Victoria Cross: H. F. Whitchurch

HARRY FREDERICK WHITCHURCH

Surgeon Captain, Bengal Medical Service

Born: 22 September 1866, Kensington, London
Died: 16 August 1907, Dharmsala, Punjab, India

Citation: During the sortie from Chitral Fort of the 3rd March last [1895], at the commencement of the siege, Surgeon-Captain Whitchurch went to the assistance of Captain Baird, 24th Bengal Infantry, who was mortally wounded, and brought him back to the fort under a heavy fire from the enemy. Captain Baird was on the right of the fighting line, and had only a small party of Gurkhas and men of the 4th Kashmir Rifles. He was wounded on the heights at a distance of a mile and a half from the fort. When Surgeon-Captain Whitchurch proceeded to his rescue, the enemy, in great strength, had broken through the fighting line; darkness had set in and Captain Baird, Surgeon-Captain Whitchurch, and the sepoys were completely isolated from assistance. Captain Baird was placed in a dooly by Surgeon-Captain Whitchurch, and the party then attempted to return to the fort. The Gurkhas bravely clung to the dooly until three were killed and a fourth was severely wounded. Surgeon-Captain Whitchurch then put Captain Baird upon his back and carried him some distance with heroic courage and resolution. The little party kept diminishing in numbers, being fired at the whole way. On one or two occasions Surgeon-Captain Whitchurch was obliged to charge walls, from behind which the enemy kept up an incessant fire. At one place particularly the whole party was in imminent danger of being cut up, having been surrounded by the enemy. Surgeon-Captain Whitchurch gallantly rushed the position, and eventually succeeded in getting Captain Baird and the sepoys into the fort.
Nearly all the party were wounded, Captain Baird receiving two additional wounds before reaching the fort.

[London Gazette issue 26644 dated 16 Jul 1895, published 16 July 1895.]

Medal of Honor: M. Kocak

MATEJ KOCAK

Sergeant, US Marine Corps

Born: 31 December 1882, Gbely, Austria
Died: 4 October 1918, Champagne, France

Citation: For extraordinary heroism while serving with the 66th Company, 5th Regiment, 2d Division, in action in the Viller-Cottertes section, south of Soissons, France, 18 July 1918. When a hidden machinegun nest halted the advance of his battalion, Sgt. Kocak went forward alone unprotected by covering fire and worked his way in between the German positions in the face of heavy enemy fire. Rushing the enemy position with his bayonet, he drove off the crew. Later the same day, Sgt. Kocak organized French colonial soldiers who had become separated from their company and led them in an attack on another machinegun nest which was also put out of action.

Citation: When the advance of his battalion was checked by a hidden machinegun nest, he went forward alone, unprotected by covering fire from his own men, and worked in between the German positions in the face of fire from enemy covering detachments. Locating the machinegun nest, he rushed it and with his bayonet drove off the crew. Shortly after this he organized 25 French colonial soldiers who had become separated from their company and led them in attacking another machinegun nest, which was also put out of action.


Notes: Kocak was one of five Marines who received both Navy and Army medals for a single action during World War I.
USNS Sgt Matej Kocak (T-AK 3005), formerly SS John B Waterman, was renamed in his honour when it was taken over by the Military Sealift Command.
Gbely is now in Slovakia.

Save one book....

If all the books in the world were about to disappear, and you could save one - and only one - which one would you pick? That's what Ali B and her fourth-grade son Mateo are asking over at Literary Lunchbox....

Victoria Cross: R. H. Keatinge

RICHARD HARTE KEATINGE

Major, Bombay Artillery

Born: 17 June 1825, Dublin, Ireland
Died: 24 May 1904, Horsham, Sussex

Citation: For having rendered most efficient aid at the assault of Chundairee [on 17 March 1858], in voluntarily leading the Column through the breach, which was protected by a heavy cross fire. He was one of the foremost to enter, and was severely wounded in the breach. The Column was saved from a serious loss that would probably have resulted, but for Major Keatinge's knowledge of the small path leading across the ditch, which had been examined during the night by himself and a servant, who declined, when required, to lead the Column, without his master. Having cleared the breach; he led into the Fort, where he was struck down by another dangerous wound. The Commander-in-Chief in India states that the success at Chundairee was mainly owing to this Officer, whose gallantry, really brilliant, he considers was equalled by his ability and devotion.
Major Keatinge was at the time a Political Officer with the 2nd Brigade of the Central India Field Force.

