Casualties - May 31, 2005

Condolences to the Family and Friends of the following Americans who lost their lives while in the pursuit of gaining freedom for others

United States Marines

First Sgt. Michael S. Barnhill, 39, of Folsom, Calif., died May 28 after his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device near Haqlaniyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the Marine Forces Reserve's 6th Engineer Support Battalion, 4th Force Service Support Group, Eugene, Ore. During Operation Iraqi Freedom his unit was attached to 2nd FSSG, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

Cpl. Jeffrey B. Starr, 22, of Snohomish, Wash., died May 30 from small-arms fire while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Ar Ramadi, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. During Operation Iraqi Freedom his unit was attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

United States Army

Staff Sgt. Victor M. Cortes III, 29, of Erie, Pa., died May 29 in Baghdad, Iraq of non-combat-related injuries. Cortes was assigned to the 703rd Forward Support Batttalion, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.

Weird News

We've all heard the question "Why did the chicken cross the road?" The have been reams of paper dedicated to the answer. Well, apparently it's against the law in one California town, and this chicken got a ticket. Seems that common sense prevailed and the ticket was thrown out, but a wired story just the same

From The News Tribune

Ticket against jaywalking chicken tossed

(c) The Associated Press
Sunday, May 29th, 2005 07:06 AM (PDT)

RIDGECREST, Calif. (AP) - A chicken that got a ticket for crossing the road has clawed his way out of it. The $54 citation for impeding traffic was dismissed Friday after Linc and Helena Moore's attorney argued that the fowl was domesticated and could not be charged as livestock. State law restricts livestock on highways, but not domestic animals.

The chicken was ticketed March 26 for impeding traffic after it wandered onto a road in Johannesburg, a rural mining community southeast of Ridgecrest.

The Moores said they got the ticket because they were among several people who complained that deputies have done little to curb noisy off-road vehicle riders.

"For the last two and a half years, no one has been able to stop the kids riding their bikes in the middle of the road or the neighbors' dogs running around our neighborhood," Linc Moore said. "But when our chicken escaped and crossed the road once it became a huge issue."

Sheriff's officials said the ticket had nothing to do with the Moores' complaints.

So, Deep Throat reveals Himself

Could this be so? I remember how this event took over the air waves for months. I remember President Nixon denying any involvement, then his resignation. This was "The" news story of the time and caused a great deal of doubt in many people's minds about the trustwothiness of the Government. I am surprised by the announcement. I was always ready to wait until after Deep Throat's death for someone to come out and name the "Source".

From MSNBC News.

Ex-FBI official says he's 'Deep Throat'

Magazine quotes him as saying he was 'doing his duty'
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 12:23 p.m. ET May 31, 2005

W. Mark Felt, who retired from the FBI after rising to its second most senior position, has identified himself as the "Deep Throat" source quoted by The Washington Post to break the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon's resignation, Vanity Fair magazine said Tuesday.

Related Links:
MSNBC.com on 30th anniversary of Nixon's resignation
Timeline: Downfall of a president
The Washington Post Revisiting Watergate
Vanity Fair Vanity Fair Identifies 'Deep Throat' -- 'Deep Throat' Reportedly Comes Forward
WREG News 'Deep Throat' Revealed
More News here

From The Washington Post
Washington Post Confirms Felt Was 'Deep Throat'
Special Report
Watergate Timeline

Vietnam War Missing In Action Serviceman Identified

Another Good News Story. Since 1966, the remains of Air Force 1st Lt. Lee Adams have been missing. In 2004, he was finally identified. A Memorial Service with Full Military Honors will be tomorrow, 1 June 2005.

Our condelences and blessing to the family, friends, and comrades of 1st Lt Adams as this chapter finally closes. --drh

Vietnam War Missing In Action Serviceman Identified

DoD Release #: 536-05
May 31, 2005

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial.

He is Air Force 1st Lt. Lee A. "Larry" Adams of Willits, Calif. A memorial service with full military honors will be held at Beale Air Force Base, Calif. on June 1, and he will be buried in Willits at a later date.

On April 19, 1966, Adams was attacking enemy targets in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam, when he rolled his F-105 "Thunderchief" in on the target. As other pilots in the flight watched, his plane failed to pull out of the dive, crashed and exploded.

U.S. specialists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) conducted a number of investigations as they sought information on Adams's loss. In September 1993, joint U.S.-Vietnamese team members interviewed three villagers who said they witnessed the shootdown in 1966. They led the team to a supposed crash site, but no aircraft debris or human remains were found. Another informant turned over a skeletal fragment he had found near the site of the crash.

In October 1994 another joint team interviewed two other Vietnamese citizens who recalled the shootdown and the burial of the remains of a pilot nearby. A third team re-interviewed four Vietnamese in 1998 who had supplied information earlier.

