By Sgt. Armando Monroig
5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

MUQDADIYAH, Iraq – For many Soldiers, a deployment can be a heavy burden to bear. Long hours, firefights and being away from loved ones are just some of the challenges faced by Soldiers in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Jerry McCloud and his Bradley Fighting Vehicle crew know this well and have decided that keeping things light is what will help them make it through their deployment.

McCloud and crew are assigned to Troop A, 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. Their job consists of route clearance, patrols and security operations, said the 38-year-old vehicle commander.

A reconnaissance mission Feb. 17, took them to the hills of nearby Hamrin, Iraq, marking their 109th mission since arriving in Diyala in October.

As the senior Soldier in the vehicle, McCloud said he is not only responsible for the safety of his Soldiers, but also making sure they cope with the day-to-day stress that comes with combat missions.

"It's stressful, but the less stress I inflict on them, the better they perform," said McCloud, from Tulsa, Okla.

To do that, McCloud keeps things lighthearted and playful. He jokes around with his crew. They sing songs from shows like Sesame Street and mimic the characters. His Soldiers call him daddy in jest, and he takes care of them as if they were his own kids.

"The more relaxed you are, the better you do your job," added McCloud, a 20-year Army veteran.

He said the Fort Hood, Texas crew eventually developed a good working relationship. But it wasn’t always the case.

“When we first got together, we were a terrible crew,” Sgt. John Richter, Bradley gunner, from Lynnville, Ind.

He said initially they had a hard time building cohesion and weren’t used to working together.

“After a while, you learn the rhythm or pattern of what the other people want and things fall into place,” he said.

“It takes time. You can’t just throw a crew together. It takes baby steps. How long have I been tortured by you all?” McCloud asked his Soldiers.

“About a year-and-a-half,” Richter said with a grin. He is on his second Iraq rotation. His first deployment was in 2004.

The crew agreed that going through combat on a daily basis together has helped them form a strong bond. They recalled the first time their Bradley Fighting Vehicle was hit by a road-side bomb only three weeks after arriving in Iraq.

It was the worst roadside bomb they had encountered, said McCloud, who is in Iraq a second time as well. His first time here was in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm.

This Bradley crew has been hit by road-side bombs seven times.

They keep things lighthearted despite the dangerous missions because it’s what helps them stay alert and calm in stressful situations.

“You expect it. You’re prepared. But you laugh about it. You continue the mission and you expect it to happen again,” said McCloud.

The two experienced Soldiers, McCloud and Richter, do what they can to train Flanary, who is on his first deployment, and help improve his driving skills.

“I’ve learned to … maintain my distance, and to stay calm and not get too excited,” said Flanary.

“He’s come a long way,” said McCloud. “He’s a little hesitant to think on his own, but as long as he doesn’t run over any people or trucks – we’re good.”

Flanary and Richer attribute their “dad’s” leadership skills and good training to their improved performance.

McCloud has helped Richter become one of the best gunners in the squadron. Richter is one of only three Soldiers out of 40 in the squadron to get a perfect score in accomplishing 10 gunners tasks successfully.

Although McCloud likes to joke around, his Soldiers know that when it comes down to it, he’s all business.

“He gets down and dirty, leads by example, works right there beside us,” said Flanary. “That’s why I respect him. He’s a good listener and a good teacher.”

“He’s a mentor, a tutor. He has a great work ethic. The Army is running out of Soldiers like him. He stands up for us. That’s why I call him daddy,” said Richter smiling at his NCO.

“They’re a pain, but I have a good crew,” he said as he glared at his protégés.

“I’ve got a sense of pride for my crew,” said Richter. “Working with them makes my job easier. They help me laugh off the hardships of combat.”

Labels: 1st Cavalry Division, 3BCT, 6-9th Cavalry, Iraq, Muqdadiyah

Michael Yon's photos are some of the best I've seen, and his site is one of my favorite places to visit. He sent along a couple of photos that haven't been published on his site:




Brian Williams, Richard Engle and GEN(R) Wayne Downing, who Michael says are staying a few tents down from him.


If you haven't michaelyon-online.com, you're really missing out on honest, unvarnished news from Iraq, and some outstanding photos.


Michael's photos are copyrighted, and are posted here with permission. They should not be published without same.

