Today Is National Vietnam War Veterans Day-- Vietnam War Facts

A big salute to all those who served in the Vietnam War.  The last American fighting troops pulled out of Vietnam on this date in 1973 which is why we're commemorating the day.

Some Facts About the Vietnam War from Vietnam War Facts.

6.  During the Vietnam War, the national debt increased by $146 billion between 1967-1973).  Adjusted for inflation, in 1992, that sum would be $500 billion.

7.  6,598 were officers, average age 28.3.

8..  91% of Vietnam veterans say they are glad they served.\

9.  74% say they would serve again even knowing the outcome.

10.  1,276  were warrant officers (NCOs) average age 24.73 years.

For the first 5 facts, see today's Tattooed On Your Soul:  World War II blog.

Ray Boro, Korean War Vet-- Part 5: After the Navy

Ray met his wife Catherine after he was in the Navy at a bowling alley in Round Lake and knew she was the one right then and there.

He is proud to be a member of the American Legion for 64 continuous years.  He started at the McHenry Post, transferred to Gurnee and has been at Fox Lake for many years.  In addition, he is a lifetime member of the McHenry VFW.

--Cooter

Ray Boro, USN Korean War Vet-- Part 4: Love That Pensacola and Ray Gets A New One

"I loved my liberty time.  My absolute best liberty was at Pensacola," Ray said smiling.  Pensacola was also his best duty.  "It was like a country club.  But when you got on a ship you find out what the Navy is all about."  He has great memories of those white sand beaches.  A trip to the Pensacola NAS museum is strongly recommended.

One time while he was at Jacksonville NAS and on guard duty at the Flight Line, where the planes were parked, the pilot of his plane came out to take a look at the plane.  Standing orders were that everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY had to gave proper id to be anywhere near that line.  The pilot, a newly commissioned ensign, did not have his and Ray wouldn't let him near the plane.

The pilot said, "You know me."  Ray said, "Yes, but I have to follow orders."  The pilot walked off muttering he'd get Ray back.  There would be payback.  The next day Ray preflighted the plane and everything was alright.  However, the pilot went over the plane with a fine tooth comb and found a speck of a hydraulic leak and that downed the plane for the day.  "Boy did I get in trouble.  The leading chief cut me a new one. Navy Chiefs were like gods."

The pilot was new to the game, but afterwards he and Ray became friends.  Ray says he became one of the better pilots and was good at gunnery, bombing and air-to-air.

--Cooter

Ray Boro, USN-- Part 3: The Marines Sure Loved Their Corsairs, War Experience, Home

The Marine pilots loved their Corsairs and really flew in close to support their Marines on the ground.  Navy Corsair pilots didn't get as close in.   Ray is happy that his squadron was the last in the Navy to have Corsairs and Korea was the last hurrah for the Corsairs.

His aircraft carrier arrived in Korea in 1952.  Mr. Boro said that his pilots saw action, but he never did.  He never even saw Korea except on occasion way off in the distance.  None of his ship's planes were shot down though some returned with bullet holes.

"We had jets, F-14s.  The enemy had MIG jets."

Life on the Boxer was "compact."  The Flight Deck was often a madhouse.  Much of the time it was the old military axiom "Hurry up and wait."  He remembers that one man lost his life when he fell overboard and was lost at sea.

On June 11, 1953, his ship left Japan for home.  Four destroyers accompanied the carrier back to the United States.  Ray was unaware that his half-brother was on one of them.  He didn't find out about it until after his discharge.  He had joined the Navy because of his half-brother and several uncles being in it during World War II.

--Cooter

Ray Boro-- Part 2: The Corsairs, VF-44 and Korea

Here he joined VF-44.  (VF stands for fighter squadron.)  They flew those vaunted old World War II fighters  F4Us, better known as Corsairs.  Ray is very proud of those Corsairs:  "We were the last squadron to have them.  The others were sent to France."

Being the newby in the squadron, his first job was in the library.  Then you went to the night shift and then you became a plane captain.  Soon after arriving, he was directed to preflight a plane.  Only problem was that he "did not know the first thing about preflighting a plane."  However, in time he was trained to do so.

Another job he had was taxiing his plane.  And that was by far the worst thing he had to do as he had to be very, very aware of those props.  And not just from your plane, but the other ones as well.

After Jacksonville his squadron was transferred to the aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain, but weren't there long because its catapult broke.  They were needed for launching the planes.  So, VF-44 ended up on the aircraft carriers USS Coral Sea (CV-43) and USS Boxer (CV-21) and off to Korea they went as the Korean War was underway.