Then in November 2004, a joint team excavated the suspected burial and crash sites, but found neither aircraft debris nor other material evidence. However, a villager living nearby gave the team a fragment of a wristwatch and a signal mirror he claimed to have recovered from the crash site. The wristwatch and mirror are consistent with items issued to, or used by, U.S. military aviators in the mid-1960s.

Scientists of the JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA as one of the forensic tools to identify the remains as those of Adams.

Of the 88,000 Americans missing in action from all conflicts, 1,833 are from the Vietnam War, with 1,397 of those within the country of Vietnam. Another 750 Americans have been accounted for in Southeast Asia since the end of the war. Of the Americans identified, 524 are from within Vietnam.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

On this Day

Tuesday, May 31st
The 151st day of 2005
There are 214 days left in the year

Today's Highlights in History

On May 31, 1889, more than 2,000 people perished when a dam break sent water rushing through Johnstown, Pa. (Go to article)

On May 31, 1857, Pius XI, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1922 to 1939 , was born. Following his death on Feb. 10, 1939, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obituary Other Birthdays)

On May 31, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Mississippi Valley Labor Convention. (See the cartoon and read an explanation)

Reference: The New York Times



(The following Via Iraq War Today)

Today in History

1634 - Massachusetts Bay Colony annexes Maine colony
1659 - France, England, and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of The Hague
1678 - Lady Godiva rides naked through Coventry in a protest of taxes
1790 - The US enacts the copyright law
1862 - Battle of Seven Pines, VA (Fair Oaks); a Union victory
1868 - Ironton, OH, holds the first Memorial Day parade
1884 - Dr. John Harvey Kellogg patents "flaked cereal"
1900 - British troops under occupy Johannesburg; US troops arrive in Peking to help put down the Boxer Rebellion
1902 - The Boer War Ends; Treaty of Vereeniging signed, Britain annexes Transvaal
1912 - US Marines land on Cuba
1915 - An LZ-38 Zeppelin makes an air raid on London
1916 - Battle of Skagerrak: British-German sea battle at Jutland (10,000 dead); the British battle cruiser Invincible explodes, killing all but 6
1926 - Portuguese President Bernardino Machedo resigns after a coup
1937 - German battleships bomb Almeria, Spain
1941 - The total of U-boats sunk this month: 41 (325,000 tons); British troops vacate Kreta
1942 - The Luftwaffe bombs Canterbury
1944 - Allies break through in Italy
1947 - Communists seize power in Hungary; the Italian Government of Gasperi forms
1953 - Lebanese President Camille Shamun disbands the government
1961 - Dominican Republic President Trujillo is assassinated; Judge Irving Kaufman orders the Board of Education of New Rochelle to integrate; the Union of South Africa becomes a republic, leaving the Commonwealth
1979 - Zimbabwe proclaims its independence
1989 - Speaker of the House Jim Wright resigns

Birthdays
1469 - King Manuel I of Portugal
1557 - Russian Czar Theodorus I (Fedor Ivanovitsj)
1837 - Confederate Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur Major
1837 - Confederate Major General William Henry Fitzhugh "Rooney" Lee
1892 - Gregor Strasser, German pharmacist/NSDAP-Reich organization leader
1907 - Valston Hancock, British air marshal
1912 - Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson (Senator-WA)
1913 - Peter Gibson, British Rear-Admiral
1923 - Clint Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
1927 - James Eberle, British Admiral / Director, Royal Institute of International Affairs
1929 - ? 1st reindeer born in the US
1931 - John Schrieffer, US physicist , Nobel Prize winner; Steve Horn (Representative-CA)
1932 - George Vallings, British Vice-Admiral
1937 - Vladislav Ivanovich Gulyayev, cosmonaut
1948 - Duncan L Hunter (Representative-CA)

Passings
0455 - Petronius Maximus senator/Emperor of Rome, lynched
1910 - Elizabeth Blackwell, first woman physician
1916 - Horace Hood British spy (Battle of Jutland), in battle
1962 - Adolf Eichmann war criminal, hanged for crimes against Jews in WWII
1989 - Terry Drinkwater, CBS news correspondent
1992 - Lutz Stavenhagen, top aid to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl
1996 - Timothy Francis Leary Harvard professor/LSD guru
1997 - Rosie Will Monroe, " Rosie the Riveter," WWII icon