Labels: Iraq, Michael Yon, photos

As he climbs the stairs of a home in Balour, Iraq, Feb. 20, a Soldier from the 6th Squadron, 9th U.S. Cavalry Regiment from Fort Hood, Texas, checks for insurgents or insurgent activities during a squadron-level operation in the area.


By Sgt. Armando Monroig
5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

MUQDADIYAH, Iraq – Soldiers with the 5th Iraqi Army Division detained seven suspected terrorists during a cordon-and-search mission in Balour, Iraq, Feb. 20, aimed at capturing insurgents hiding in the area.

Members of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, of Fort Hood, Texas, supported the mission in an area believed to be a safe haven where insurgents plan attacks on residents and coalition forces in nearby Muqdadiyah.

Coalition forces found a roadside bomb and detonated it, and took several AK-47s with ammunition from the scene of the squadron-sized mission.

Staff Sgt. James Davis, a mortar platoon sergeant assigned to 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, said most of the suspected insurgents fled the area before coalition forces arrived.

“They (the insurgents) are afraid of us. They won’t fight us man to man. They’ll plant roadside bombs or wait until we’re asleep to attack us,” Davis said.

But Davis and his Soldiers won’t be deterred from doing their job, he said.

“We’re going to track them down. We’re going to catch them or run them out of this area,” said Davis.

One of the alleged terrorists, a suspected roadside bomb emplacer, was nowhere to be found, said Davis.

Davis questioned residents about the insurgents he was searching for, and their activities in the area, but didn’t get any answers. He believes locals are afraid of retribution from insurgents if they talk.

“(Insurgents) will walk up to someone, shoot and kill them. And then they tell everyone else, ‘This is what will happen to you if you talk,’” Davis said.

Davis said conducting missions like this one will be the only way to break the grip insurgents have on communities like Balour.

“We just have to keep going out there and doing it,” said Spc. Thomas Gruenberg, a fire support specialist assigned to Headquarters platoon, Troop A, 6-9 Cav. Regt. “The more we go out there, (residents) will see they can help us and that we can help them.”

Help them, he said, get the insurgents out of their neighborhoods and make it a safer place for the locals to live and for coalition forces to operate.

“It will make it so the attacks on us and each other (sectarian violence) are less frequent,” Gruenberg said. “That way we can eventually pull out and let the Iraqi police and Iraqi army, take over, do their jobs fully and run their country without our support.”



Soldiers search a residence in Balour, Iraq, Feb. 20 for enemy activity during an operation led by members of the Iraqi army with the assistance of 6th Squadron, 9th U.S. Cavalry Regiment from Fort Hood, Texas. The squadron-level operation was aimed at finding suspected insurgents in the area.


Staff Sgt. James Davis, a mortar platoon sergeant assigned to the 6th Squadron, 9th U.S. Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas, searches for signs of insurgent activity in a residence of Balour, Iraq, Feb. 20. The squadron-level operation was aimed at finding suspected insurgents in the area.


Staff Sgt. James Davis, a mortar platoon sergeant assigned to the 6th Squadron, 9th U.S. Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas, looks through a list of suspects his unit is searching for in Balour, Iraq, Feb. 20. The squadron-level operation was aimed at finding suspected insurgents in the area.

Labels: 1st Cavalry Division, 3BCT, 5th Iraqi Army Division, Balour, Iraq, Iraqi Army, Muqdadiyah, photos

HAIRCUT — U.S. Army Capt. Charles Popov gives Capt. Jeff Fuller a haircut on Forward Operating Base McHenry, Iraq, March 5, 2007. Popov and Fuller are assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway

Labels: 2-27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, 3BCT, FOB McHenry, US Army Corps of Engineers

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Iraqi Shi'ite pilgrims targeted again by bombers - Video
Democrats craft Iraq troop withdrawal deadline Video
Bomber kills 30; 3 soldiers die in Iraq
U.S. to Send More Troops to Iraq
Baghdad Security Efforts Seem to Yield Results -

Operation Enduring Freedom
Commander: Taliban ready to battle NATO
Gates: NATO Steps Forward for Spring Offensive

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Feds: Ex-Navy Sailor Passed Secrets to Terror Web Sites
Uproar After Jordan King Speaks to Congress
Insurgents target AU peacekeepers in Mogadishu
Australian Guantanamo inmate to face court

