Breaking on the internet tonight, and hitting the papers tomorrow, is the story of a Washington Post investigation of conditions faced by outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The picture it paints is not a pretty one, to say the least:

Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan's room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole. The entire building, constructed between the world wars, often smells like greasy carry-out. Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses...

...Evis Morales's severely wounded son was transferred to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda for surgery shortly after she arrived at Walter Reed. She had checked into her government-paid room on post, but she slept in the lobby of the Bethesda hospital for two weeks because no one told her there is a free shuttle between the two facilities. "They just let me off the bus and said 'Bye-bye,' " recalled Morales, a Puerto Rico resident...

...Life beyond the hospital bed is a frustrating mountain of paperwork. The typical soldier is required to file 22 documents with eight different commands -- most of them off-post -- to enter and exit the medical processing world, according to government investigators. Sixteen different information systems are used to process the forms, but few of them can communicate with one another. The Army's three personnel databases cannot read each other's files and can't interact with the separate pay system or the medical recordkeeping databases...

..."I hate it," said Romero, who stays in his room all day. "There are cockroaches. The elevator doesn't work. The garage door doesn't work. Sometimes there's no heat, no water. . . . I told my platoon sergeant I want to leave. I told the town hall meeting. I talked to the doctors and medical staff. They just said you kind of got to get used to the outside world. . . . My platoon sergeant said, 'Suck it up!' "...

The story does make a point of drawing a contrast between the indisputably excellent care and facilities at the inpatient hospital, and the conditions faced by those receiving outpatient services:

...While the hospital is a place of scrubbed-down order and daily miracles, with medical advances saving more soldiers than ever, the outpatients in the Other Walter Reed encounter a messy bureaucratic battlefield nearly as chaotic as the real battlefields they faced overseas...

The Army's "official" side of the story is presented solely in two quick quotes:

...Army officials say they "started an aggressive campaign to deal with the mice infestation" last October and that the problem is now at a "manageable level." They also say they will "review all outstanding work orders" in the next 30 days...

Also present in the story are a few quotes that speak to what may be the usual agenda of the WP:

..Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, commander at Walter Reed, said in an interview last week that a major reason outpatients stay so long, a change from the days when injured soldiers were discharged as quickly as possible, is that the Army wants to be able to hang on to as many soldiers as it can, "because this is the first time this country has fought a war for so long with an all-volunteer force since the Revolution."..

But Wilson had had enough. Three weeks ago he turned in his resignation. "It's too difficult to get anything done with this broken-down bureaucracy," he said.

Agenda or no, it's not a flattering picture of the facility that is more or less the flagship of military medical care. Gets worse when you see the video, also at that page. Not good at all.

This is likely to be a large story once it rolls out tomorrow. There are a couple of things I'd like to say from where I sit:

1. I have never been to Walter Reed, and have heard overwhelmingly positive stories from those I know who have. I have absolutely no perspective from which to judge the accuracy of the allegations in this story.

2. If these allegations are true, there is no excuse, and it's absolutely reprehensible. If these things are true, it needs to be fixed, Yesterday.

So, read the story, watch the video, and keep your eye on the milblogs for comment from those who have more personal knowledge of what goes on at WRAMC. Chuck Z. may very well be one of those who could have something to say on the subject.

Coalition Forces find a large cache of commonly used improvised explosive devices material including several large barrels of ammonium nitrate and bags of fertilizer in a building during an operation in Salman Pak, Feb. 15, 2007. Courtesy photo by Multi-National Force-Iraq


Coalition Forces find a large cache of commonly used improvised explosive devices material including several large barrels of ammonium nitrate and bags of fertilizer in a building during an operation in Salman Pak, Feb. 15, 2007. Courtesy photo by Multi-National Force-Iraq


Coalition Forces talk with local residents in Salman Pak about a large explosives cache in a nearby building, Feb. 15, 2007. The area was cordoned off and local citizens were moved to a safe distance while the building and IED materials were destroyed by a controlled detonation. Courtesy photo by Multi-National Force-Iraq


Coalition Forces cordoned off the area and conducted a controlled detonation of an improvised explosive devices factory during an operation in Salman Pak targeting an al Qaeda in Iraq-related IED network, Feb. 15, 2007. Couresty photo by Multi-National Force-Iraq


More photo essays at DefendAmerica

Labels: Iraq, MNF-I, photo essay, Salman Pak

Sergeant Brian Ohler, performs pre-mission checks on a M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun on top of a 1114 HMMWV on Forward Operating Base Marez, Iraq . Ohler is a Connecticut National Guardsman attached to the 144th Military Police Company, 2nd platoon, 1st squad leader, a guard unit out of Michigan currently deployed to the Ninevah province capital. Photo by Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico, 5th Mobile Public Detachment


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SR# B149
Feb. 16, 2007

Coalition forces rely on quick response by MPs

By Staff Sgt. Samantha M. Stryker
5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

MOSUL, Iraq – When Soldiers conduct missions in the Nineveh province capital city of Mosul, they could be called on at any time to assist other coalition forces.