[London Gazette issue 22601 dated 25 Feb 1862, published 25 Feb 1862.]


Note: Chundairee (modern Chunderi) is in Madhya Pradesh state, in central India.

Medal of Honor: W. M. Corry, Jr.

WILLIAM MERRILL CORRY JR

Lieutenant Commander, US Navy

Born: 5 October 1889, Quincy, Florida
Died: 6 October 1920, Hartford, Connecticut

Citation: For heroic service in attempting to rescue a brother officer from a flame-enveloped airplane. On 2 October 1920, an airplane in which Lt. Comdr. Corry was a passenger crashed and burst into flames [near Hartford, Connecticut]. He was thrown 30 feet clear of the plane and, though injured, rushed back to the burning machine and endeavored to release the pilot. In so doing he sustained serious burns, from which he died 4 days later.


Notes: At the time of his death, Corry was assigned as aviation aide to the Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, aboard USS Pennsylvania (BB 38).
USS Corry (DD 334), USS Corry (DD 463), USS Corry (DD 817) and Corry Field (now NTTC Corry Station, Pensacola, Florida) were named in his honour.

Washington's Birthday

5 USC § 6103 - HOLIDAYS

(a) The following are legal public holidays:
New Year’s Day, January 1.
Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., the third Monday in January.
Washington’s Birthday, the third Monday in February.
Memorial Day, the last Monday in May.
Independence Day, July 4.
Labor Day, the first Monday in September.
Columbus Day, the second Monday in October.
Veterans Day, November 11.
Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday in November.
Christmas Day, December 25.

************* ************* *************

2011 Connecticut Code
Title 1 Provisions of General Application
Chapter 2 Legal Holidays and Standard of Time
Sec. 1-4. Days designated as legal holidays.

Sec. 1-4. Days designated as legal holidays. In each year the first day of January (known as New Year's Day), the fifteenth day of January of each year prior to 1986, and commencing on the twentieth day of January in 1986, the first Monday occurring on or after January fifteenth (known as Martin Luther King Day), the twelfth day of February (known as Lincoln Day), the third Monday in February (known as Washington's Birthday), the last Monday in May (known as Memorial Day or Decoration Day), the fourth day of July (known as Independence Day), the first Monday in September (known as Labor Day), the second Monday in October (known as Columbus Day), the eleventh day of November (known as Veterans' Day) and the twenty-fifth day of December (known as Christmas) and any day appointed or recommended by the Governor of this state or the President of the United States as a day of thanksgiving, fasting or religious observance, shall each be a legal holiday[.]

New destroyer names announced

The Navy has announced that the next three Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers (DDG 113-115) will be named after Medal of Honor recipients John Finn (23 Jul 1909–27 May 2010) and Ralph Johnson (1 Jan 1949–5 Mar 1968), and Navy Cross recipient Rafael Peralta (7 Apr 1979–15 Nov 2004). All three ships are currently under construction; USS John Finn is scheduled for delivery in late 2015, and USS Ralph Johnson in late 2016.

ZUI this article from the Defense Times.

Victoria Cross: W. M'Wheeney

WILLIAM M'WHEENEY

Serjeant, 44th Regiment

Born: 1830, Bangor, County Down, Ireland
Died: 17 May 1866, Dover, Kent

Citation: Volunteered as sharpshooter at the commencement of the siege, and was in charge of the party of the 44th Regiment; was always vigilant and active, and signalised himself on the 20th October, 1854, when one of his party, Private John Keane, 44th Regiment, was dangerously wounded in the Woronzoff Road, at the time the sharpshooters were repulsed from the Quarries by overwhelming numbers. Serjeant M'Wheeney, on his return, took the wounded man on his back, and brought him to a place of safety. This was under a very heavy fire.
He was also the means of saving the life of Corporal Courtney. This man was one of the sharpshooters, and was severely wounded in the head, 5th December, 1854. Serjeant M'Wheeney brought him from under fire, and dug up a slight cover with his bayonet, where the two remained until dark, when they retired.
Serjeant M'Wheeney volunteered for the advanced guard of General Eyre's Brigade, in the Cemetery, on the 18th June, 1855, and was never absent from duty during the war.