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Peel, Robert D., USAF (TN); Released by DRV February, 1973 - alive and well in 1998
1966
Albertson, Bobby J., USAF (CA); all crew killed when C130 was shot down
Case, Thomas F., USAF (GA); all crew killed when C130 was shot down; remains returned April, 1986
Edmonson, William R., USAF (MO); killed when C130 was shot down
Harworth, Elroy E., USAF (MN); killed when C130 was shot down; remains returned April, 1986
Herrold, Ned R., USAF (NJ); killed when F4C was shot down
McDonald, Emmett R., USAF (WA); all crew killed when C130 was shot down
Ragland, Dayton W., USAF (MO); killed when F4C was shot down
Shingledecker, Armon D.; USAF (OH); killed when C130 was shot down; remains returned 1986, ID'd April, 1998
Steen, Martin W., USAF (ND); F105C shotdown; good chute, harness empty
Stickney, Phillip J., USAF (NH); killed when C130 was shot down
Zook, Harold J., USAF (PA); killed when C130 was shot down; remains returned April 1986
1967
Chauncey, Arvin R., USN, (CA); Released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well in 1998
Fitzgerald, Joseph E., US Army (MA); Remains returned February, 1997
Jakovac, John A., US Army (MI); Remains returned February, 1997
McGar, Brian K., US Army (CA); Remains returned February, 1997
1968
Beresik, Eugene Paul, USAF (MA)
Gatewood, Charles Hue, USMC (IL)
Leonard, Edwawrd W., USAF (WA); Released by PL March, 1973 - alive as of 1998
1970
Colne, Roger, Civilian - NBC sound technician (France); Conovoy ambushed about 32 miles south of Phnom Penh
Hangen, Welles, Civilian - CBS News correspondent (US); Convoy ambushed about 32 miles south of Phnom Penh, executed after capture, remains returned January, 1993
Sakai, Kojiro, Civilian - CBS sound technician (Japan); Convoy ambushed about 32 miles south of Phnom Penh Waku, Yoshihiko, Civilian - NBC cameraman (Japan); Convoy ambushed about 32 miles south of Phnom Penh
1971
Brunson, Jack W. , US Army (NY)
Musil, Clinton A., Sr., US Army (MN)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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This Day in Music
(Via This Day in Music)

2003, UK police announced that thousands of people at this years pop festivals would be subjected to a computerised drug test. Fans would be asked to provide swab samples from their hands, which would be inserted into a drug detection machine. It was to be a voluntary test but Anti-drug officers could search anyone refusing.
1998, Geri Halliwell announced she had quit The Spice Girls saying "This is because of differences between us. I am sure the group will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best."
1998, Simply Red went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Blue', their fifth consecutive No.1 album.
1998, The Tamperen went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Feel It'.
1997, Eternal started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'I Wanna Be The Only One').
1989, David Bowie's Tin Machine made their live debut at the International Music Awards, New York.
1986, Peter Gabriel scored his second solo UK No.1 album with 'So' featuring the singles 'Sledgehammer' and a duet with Kate Bush 'Don't Give Up'.
1986, The Notting Hillbillies made their live debut when they appeared at The Grove in Leeds. The group featured Mark Knopfler, Steve Phillips and Brendan Crocker who were each paid £22.
1982, The Rolling Stones played at the 100 Club, Oxford St, London, to a sold out crowd of 400 people.
1982, R.E.M. signed a five-album deal with I.R.S. Records, an independent label based in California.
1980, Lipps Inc went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Funkytown', a UK No.2 hit.
1980, Paul McCartney went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'McCartney II'.
1980, The Theme From M*A*S*H* (Suicide Is Painless), by Mash was at No.1 on the UK singles chart, 10 years after it was first recorded.
1977, The Patti Smith group started a nine night residency at New York's CBGB's.
1977, The BBC announced a ban on the new Sex Pistols single 'God Save The Queen' saying its, "in gross bad taste". And the IBA issued a warning to all radio stations saying the playing the single would be in breach of Section 4:1:A of the Broadcasting act. The single reached No.2 on the UK chart.
1976, The Who gave themselves a place in the Guinness book of Records as the loudest performance of a rock band at 120 decibels, when they played at Charlton Athletic Football ground.
1975, Freddy Fender went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Before The Next Teardrop Falls', his only US No.1.
1975, During a press conference held at the 5th Avenue Hotel, New York to announce The Rolling Stones American tour, the Stones themselves came down the street playing live from the back of a flat-bed truck.
1971, 36 Grateful Dead fans were medically treated after unknowingly drinking L.S.D. laced cider, at a gig in the US.
1969, The Plastic Ono Band recorded 'Give Peace A Chance' during a 'bed-in' at the Hotel La Reine in Montreal, Canada.
1966, Filming began on The Monkees first TV series.
1965, Marianne Faithfull became a resident guest on BBC2 TV's 'Gadzooks! It's The In Crowd'.
1961, Chuck Berry opened 'Berry Park', an amusement complex near St Louis. The park had it's own zoo, golf course and ferris wheel.

