And happy birthday to John Holland (1840–1914), Jimmy Dorsey (1904–1957), Dinah Shore (1916-1994) and Jack Lousma (1936-TBD)
A Native American soldier who fought in World War II and the Korean War will be posthumously honored with the Medal of Honor next month, White House officials announced Friday.
Retired Master Sgt. Woodrow Keeble, a South Dakota native who died in 1984, will be recognized for actions in North Korea in October 1951. According to Army records, he ignored life-threatening wounds to take out three mountainside enemy pillboxes which had pinned down a U.S. platoon.
Keeble was initially awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star and a Purple Heart for those actions, but members of his state’s congressional delegation have pushed for Medal of Honor recognition for him for years.
A member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Sioux, Keeble served in two wars and is one of the most decorated soldiers in history, yet he was never considered for the Medal of Honor due to bureaucratic mix-ups. Now, more than 20 years after his death and 50 years after his military service, Keeble will receive the nation's highest military honor.
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Born in Waubay, South Dakota, Keeble moved to Wahpeton, North Dakota as a child. When he was old enough, Keeble joined the North Dakota National Guard and, in 1942, shipped out to the South Pacific with the North Dakota 164th Infantry Regiment.
On the island of Guadalcanal, Keeble saw some of the most intense combat of WWII. In late October 1942, Keeble - known by his fellow soldiers as Chief - was wounded in an attempt to rescue his comrades. He was recognized for his actions and awarded his first Bronze Star and the first of his four Purple Hearts.
At age 34 he went to war again in Korea where he earned the Distinguished Service Cross, three more Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star for his courage.
The action for which he is now being awarded the Medal of Honor was described by the soldiers in the platoon he was leading. In November 1951 and in December 1951 every surviving member of his company signed a letter recommending Keeble for the Medal of Honor. In both cases, the paperwork was lost somewhere between the battlefield and the Defense Department.
Say what you will about his personal habits, but when it comes to spinning gore into gold, Vlad the Impaler, enthusiastic champion of man's inhumanity to man, can be said to have few rivals.
The 15th-century tyrant - the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Count Dracula - is known to have resided at Bran Castle, near Brasov in Transylvania, as either pampered guest or shackled inmate, according to conflicting reports.
What is indisputable is that the imposing, 14th-century fortress-turned-museum has never baulked from cashing in on its association with bad lad Vlad, whose preferred mode of execution secured his place in history. Today, it is for sale at a spine-chilling £40 million.
Castle Dracula, as it is commonly known, is a failsafe tourist attraction, pulling in 450,000 visitors a year.
Global warming sceptics are pointing to recent record cold temperatures in parts of North America and Asia and the return of Arctic Sea ice to suggest fears about climate change may be overblown.
According to the US National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the average temperature of the global land surface in January 2008 was below the 20th century mean (-0.02°F/-0.01°C) for the first time since 1982.
Temperatures were also colder than average across large swathes of central Asia, the Middle East, the western US, western Alaska and southeastern China.
The NCDC reported that the cold conditions were associated with "the largest January snow cover extent on record for the Eurasian continent and for the Northern Hemisphere".
In some parts of China and central Asia, snow fell for the first time in living memory, the NCDC noted.
"For the contiguous United States, the average temperature was 30.5°F (-0.83°C) for January, which was 0.3°F (0.2°C) below the 20th century mean and the 49th coolest January on record, based on preliminary data".
Much of North America was also hit by the heaviest snowfall since the 1960s.
Meanwhile, the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre found the January 2008 Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent, while below the 1979-2000 mean, was greater than the previous four years.
And the January 2008 Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent was significantly above the 1979-2000 mean, ranking as the largest sea ice extent in January over the 30-year historical period.
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"OK, so one winter does not a climate make. It would be premature to claim an Ice Age is looming just because we have had one of our most brutal winters in decades," writes Lorne Gunter in the National Post.
"But if environmentalists and environment reporters can run around shrieking about the manmade destruction of the natural order every time a robin shows up on Georgian Bay two weeks early, then it is at least fair game to use this winter's weather stories to wonder whether the alarmist are being a tad premature."
He also quotes Kenneth Tapping, of Canada's National Research Council, who oversees a giant radio telescope focused on the sun and is convinced the Earth is destined for a long period of severely cold weather if solar activity does not pick up soon.
"The last time the sun was this inactive, Earth suffered the Little Ice Age that lasted about five centuries and ended in 1850," Gunter writes.
Japan's oldest person has died at a hospital in southwestern Japan, her nursing home said Saturday. She was 113.
Tsuneyo Toyonaga, who became the country's oldest person last August, died Friday, days after she was transferred to a nearby hospital because she lost her appetite, said Masuko Yamamoto, deputy director of the Yume-no-Sato nursing home in the southern city of Nangoku.