Other Military News
Commander Wants to End One-Year Tours
Gates, Pace Discuss Way Forward at Walter Reed
Transcript: Gates, Pace Conduct Media Roundtable
Army Chief, Surgeon General Address Issues
Bush to Support Wounded Warrior Commission - Story
Fact Sheet: Taking Care of America's Wounded Warriors
Bush: Troop care panel will find truth
Gay Vets Challenge 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
Feds Seize Old Privately-Owned F-14s
Poll: Should Gays Serve?
Captain America Killed by Sniper

Worldwide Wackos
Report: Ex-Iranian General Defecting to U.S.
EU powers at IAEA urge Iran to take nuclear timeout - Video
U.S. does not see China as strategic adversary: Gates
U.S. opens door to bilateral talks with Iran

Homegrown Moonbats
Rosie says she's treated for depression

Politics / Government
Baptist Leader: Giuliani's Divorce a Problem
Catholic Paper: Don't Support Giuliani
Muslim Congressman to Help in Diplomacy
'Pig Book' Notes Cut in Government Pork
Libby verdict may haunt rest of Bush term - Video
Senators promise drug importation push
Cheney under political cloud after Libby trial
Libby prepares request for new trial
Dems threaten Pakistan over jet delivery

Illegal Immigration / Border Control
Police Arrest Mexican National in Abduction of Florida Boy Who Escaped
Gates Pushes for More Tech Worker Visas

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Justice for Jessica - Jury finds John Couey guilty of Lunsford murder - VIDEO
BRAINROOM: Timeline on John Couey
NASA Fires Love-Triangle Astronaut Nowak
2 U.S. Women Poisoned in Moscow - FACTS
2 Infants' Bodies Found Under Texas Home
NASA fires troubled astronaut

U.N. News
More women working but inequalities are acute: U.N.

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Sony builds "Home" for Net denizens
Microsoft Web search exec leaving company: source
Wikipedia to seek proof of credentials

Science / Medicine / Technology
For big beasts, dinosaurs sure had small genomes
Scientists show that asteroids are solar powered
Far more mutations than thought involved in cancer

Mother Nature
Rare vulture to be flown to Mongolia

News from My Neck of the Woods
Conn. bill would force MySpace age check

Oddities
Angry Moose Brings Down Chopper in Alaska
Student Kills Self in Front of Peers in School
Meat-loving calf eats chickens
No grisly food details, please..
Man burns genitals in 'Jackass' stunt

Other News of Note
Gone Fishing (MegaMillions winner)
Count begins after Northern Ireland assembly vote - Video
New U.S. Coins Missing 'In God We Trust'

Fox News
Indonesia Jet Blaze Kills 21 - PHOTOS - VIDEO
McDonald's Trying Bigger, High-End Burger
400 Down, 575 to Go

Reuters: Top News
States undercharge polluters: report
Polygamist sect leader Jeffs faces new charge
Kidnap throws spotlight on barren corner of Ethiopia
Hidden bombs stalk Vietnamese as states seek treaty
Surgery in the sun lures patients to Thailand
Newlywed Hurley parties on in India
After 15 years, Genesis is back -- without Gabriel
Wall Street sags on bleak housing view Mortgage lenders stocks rebound
Nikkei little changed, steel and energy gain
Oil gains on U.S. crude inventory drop
BJ's Wholesale profit falls 77 pct, shares fall
More Investing News...
Reuters Summits: Food
No strategy change at Starbucks
Food growth catching up with HPC
Take-Two investors plan board takeover
Exxon plans 25 new projects in next three years
Fed spies signs of slower growth
Starbucks strategy unchanged after memo: exec
Oracle shows no momentum in Linux effort
Express tweaks Caremark offer after setbacks

AP World News
Hill and McGraw rev up for '07 tour
Browns corral running back Jamal Lewis
Duke grad builds beer tossing fridge
Rocker denies receiving HGH prescription
Tribe puts bridge on Grand Canyon's edge
Star Jones Reynolds lands at Court TV
Stocks edge lower, show more stability
Bill Gates pushes for better schools
Survivors say jet shook before landing
Official says Jolie plans to adopt boy
Economy grows in most areas of U.S.
Lance Mackey reclaims lead at Iditarod

Military.com
Def Tech: The Bat Boat
Slideshow: Battle Rattle
Advisors: Running is Mommy Time
It's College Time for Veterans
What Famous Leader Are You Most Like?