That sort of fluidity is what makes the members of the 144th Military Police Company successful. “First in, last out” is not only their motto; it is the way these Michigan National Guard Soldiers do business.

“In the city, we are the quick reaction force because we are already out there and we are trained to respond quickly to just about anything,” Sgt. Brian Ohler, tactical operations leader for the patrol.

Members of the unit proved their flexibility during a recent mission by transforming from Iraq security advisors and health services inspectors to a rapid reaction force for friendly forces.

After Soldiers of 2nd Platoon met with coalition members at the Iraqi Police Provincial Headquarters, they paid a visit to the Al Jamouri Hospital and the adjoining police station to speak with officials at both locations to address issues related to fuel and food.

Mission coordinator Sgt. Robert Kay, 3rd squad leader, spoke with the Al Jamouri Police Station commander about plans to expand the police station from a two-room building to a facility with sleeping quarters and a larger guard tower.
Afterwards, the team made their way to the hospital’s morgue to talk with the staff about its record-keeping procedures.

Satisfied with the information they collected, the Soldiers began heading back toward Forward Operating Base Marez. The day’s mission was complete.
Just as fast as a Texas flash thunderstorm, the unit became the district’s quick reaction force when a call came over the radio reporting that a roadside bomb struck a U.S. vehicle.

As Ohler gathered more information, the convoy raced toward the location of the incident with sirens blaring, which drew curious looks from pedestrians and parting traffic on the roads.

As the squad weaved through a busy market street, gunner Pvt. Nathanael Hunt called out to Kay that he’d spotted a column of black smoke rising from another direction. Before they could determine the cause of the smoke, however, they had to answer the call for help made by their fellow Soldiers.

When the squads arrived to the site, the Soldiers involved in the incident had already been treated and the vehicle was still mobile, but they needed the MPs as an escort and to provide extra security.

As they convoy made their way slowly toward base, Hunt called out again to Kay that the column of black smoke was still visible. Kay called the tactical operations center for more information. He learned that an Iraqi army patrol had been struck by a car bomb in an unrelated incident. Kay was asked if his patrol could assist.

After being assured that their assistance was no longer needed, the military police peeled away from the American convoy and raced toward the dark plum of smoke.
From his vantage point in the gunner’s turret, Hunt guided the squad through a congested maze of city streets, around a traffic circle, and arrived at the charred remains of an IA truck.

Iraqi Security Forces had used their vehicles to set up a cordon and had evacuated injured IA soldiers. Iraqi personnel were removing the wreckage from the road and onto a flat bed truck.

The U.S. troops provided extra security around the perimeter which allowed the IA to work without fear of another attack.

“They did not call for any help, we came to set up security for them,” said Sgt. 1st Class Carlos Garcia, the platoon sergeant for 2nd platoon. “These guys had it all under control by the time we got there.”

As the Iraqi policemen drove off, Ohler made a radio call. “Any other fires?” he asked the tactical operations center.

Hunt shouted that there was plenty of daylight left.

After a short pause, the crackle over the radio ordered the members of 2nd platoon to return to base.


A wrecker removes the remains of an Iraqi Army vehicle off the street in Mosul Jan 25. The IA truck was hit by an IED during a patrol in the city. The wreckage was recovered by IA soldiers before U.S. Soldiers arrived on the scene. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Samantha M. Stryker, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)


Sergeant Robert Kay (center) speaks with an Iraqi policeman (left) about the conditions and progress at the Al Jamouri Hospital Police Station in Mosul Jan. 25. The National Guardsman is a member of the 144th Military Police Company out of Michigan. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Samantha M. Stryker, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)


Sergeants Brian Ohler (left) and Robert Kay of the 144th Military Police Company enter the forensic lab at the Al Jamouri Hospital during a visit to the facility and the neighboring police station in Mosul Jan.25. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Samantha M. Stryker, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

Labels: 144th MP Co., CT Heroes, FOB Marez, Iraq, Michigan National Guard, Military Police, Mosul, photos