[London Gazette issue 21971 dated 24 Feb 1857, published 24 Feb 1857.]

Medal of Honor: J. G. Hanson

JACK G HANSON

Private First Class, US Army; Company F, 31st Infantry Regiment

Born: 18 September 1930, Escaptawpa, Mississippi
Died: 7 June 1951, near Pachi-dong, Korea

Citation: Pfc. Hanson, a machine gunner with the 1st Platoon, Company F, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an armed enemy of the United Nations [near Pachi-dong, Korea, on 7 June 1951]. The company, in defensive positions on two strategic hills separated by a wide saddle, was ruthlessly attacked at approximately 0300 hours, the brunt of which centered on the approach to the divide within range of Pfc. Hanson's machine gun. In the initial phase of the action, 4 riflemen were wounded and evacuated and the numerically superior enemy, advancing under cover of darkness, infiltrated and posed an imminent threat to the security of the command post and weapons platoon. Upon orders to move to key terrain above and to the right of Pfc. Hanson's position, he voluntarily remained to provide protective fire for the withdrawal. Subsequent to the retiring elements fighting a rearguard action to the new location, it was learned that Pfc. Hanson's assistant gunner and 3 riflemen had been wounded and had crawled to safety, and that he was maintaining a lone-man defense. After the 1st Platoon reorganized, counterattacked, and resecured its original positions at approximately 0530 hours, Pfc. Hanson's body was found lying in front of his emplacement, his machine gun ammunition expended, his empty pistol in his right hand, and a machete with blood on the blade in his left hand, and approximately 22 enemy dead lay in the wake of his action. Pfc. Hanson's consummate valor, inspirational conduct, and willing self-sacrifice enabled the company to contain the enemy and regain the commanding ground, and reflect lasting glory on himself and the noble traditions of the military service.

Augusta Chiwi honoured

It's not exactly new news, but I just ran across this article (dated 12 Dec 11) from the Marine Corps Times:

A Belgian nurse who saved the lives of hundreds of American soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge was given a U.S. award for valor Monday — 67 years late.

Congolese-born Augusta Chiwy, now 93, received the Civilian Award for Humanitarian Service medal from U.S. Ambassador Howard Gutman at a ceremony in the military museum in Brussels.

“She helped, she helped, and she helped,” Gutman said at the ceremony. He said the long delay in presenting the award was because it was assumed that Chiwy had been killed when a bomb destroyed her hospital.

*******

“What I did was very normal,” Chiwy said during the ceremony. “I would have done it for anyone. We are all children of God.”

But Col. J.P. McGee, who commands a brigade of the 101st Airborne Division based in Fort Campbell, Ky., said that to the wounded soldiers Chiwy was “a goddess.”

“Men lived and families were reunited due to your efforts,” he said.

McGee said the Army’s doctor in Bastogne, John Prior, had joked that the German snipers couldn’t hit Chiwy because she was so tiny. But Chiwy, who moved to Belgium from the colony of Congo before the war, responded that they were just bad shots.

*******

After the battle, Chiwy slipped into obscurity, working as a hospital nurse treating spinal injuries. She married a Belgian soldier and had two children.

Fans of the Band of Brothers mini-series will remember Chiwy (whose name is also spelt Chiwi) as the black nurse who appeared in episode six, "Bastogne."

RIP: Florence Green

Florence Green
19 Feb 1901 - 5 Feb 2012

The last known veteran of World War I has died, just two and a half years before the centennial of that war's beginning. ZUI this article from the Eastern Daily Press:

She passed away in her sleep at a care home in King’s Lynn just two weeks before her 111th birthday.

The great-grandmother was only 17-years-old when she joined the Women’s Royal Air Force in the late summer of 1918.

