19 Famous People in Military-- Part 4: Riggle, Arthur, Brooks, Gadot, Carson and Carlin

ROB RIGGLE

Actor/comedian spent 20 years in Marines and retired as a lieutenant-colonel.

BEA ARTHUR

Before she was "Maude" and on "The Golden Girls" she was a Marine and was a typist and drove trucks.

MEL BROOKS

Drafted into the Army in World War II.  He worked as a combat engineer disarming mines.

GAL GADOT

After being named Miss Israel in 2004, the future Wonder Woman served two years in the Israel Defense Force as a physical fitness specialist.

JOHNNY CARSON

Joined the Navy in 194 and was later assigned to the USS Pennsylvania towards the end of the war.

GEORGE CARLIN

A radar technician in the Air Force, he was court-martialed three times before eventually  being given a general discharge.

Seven Words You Know.  --Cooter

19 Famous Folks in Military-- Part 3: Hammer, Ruth, Ross, Ice-T and Norris

MC HAMMER

Real name Stanley Burrell.  Three years in the Navy as an aviation storekeeper.

DR. RUTH

Was trained as a sniper in the late 1940s in what later became the Israeli Defense Force.

BOB ROSS

Artist spent 20 years  in the Air Force, part of the time as a drill instructor.

ICE-T

Real name Tracy Marrow. Four years in the Army.

CHUCK NORRIS

Served in Air Force as a police airman.  learned martial arts while stationed in Korea

--Cooter

19 Famous Folks in Military-- Part 2: Wilson, Barker, Guiness, Sajac and Bronson

**  FLIP WILSON

First name is actually Clerow, but received  nickname "Flip" from  fellow airmen in Air Force.

**  BOB BARKER

Former host of "The Price Is Right"  trained as a fighter pilot.  He left college in 1943 for flight training with the Naval Reserve, but World War II ended before he  was given an active-duty assignment.

**  ALEC GUINESS

The original Obi-Wan Kenobi joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1941.  He would later serve as the commander on a landing craft during the Normandy Invasion on D-Day.

**  PAT SAJAC

The "Wheel of Fortune" host  joined the Army in 1968.  He worked as a deejay for the Armed Forces Radio.  "Gooooood Morning, Vietnam!!"

**  CHARLES BRONSON

Joined the Army in 1943 and served as an aircraft gunner.  Awarded a Purple Heart before leaving the military in 1946.

--Cooter

19 Famous Folks You Didn't Know Served in the Military-- Part 1: Driver, Hendrix, Freeman and Jones

In honor of Memorial Day yesterday.

From the May 31, 2021, Gazette "19 famous people you didn't know served in the military" by Terry Terrones. 

Sure, folks know George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower served in the military.  As did Elvis.

But, here are some others:

1.  ADAM DRIVER   "Kenlo in  "Star Wars"  Two years in Marines after 9/11.  Medical discharge.

2.  JIMI HENDRIX--  Enlisted in Army in 1961.  101st Airborne.  Honorably discharged 1962 after injury.

3.  MORGAN FREEMAN--  Joined Air Force 1955.  Radar technician for four years.

4.  JAMES EARL JONES--  Army officer in Korean War

--Cooter

Black History, Into Space: Guion 'Guy' Bluford, Jr., Ronald Erwin McNair and Frederick Gregory

GUION "GUY" BLUFORD, JR. (1942-present)

A retired United States Air Force colonel.  he was the first black astronaut into space as a member of the Challenger Space Shuttle crew in 1983.

He took part in four space shuttle flights between 1983 and 1992.

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

RONALD ERWIN McNAIR  (1950-1986)

Ronald Erwin McNair was the second black person into space and sadly, was on the ill-fated  Space Shuttle Challenger and met his death January 28, 1986.

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

FREDERICK D. GREGORY (1941-present)

A veteran of 3 space shuttle missions.

U.S. Warships: USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)

From the 2021 Paralyzed Veterans of America calendar.  December 2020.

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) leads a formation of Carrier Strike Force (CSG) 5 ships as U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress aircraft and U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornets pass overhead for a photo exercise during Valiant Shield 2018.

The biennial U.S. only, field-training exercise focuses on integration of joint training among the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

This is the seventh exercise in the Valiant Shield series, which began in 2006.

Quite the display of strength.

Go Navy, Marines and Air Force.  What, No Army?  --Cooter

The Belangiga Bells-- Part 1: Taken As War Trophies

Last month I wrote about the Belangiga Massacre which took place during the Philippines Insurrection in 1901.  That was in relation to Fort Russell in Wyoming where two of the bells ended up as war trophies.  That traced back to Francis E. Warren, a powerful senator from that state and a Civil War Medal of Honor recipient.  This was all part of one of my Road Tripping Through History.

From Wikipedia.

The Belangiga Bells are three bells that were taken by the U.S. Army  from the Church of San Lorenzo  de Martir in Belangiga, Eastern Samar, Philippines, as war trophies following the Belangiga Massacre in 1901.  One ended up at base camp of the 9th Infantry in South Korea and two others at the former base of the 11th Infantry at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

People representing the Catholic Church in the Philippines, the Philippines government and the residents of Belangiga have tried since the 1950s to get these bells returned and they were returned on December 11, 2018, after 117 years.