Labels: 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineers Squadron, Balad Air Base, Iraq, photos, USAF

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Dems Take Aim at Iraq $$
Senate rejects measure opposing troop 'surge'
Militants Take Violence on the Road
Secretary of State Rice Makes Surprise Visit to Baghdad
Clinton urges start of Iraq pullout in 90 days
Rice urges reconciliation on Baghdad trip - Video
Plan seen behind downings of U.S. copters: report

Troops on Trial
Marine takes plea deal in Iraqi murder

Other Military News
Battlefield trauma techniques may help civilians
Italians protest over U.S. base expansion - Video

Worldwide Wackos
Syria's Assad holds talks in Iran over Iraq

Politics / Government
Moles removed from Bush's face are not cancerous
Bush: fixing health care is "urgent priority"
Obama says U.S. ready for a black leader
'08 hopefuls campaign amid vote on surge

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Report: Feds Figure Out Pizza Bomber Case
Ore. City Sues Lotto Winners Over Wild Parties
Man Convicted of Molesting Girl on Flight
Cops Nab Suspect in Elie Wiesel Attack
Man Sues IBM for $5M Over Adult Chat Firing

U.N. News
Europe can do more on climate change: UNEP head
UN urged to take action on asteroid threat
U.N.: Hunger kills 18,000 kids each day

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
BYU Bans YouTube Access for Students

Science / Medicine / Technology
Bionic Eye Restores Sight to the Blind
Physicists dream of next big particle smasher
Russia confirm two H5N1 bird flu cases
Diabetes in pregnancy can hamper infant memory
Solar storm satellites launched from Florida
Politics plays role in disease research

Mother Nature
Colo. Avalanche Hits Auto; Skiers Hampered
JetBlue Reeling From Valentine's Day Storm
Avalanches block highways in Colo.
N.D. tries to break snow angel record

Oddities
Forgotten Man Frozen in Time - VIDEO
Britney Takes it All Off... Her Head - VIDEO
Just Ducky: U.K.'s 4-Legged Feathered Friend
Living in a cave
Get your sexy cake on
A man who loves to hear, "it's so small!"
Secret to his long life: No wife!

Other News of Note
Tenn. Station Sells Gas Mixed With Water
Japan turns down Greenpeace help on whaling ship - Video
French Nazi-era collaborator Papon dies
Outrage Over College Party Mocking Hispanics

Fox News
Pa. House Fire Kills Six Children, Woman
PHOTOS: Mardi Gras Parties Begin - STORY
Anna Nicole Embalmed, Wills Estate to Son
Wind-Up Computers Set for Delivery To Kids in Third World Countries

Reuters: Top News
David Crosby ill, Crosby-Nash tour postponed
Chirac awards high French order to Clint Eastwood
Stocks eye CPI, retail results in short week
Oil jumps above $59 on U.S. Nigeria warning
Probe of Valero refinery fire begins in Texas
Lufthansa ground, cabin staff get pay rise
Johnson family hikes Fidelity board presence
Ex-Merrill bankers aiming to avoid 2nd Enron trial

AP World News
Celebs able to skirt prescription laws
Lefty's stumble opens field at Nissan
Vanderbilt snaps Florida's streak at 17
Carnival brings revelers to Big Easy
Cash-hungry states eye business tax
Fire nearly quelled at Texas refinery
UCLA defeats Arizona to stay atop Pac-10
No. 14 Georgetown holds off Villanova
Frank Broyles to resign as Arkansas AD
4 states may divert conservation funds
NAACP move to D.C. delayed
S.F. tribute honors James Kim

Military.com
US Deploys Stealth Fighters
VA Suspends Some Medical Research
Milbloggie Voting is Open

CENTCOM: Press Releases
BAGHDAD SECURITY PLAN OFFICIALLY NAMED 'FARDH AL-QANOON'
MND-B COMMANDING GENERAL EXPLAINS SECURITY PLAN FOR BAGHDAD
173RD AIRBORNE BRIGADE TO DEPLOY TO AFGHANISTAN

USJFCOM
JPADS continues to improve the way it delivers aerial drops to the warfighter - podcast

DefenseLink
Officials Accelerate Army Unit's Deployment - Story
Dedication Key to Baghdad Security Plan - Story
Video: Fil Gives Iraq Operational Update
Transcript: Fil Gives Iraq Operational Update
Force Increase Necessary for War on Terror - Story
Corps Reaches Out to Former Marines
Family Program Leaders Define Top Concerns - Story
Officials Present Top Family Readiness Awards