Come the 11th day of the 11th month, she was working as a waitress at RAF Marham, when the pilots greeted news of the German surrender by clambering into their planes and bombing nearby RAF Narborough airfield with bags of flour.

Last year, she became the last surviving person to have seen active service in the first world war following the death of British-born sailor Claude Choules in Australia last year.

*******

She married her husband Walter – a porter at King’s Lynn station – two years after the war. They had three children together, Mr Green passed away in 1970.

As well as her daughter May, she also leaves behind her youngest daughter, June Evetts, 76, who lives in Oundle, near Peterborough and a son, Bob, 86, who lives in Edinburgh. She is also survived by four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

*******

Mrs Green was only identified as a surviving war veteran in 2008, when a researcher of gerontology found her service record, listed under her maiden name, Patterson, at the National Archives.

Though she never saw the front line, her service in the WRAF qualifies her for veteran status.

*******

The WRAF in which Mrs Green served was founded only months before she joined up. Its original intent was to provide female mechanics in order to free up men for service.

But the organisation saw huge enrolment, with women volunteering for positions as drivers and mechanics and filling other wartime needs.

*******

History certainly records RAF Marham as a busy place to have served, as the battle in the skies grew in significance as the war progressed. FE2bs, RE7s, BE2s – wooden aircraft with engines less powerful than those on most modern motorbikes – set off for bombing raids throughout the day.

Today it is the base for four squadrons of Tornadoes, ground-attack aircraft that are still serving in Afghanistan. The pilots of these supersonic jets have rather different concerns than their First World War counterparts.

According to the Gerontology Research Group, Mrs Green was the sixth-oldest person in England at the time of her death.

Doesn't seem possible that it's been fifty years since was reading the WWI sesquitennial articles in Life magazine - I still remember the fold-outs and the pages full of photographs.

Edit 0951 17 Feb 12: ZUI also this article, with photographs, from the MOD Defence News.

George Cross: Awang anak Rawang

AWANG anak RAWANG

Iban Scout; attached 10 Platoon, D Company, 1st Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment

Born: 1925, Federation of Malaya
Died: TBD

Citation: During operations against the bandits in Malaya a section of a platoon of the Worcestershire Regiment was ambushed by about 50 of the enemy. The leading scout was killed instantly and the Section Commander fatally wounded. Awang anak Rawang was hit through the thigh bone and at the same time a soldier, moving behind him, was hit below the knee, the bullet completely shattering the bone. Awang anak Rawang, although wounded and lying exposed under heavy rifle and automatic fire, collected his own weapons and that of the soldier and dragged him into the cover of the jungle. In view of the impending bandit attack Awang, completely disregarding his own wound, took up a position to defend the injured man. There he remained, firing on every attempt made by the bandits to approach, and successfully drove off several attacks. Ultimately Awang was again wounded, the bullet shattering his right arm and rendering further use of his rifle or parang impossible. Despite loss of blood from his undressed wounds, he dragged himself over to the wounded soldier and took a grenade from the man's pouch. He resumed his position on guard, pulled out the pin of the grenade with his teeth and with the missile in his left hand defied the bandits to approach. So resolute was his demeanour that the bandits, who had maintained their attacks for some forty minutes, and who were now threatened by the other sections, withdrew.
The coolness, fortitude and offensive spirit displayed by Awang anak Rawang were of the highest order. Despite being twice severely wounded he showed the utmost courage and resolution to continue the fight and protect the injured soldier.

[London Gazette issue 39387 dated 20 Nov 191, published 16 Nov 1951.]