Birthdays
1965, Born on this day, Steve White, drums, The Style Council, (1983 UK No.3 single 'Long Hot Summer' plus 14 other UK Top 40 singles).
1964, Born on this day, MC Darryl 'D' McDaniels, Run-DMC. (1986 UK No.8 single with Aerosmith 'Walk This Way', 1998 UK No.1 single 'It's Like That').
1963, Born on this day, Wendy Smith, guitar, vocals, Prefab Sprout, (1988 UKNo.7 single with 'The King Of Rock 'N' Roll').
1959, Born on this day, Danny Pearson, bass, American Music Club, (1993 album 'Mercury').
1952, Born on this day, Karl Bartos, Kraftwerk, (1975 US No.25 single 'Autobahn', 1982 UK No.1 single 'Computer Love', 'The Model').
1948, Born on this day, John Bonham, drummer, Led Zeppelin, (1969 US No.4 single ‘Whole Lotta Love’. The bands fourth album released in 1971 featuring the rock classic 'Stairway To Heaven', has sold over 11 million copies). Bonham died on October 25th 1980 after choking on his own vomit.
1947, Born on this day, Junior Campbell, Marmalade, (1969 UK No.1 single 'Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da').
1938, Born on this day, Peter Yarrow, Peter Paul and Mary, (1969 US No.1 & 1970 UK No.1 single 'Leaving On A Jet Plane').

Faces of the Fallen

From Tacoma, WA, The News Tribune, this front page showing the fallen Washingtonians, since the Global War on terror.

An illustrative reminder to all that FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!!



Faces of the fallen
THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: May 30th, 2005 04:49 AM

Today we observe the fourth Memorial Day since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on our nation and the onset of the global war on terrorism.
This has been a difficult four years, a time of sacrifice and anxiety, separation and conflicting emotions. No one knows this better than those who bear the loss of a loved one.

Thousands of Washingtonians – whether native sons and daughters or newcomers brought here by military service – have deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and other faraway duty stations.

As of Sunday, 109 of them have made the ultimate sacrifice. We have lost airmen and sailors, Marines and soldiers – 106 men and three women claimed by snipers’ bullets, bombs hidden in roadways or accidents that are an inevitable part of such dangerous work.
Today, many of us will attend events at cemeteries and war memorials. Some will pause at 3 p.m. for the National Moment of Remembrance to think of someone who died recently or in a past conflict.

On this Memorial Day, we remember 108 of those lost by presenting their names and photographs on the front page of the newspaper. The last soldier, who died Saturday morning, has not been identified. We offer this not as a political statement but as a gesture of gratitude and respect for these men and women who have fallen in our name.

Update: The soldier not pictured aboveis SPC Philip N. Sayles. His name was released today by the DoD. See post below.


Our condolences to each and every one of these 109 Brave Souls. To the families, friends, and comrades, each of them are in our prayers, as countless warriors on the front lines and in the supporting roles pursuing freedom for others.

Casualties - May 30, 2005

Condolences to the Family and Friends of the following Americans who lost their lives while in the pursuit of gaining freedom for others

United States Army

Spc. Phillip N. Sayles, 26, of Jacksonville, Ark., died May 28 in Mosul, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his security position. Sayles was assigned to the Army's 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.

Lt. Col. Albert E. Smart, 41, of San Antonio, Texas, died May 28 in Doha, Qatar, of a non-combat related illness. Smart was assigned to the U.S. Army Reserve's 321st Civil Affairs Brigade, San Antonio, Texas.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan. It was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).

It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

The traditional observance of Memorial Day has gone by the wayside. It's to time consuming. It's another day for progress and commerce. It' not important to remember why we remember. Many Americans forgotten, or chosen to forget, the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. Many people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, not just those fallen in service to our country.

There are a great many where the graves of the fallen are ignored and neglected. Many people don't remember, or even care for the proper flag etiquette for this day. While some towns and smaller cities still have a Memorial Day Parade many, especially the larger ones many years.

Memorial Day at Vicksburg National Cemetery, Mississippi

(Pictures below via Iraq War Today)


Normandy


Gettysburg National Cemetery


Arlington National Cemetery


Vietnam Memorial Wall

Additional Resources:

Defense Link has a special page dedicated to Memorial Day 2005 here
• U.S. Army Center of Military History
• National WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C.
• WWII Memorial Dedication Photos
• Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Speech of 1884
• White House Commission on Remembrance
• History of Memorial Day
• PBS' National Memorial Day Concert 2005
• National Memorial Day Parade
• The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers
• Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation
• Dept. of Veteran's Affairs - Memorial Day Page
• Rolling Thunder@, Inc.
• Library of Congress: Today in History (May 30)
• American Battle Monuments Commission
• FirstGov.gov: Memorial Day
• Korean War Veterans Memorial

Rolling Thunder

Rolling Thunder. It's an annual event, which started in 1988, where thousands of motorcyclists from all over the country and world, ride to Washington DC and the Pentagon to pay tribute to our fallen heroes and veterans. This year, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Air Force General Richard Meyers joined the group and praised our Heroes.