CENTCOM: Press Releases
COMBINED JOINT TASK FORCE-76 RE-DESIGNATED TO CJTF-82
OPERATION WHITE ROCKETS NETS TWO CACHES, TWO SUSPECTS SOUTH OF BAGHDAD
STRYKERS CAPTURE 22, SECURE AMMUNITION AND EXPLOSIVES
24 SUSPECTED TERRORISTS CAPTURED THROUGHOUT IRAQ
TERRORIST FACILITATOR, IED EXPERT CAPTURED
AFGHAN, COALITION FORCES PREVENT VBIED ATTACK IN KAPISA PROVINCE
ROUTE CLEARANCE MISSION ATTACKED BY ROADSIDE BOMB
AIRPOWER SUMMARY FOR MARCH 6
CLEARING SADR CITY: MND-B GENERAL PLEASED WITH INITIAL RESULTS
5 SUSPECTED TERRORISTS ARRESTED IN KHOWST PROVINCE

USJFCOM
NATO military committee visits USJFCOM
More about USJFCOM and Allied Command Transformation
JIOC-X continues to improve intelligence support for joint warfighter - podcast
New data technology makes aerial reconnaissance video available to users in the field - podcast
Congressman calls command modeling and simulation hub - podcast

DefenseLink
Tribunals to Begin for High-Value Detainees
Testimony Focuses on Fixing Health Care
Bush Discusses Emergency Funding For War

Military News
Multi-service Crew Fights War on Terror in Afghanistan
U.S. Military Airlifts Relief Supplies to Bolivia
General Discusses Africa, European Commands

War on Terror
Forces Detain 48 Suspects
Afghans, Coalition Nab Terrorists
Troops Kill Five Terrorists

America Supports You
American Legion Recognizes Those Who Support the Troops - Story
Families Stand United in Support
Shops Offer Free Oil Change
Wrestlers Give Tickets to Troops

Transformation
Navy to Commission Transport - Story
F-35 Production Inches Closer
Security Model Stresses Partnership
Marines Test New Antenna

Face of Defense
Brothers Share Childhood Dream - Story
Troop Keeps Soldiering
Woman Gunner Protects Unit
Soldier Tackles Numerous Duties

DefendAmerica
Security Efforts Yield Results - Story
Maj. Gen. Caldwell biography
Video: Bloggers' Roundtable
Bloggers' Roundtable Web Site

NEWS UPDATES
Afghans, Coalition Nab Terrorists - Story
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
More than 60 Sign Up for Iraqi Police Force - Story
Army Engineers Plan Well for People of Assama - Story
Soldiers Deliver Supplies for Women's Day Event - Story
Explosive Ordnance Marines Destroy Caches - Story
Marines Build Trust, Lend Helping Hand to Locals - Story
Brigade Combat Team Opens Sixth Water Plant - Story

IN IRAQ
Army Engineers Complete 64 More Projects
U.S., Iraqi Troops Work to Secure Sadr City
Hospital Offers Advanced Care in Afghanistan
Iraqis to Complete Work on Drainage Station

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghan Workers Keep Vehicles in Prime Condition
Paratroopers Trade Shop Tools for Security
Air Defense ‘Family’ Returns to Afghanistan

