Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside ends his...

Headlines from today’s edition, which can be read below: Defenders of Luzon Check JapsEnemy Loses 15 VesselsGermans Flee as Soviet Drives OnC.A. Wills, Veteran of Civil War, Dies; Native of CountyU.S. May Expect Air Attacks Along East, West Seaboards Columbus Alexander "Alec" Wills (see page 2) served in Col. William Jeffers' 8th Missouri Cavalry, which the Mexican-American War veteran raised in the fall of 1862 and recruited heavily from Cape Girardeau County. They rode with Confederate Generals John Marmaduke and Sterling Price, participating in battles across Missouri and Arkansas. As the article states, Wills lived his entire life on the...

The United States' air and naval assets in the Philippines were mostly neutralized in the first 48 hours of the war, so smaller Japanese landings and bombing raids across Luzon Island are met with little resistance. American commanders correctly suspect that these small-scale landings merely diversions for the upcoming main assault. Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma's 43,000-man 14th Army stages at Formosa, Palau, and the Ryukyu Islands, gearing up for their main landing. Left without air or naval support, American and Filipino ground forces are now trapped with no supply lines or means of escape. Headlines from today's edition, which...

Although the Wehrmacht's Soviet invasion is now doomed and he is under no obligation to declare war if Japan is the aggressor, Adolf Hitler foolishly declares war on the United States, setting Nazi Germany up for a two-front war. The United States House of Representatives and Senate quickly pass a resolution declaring war on Germany and Italy. Future Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller becomes one of the first -- if not, the first -- professional baseball player to enlist. Headlines found in today's edition: U.S. to War on Axis PowersBoth Houses Vote to FightJap Battleship is Sunk by U.S.Jap...

Having just crippled the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attack several other locations in the Pacific. Also, Japanese bombers sink Britain's battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse in the South China Sea. Headlines in today's edition: U.S. Navy Fighting off ManilaJaps Sink 2 British ShipsAmericans Sink Japan Transport; Others are HitRoosevelt Warns Nation Faces Long, Hard WarFBI Moves to Round Up Dangerous Aliens in U.S.Blitz Warfare on the Ocean; Soon to Know What It Is LikeDemocrats Pass Up Party Politics for National Victory

Fearing they will be next following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, jittery cities along the U.S. and Canadian West Coast begin conducting blackouts and in some cases sound alarms and report sightings of enemy warplanes overhead. Meanwhile, America waits anxiously for the next shoe to drop: a German declaration of war. Headlines in today's edition: Air Raid Alarms for New York, BostonEnemy Warplanes Over Frisco BayFleet of Planes at Sea ReportedSeattle Riot Darkens CityU.S. on Lookout for German MoveGerman Help for Japan Promised by Late WinterPan-American Nations Back U.S. in WarOfficers in Japanese Army Do Not Expect to Win...

7th Cavalry, 1st Air Cavalry Division

When the battleship USS Oklahoma turned over just 15 minutes after being hit by the first Japanese torpedo on 7 December 1941, 429 sailors and Marines were either already dead -- or soon would be. Men that somehow survived the initial nightmare of torpedoes, bombs, shrapnel, bullets, and fire had to swim through another level of hell to reach the relative safety of land. Those that remained inside the flooding ship would spend days in pitch-black darkness with no food, water, and what breathable air they had was being slowly used up while they hoped for rescue. 78 years later,...

Today's post is in honor of the 17 soldiers killed when two UH-60L Blackhawk helicopters collided over Mosul, Iraq on this day in 2003. Lost were Chief Warrant Officer 2 Scott A. Saboe (33, of Willow Lake, S.D.), 2nd Lt. Jeremy L. Wolfe (27, of Wisconsin), Spc. Jeremiah J. DiGiovanni (21, of Tylertown, Miss.), Spc. Ryan T. Baker (24, of Brown Mills, N.J.), Spc. William D. Dusenbery (30, of Fairview Heights, Ill.), and Sgt. John W. Russell (26, of Portland Texas) with the 4th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment. Killed in the second helicopter: Warrant Officer 1 Erik C. Kesterson (29,...