Victoria Cross: J. B. Mackey

JOHN BERNARD MACKEY

Corporal, 2nd/3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion, Australian Military Forces

Born: 16 May 1922, Leichhardt, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died: 12 May 1945, Tarakan Island, Borneo

Citation: For most conspicuous bravery in the face of strong enemy resistance in the attack on the Helen feature at Tarakan on 12th May, 1945.
Corporal Mackey was in charge of a section of the 2nd/3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion in the attack on the feature known as Helen, East of Tarakan town. Led by Corporal Mackey the section moved along a narrow spur with scarcely width for more than one man when it came under fire from three well sited positions near the top of a very steep razor-backed ridge. The ground fell away almost sheer on each side of the track making it almost impossible to move to a flank so Corporal Mackey led his men forward.
He charged the first Light Machine Gun position but slipped and after wrestling with one enemy, bayoneted him, and charged straight on to the Heavy Machine Gun which was firing from a bunker position six yards to his right. He rushed this post and killed the crew with grenades.
He then jumped back and changing his rifle for a sub-machine gun he attacked farther up the steep slope another Light Machine Gun position which was firing on his platoon. Whilst charging he fired his gun and reached within a few feet of the enemy position when he was killed by Light Machine Gun fire but not before he had killed two more enemy.
By his exceptional bravery and complete disregard for his own life Corporal Mackey was largely responsible for the killing of seven Japanese and the elimination of two machine gun posts which enabled his platoon to gain its objective, from which the Company continued to engage the enemy. His fearless action and outstanding courage were an inspiration to the whole battalion.

[London Gazette issue 37340 dated 8 Nov 1945, published 6 Nov 1945.]

Medal of Honor: E. V. Rickenbacker

EDWARD VERNON RICKENBACKER

First Lieutenant, US Army Air Corps; 94th Aero Squadron

Born: 8 October 1890, Columbus, Ohio
Died: 27 July 1973, Zürich, Switzerland

Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy near Billy, France, 25 September 1918. While on a voluntary patrol over the lines, 1st Lt. Rickenbacker attacked 7 enemy planes (5 type Fokker, protecting two type Halberstadt). Disregarding the odds against him, he dived on them and shot down one of the Fokkers out of control. He then attacked one of the Halberstadts and sent it down also.


Note: Rickenbacker was the top US ace of World War I, with a total of 26 enemy aircraft. In addition to the Medal of Honor, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross with six oak leaf clusters denoting subsequent awards.
Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base (formerly Rickenbacker Air Force Base) and Rickenbacker International Airport, both in Columbus OH, were named in his honour.

Book list - Jan 12

Dead As a Dinosaur - mystery, by Frances and Richard Lockridge
When The Star Kings Die - SF, by John Jakes
Cats Are Not Peas: A Calico History of Genetics - genetics, by Laura Gould


A very slow start to the year - only three books last month (none a reread), though I also read about half of Scavenger, by David Morrell, before giving up on it. Again, I'm not setting an official goal this year.

No more Carnegie Medal winners yet, so I'm still at 56 of 72.

Victoria Cross: K. Muir

KENNETH MUIR

Major, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's)

Born: 6 March 1912, Chester, Cheshire
Died: 23 September 1950, near Kumch'on, South Korea