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Toyonaga is survived by five children and 10 grandchildren, Kyodo News agency said.
Kaku Yamanaka, born on Dec. 11, 1894, is now Japan's oldest person, according to the Health and Welfare Ministry. She lives in a nursing home in Aichi, central Japan.
British wartime secret service agent Pearl Cornioley, who helped the French resistance movement, died on Sunday at a hospital in the French Loire Valley, a family friend said. She was 93.
Cornioley, who in 2006 was honoured by the Royal Air Force for her role as a resistance fighter, died in hospital in Blois, south of Paris.
Pearl Cornioley, formerly Witherington, became the leader of 1,500 French freedom fighters during World War II.
She was recommended for the Military Cross but, as a woman, was not allowed to receive it. She turned down an MBE, saying it was a "civil decoration".
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Born to British parents in Paris, Pearl Witherington had already escaped occupied France with her mother and three sisters when she returned under cover of darkness aged 29.
She was parachuted into France from 300ft (91 metres) on the third attempt - regarded as an extremely low jumping point. Other attempts had been abandoned because the situation on the ground was considered too dangerous.
At the time, Mrs Cornioley said, she was "delighted to be in one piece and back on French soil" after finally making the jump.
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"It was a complete accident that I ended up leading 1,500 resistance fighters. I was not a military person, I was supposed to be a courier, but I ended up having to use whatever sense I had - but I certainly didn't do this on my own," she said.
They were so effective, the Nazi regime put a 1 million franc (£500,000 today) bounty on her head.
Citation: For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty on the 10th April, 1921, near Haidari Kach (Waziristan). When the convoy protection troops were attacked, this Sepoy was No. 1 of a Lewis Gun Section. Early in the action he received a very severe gunshot wound in the chest, and fell beside his Lewis gun. Hand-to-hand fighting having commenced, the British officer, Indian officer, and all the Havildars of his company were either killed or wounded, and his Lewis gun was seized by the enemy.
Citation: Becoming separated from their platoon by a smoke barrage [near Le Catelet, France, on 29 September 1918], Sgt. Eggers, Sgt. John C. Latham and Cpl. Thomas E. O'Shea took cover in a shell hole well within the enemy's lines. Upon hearing a call for help from an American tank, which had become disabled 30 yards from them, the 3 soldiers left their shelter and started toward the tank, under heavy fire from German machineguns and trench mortars. In crossing the fire-swept area Cpl. O'Shea was mortally wounded, but his companions, undeterred, proceeded to the tank, rescued a wounded officer, and assisted 2 wounded soldiers to cover in a sap of a nearby trench. Sgt. Eggers and Sgt. Latham then returned to the tank in the face of the violent fire, dismounted a Hotchkiss gun, and took it back to where the wounded men were, keeping off the enemy all day by effective use of the gun and later bringing it, with the wounded men, back to our lines under cover of darkness.Citation: Becoming separated from their platoon by a smoke barrage [near Le Catelet, France, on 29 September 1918], Sgt. Latham, Sgt. Alan L. Eggers, and Cpl. Thomas E. O'Shea took cover in a shellhole well within the enemy's lines. Upon hearing a call for help from an American tank which had become disabled 30 yards from them, the 3 soldiers left their shelter and started toward the tank under heavy fire from German machineguns and trench mortars. In crossing the fire-swept area, Cpl. O'Shea was mortally wounded, but his companions, undeterred, proceeded to the tank, rescued a wounded officer, and assisted 2 wounded soldiers to cover in the sap of a nearby trench. Sgts. Latham and Eggers then returned to the tank in the face of the violent fire, dismounted a Hotchkiss gun, and took it back to where the wounded men were keeping off the enemy all day by effective use of the gun and later bringing it with the wounded men back to our lines under cover of darkness.-- Tam, at View from the Porch
Washington's Birthday (traditionally 22 Feb) would be celebrated on the third Monday in February.
Memorial Day (30 May) would be celebrated on the last Monday in May.
Veterans Day (11 Nov) would be celebrated on the fourth Monday in October.**
Additionally, a new federal holiday, Columbus Day (formerly observed on 12 October in some states), would be celebrated on the second Monday in October.
Click on the "Poetry Friday" button at left for this week's round-up, which is hosted by Kelly at Big A little a. (Susan, of Susan Writes, has done a round-up of previous round-ups here.)