--Cooter

Ray Boro, Korean War Navy Vet-- Part 1

I visited with well-known Legion member Ray Boro in March and interviewed him about his service to our country.  He is a regular at the Drop Zone Bar at the Legion and called "OROB" because of his name.  In the service, his nickname was "BoBo" though he is not sure why, perhaps they didn't know how to pronounce his name.

He was born in Chicago on August 30, 1930, but spent most of his life growing up in Lakemoor, Illinois.  At one time he attended a one-room schoolhouse there and was a graduate of McHenry High School.  For awhile after graduation he delivered milk door-to-door.

Ray and his buddy enlisted in the Navy on October 13, 1950, at age 20, with the hopes of serving together,  and spent eleven weeks doing basic training at Great Lakes Naval Training Station.  At least here, he and his buddy were near each other, but in different training groups because they were placed alphabetically.  But that ended after graduation.

Pensacola, Florida's Corry Field was Ray's destination.  His buddy went to Guam.  Here Ray received his AD classification as an airplane mechanic.  He was there for 18 months when he was transferred to the VF-44 Squadron based at Jacksonville NAS in Florida.

--Cooter

USS Maumee (AO-2)-- Part 2: Service in World War I and Pioneering Refueling Operations

After the Declaration of War on 6 April 1917, the Maumee was ordered to refuel destroyers being sent to Britain in the North Atlantic.  She was stationed 300 miles south of Greenland.

The Maumee refueled the second group of six destroyers on 28 May 1917 and in so doing pioneered  the Navy's underway refueling operations.  This established the pattern of mobile logistic support which enables the Navy to keep  fleets at sea for extended periods of time.  No need to go to a port and lose time.

The ship was under the command of William Victor Tomb at the time.  Fleet Admiral Nimitz was executive officer of the Maumee at the time and he applied this to fleet use during World War II.

By July 5, the Maumee had refueled 34 destroyers in such manner.

The Maumee made two other  ocean crossings to Europe where she refueled naval units attached to the American Expeditionary Force.  After the end of the war, the Maumee operated off the U.S. east coast until decommissioned 9 June 1922 and layup in reserve in Philadelphia.

I also wrote about the Maumee's service in the next war in my Tattooed On Your Soul:  World War II blog.  Also, there was a USS Maumee in the Civil War and that one is covered right now in my Running the Blockade: Civil war Navy blog.

--Cooter

USS Maumee (AO-2)-- Part 1: First Navy Ship With Diesel Engines

From Wikipedia.

I wrote about William Tomb in the last post and he commanded the USS Maumee in World War I, a ship noted for refueling six U.S. destroyers on the sea while enroute for England after the U.S. entry into the war in 1917.

There was an earlier USS Maumee which was a gunboat in the Civil War that took part in the attacks on Fort Fisher.

The second USS Maumee was laid down as Fuel Ship No. 14 at Mare Island, California.  When the Navy's ship classifications were introduced in 1920, it became the AO-2.  The "O" standing for oiler.

It was the first surface ship in the Navy to be powered by diesel engines in 1919.  Supervising the engine installation and operation was Executive and Chief Engineering Officer, Lt. Chester W. Nimitz.  This would have been after it had refueled the destroyers in 1917.

It was commissioned in October 1916 and prior to the war, operated off the coast of Cuba.

--Cooter

William Victor Tomb

From Wikiversity.

The last two posts were about one of Confederate Navy Chief Engineer James H. Tom's sons, James Harvey Tomb.  This is about his other son.  Since Mr. Tomb lived to be 90 years old, dying in 1926, I am sure he was quite proud of his sons.

William Tomb was born in Missouri in 1877.  He kept a diary while on convoy duty during World War I which provides an important primary source on the development of the convoy system.

He commanded the USS Maumee (AO-2) which made a major accomplishment during World War I when it refueled six destroyers in mid-voyage on their way over to England after the United States entered the war.  Had the Maumee not done that, they would have had to lose a lot of time going into a port.  This was the first time that this had ever been done.

He received the Navy Cross for distinguished service.

In 1918, he became the first commander of the new destroyer USS Upshur (DD-144).

He died in Los Angeles in 1941.

--Cooter

James Harvey Tomb-- Part 2: An Educator and the Naval Order of the United States

He retired from the Navy in  in 1925 and was named the head of the New York State Nautical School (layer renamed State University of New York Nautical College in the Bronx).

He then served as Superintendent of the New York State Merchant Marine Academy from 1927 to 1942.  During that time he was instrumental in moving the school from a ship tied up to a pier to Fort Schuyler in the Bronx.

In 1942, he was appointed the first Superintendent of the United States Merchant Marine Academy and oversaw the physical construction of the academy at Kings Point, New York.  He relinquished command on October 16, 1943, just  two weeks after the school was dedicated.