ROLLING THUNDER – U.S. Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers (front), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife Mary Jo, head toward the Pentagon to join thousands of military veterans taking part in Rolling Thunder 2005. The annual motorcycle rally pays tribute to the nation's fallen and missing servicemembers. Defense Dept. photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. D. Myles Cullen

More photos here.
Story here.

On this Day

Saturday, May 28th
The 147th day of 2005
There are 217 days left in the year

Today's Highlights in History

On May 28, 1984, President Reagan led a state funeral at Arlington National Cemetery for an unidentified American soldier killed in the Vietnam War. (Go to article)

On May 28, 1888, Jim Thorpe, the accomplished all-around athlete, was born. Following his death on March 28, 1953, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obituary Other Birthdays)

On May 28 1887, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about completion of the elevated railroad. (See the cartoon and read an explanation)

Reference: The New York Times



(The following Via Iraq War Today)

Today in History

1349 - In Breslau Silesia, sixty Jews are murdered.
1539 - Hernando de Soto lands in Florida.
1674 - German Parliament declares war on France.
1754 - George Washington defeats the French and Indians at Fort Duquesne (PA).
1774 - The first Continental Congress convenes in Virginia.
1830 - Congress authorizes Indian removal from all states to the western prairie.
1851 - Sojourner Truth attends the Women's Rights Convention.
1863 - The 54th Massachusetts, the first black regiment leaves Boston to fight in the Civil War.
1919 - Armenia declares its independence
1923 - The Attorney General says it is legal for women to wear trousers anywhere.
1940 - Belgium surrenders to Germany; King Leopold III gives himself up; British-French troops capture Narvik, Norway
1942 - 1,800 Czechoslovakians are murdered by the Nazis during their attack on Heydrich.
1959 - Monkeys Able & Baker become the first animals retrieved from a space mission, after soaring 300 miles into space in a Jupiter missile.
1961 - After nearly eightly years, theOrient Express makes its last trip (Paris to Bucharest) .
1964 - The Palestine National Congress forms the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) in Jerusalem.
1971 - The first spacecraft to soft-land on Mars, the USSR's Mars 3, is launched.
1974 - Italians fascists bomb demonstrators in Brescia, killing 6.
1975 - Soyuz 18 launches.
1985 - David Jacobsen is taken hostage in Beirut, Lebanon.
1987 - The Civil War Ironclad Monitor is discovered by a deep sea robot
1991 - Ethiopian rebels seize Addis Ababa
1997 - Linda Finch completes the around-the-world flight Amelia Earhart failed to finish.

Birthdays
1371 - John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy/warrior
1660 - King George I of England
1738 - Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin, French physician/inventor (guillotine)
1759 - William Pitt the Younger, English PM
1818 - Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard St-Bernard known by Confederates as the Hero of Sumter
1819 - Union Brevet Major General William Birney
1828 - Confederate Brigadier General Alpheus Baker
1830 - Union Major General George Lucas Hartsuff
1831 - Eliza Ann Gardner, underground railway conductor
1838 - Confederate Bridadier General Basil Wilson Duke
1914 - W. G. G. Duncan-Smith, fighter pilot
1940 - Thomas E Petri (Representative-WI)
1944 - Rudy Giuliani (Mayor-NYC)
1957 - Walter R Tucker (Representative-CA)

Passings
1259 - King Christoffel I of Denmark
1357 - King Afonso IV of Portugal
1863 - Union Brigadier General Edmund Kirby, Jr., of injuries
1864 - Union Brigadier Henry H. Giesy, in battle
1972 - Duke of Windsor, who abdicated British throne
1972 - King Edward VIII of Great Britain / Northern Ireland

Reported Missing in Action
1968
Hill, Joseph A., USMC (IL)
Ingvalson, Roger D., USAF (MN); Released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well 1998
1971
Chavira, Stephen, US Army (CA)
Urquhart, Paul D., US Army (PA)

Casualties - May 28, 2005

Condolences to the Family and Friends of the following Americans who lost their lives while in the pursuit of gaining freedom for others

United States Marines

Maj. Ricardo A. Crocker, 39, of Mission Viejo, Calif., died May 26 from a rocket propelled grenade explosion while conducting combat operations in Hadithah, Iraq. Crocker was assigned to the Marine Forces Reserve’s 3rd Civil Affairs Group, Camp Pendleton, Calif. During Operation Iraqi Freedom his unit was attached to II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

United States Army

Sgt. Alfred B. Siler, 33, of Duff, Tenn., died May 25 in Tuz, Iraq, when his HMMWV hit another vehicle. Siler was assigned to the Army National Guard's Support Squadron, 278th Regimental Combat Team, Knoxville, Tenn.