A Story With a Happy Ending.  --Cooter

Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Cheyenne, Wyoming

I gave been writing about Francis E. Warren in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog.  He is a famous person in Wyoming history, including first governor, a long-serving U.S. Senator and a Civil War Medal of Honor recipient.

One of the honors he received was having this air base named after him.

From Wikipedia.

Located three miles west of Cheyenne, Wyoming, one of three strategic missiles bases in the U.S..  It has no runway for fixed-wing planes, however.  It has never been used by modern-day pilots.

It became famous when World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker crashed his plane on the field and survived.

The base traces its origins back to the Railroad Act of 1862 when plans for the transcontinental railroad were put in place and protection from the Indians was needed.  It evolved from a frontier infantry post to a cavalry post to the current missile facility.

--Cooter

10 Bizarre Cold War Tales Left Out of History Books-- Part 1: Bears in Planes

From the March 27, 2015, ListVerse by Marc V.

Of course, I am just listing here.  Go to the site to find out more.

10.  North Korea and the U.S. almost went to war over a tree in what is called the Poplar Tree Incident on August 17, 1976.

9.  The U.S. created a ring of copper around the Earth.  Five hundred copper needles launched into space in 1963 in Project West Ford.

8.  U.S. Air Force used bears as test pilots.  Sedated bears were used in experiments to determine ejection capsules from supersonic aircraft.  No deaths, but major injuries.

--CootTree

A Big Piece of the JFK Assassination: Air Force One

From the November 10, 2013, Chicago Tribune "JFK's plane at museum"

With a photo of the plane and people coming out of it so evidently you can go inside which makes it even better. "As we approach the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, solemn observances obviously will be many in Washington and Dallas, where he was shot.

But for those looking for a relic integral to that day in Dallas, Nov. 22, 1963, visit the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, six miles northeast of Dayton, Ohio.

There in the museum gallery is the Air Force One that carried Kennedy to Dallas that day, then carried his body back to Washington that night.

It's also where Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson took the oath of office in the presence of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, her clothes still stained with her husband's blood.

More at www.nationalmuseum.af.mil."

That oath of office is a very famous photograph. This is also where the Final Toast of the Doolittle Raiders took place last Saturday.

I am thinking of visiting the museum this coming Friday which not only is November 22nd, but also occurs on the same day of the week as the assassination fifty years ago. It will be a connection with that long-ago event.

Wilmington World War II Aviators

From the Oct. 25, 2010 Wilmington Star-News "Group unveils WWII aviators at Hannah Block USO" by Amy Hotz.

Wilbur Jones of the Wilmington Homefront heritage Coalition has determined that 121 New Hanover County residents served as aviators during World War II, with 39 dying in action or accidents.

On Monday, the group unveiled an aviators memorial in the lobby of the old USO building.

Jones spoke of one who earned three Navy Crosses and another who was a Flying Ace after making 12 kills. Three others went on to become generals.

Of the 39 who died, one was a woman, Ann Kelley Watters of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots.

Percy Heath was a black aviator with the Tuskegee Airmen and later became a nationally-known jazz musician.

The War in North Carolina. --Cooter

Wilmington's Bluethenthal Airport

Now called Wilmington International Airport. Named for World War I fighter pilot Arthur Bluethenthal. Used by the 3rd Air Force during World War II for training and anti-submarine warfare.

Today, I posted two entries about the airport and Bluethenthal on my RoadLog at http://roaddogsroadlog.blogspot.com.

Hit the Wilmington label below for more information on air activity around Wilmington during World War II.

Lots of World War II History in Wilmington. --Cooter

World War II Bombing Raids Affected British Weather

From the July 8th I-G Daily by Emma Woolacott.

Contrails from World War II bombers changed English weather, making it colder where the planes were operating.

Research by Professor Rob Mackenzie at the University of Birmingham examined levels of Aircraft Induced Cloudiness (AIC) caused by massive Allied bombing missions.

From 1943 to 1945, the US Army Air Force had huge numbers of aircraft based in East Anglia, the Midlands and West Country. When they took off, the skies would turn white from the contrails of the huge formations. Over the long term, the weather was warmer, but short term, colder as the clouds prevented the sunlight from reaching earth.

Something You Don't Think About. But Makes Sense This Would Happen. --DaCoot

Bomber Specs Through the Years-- Part 2

US CURRENT FLEET


B-1 LANCER

66 in service of 100 built
Wingspan: 137 feet
First year: 1984
Top speed: 900 mph
Range: 6,100 miles
Engines: 4
Ceiling: 30,000+ feet
Crew: 4


B-2 SPIRIT

20 in service of 21 built
Wingspan: 172 feet
First year: 1988
Top speed: 600 mph
Range: 7,255 miles
Engines: 4
Ceiling: 50,000 feet
Crew: 2


THE FUTURE?

BOEING PHANTOM RAY

Wingspan: 50 feet
Top speed: 600+
Range: 1,500 miles
Engines: 1
Ceiling: 40,000 feet
Crew: 1 or unmanned

Bombs Away!! --Cooter