Citation: On 23rd September, 1950, "B" and "C" Companies of the 1st Battalion, The Argyll and Sutherlands [sic] Highlanders, attacked an enemy-held feature, Hill 282, and by 0800 hours had consolidated upon it.
Some difficulty was experienced in evacuating the wounded from the position and demands were made for stretcher-bearing parties to be sent forward by the Battalion. At this juncture the position came under mortar and shell fire.
At approximately 0900 hours a stretcher-bearing party arrived and with it came the Battalion Second-in-Command, Major K. MUIR. He proceeded to organise the evacuation of the casualties.
At approximately 0930 hours, small parties of the enemy started to infiltrate on the left flank necessitating the reinforcing of the forward platoon. For the next hour this infiltration increased, as did the shelling and mortaring, causing further casualties within the two companies.
By 1100 hours, casualties were moderately severe and some difficulty was being experienced in holding the enemy. In addition, due to reinforcing the left flank and to providing personnel to assist with the wounded, both companies were so inextricably mixed that it was obvious that they must come under a unified command. Major MUIR, although only visiting the position, automatically took over command and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, started to move around the forward elements, cheering on and encouraging the men to greater efforts despite the fact that ammunition was running low. He was continually
under enemy fire, and, despite entreaties from officers and men alike, refused to take cover.
An air-strike against the enemy was arranged and air recognition panels were put out on the ground. At approximately 1215 hours the air-strike came in, but unfortunately the aircraft hit the Companies' position instead of that of the enemy. The main defensive position was hit with fire bombs and machine gun fire, causing more casualties and necessitating the withdrawal of the remaining troops to a position some fifty feet below the crest. There is no doubt that a complete retreat from the hill would have been fully justified at this time. Only some thirty fighting men remained and ammunition was extremely low. Major MUIR, however, realised that the enemy had not taken immediate advantage of the unfortunate incident and that the crest was still unoccupied although under fire.
With the assistance of the three remaining officers, he immediately formed a small force of some thirty all ranks and personally led a counter-attack on the crest. To appreciate fully the implication of this, it is necessary to realise how demoralising the effect of the air-strike had been and it was entirely due to the courage, determination and splendid example of this officer that such a counterattack was possible. All ranks responded magnificently and the crest was re-taken.
From this moment on, Major MUIR'S actions were beyond all possible praise. He was determined that the wounded would have adequate time to be taken out and he was just as determined that the enemy would not take the crest. Grossly outnumbered and under heavy automatic fire, Major MUIR moved about his small force re-distributing fast diminishing ammunition and when the ammunition for his own weapon was spent, he took over a 2 inch mortar which he used with very great effect against the enemy. While firing the mortar, he was still shouting encouragements and advice to his men and for a further five minutes the enemy were held. Finally, Major MUIR was hit with two bursts of automatic fire which mortally wounded him, but even then he retained consciousness and was still as determined to fight on. His last words were: — "The Gooks will never drive the Argylls off this hill".
The effect of his splendid leadership on the men was nothing short of amazing and it was entirely due to his magnificent courage and example and the spirit which he imbued in those about him that all wounded were evacuated from the hill, and, as was subsequently discovered, very heavy casualties inflicted on the enemy in the defence of the crest.

[London Gazette issue 39115 dated 5 Jan 1951, published 2 Jan 1951.]

Medal of Honor: F. Du Moulin

FRANK DU MOULIN

Apprentice, US Navy; USS Sabine

Born: 1850, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died: unknown

Citation: On the 5th of September 1867, Du Moulin jumped overboard and saved from drowning Apprentice D'Orsay, who had fallen from the mizzen topmast rigging of the Sabine, in New London Harbor, and was rendered helpless by striking the mizzen rigging and boat davit in the fall.

RIP: Delma Kollar

Delma Kollar

31 Oct 1897 - 24 Jan 2012

ZUI this article from the Eugene (OR) Register-Guard:

She lived in three different centuries and celebrated more birthdays than most human beings who ever lived. But just like the rest of us, Delma Kollar, the oldest known Oregonian, who was thought by official record-keepers to be the world’s fourth-oldest person, proved to be mortal after all. She died Tuesday morning at the Creswell Health and Rehabilitation Center at the age of 114. Or was it 113?

*******

According to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, which verifies the ages of supercentenarians (110 or older) worldwide for the Guinness Book of World Records, Kollar was born on Oct. 31, 1897.

Kollar’s family says she wasn’t issued a birth certificate until the 1950s. Family members say she was born Delma Dorothie Lowman on Oct. 31, 1898, in Lone Elm, Kan. But based on 1900 and 1910 census records found online a few years ago by Gerontology Research Group analyst Robert Young, the group listed her birthday as 1897.

*******

A schoolteacher in Kansas and California before moving to Oregon in 1982 with her second husband, Harry Kollar, Delma Kollar outlived both her husbands (her first husband and college sweetheart, Earl Hoggatt, died in 1966) and two of her three children. She had six grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, 11 great-great-grandchildren and one great-great-great-grandchild.

Jean Cooper, 87, of Cottage Grove, is Kollar’s lone surviving child. Her other two children, Bill Hoggatt and Earlene Duncan, died in their 60s, he of congestive heart failure, she of a brain tumor. Kollar’s parents both lived into their 90s, and she had two aunts who lived past 100, according to a family history that Kollar put together years ago.