He retired to private life as served as Commander General of  the Naval Order of the United States from 1943 until his death on September 2, 1946.

The football and lacrosse field at Kings Point, inside the Academy's  track is named for him.

--DaCoot

James Harvey Tomb-- Part 1: U.S. Navy and U.S. Merchant Marine

In my Running the Blockade:  Civil War Navy blog I have been writing about a Confederate naval officer by the name of James Hamilton Tomb, who had quite a career in submersibles and torpedoes as well as the Brazilian Navy.  While looking for information on him, I came across the names of two more U.S. naval officers with the last name of Tomb who I thought perhaps were the sons of him.

It turns out that they were.  But since their service was not in the Civil War, I will write about them in this blog.

From Wikipedia.

JAMES HARVEY TOMB  (September 2, 1876 - September 23, 1946)

Served as Superintendent of the New York of the New York State Merchant Marine Academy and was appointed the first Superintendent of the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 1942.  He was also a U.S. Navy officer for 27 years.

He was a USNA graduate and an excellent marksman.  During World War I, he commanded the destroyer USS Hull in 1907 and USS Chauncey from 1908 to 1909.  Of interest to my War of 1812 readers, both of these destroyers were named after War of 1812 naval heroes, Isaac Hull and Isaac Chauncey.

During World War I, he commanded the former coastal liner Aroostook during the laying of the North Sea Mine Barrage that bottled up the German fleet.

--Cooter

Sears Kit Homes in Chicagoland-- Part 1: The Legacy

From the December 2, 2019, Chicago Tribune "Cataloging History" by Darcel Rocket.

"Once upon a time, you could purchase a home for less than $5,000.  The Barrington. The Lexington.  The Sheridan.  The Hazleton.  The Malden."

Sears, Roebuck and Co., well, Sears, sold thousands of mail-order kit houses from the early 1900s to 1942.  All you had to do was pick the model you wanted from the catalog and as long as you had the money and rail connections, you were good to go.

Joe and Mary Beth Turek have a Barrington kit home in Downers Grove, which back then cost $2,606 and came with everything from trim, windows, millwork and flooring and some 30,000.  Some assembly required.  Actually, lots of assembly.  You could either build it yourself or hire someone to do it.

The Hoffman Estates-based company has filed for bankruptcy and its days, sadly, are numbered.  But many of their kit homes still stand.

Probably the Legacy of Sears.  --Cooter

Making Money Off Those Parking Meters in Sycamore in 1968,

From the March 6, 2019, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1969, 50 Years Ago.

"From records maintained by the employees of the Sycamore  city clerk's office, it was noted that a total of $41,891 was collected from the city's parking meters and from fines paid for violations during the year 11968."

Just Rolling In the Money.  --Cooter

The Horse That Got Away

From the September 19, 2018, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1943, 75 Years Ago.

"Mr. and Mrs,  Harrison Sibley wondered for a time if their riding horse had been stolen for black market 'steaks.'    However, the horse was found in the rural areas late in the day.  She had merely run away.

"It was about 1:30 o'clock in the morning that Mrs. Sibley called to her husband saying, "Harris, there goes our horse."  Mr. Sibley thought she had been dreaming and paid no more attention until daylight.  Then he discovered true enough  the horse was gone.

"An examination  of the pasture fence  disclosed the gate locked but hoof marks  brought to light that the horse had jumped  an eight-foot fence."

Sign the Horse Up for Steeplechase.  --Cooter

Thomas Wilson Dorr-- Part 4: Campaigned for White Male Suffrage in Rhode Island

Meanwhile, Governor Samuel King proclaimed martial law and  offered a $5,000 reward for the capture of Dorr and started making widespread arrests of Dorr's followers.  He was forced to flee the state in 1842. Dorr and his followers launched a bungled attack on the Providence, R.I., arsenal helped bring about Dorr's collapse as well.

In June, Dorr and his followers were back as an armed force but were dispersed by the Rhode Island militia and he found refuge in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  He returned after the passage of a more liberal constitution in 1843 which allowed universal suffrage for all white males but was arrested and tried for treason against the state.

He was convicted and sentence to hard labor and solitary confinement for life on June 27, 1844.    The public was outraged and in 1945, Dorr was given amnesty but his health was broken by then and he lived in retirement afterwards until his death in 1854.

So, this is how Dorr Township in McHenry County came to be named for this man.  Some folks were indeed admirers.  Also, Dorr Township in Alleghan County, Michigan.