Heading into the weekend we were anticipating a top ten that would deliver around $110 million, as it turns out the top ten currently falls just short of a combined $100 million as Lionsgate's Midway delivered a surprise #1 finish, topping WB's Doctor Sleep, which slipped to second and well below expectations. [...] At the top of the weekend box office is Lionsgate's Midway, finishing ahead of expectations with an estimated $17.5 million from 3,242 locations. The film also scored an "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences and should expect a strong performance over Veteran's Day tomorrow that should push...

On the morning of 7 December 1941, nine Japanese torpedoes struck the battleship USS Oklahoma, anchored on Battleship Row during the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The massive ship capsized in just 15 minutes, trapping hundreds of sailors and Marines inside. Crews worked feverishly to rescue the survivors, which could be heard tapping the inside of the ship's hull for the next three days. Unsung heroes like civilian dock worker Julio DeCastro raced against the clock, cutting through sections of the hull to pull out dozens of men. Two Oklahoma sailors earned the Medal of Honor: Seaman James Ward and...

If you had to name the ten most-famous Americans ever, who would be on your list? Better yet: if you could go back in time with any of them and have a beer, who would you pick? John Glenn would have to be at the top of my list. He flew combat missions in World War II and Korea, flew alongside baseball great Ted Williams, was one of the original Mercury astronauts, the first American to orbit the earth, was a politician, ran for president, then became the oldest man in space. Man, wouldn't you just kill to hear some...

You may never have heard of the Hansen brothers, but twins Paul and Leslie own the distinction of being the only twins to earn the Navy Cross. In fact, they fought side-by-side when they accomplished the feat. On 26 December 1943 the First Marine Division poured onto the beaches of Cape Gloucester, New Britain. As the Marines worked their way into the jungle, the amtraks (amphibious tractors) of the 1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion ferried in their ammunition and equipment. One of the first amtraks ashore was commanded by 23-year-old Philadelphia native Sgt. Robert J. Oswald Jr., with Pfc. Paul Hansen...

While researching the Battle of Cape Gloucester, I came across this photo of the 7th Marine Regiment's commanders in January 1944. Granted, any group of officers that includes Chesty Puller (second from the left) has an epic advantage over the enemy, but when you consider these officers' service records, it really shows how stacked this unit was, and perhaps why the 7th Marines were called the "fightingest outfit in the world." One Marine officer enlisted during World War I and served as a drill instructor (Frisbie)... two fought in Nicaragua (Puller and Frisbie)... Frisbie also faced rebels in the Dominican...

On the evening of 15 October 1956 a Pan American Airlines Stratocruiser named Clipper Sovereign of the Skies lifted off from Honolulu, headed to San Francisco on a 2,000-mile flight. 24 passengers and seven crew were flying the final leg of their around-the-world flight, but still had 2,000 miles of open ocean to cross. 4 hours, 38 minutes into the nine-hour flight Capt. Richard Ogg climbed from 13,000 feet to 21,000. After leveling off, Clipper‘s Number 1 engine started spinning out of control. The cockpit suddenly jolts and the high-pitched noise of the runaway engine can be heard inside the...

Today’s post is in honor of three 716th Military Police Battalion soldiers killed during a firefight in Karbala, Iraq on this date in 2003. Killed were Lt. Col. Kim S. Orlando (43, of Tennessee), SSgt. Joseph P. Bellavia (28, Wakefield, Mass.), and Cpl. Sean R. Grilley (24, San Bernardino, Calif.) Orlando was battalion commander and had served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Seven U.S. soldiers were wounded in the attack. 1821: The schooner USS Enterprise (the third of 12 so-named Continental and U.S. Naval vessels) intercepts a flotilla of four ships led by the infamous Capt. Charles Gibbs as...