I haven't blogged about supercentenarians for a while. The Gerontology Research Group (GRG) reports that a total of 75 (71 women and 4 men) died in 2011, including 114-year-old Maria Gomes Valentim (9 Jul 1896–21 Jun 2011), of Brazil, who at the time of her death was listed as the oldest person in the world. Kollar is the fifth supercentenarian listed as dying in 2012, the others being Marcelle Narbonne (25 Mar 1898-1 Jan 2012) of France, Frederica Sagor Maas (6 Jul 1900-5 Jan 2012) of California, Terue Ichikawa (10 May 1900-19 Jan 2012) of Japan and Angela Rogges-Marvulli (19 Nov 1900-23 Jan 2012) of Italy.

The GRG's list of validated living supercentenarians (people who have reached their 110th birthday) currently includes 72 people (6 men and 66 women), ranging from Besse Cooper of Georgia (born 26 Aug 1896 in Tennessee) to Masayo Ogawara of Japan (born 2 Aug 1901). 19 of them live in the US, though none are in Oregon.

52 of the living supercentenarians were born in the 19th century, the youngest being Hermine Nistler of Austria (born 24 Dec 1900); the oldest of those born in the 20th century is Irene Pearce of England (born 5 Jan 1901). The oldest of the six men is Jiroemon Kimura of Japan (born 19 Apr 1897), the third-oldest living person.

Beer Can Appreciation Day

Today. According to Holiday Insights, "Beer Can Appreciation Day celebrates that great day in 1935 when beer was first sold in cans."

Personally, I find it hard to appreciate anything that contains a substance as revolting as beer, but YMMV....

RIP: John F. Baker, Jr.

John F Baker Jr
30 Oct 1945 - 20 Jan 2012

ZUI this article from The State:

Army Master Sgt. John F. Baker Jr., who received the Medal of Honor for saving the lives of eight of his fellow soldiers, killing 10 Viet Cong and knocking out six machine gun bunkers after his unit was ambushed Nov. 5, 1966, in Vietnam, died Friday evening after collapsing in his Northeast Richland home. He was 66.

*******

Baker was born in Davenport, Iowa, and went to high school in nearby Moline, Ill. In 2008, the I-280 Bridge connecting Davenport with Rock Island, Ill., was renamed in his honor.

During the Vietnam War, Baker was a 5-foot-2-inches tall, 105-pound “tunnel rat” – a soldier who, armed with only a pistol and a flashlight, would crawl into enemy tunnels to clear them. He was one of only 239 service members to receive the Medal of Honor in Vietnam.

There are now 83 living Medal of Honor recipients.

************* *** *************

JOHN FRANKLIN BAKER JR

Sergeant (then Private First Class), US Army; Company A, 2d Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division

Born: 30 October 1945, Davenport, Iowa
Died: 20 January 2012, Richland, South Carolina

Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. En route to assist another unit that was engaged with the enemy [in the Republic of Vietnam, on 5 November 1966], Company A came under intense enemy fire and the lead man was killed instantly. Sgt. Baker immediately moved to the head of the column and together with another soldier knocked out 2 enemy bunkers. When his comrade was mortally wounded, Sgt. Baker, spotting 4 Viet Cong snipers, killed all of them, evacuated the fallen soldier and returned to lead repeated assaults against the enemy positions, killing several more Viet Cong. Moving to attack 2 additional enemy bunkers, he and another soldier drew intense enemy fire and Sgt. Baker was blown from his feet by an enemy grenade. He quickly recovered and single-handedly destroyed 1 bunker before the other soldier was wounded. Seizing his fallen comrade's machine gun, Sgt. Baker charged through the deadly fusillade to silence the other bunker. He evacuated his comrade, replenished his ammunition and returned to the forefront to brave the enemy fire and continue the fight. When the forward element was ordered to withdraw, he carried 1 wounded man to the rear. As he returned to evacuate another soldier, he was taken under fire by snipers, but raced beyond the friendly troops to attack and kill the snipers. After evacuating the wounded man, he returned to cover the deployment of the unit. His ammunition now exhausted, he dragged 2 more of his fallen comrades to the rear. Sgt. Baker's selfless heroism, indomitable fighting spirit, and extraordinary gallantry were directly responsible for saving the lives of several of his comrades, and inflicting serious damage on the enemy. His acts were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.