1918: Incas, the last surviving Carolina paroquet (Conuropsis carolinensis), died at the Cincinnati Zoo.*
Citation: This officer was the pilot of a Beaufort aircraft of Coastal Command which was detailed to attack an enemy battle cruiser in Brest Harbour at first light on the morning of 6th April, 1941. The aircraft did not return but it is now known that a torpedo attack was carried out with the utmost daring.Citation: Becoming separated from their platoon by a smoke barrage, Cpl. O'Shea, with 2 other soldiers, took cover in a shell hole well within the enemy's lines [near Le Catelet, France, on 29 September 1918]. Upon hearing a call for help from an American tank, which had become disabled 30 yards from them, the 3 soldiers left their shelter and started toward the tank under heavy fire from German machineguns and trench mortars. In crossing the fire-swept area Cpl. O'Shea was mortally wounded and died of his wounds shortly afterwards.Click on the "Poetry Friday" button at left for this week's round-up, which is hosted by HipWriterMama. (Susan, of Susan Writes, has done a round-up of previous round-ups here.)
As promised, the winners of the 2007 Cybils were announced yesterday. They are:
The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the grant of the VICTORIA CROSS, for valour and resolution in action against the Enemy, to:Citation: For fearless conduct, in having, on [18 June 1855] the night after the unsuccessful attack on the Redan [at Sebastopol], volunteered to command a party of volunteers, who proceeded to search for and bring back the scaling ladders left behind after the repulse; and while successfully performing this task, of rescuing trophies from the Russians, Captain Elphinstone conducted a persevering search, close to the enemy, for wounded men, twenty of whom he rescued and brought back to the Trenches.
Citation: On board the [monitor] U.S.S. Lehigh, Charleston Harbor, 16 November 1863, during the hazardous task of freeing the Lehigh, which had been grounded, and was under heavy enemy fire from Fort Moultrie. After several previous attempts had been made, Williams succeeded in passing in a small boat from the Lehigh to the Nahant with a line bent on a hawser. This courageous action while under severe enemy fire enabled the Lehigh to be freed from her helpless position.
1945: HM submarine Venturer (Lieut J S Launders DSO DSC*) torpedoed and sank U 864 (Korvkpt Ralf-Reimar Wolfram) off the coast of Norway - the only time in the history of naval warfare that one submarine sank another while both were submerged.
And happy birthday to William Henry Harrison (1773–1841), Samuel Tilden (1814–1886), Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith MC AFC (1897-1935), William Darby (1911-1945), Ernest Tubb (1914–1984), Frank Frazetta (1928-TBD), Joe Pesci (1943-TBD), Travis Tritt (1963-TBD) and Irina Slutskaya (1979-TBD).
Space shuttle Atlantis and its seven-member crew lifted off at 2:45 p.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 7 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center to begin the STS-122 mission to the International Space Station.
During the 11-day flight, Commander Steve Frick and his six crewmates will install the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory on the station. Columbus will expand the research facilities of the station and provide scientists around the world with the ability to conduct a variety of life, physical and materials science experiments. The mission will include three spacewalks, delivery of a new crew member to the station and the return of another astronaut after nearly four months aboard the complex.
Shortly before launch, Frick thanked the teams that helped make the launch possible.
"We're looking forward to a great flight and coming back to see our families in two weeks," Frick said. "It looks like today's a good day, and we're ready to go fly."
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During the countdown, a newly-designed connector in the shuttle's fuel sensor system performed normally. The STS-122 mission was twice delayed in December 2007 after false readings occurred in that system while Atlantis' external fuel tank was being filled. Tests revealed that open circuits in the external tank's feed through connector were the most likely cause. A modified connector, designed with pins and sockets soldered together, was installed for the mission. The sensor system is one of several that protects the shuttle's main engines by triggering their shut down if fuel runs unexpectedly low.
-- Geoffrey K Pullum, Language Log, 4 Jan 07
The Fertile Crescent of the Middle East has long been identified as a "cradle of civilization" for humans. In a new genetic study, researchers at the University of California, Davis, have concluded that all ancestral roads for the modern day domestic cat also lead back to the same locale.
Findings of the study, involving more than 11,000 cats, are reported in the January issue of the journal Genomics.
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Earlier archaeological evidence and research on the evolutionary history of cats has suggested that domestication of the cat originated about 5,000 to 8,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, a region located today in the Middle East. This is the area around the eastern end of the Mediterranean, stretching from Turkey to northern Africa and eastward to modern day Iraq and Iran. This domestication of the cat occurred as humans transitioned from nomadic herding to raising crops and livestock.
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From the DNA analysis, the researchers found that the cats were genetically clustered in four groups that corresponded with the regions of Europe, the Mediterranean basin, east Africa and Asia.
They discovered that randomly bred cats in the Americas were genetically similar to randomly bred cats from Western Europe. They also found that the Maine coone and American shorthair -- two breeds that originated in the United States -- were genetically similar to the seven Western European breeds. This suggests that cats brought to the New World by European settlers have not had sufficient time to develop significant genetic differentiation from their Western European ancestors.
DNA of the common Black Rat has shed light on the ancient spread of rats, people and diseases around the globe. Studying the mitochondrial DNA of 165 Black Rat specimens from 32 countries around the world, an international team of scientists has identified six distinct lineages in the Black Rat’s family tree, each originating from a different part of Asia.