More Headline News
Guardsmen Help Storm-Stranded Motorists
Bush Will Protect U.S. Troops, Not Provoke War
President Says Baghdad Security Plan on Track
North Korea Agrees to Nuclear Disarmament

Military News
Military Health System Excels at Mission
Chu: Recruiting, Retention Remain Solid
Officials ID Soldier Missing in Action from Korean War
Marines, Djiboutians Train Side by Side

Transformation
Pentagon Channel Launches New Web Site on Feb. 19 - Story
Propane Plant Fuels Alternatives
New Program Encourages Savings
U.S., Peruvian Air Forces Train
36th Ops Group Reactivates

War on Terror
Troops Gain U.S. Citizenship - Story
Weapons Caches Found
Bomb-Making Factory Destroyed
Iraqis Capture al Qaeda Leader

America Supports You
Group Helps Soldier Fly - Story
Operation Jellybeans Launches
Channel Airs Troop Valentine Messages
'VetFran' Helps with Franchises

Face of Defense
Soldier Survives Sniper's Bullet
Spouses Serve in Iraq
Sailor Earns Bronze Star

DefendAmerica
NEWS UPDATES
Baghdad Security Plan Can Work - Story
Stability & Security in Iraq Report (pdf)
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
U.S. Military Helps Build Health Center on Island - Story
Deployed Servicemembers Become U.S. Citizens - Story
Chaplain, Soldiers Escort Fallen Heroes Home - Story
Market Opening Signifies Iraqi Resilience - Story
Air Cavalry Brigade Hits 200th Re-enlistment - Story
Soldiers, Iraqi Citizens Share Goal of Peace - Story
Iraqi Police Train to Lead, Protect Fellow Officers - Story

IN IRAQ
Comedians Bring Laughter to U.S. Troops
Army Vice Chief of Staff Visits Ironhorse Troops
1st Stinger Battery Begins Iraq Deployment
U.S. Troops, Iraqis Celebrate Bridge Opening
U.S. Marines Help Secure 'Smugglers Town'
Organization Delivers Supplies to Iraqi Families
Aircrew Aids Globemaster Carrying Injured
Iraqis 'Get Answers' from Civil Affairs Marines
Americans Unite with Socotra to Build Schools
Engineers Build High School in Northern Baghdad
Army Engineers Help Build Potable Water Plant

DefendAmerica Week in Review
Sunday - Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday

BACKGROUND
IRAQ
Renewal In Iraq
Iraq: Security, Stability
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq
Multinational Force Iraq
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Weekly Reconstruction Report (PDF)
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Fact Sheet: Budget Request
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

Weather
Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Germany
Ansbach Aschaffenburg Berlin Berlin-Tempelhof Berlin/Schonefeld Bremerhaven
Darmstadt Frankfurt Frankfurt/Main Freiburg/Breisgau Garmisch
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Geilenkirchen Gelnhausen Giessen Kitzingen
Hanau Am Main Heidelberg Mainz Mannheim Nurnberg Stuttgart Trier
Wiesbaden Wurzburg

Gitmo

Guam
Agana Agana Heights Agat Andersen AFB Asan Barrigada

Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut
An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Japan
Kadena Air Base Okinawa Tokyo Yokohama

Philippines
Baler Radar Site Catanduanes Radar Site Manila

South Korea
Cheju Upper/Radar Chonju Chunchon Inch'on Kunsan Masan Mokp'o
Osan Pusan Seoul Suwon Taegu Taejon Tonghae Radar Site Ulsan Yosu