--CootVote

Thomas Wilson Dorr-- Part 3: Rhode Island Had Two State Governments

Efforts had been made to increase while male suffrage in Rhode Island at intervals in its early years as a state, usually by lowering the amount of land that needed to be owned.  In 1834, a convention met at the capital, Providence, with that intention.  Dorr was a part of it. But all their efforts were blocked by rural interests in the legislature.

By 1841, Rhode Island  was almost the only state that had not adopted universal suffrage for white males.  More than half of the adult white males were unable to vote. And, with more people owning factories and living in cities, even fewer could vote because of the land requirements.

In 1840,  the Rhode Island Suffrage Association was formed to address the problem and state legislator Thomas Dorr took a leading role.  When that didn't get anywhere, a "People's Party" was formed and adopted a state constitution.  The sitting legislature refused to recognize it.

However, the new party, referred to as Dorrites, were unfazed and went ahead and elected an entire state ticket with Dorr as governor.

So, in May 1842, Rhode Island had two governments.  The already seated government was allowed to remain in the statehouse, but both governors, Dorr and Samuel Ward King, issued proclamations.  King appealed to Washington, D.C., for federal aid.  Dorr went to D.C. himself to plead his cause with President John Tyler, but received no help.

--Cooter

Dorr Township, Illinois-- Part 2: Thomas Wilson Dorr

From Wikipedia.

The governor Dorr in question turns out to be Thomas Wilson Dorr and he was not an Illinois governor, but a governor of Rhode Island.  People in Illinois must have admired him to name a township after him.  (There is also a Dorr Township in Michigan's Allegan County.)

THOMAS WILSON DORR

(November 5, 1805 - December  27, 1854_

Was an American politician and reformer in Rhode Island, best-known for leading the Dorr Rebellion.

Came from a prosperous family.  Attended Phillips Exetor Academy and Harvard and admitted to New York Bar as a lawyer and returned to Providence, R.I..

Became a representative in Rhode Island's General Assembly and became concerned about issues of franchise where white men were not allowed to vote if they didn't own land worth a certain value.  This led to a dominance in the assembly of the rural areas.

--Cooter

Summer Commencement at NIU in 1968

From the September 12, 2018,

1968, 50 Years Ago.

"At Northern Illinois University's  annual summer commencement, 470  students received graduate degrees.  And another 338 received bachelor degrees."

This Was One Year Before I Got There.  --Cooter

Dorr Township, Illinois-- Named for the Arrested Governor Who Wasn't From Illinois

In February I had a lot of entries about the 15th Illinois Infantry Regiment in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog.  The regiment had several companies from McHenry County where I live, including Company A that was mainly from Woodstock, Illinois, where our McHenry County Civil War Round Table meets every second Tuesday of the month.

We have a meeting this Tuesday, March 12 on Jonathan Letterman (no relation to David) who is credited as "The Father of Battlefield Medicine."

Anyway, I found a site that gave the residences of every member of Company A.  Most had Woodstock as their residence, and others had other McHenry County towns.  But. there were a few other places listed that after some research, I found to be McHenry County townships: Seneca, Greenwood Dorr and Hartland.  I had to look up the townships of McHenry County as I did not know most of them other than Burton, where we live, Richmond and McHenry.

When I looked up Dorr Township at its official site, I found it was named after Governor Thomas Wilson Dorr who had a "dramatically colorful record in the annals of American history, serving a jail sentence from which he was later acquitted by a Supreme Court decision."

Well, being from Illinois, I am well aware of the penchant for our governors finding themselves imprisoned.

So, I looked up Illinois' Governor Dorr.  Only, Illinois has never had a Governor Dorr.

The Plot Thickens.  --Cooter

Chicken Thieves in Esmond, Illinois, in 1943

From the September 12, 2018, MidWeek (DeKalb County, IL)  "Looking Back."

1943, 75 Years Ago.

"Chicken thieves are operating in Esmond according to reports from several  homes.  Harry Gustafson, living a mile north of Esmond, lost over 100 chickens one night during the past week.  He heard the thieves and put on the yard light, which he now says was a mistake.

"He managed to reach his car  and chased the thieves to the Greenway school house a mile west of his place, but he lost track of the car at the four corners.  A few nights earlier Clarence Barry reported 60 chickens taken from his place and Mr. Nelson also reports the loss of 40 hens.

Dirty, Rotten Chicken Thieves.  Probably Nazi Saboteurs.

A Klucking Shame!!!  --Cooter

Turner Brass Works in Sycamore, Illinois

Today and yesterday, I wrote about the Turner Brass Works Company getting an "E" Pennant during World War II for making items for the war effort.  A high honor.  Then, I wrote about the company's history, which started in Chicago and then moved out to Sycamore, Illinois.