Sgt. Mark A. Maida, 22, of Madison, Wis., died May 27 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained in Diyarah, Iraq, May 26 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV. Maida was assigned to the Army's 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Irwin, Calif.

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died on May 27 from injuries sustained on May 26 in Buhriz, Iraq, when their OH-58 (Kiowa Warrior) came under small arms attack and crashed. Both soldiers were assigned to the Army's 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

The soldiers are:
CW4 Matthew Scott Lourey, 40, of East Bethel, Minn.
CW2 Joshua Michael Scott, 28, of Sun Prairie, Wis.

More Stuff iPod

I don't own and iPod, but if I did, I think I would need one of these:

iGuy for iPod

Wouldn’t it be cool if Gumby did something besides stand around and suck? That’s the idea behind the new $35 iGuy case from Speck products, a posable rubber case that makes your iPod impossible to put into a normal sized pocket. And if you take the iPod out of the iGuy, you get a really nice music player that you can carry around with you anywhere, especially if you were to purchase a different case.

(Via Gizmodo)
Product Page

On this Day

Friday, May 27th
The 146th day of 2005
There are 218 days left in the year

Today's Highlights in History

On May 27, 1964, independent India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, died. (Go to article)

On May 27, 1907, Rachel Carson, the American biologist whose books helped inspire the environmental movement, was born. Following her death on April 14, 1964, her obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obituary)

On May 27, 1865, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the capture of Jefferson Davis at the end of the Civil War. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)

Reference: The New York Times



(The following Via Iraq War Today)

Today in History

1529 - Thirty Hungarian Jews are charged with conducting a blood ritual, and burned at the stake.
1679 - The Habeaus Corpus Act (no false arrest / imprisonment) passes in Great Britain.
1703 - Peter the Great founds St. Petersburg (later renamed Leningrad).
1813 - The U.S. captures Fort George, Canada.
1844 - Samuel F.B. Morse completes the first telegraph line.
1862 - Battle of Hanover Court House, VA (Slash Church, Peake's Station)
1863 - The CSS Chattahoochie explodes on the Chattahoochie River in GA, killing 18; Siege of Port Hudson, LA.
1883 - Czar Alexander III is crowned in Moscow.
1896 - The first major tornado to strike the urban U.S. hits in St. Louis and East St. Louis, killing 255 and leaving thousands homeless.
1905 - The Japanese fleet destroys the Russian East Sea fleet in the Straits of Tushima.
1907 - Bubonic Plague breaks out in San Fransisco.
1918 - Battle of Aisne.
1919 - A U.S. Navy flying boat complets the first transatlantic flight - it takes 11 days; Charles Strite patents the pop-up toaster.
1921 - After 84 years of British control, Afghanistan achieves sovereignty.
1927 - Japan intervenes in the Chinese civil war.
1930 - Richard Drew invents masking tape.
1931 - The first full-scale airplane testing windtunnel opens at Langley Field, VA; the first flight into the stratosphere occurs, in the first balloon with a pressurized cabin.
1933 - The Austrian communist party is banned.
1935 - The Supreme Court declares FDR's National Recovery Act unconstitutional.
1936 - The RMS Queen Mary leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage, to New York.
1937 - The Golden Gate Bridge is dedicated.
1940 - The British and French begin Operation Dynamo; the evacuation of Dunkirk.
1941 - Allied troops begin evacuating Kreta; FDR proclaimes an "unlimited national emergency" due to Germany's sinking of the Robin Moor ; the German battleship Bismarck is sunk by the British naval force.
1942 - Dorie Miller is awarded the Navy Cross for his acts at Pearl Harbor;Hitler orders the murder of 10,000 Czechoslovakians; the Italian army begins the siege of the French western Fort Bir Hachim; Nazi Reinhard Heydrich is shot and mortally wounded in Prague.
1943 - The U.S. forbids racial discrimination in the war industry.
1944 - The Allies land in Biak, Indonesia, in Operation Horlicks; the Japanese advance in Hangkhou, China.
1948 - Arabs blow up a Jewish synagogue - Hurvat Rabbi Yehudah he-Hasid.
1951 - Chinese Communists force the Dalai Lama to surrender his army to Beijing.
1960 - A military coup overthrows Turkey's democratic government.
1963 - Jomo Kenyatta is elected as the first prime minister of Kenya.
1966 - The 55th German F-16 Starfighter crashes; 6 French fighters crash above Spain.
1968 - The nuclear submarine USS Scorpion is lost, five days before its scheduled return to port in Norfolk. The cause is still unknown.
1969 - Construction begins on Walt Disney World.
1977 - 2 Boeing 747s (Pan Am & KLM) collide in the Canary Islands, killing 582.
1980 - South Korean police end a people's uprising; 2,000 people are killed.
1981 - John Hinckley attempts suicide by overdosing on Tylenol.
1985 - Britain agrees to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.
1986 - President Reagan orderes 2 Poseidon-class submarines dismantled.
1988 - The Senate ratifies a treaty eliminating medium-range nuclear missiles.
1994 - Alexander Solzhenitsyn returns to Russia after 20 years in exile.
1997 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin signs a historic treaty with NATO.