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The six different lineages originated in India, East Asia, the Himalayas, Thailand, the Mekong Delta, and Indonesia.
The Indian lineage spread to the Middle-East around 20,000 years ago, then later to Europe. It reached Africa, the Americas and Australia during the Age of Exploration. The East Asian lineage moved from Taiwan to Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia, arriving in Micronesia only 3,500 years ago.
The other four lineages have not become so widespread but they could be set to expand their ranges in the future.
New research shows that people with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor. A team at the University of Copenhagen have tracked down a genetic mutation which took place 6-10,000 years ago and is the cause of the eye colour of all blue-eyed humans alive on the planet today.
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“Originally, we all had brown eyes”, said Professor Eiberg from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. “But a genetic mutation affecting the OCA2 gene in our chromosomes resulted in the creation of a “switch”, which literally “turned off” the ability to produce brown eyes”. The OCA2 gene codes for the so-called P protein, which is involved in the production of melanin, the pigment that gives colour to our hair, eyes and skin. The “switch”, which is located in the gene adjacent to OCA2 does not, however, turn off the gene entirely, but rather limits its action to reducing the production of melanin in the iris – effectively “diluting” brown eyes to blue. The switch’s effect on OCA2 is very specific therefore. If the OCA2 gene had been completely destroyed or turned off, human beings would be without melanin in their hair, eyes or skin colour – a condition known as albinism.
Harry Richard Landis, who enlisted in the Army in 1918 and was one of only two known surviving U.S. veterans of World War I, has died. He was 108.
Landis, who lived at a Sun City Center nursing home, died Monday, according to the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs.
The remaining U.S. veteran is Frank Buckles, 107, of Charles Town, W.Va., according the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In addition, John Babcock of Spokane, Wash., 107, served in the Canadian army and is the last known Canadian veteran of the war.
Another World War I vet, Ohioan J. Russell Coffey, died in December at 109. The last known German World War I veteran, Erich Kaestner, died New Year's Day at 107.
Landis trained as a U.S. Army recruit for 60 days at the end of the war and never went overseas. But the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs counts him among the 4.7 million men and woman who served during the Great War.
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He signed up to fight the Germans again in 1941, but at age 42 was rejected as too old.
"I registered, but that's all there was to it," Landis said.
1928A1
MP-38
MP-40
| Your Vocabulary Score: A+ |
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Citation: For most conspicuous gallantry on the 21st May 1940, when his company was holding a position on the line of the River Escaut, south of Tournai. After a prolonged attack, the enemy succeeded in breaking through beyond the company's right flank which was consequently threatened. Company Sergeant-Major Gristock having organised a party of eight riflemen from company headquarters, went forward to cover the right flank.
Citation: On 12 September 1944, 2d Lt. Zussman was in command of 2 tanks operating with an infantry company in the attack on enemy forces occupying the town of Noroy le Bourg, France. At 7 p.m., his command tank bogged down. Throughout the ensuing action, armed only with a carbine, he reconnoitered alone on foot far in advance of his remaining tank and the infantry. Returning only from time to time to designate targets, he directed the action of the tank and turned over to the infantry the numerous German soldiers he had caused to surrender. He located a road block and directed his tanks to destroy it. Fully exposed to fire from enemy positions only 50 yards distant, he stood by his tank directing its fire. Three Germans were killed and 8 surrendered. Again he walked before his tank, leading it against an enemy-held group of houses, machinegun and small arms fire kicking up dust at his feet. The tank fire broke the resistance and 20 enemy surrendered. Going forward again alone he passed an enemy-occupied house from which Germans fired on him and threw grenades in his path. After a brief fire fight, he signaled his tank to come up and fire on the house. Eleven German soldiers were killed and 15 surrendered. Going on alone, he disappeared around a street corner. The fire of his carbine could be heard and in a few minutes he reappeared driving 30 prisoners before him. Under 2d Lt. Zussman's heroic and inspiring leadership, 18 enemy soldiers were killed and 92 captured.
Recruits at the Regional Army Training Centre at Pirbright in Surrey are to move into the last of seven brand new accommodation blocks following a formal opening ceremony today, Friday 25 January 2008.
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They will be occupied by Phase 1 recruits on their initial 14-week basic training – the first stage of the transition from civilian to soldier – required of all entrants to the Regular and Territorial Army.
Each dormitory is partitioned into three separate areas, each with four beds, with individual wardrobes and storage cupboards providing a degree of individual privacy. On each floor there are four dormitories, with dedicated sanitary facilities, utility rooms, baggage stores, and communal and recreation areas. A platoon office and a 'duty of care' en suite bedroom are located on each floor, to ensure good visibility of personnel passing through the communal areas.