They were one of, if not the biggest bakers of blow torches from 1971 to the 1990s.

You can read the entries in my Tattooed On Your Soul:  World War II blog.  Just click on the Blogs I Follow at right.

--DaCoot

Ten Details That Make History's Worst Tragedies Even Worse-- Part 2:

5.  BLACK DEATH--  The Plague led to Jewish Genocide.  The Jews were blamed for it.

4.  HURRICANE KATRINA--  The bridge to the town of Gretna was blocked to refugees.

3.  WOUNDED KNEE--  Twenty soldiers were given Medals of Honor

2.  THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON--  Robert Hubert was a mentally handicapped man who was hanged for starting the fire, but he wasn't there when it happened.

1.  THE TITANIC--  You have to read this to believe it.

--Cooter

Ten Details That Make History's Worst Tragedies Even Worse-- Part 1

From the January 25, 2017, ListVerse by Mark Oliver.  I just list the event.  There are more details and pictures at the site.

10.  Tiananmen Massacre--  Anywhere between 300 and 2,700 gunned down.  Reports have it that the Chinese government billed the families of those killed for the cost of bullets used to kill them, 27 cents apiece.

9.  My Lai Massacre, Vietnam War.  Over 350 Vietnamese civilians gunned down by American troops.  Nixon pardoned the man responsible.

8.  Pompeii and Herculeum--  Volcanic lava got so hot that people's heads exploded.

7.  9/11:  Fallout led to more cancer and car crashes.  Twin Towers built with 400 tons of asbestos and it spread out.  Around 1,400 first responders have died.  Plus, there was a marked increase in car accident deaths afterwards as people were afraid to fly.

6.  Irish Potato Famine--  Queen Victoria forbade people from donating too much to their relief.

--Cooter

Lloyd Evans Receives France's Croix de Guerre in 1919

From the February 27, 2019, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

"Captain Lloyd Evans of Hinckley gas been decorated with the Croix de Guerre for bravery in France.

"He is an aviator and is now  with the American Army of occupation in Germany.  He is with the 88th aero squadron."

--Cooter

World War I's Ellington Field-- Part 2: Training the Pilots

In December 1917, the first  planes from Ellington Field took off and flew over Houston for a Red Cross benefit.  It was quite a sight and many people turned out for it.

During the war, the field served as an advanced training base.  By 1918, it had its own gunnery and bombing range.

For the first months of operations, Ellington Field had no pilot fatalities, but within a year that changed drastically.  By August 1918, it had the most pilot fatalities of any training base.  It also had many firsts, including:

First camp newspaper
First American aerial gunnery and bombing range
First "canteen girls"
First aerial  ambulance in American history

Before the end of the war, around 5,000 men and 250 aircraft had been assigned to the base

After the war, it was inactivated in 1920 with only a small caretaker unit remaining.  It was reopened in World War II.

--Cooter

Doughboy Convalescents Going Through DeKalb in 1919

From the February 27, 2019, MidWeek  (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

"A special train of soldier lads went through here yesterday afternoon about four o'clock going west with Camp Dodge, Iowa, as their destination.

"The soldier lads were convalescents, as many of them were seen  with bandages on their  arms and heads and it is probable, they are some of the more recently returned boys  from over there, who 'got theirs'  from stray Hun bullets."

--Cooter

Ellington Field, Texas, in World War I-- Part 1

In the last post, Ralph R. Roberts was home on leave from Ellington Field in Texas where he was training with the Army Air Corps for action in World War I.

From Wikipedia.

It still exists as Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base near Houston, Texas.  It is shared by active and reserve units as well as NASA which is nearby at Johnson Space Center.  It opened in 1917 and was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the U.S. entered World War I.

It is named for Lt.  Eric Ellington who was killed in a plane crash in San Diego, California, in 1913.

In 1917, the U.S. government bought 1,280 acres of land to establish an air base in Houston.  It was completed in a few months.  By the end of 1917 it was ready to receive its first squadron of planes, the 120th Aero Squadron which transferred from Kelly Field in San Antonio, along with its Curtiss JN4 Jenny biplanes.

--DaCoot

In the Army Aviation Now in 1919

From the January 2, 2019, MidWeek  (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

"Ralph R. Roberts of Waterman, one of the U.S. army birds,  had a holiday furlough of ten days.  The time was divided between Sycamore and Waterman relatives.

"It was in the early summer that Ralph was inducted into the aviation service, training at first at Rantoul, but now at Ellington field, Houston, Tex.  His progress has been rapid and he takes to wings fine, making air trips most every day, is enthusiastic over the work, and only regrets that he was not over there."

--Cooter