Birthdays
1818 - Amelia Jenks Bloomer, suffragette; known for her pantaloons
1819 - Julia Ward Howe, American author/lecturer (Battle Hymn of the Republic)
1823 - Union Major General John Gray Foster Major General
1836 - Confederate Brigadier General Edwin Gray Lee
1837 - Confederate Major Genreal Robert Frederick Hoke
1897 - John Douglas Cockroft, English physicist (Radar), Nobel prize winner
1911 - Hubert Humphrey, Senator-MN, 38th Vice President, 1969 Presidential candidate
915 - Herman Wouk, novelist (Caine Mutiny, Winds of War)
1918 - Yasuhiro Nakasone, Japanese Prime Minister
1923 - Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State, Nobel Peace Prize Winner
1930 - William S. Sessions, director of the FBI
1944 - Christopher J. Dodd (Senator-CT)
1947 - Peter DeFazio (Representative-OR)

Passings
1647 - Achsah Young, first woman known executed as a witch (Massachusetts)
1790 - Jeremiah Carlton, laziest man in history, inherited a fortune at 19, went to bed and stayed there for the next 70 years
1863 - Union Brigadier General Edward Payson Chapin
1910 - Robert Koch, German bacteriologist (TB, Cholera), Nobel prize winner
1941 - Günther Lütjens, German Admiral (Bismarck)
1951 - Thomas Blamey, soldier

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Lynn, Doyle W., USN (PA); Hit by anti-aircraft fire, KIA/body not recovered

1966
Monahan, Robert W., Civilian; Released by Viet Cong January, 1967
Scales, Thomas R., Civilian; Released by Viet Cong January,1967 - deceased as of 1998

1967
Blackwood, Gordon B., USAF (CA); Aircraft shot down, Remains returned, ID'd November, 1989

1970
Lee, Glen H., USAF (HI); Remains returned, ID'd August, 1994

1971
Knuckey, Thomas W., US Army (NJ); Remains ID'd August, 1993
Taylor, Phillip C., US Army (NY); Remains ID'd August, 1993

1972
Latendresse, Thomas B. (WA); Released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well in 1998

Casualties - May 27, 2005

Condolences to the Family and Friends of the following Americans who lost their lives while in the pursuit of gaining freedom for others

United States Marines

Sgt. David N. Wimberg, 24, of Louisville, Ky., died May 25 in Hadithah, Iraq. He was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Columbus, Ohio.

United States Army

Sgt. First Class Randy D. Collins, 36, of Long Beach, Calif., died May 24 at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., of injuries sustained in Mosul, Iraq, May 4. He was assigned to the Army's 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Irwin, Calif.

Spec. Bryan Edward Barron, 26, of Biloxi, Miss., died on May 23 in Haswa, Iraq. He was assigned to the Army National Guard's C Company, 1st Battalion, 155th Infantry, Biloxi, Miss.

Spec. Audrey Daron Lunsford, 29, of Sardis, Miss., died on May 23 in Haswa, Iraq. He was assigned to the Army National Guard's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 155th Infantry, McComb, Miss.

Staff Sgt. Saburant Parker, 43, of Foxworth, Miss., died on May 23 in Haswa, Iraq. He was assigned to the Army National Guard's C Company, 1st Battalion, 155th Infantry, Biloxi, Miss.

Sgt. Daniel Ryan Varnado, 23, of Saucier, Miss. He was assigned to the Army National Guard's C Company, 1st Battalion, 155th Infantry, Biloxi, Miss.

The Mississippi National Guard has more here.

U.S. Mint Strikes Marine Corps Commemorative Silver Dollar

This is a really great story. The US Mint will strike a Silver Dollar in honor of a Military Service. In this case, the US Marine Corps. I am proud to be a member of the US Military, although retired, a member just the same.

Congratulations Marines, this Soldier SALUTES you! HOOAH!!

Story here.

This is the first time the United States has honored a branch of the military with a commemorative coin, according to information provided by the Mint. Surcharges from the sale of 2005 Marine Corps 230th Anniversary Silver Dollars will be paid to the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation to help construct the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico

Memorial Day Activities

For those of you who live in the Great Pacific Northwest, The News Tribune has a listing of Memorial Day Activities that may be of interest to you.