Today in History
1129 - Jerusalem taken by Emperor Frederik II
1503 - Henry Tudor created Prince of Wales (later Henry VIII)
1536 - France & Turkey sign military/trade agreement against King Karel
1563 - Huguenot Jean Poltrot de Méré shoots General François De Guise
1574 - Zeeland falls to Dutch rebels
1634 - Ferdinand II orders commander Albrecht von Wallenstein's execution
1688 - Quakers conduct 1st formal protest of slavery in Germantown, PA
1713 - French invade under Jacques Cassard on Curaçao
1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlie's troops occupy Inverness, Scotland
1787 - Austrian emperor Jozef II bans children under 8 from labor
1815 - Treaty of peace with Great Britain proclaimed
1828 - More than 100 vessels destroyed in a storm, Gibraltar
1841 - 1st continuous filibuster in US Senate began, lasting until March 11
1849 - 1st regular steamboat service to San Francisco CA starts: gold rush prospectors from east coast
1850 - California Legislature creates 9 Bay Area counties
1856 - American (Know-Nothing) Party abolishes secrecy
1857 - Insurrection of Chinese in Sarawak, Borneo
1861 - Confederate President Jefferson Davis inaugurated at Montgomery, AL; King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia becomes 1st king of Italy
1865 - Evacuation of Charleston SC; Sherman's troops burn the city; Union troops force Confederates to abandon Fort Anderson, NC; Battle of Ft. Moultrie, SC
1876 - Direct telegraph link established between Britain & New Zealand
1879 - Arabs capture Egyptian premier Nabar Pasha
1884 - General Charles Gordon arrives in Khartoum
1891 - Captain Archinard's army fights with Nyamina of Niger in West-Sudan
1896 - Cave of Winds at Niagara Falls goes almost dry for 1st time in 50 years
1899 - San Francisco named as a port of dispatch for Army transports
1900 - Battle at Paardeberg -- 1,270 British killed/injured; British troops occupy Monte Christo Natal
1901 - H. Cecil Booth patented a dust removing suction cleaner
1908 - 1st US postage stamps in coils issued
1915 - Germany begins a blockade of England
1921 - British troops occupy Dublin
1922 - Kenesaw Mountain Landis resigns his judgeship to work for baseball
1927 - US & Canada begin diplomatic relations
1930 - Cow flown & milked, milk sealed in paper containers & parachuted; US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto
1932 - Japan declares Manchuria Independent
1942 - Japanese troop land on Bali
1944 - Maastricht resistance fighter JAJ Janssen arrested
1947 - 24 die in a train crash in Gallitzin, PA
1951 - Nepál becomes a constitutional monarchy
1955 - Baghdad Pact signed, making Turkey & Iraq a defense alliance
1960 - 8th Winter Olympics games open in Squaw Valley, CA
1962 - France & Algerian Muslims negotiate truce to end 7 year war
1964 - Papandreou government takes power in Greece
1965 - 27 copper miners die in avalanche, Granduc Mountain, British Columbia; Gambia gains independence from Britain (National Day)
1968 - British adopt year-round daylight savings time; 10,000 demonstrators against US in Vietnam War in West-Berlin; 10th Winter Olympics games close at Grenoble, France
1969 - PLO-attack El-Al plane in Zurich, Switzerland
1970 - Chicago 7 defendants found innocent of inciting to riot; US President Nixon launches "Nixon-doctrine"
1972 - California Supreme Court abolishes death penalty; Giulio Andreotti sworn in as premier of Italy
1974 - NASA launches Italian satellite San Marcos C-2 (235/843 km)
1975 - Italy broadens abortion law
1977 - Space Shuttle above a Boeing 747 goes on its maiden flight
1979 - NASA launches space vehicle S-202; Snow falls in the Sahara Desert; President Zia ur-Rahmans National Party wins elections in Bangladesh
1980 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau's Liberal Party wins Canada's elections
1984 - Revised concordat between Italy & the Vatican signed
1988 - Anthony M. Kennedy sworn in as Supreme Court Justice

Birthdays
1516 - Mary I Tudor (Bloody Mary), (1553-58), 1st reigning Queen of Great Britain
1609 - Edward Hyde Earl of Clarendon, English Lord Chancellor/PM (1660-67)
1677 - Jacques Cassini French astronomer (rings of Saturn)
1745 - Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta, physicist/inventor (battery)
1805 - Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough Rear Admiral (Union Navy)
1817 - Lewis Addison Armistead and Walter Page Lane, Confederate Brigadier Generals
1829 - Jean Jacques Alfred Mouton, Confederate Brigadier General
1833 - James Deshler, Confederate Brigadier General
1836 - Swami Ramakrishna (Gadadhar Chatterji), Hindu saint (preached unity of all religions)
1853 - August Belmont, Jr., racehorse breeder (Man 'O War)/founder (New York Jockey Club)
1892 - Wendell Wilkie, Presidential candidate (1940)/author (One World)
1895 - George "The Gipper" Gipp, Notre Dame football star; Semjon Timoshenko, Russian marshal/inspector-general (WWII)
1903 - Nikolaj V. Podgorny, President of USSR (1965-77)
1907 - Harm van Riel, Dutch politician (Dutch Liberal Party)
1912 - Heinz Kühn, German premier (North-Rhine Westphalia)
1922 - Eric Gairy, premier (Grenada)
1927 - John W. Warner (Senator-VA), married Liz Taylor
1930 - Theodore C. Freeman, Captain USAF/astronaut
1931 - Maxwell Thurman, US General
1947 - Eliot L. Engel (Representative-NY); Princess Maria Christina [Marijke], of Netherlands
1948 - Carolyn B. Maloney (Representative-NY)
1957 - Vanna White (Rosich), TV game show hostess (Wheel of Fortune)
1965 - Peter Martini, journalist
1968 - Chris McKendry, ESPN sportscaster