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
1658 - Peace of Roskilde between Sweden & Denmark
1702 - England's Queen Anne ascends throne upon death of King William III
1711 - Antoin de Guiscard tries English premier Haley for murder
1722 - Afghan monarch Mir Mahmud occupies Persia
1746 - Cumberland's troops occupy Aberdeen
1754 - Marquis of Ensenada becomes premier of Spain
1766 - Willem V (18) becomes Governor of United Provinces
1782 - Gnadenhutten Massacre: Ohio militia kills 90 Indians
1801 - British drive French forces from Abukir, Egypt
1838 - US mint in New Orleans begins operation (producing dimes)
1854 - US Commodore Matthew C. Perry's 2nd trip to Japan
1855 - 1st train crosses 1st US railway suspension bridge, Niagara Falls
1861 - St Augustine, FL surrenders to Union armies
1862 - Battle of Elkhorn Tavern ends with Confederate withdrawal; Confederate ironclad Merrimack launched; Naval Engagement at Hampton Roads, VA: CSS Virginia, Jamestown & Yorktown vs USS Cumberland, Congress & Monitor
1865 - Battle of Kingston, NC (Wilcox's ridge, Wise's Forks)
1887 - Everett Horton, Connecticut, patents fishing rod of telescoping steel tubes
1894 - New York passes 1st state dog license law
1896 - Volunteers of America forms (New York, NY)
1908 - Collingwood Elementary (Cleveland) burns, kills 173 kids & 2 teachers
1910 - Baroness Raymonde de Laroche of Paris France becomes 1st licensed female pilot
1913 - Internal Revenue Service begins to levy & collect income taxes
1915 - 1st US navy minelayer, Baltimore, commissioned
1916 - US invades Cuba for 3rd time, this to end corrupt Menocal regime
1917 - Russian revolution breaks out (in Petrograd/St Petersburg)
1920 - Denmark & Cuba join the League of Nations
1924 - Coal mine explosion kills 171 at Castle Gate, UT
1927 - Pan American Airlines incorporates
1929 - US worker union commission reports of slavery in Liberia
1930 - Mahatma Gandhi starts civil disobedience in India
1934 - Edwin Hubble photo shows as many galaxies as Milky Way has stars
1941 - 1st baseball player drafted into WWII (Hugh Mulcahy, Phillies)
1942 - Japanese forces captures Rangoon, Burma
1943 - 335 allied bombers attack Neurenberg; Limited gambling legalized in Mexico
1945 - 53 Amsterdammers executed by Nazi occupiers; Phyllis M. Daley is 1st black nurse sworn-in as US Navy ensign
1946 - 1st helicopter licensed for commercial use (New York NY)
1948 - Supreme Court rules relg instructions in pub schools unconstitutional
1950 - Marshall Voroshilov of USSR announces they developed atomic bomb
1951 - International Table Tennis Federation bans Egypt (for refusing to play Israel)
1952 - Antoine Pinay forms French government
1957 - Israeli troops leave Egypt; Suez Canal re-opened for minor ships
1959 - Groucho, Chico & Harpo's final TV appearance together
1959 - Pro-Egyptian coup fails in Mosul Iraq
1961 - US nuclear submarine Patrick Henry arrives at Scottish naval base of Holy Loch from South Carolina in a record underseas journey of 66 days 22 hours
1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 - Syrian Arab Republic Revolution Day: Military coup in Syria
1965 - 1st US combat forces arrive in South Vietnam (3,500 Marines)
1966 - An IRA bomb destroyed Nelson's Column in Dublin; Casey Stengel elected to Hall of Fame
1968 - Students demonstrate in Warsaw
1971 - Radio Hanoi broadcasts Jimi Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner"
1972 - 1st airship flown over Britain in 20 years (Europa); 1st flight of the Goodyear blimp
1973 - Eisenhower Tunnel, world's highest/US longest, opens
1974 - Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris France
1976 - 1,774 kg (largest observed) stony meteorite falls in Jilin, China
1979 - 1st extraterrestrial volcano discovered (Jupiter's satellite Io); China withdraws invasion troops from Vietnam; Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) transported 38 miles overland from Palmdale
1983 - House Foreign Affairs Committee endorses nuclear weapons freeze with USSR; IBM releases PC DOS version 2.0; President Reagan calls the USSR an "Evil Empire"
1986 - 4 French TV crew members are abducted in west Beirut Lebanon; Japanese probe Suisei passes Halley's Comet at 109,800 km
1987 - FBI apprehends most wanted Claude L Dallas, Jr in California
1991 - Planeloads of US troops arrive home from the Persian Gulf, Iraq hands over 40 foreign journalists & 2 American soldiers it captured
1994 - B737 collides with Ilyushin-86 in New Dehli, at least 8 killed; Defense Department announces smoking ban in workplaces; Train accident at Pinetown, Natal kills 47
1995 - Costis Stephanopoulos becomes President of Greece; Dutch Liberal Party wins Provincial-National elections