Acivities are in the South Puget Sound area.

Tahoma National Cemetery’s annual program begins at noon. Brig. Gen. Oscar Hillman, commander of the Washington National Guard’s 81st Brigade Combat Team, recently back from a year in Iraq, will be the keynote speaker. Gov. Christine Gregoire and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Edmonds) are scheduled to attend

Don't forget, the National Moment of Remembrance is at 3 p.m. (PDT)

Is the Hat due for a Comeback?

I like hats. Ask Cauleen. Everytime I see a display, I try them on and, more often than not, I will end up buying one. Baseball caps, Western hats, Gatsby sytle hats, Bucket hats, I pretty much like them all. Problem is, I buy them, and then end up not wearing them as often as I should.

Being in the Pacific Northwest, where rain is the norm, I will wear some sort of wide brimmed hat. I do not do umbrella's very well, so the hat is my choice. Works well, and they do look good.

Well, while visiting J-Walk, he had a link to a really GREAT site, Barron California Hats. This is a very nice site and the hats are awesome, though a bit pricey for my needs.

Check out some of the styles:

Left to Right: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Clint Eastwood, Man With no Name series, and the Manhunter inspired by the Van Helsing movie.

On this Day

Thursday, May 26th
The 146th day of 2005
There are 219 days left in the year

Today's Highlights in History

On May 26, 1868, the Senate impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson ended with his acquittal as the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction. (Go to article)

On May 26, 1907, John Wayne, the American actor famous for his roles in western movies, was born. Following his death on June 11, 1979, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obituary)

On May 26, 1860, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the first Japanese diplomatic mission to the United States. (See the cartoon and read an explanation)

Reference: The New York Times



(The following Via Iraq War Today)

Today in History

961 - German King Otto II crowned
1798 - British troops kill about 500 Irish insurgents at the Battle of Tara.
1805 - Lewis & Clark first see the ocky Mountains; Napoleon is crowned king of Italy.
1824 - Brazil is recognized by the U.S.
1861 - The Union blockades New Orleans & Mobile.
1864 - The territory of Montana is formed.
1865 - Battle of Galveston, TX.
1868 - President Andrew Johnson avoids impeachment by 1 vote.
1896 - The last Czar of Russia, Nicholas II, is crowned.
1922 - Lenin suffers a stroke.
1924 - President Coolidge signs the Immigration Law (restricting immigration).
1937 - San Francisco Bay's Golden Gate Bridge opens.
1941 - An Ark Royal airplane sights the German battleship Bismarck.
1942 - The Nazis require Belgian Jews to wear a Jewish star; The African corps faces the British Army in a tank battle at Bir Hakeim.
1943 - Jews riot against Germany in Amsterdam.
1944 - 82nd Airborne division landsat La Haye du Puits to Ste Mère Eglise (D-Day).
1945 - The U. S. fire bombs Tokyo.
1946 - A patent is filed in the U.S. for the H-Bomb
1948 - The entire Hagana armed forces are sworn-in as Israeli soldiers; South Africa elects a nationalist government with an apartheid policy.
1961 - A USAF bomber flies the Atlantic in a record of just over 3 hours.
1981 - A Marine jet crashes on the flight deck of the USS Nimitz, killing 14; Soyuz T-4 returns to Earth.
1987 - Supreme Court rules that dangerous defendants can be held without bail.

Birthdays
1566 - Mohammed III, Sultan of Turkey
1835 - Confederate Artillery Brigadier General Edward Porter Alexander
1867 - Mary queen, of Great Britain/North Ireland
1877 - Sadao Araki, Japanese general/minister of War
1899 - Pieter Menten, Dutch war criminal
1903 - Estes Kefauver (Senator-TN)
1910 - Adolfo Lopez Mateos, President of México
1924 - Cooper Evans (Representative-IA)
1951 - Muhammed Ahmad Faris Syria, cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-3); Sally Kristen Ride, first U.S. woman astronaut (STS-7, STS 41G)
1968 - Frederik, Heir Apparent Crown Prince of Denmark

Passings
1421 - Mohammed I, sultan of Turkey
1512 - Bajezid II, Governor of Amasja/8th Sultan of Turkey, dies
1818 - Michael A. Barclay de Tolly, Russian field marshal/War Minister
1883 - Abd el-Kader, Algerian sultan/religious ruler
1939 - Cornelis J. Cutters, supreme commander of Navy
1996 - Halka Grossman, resistance fighter/politician

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Glandon, Gary A., USAF (TN)
Griffey, Terrance H., USAF (IA)

1967
Mecleary, Read Blaine USN (CT) - Released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well in 1998