Passings
0999 - Gregory V (Bruno), 1st German Pope
1478 - Duke of Clarence, forced drowning in a wine barrel
1587 - Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (1560-87), beheaded at 44
1861 - Louis C. Luzac, Dutch minister of Internal affairs, dies at 74
1890 - Julius Andrássy, Sr., Earl/Premier of Hungary (1867-71), dies at 66
1895 - Albrecht, Archduke of Austrian (Battle at Custozza), dies at 77
1917 - Charles E. Barber, US chief engraver (1879-1917)
1932 - Frederik Augustus III, King of Saxon (1904-18), dies at 66
1938 - Edward Anseele, Belgian minister of Rail, dies at 81
1949 - Niceto A. Zamora y Torres, Premier of Spain (1931-36), dies at 71
1963 - Todd "Hugh" Gaitskell, leader British Labour Party, dies at 56
1966 - Grigori Grigoyevich Nelyubov, Russian cosmonaut, dies at 31
1967 - Robert J. Oppenheimer, creator of atomic bomb, dies at 62
1969 - Dragisa Cvetkovic, Serbian premier of (Yugoslavia 1939-4.), dies at 76
1973 - Franc Costello, US gangster, dies at 82
1975 - Chivu Stoica (Stoica Chivu), premier of Romania (1955-61), dies at 66
1975 - Raymond Moley, US advisor to President Roosevelt "Brain Trust", dies at 88
1997 - Enrique Peralta Azurdia, military President of Guatemala (1963-66)
2001 - (Ralph) Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR driver/"The Intimidator", dies in crash during Daytona 500 at 49

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Murray, Joseph Vaughn, USN (MO); A6A shot down (w/Schroeffel), KIA, body not recovered

Ruffin, James T., USN (AL); F4B shot down (w/Spencer) - remains returned June, 1983

Spencer, Larry H., USN (IA); F4B shot down (w/Ruffin), released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Commander - alive and well as of 1998

Schroeffel, Thomas Anthony, USN (PA); A6A shot down (w/Murray), KIA, body not recovered

1967
Duart, David H., USAF (PA); F105F shot down (w/Jensen), released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

Jensen, Jay R., USAF (UT); F105F shot down (w/Duart), released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Lt. Colonel - deceased, May 1998

1969
The following USN personnel reported MIA and presumed Killed when their KA3B disappeared and apparently crashed in water while returning to ship:
Chapman, Rodney M. (MI); pilot

Jerome, Stanley M. (MI)

Schimmels, Eddie R., (CA)

Also reported MIA this day in 1969:
Brucher, John M., USAF (OR); F105D shot down, voice contact after ejection

1970
Daffron, Thomas C., USAF (IL); F4C shot down (w/Morley)remains ID'd August, 1999

Gillen, Thomas E., USAF (KS); F4D shot down

Morley, Charles F., USAF (MO); F4C shot down (w/Daffron) - remains ID"d August, 1999

1971
The following US Army and personnel reported MIA when their UH1H was shot down during an extraction mission (an attempt was made to recover the remains after they were located, but the site had to be abandoned when the recovery crew came under heavy fire:
Berg, George P., (NJ); aircraft commander, KIA in crash, remains tagged, not recovered

Demsey, Walter E., Jr., (NJ); crewchief, KIA in crash, remains tagged, not recovered

Johnson, Gary L., (CA); door gunner, KIA in crash, remains tagged, not recovered

Lloyd, Allen R., SF (MN); KIA in crash, remains tagged, not recovered

Watson, Ronald L., SF (TX); KIA in crash, remains tagged, not recovered

Woods, Gerald E., SF (OR); KIA in crash, remains tagged, not recovered

The following US Army personnel reported MIA when their OH6A was shot down:
Crandall, Gregory S. (WA); pilot, remains returned 1991 - ID'd June, 1993

Engen, Robert J. (CA); scout/observer, remains ID'd October, 1991

Llewellen, Walter E. (IN); crewchief, remains ID'd October, 1991

Labels: Headlines, History