Birthdays
1495 - Juan de Dios, saint/founder (Brothers of Mercy)
1748 - Willem V. Batavus, Prince of Orange-Nassau
1783 - Hannah Hoes Van Buren, wife of President Martin Van Buren (1837-41) (died 1819)
1787 - Karl Ferdinand von Grafe, helped create modern plastic surgery
1799 - Simon Cameron Secretary of War (Union), died in 1889
1836 - Matthew Calbraith Butler, Confederate Major General
1839 - James Mason Crafts, US chemist (Friedel-Crafts-synthesis)
1841 - Oliver Wendell Holmes, 59th Supreme Court justice (1902-32)
1862 - Joseph Lee helped develop playgrounds
1879 - Otto Hahn German physicist/chemist (Nobel 44, radiothorium/actinium, co-discoverer-nuclear fission)
1886 - Edward Kendall chemist, isolated cortisone (Nobel 1950)
1892 - Mátyás Rákosi Hungarian party leader/premier (1952-53)
1898 - Theophilus E. Dönges, South African minister of Internal Affairs
1918 - Alan Hale [MacKahan], Jr., actor (Skipper Jonas Grumby-Gilligan's Island)
1923 - Booth Colman, actor (Zaius-Planet of the Apes); Juan M. G. "Wancho" Evertsz, premier of Dutch Antilles (NVP, 1973-77)
1925 - Petrus Steenkamp, Dutch politician (KVP/CDA)
1937 - Juvenal Hayarimana, President of Rwanda (1973-94)
1939 - Mike Lowry (Representative-WA)
1945 - Jim Chapman (Representative-TX)
1952 - Vladimir Vladimirovich Vasyutin, cosmonaut (Soyuz T-14)

Passings
0883 - Albumasar [Ahmad Aboe M Gafar al-Balkhi], Arabic astronomer,
1144 - Celestine II [Guido], Italian Pope (1143-44), dies in battle
1403 - Bajezid I Jildirim, 4th sultan of Turkey (1389-1403), dies at 42
1466 - Francesco Sforza, Italian condottiere/duke of Milan, dies at 64
1550 - Juan de Dios, Portuguese / Spanish saint (Brothers of Mercy), dies at 55
1638 - Jacob C. van Neck, Admiral/mayor of Amsterdam, dies at about 73
1661 - Jules Mazarin, Italian cardinal/premier of France, dies at 58
1702 - William III, Dutch King of England (1689-1702), dies at 51
1754 - Don José de Carvajal bon Lancaster, Spanish minister of Foreign affairs, dies
1862 - Nat Gordon, last pirate, hanged in New York NY for stealing 1,000 slaves
1874 - Millard Fillmore, 13th President (1850-53), dies of at 74
1889 - Jens/John Ericsson, Sweden/US, engineer (fire extinguisher), dies at 85
1901 - Karl Freiherr von Stumm-Halberg, German politician, dies at 64
1917 - Ferdinand von Zeppelin, Dutch count/air pioneer, dies at 78
1923 - Johannes S. van der Waals, Dutch physicist (Nobel 1910), dies at 85
1930 - William Howard Taft, 27th US President (1909-13)/Chief Justice, dies at 72
1945 - H.J. Jamin, Dutch resistance fighter, dies in Buchenwald; Jan Beekes resistance fighter, executed at 26
1951 - The Honeymoon Killers (Martha Beck & Raymond Fernandez) die in electric chair
1955 - Clementine, Princess of Belgium, wife of V. Napoleon Bonaparte, dies at 82
1959 - Abdel Wahab Shawwaf, Iraqi Colonel/putschist, murdered
1985 - Thomas Creighton, US heart patient (3 implants in 46 hours), dies at 33
1994 - Knut Haukelid, Norway/US resistance fighter (Rjukan 1943), dies at 82
1996 - Jack Malcolm Thorpe Fleming, Churchill commando, dies at 89

Reported Missing in Action
1967
The following USN personnel reported MIA when their A3B disappeared on a strike mission:
Crain, Carroll O. (TN);

Galvin, Ronald E. (IL)

Pawlish, George F. (CO);

1971
Anshus, Richard C., US Army (MN); OH6A shot down (observer, w/Prather), released by PRG March, 1973 - retired as a Lt. Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

Grantham, Robert E., US Army (CA); OH6A shot down (observer, w/Hale)

Hale, John D., US Army (KY); OH6A shot down (pilot, w/Grantham)

Prather, Phillip D., US Army (TX); OH6A shot down (pilot, w/Anshus), released by PRG March, 1973 - retired as a CW4 - deceased November, 1997

Labels: Headlines, History