July 31, 1941 – Under instructions from Adolph Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to “submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question.” This “final solution” (Die Endlösung) was the sytematic genocide of European Jewry during World War Two. Though hundreds of thousands of Jews had already perished due to the efforts of Death Squads and in mass pogroms, the “final solution” would lead to the extermination of nearly SIX MILLION Jews or 63% of the European Jewish population. It really is no wonder these actions are named forevermore the “Holocaust” (Shoah).
July 31, 2007 – Operation Banner, the British Armed Forces occupation and operations in Northern Ireland which began in August 1969 (the longest British military operation ever) comes to an end.
July 30, 1945 – Japanese submarine I-58 sinks the USS Indianapolis (CA-35). Indianapolis was returning from Tinian island where it had delivered the atomic warhead for “Little Boy“, the bomb destined for Hiroshima, Japan. Of the 1,196 crewmembers aboard Indianapolis, 879 perished, the majority losing their lives due to dehydration or sharks after surviving the initial torpedo blasts and sinking. The survivors floated at sea for four days awaiting eventual rescue, the delay having been caused by the secret nature of the ships mission.
July 29, 1967 – USS Forrestal: An electronic malfunction aboard an F-4 Phantom II launches a 5-inch Zuni Rocket which flies across the flight deck, striking an external fuel tank on an A-4 Skyhawk piloted by future US Senator and Presidential candidate LCDR John McCain. The resulting jet fuel fire and explosions caused by bombs and other munitions “cooking off” in the intense heat caused the deaths of 134 Forrestal crewmen and left 161 more injured. Twenty one aircraft were damaged beyond repair including 7 F-4 Phantom IIs, 11 A-4E Skyhawks, and 3 RA-5 Vigilantes. At the time, this event was considered the worst US naval disaster since World War II.
The following heroic story was broght to our attention by our friend Dan. The mainstream media doesn’t tell such stories of heroism, sacrifice or the bond between warriors. It is men and women, heroes like Michael Monsoor who make our military and indeed our country great. Their stories should be, indeed must be shared.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor of Garden Grove, CA, a 5-year member of the US Navy’s SEAL Team Three, gave his life in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His actions displayed a pattern of heroism worthy of our highest esteem.
PO2 Monsoor received the Silver Star posthumously for previous heroic actions in Iraq on May 9, 2006 when he pulled a wounded teammate to safety while under hostile enemy fire. Monsoor was engaged in a firefight in Ramadi when, according to the military report, “he and another SEAL pulled a team member shot in the leg to safety while bullets pinged off the ground around them.”
On March 31, 2008, the United States Department of Defense confirmed that Monsoor would posthumously receive the Medal of Honor from the President of the United States, George W. Bush, for his valiant and selfless actions to save the lives of his SEAL teammates by sacrificing his own, during combat in Ramadi, Iraq on September 29, 2006.
Michael Monsoor was part of a dedicated team fighting the insurgency in Iraq, supporting the U.S. in its efforts to bring peace and stability to that country. His valorous conduct, exemplary leadership, and extraordinary self-sacrifice for his fellow service members have earned him the highest respect and gratitude of his fellow SEALs, the Navy, and our nation. Navy Narrative:
“On 29 September (2006), Monsoor was part of a sniper overwatch security position in eastern Ramadi, Iraq, with three other SEALs and eight Iraqi soldiers. They were providing overwatch security while joint and combined forces were conducting missions in the area. Ramadi had been a violent and intense area for a very strong and aggressive insurgency for some time. All morning long the overwatch position received harassment fire that had become a typical part of the day for the security team. Around midday, the exterior of the building was struck by a single rocket propelled grenade (RPG), but no injuries to any of the overwatch personnel were sustained. The overwatch couldn’t tell where the RPG came from and didn’t return fire.”
“A couple of hours later, an insurgency fighter closed on the overwatch position and threw a fragment grenade into the overwatch position which hit Monsoor in the chest before falling in front of him. Monsoor yelled, “Grenade!” and dropped on top of the grenade prior to it exploding. Monsoor’s body shielded the others from the brunt of the fragmentation blast and two other SEALs were only wounded by the remaining blast.”
“One of the key aspects of this incident was the way the overwatch position was structured. There was only one access point for entry or exit and Monsoor was the only one who could have saved himself from harm. Instead, knowing what the outcome would be, he fell on the grenade to save the others from harm. Monsoor and the two injured were evacuated to the combat outpost battalion aid station where Monsoor died approximately 30 minutes after the incident from injuries sustained by the grenade blast.”
Also due to Monsoor’s selfless actions, the fourth man of the SEAL squad who was 10-15 feet from the blast, was unhurt. A 28-year-old Lieutenant, who sustained shrapnel wounds to both legs that day, said the following in crediting Monsoor with saving his life: “He never took his eye off the grenade – his only movement was down toward it. He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs’ lives, and we owe him.”
As Kristen Scharnberg of the ChicagoTribune summarized in tribute, “The men who were there that day say they could see the options flicker across Michael Mansoor’s face: save himself or save the men he had long considered brothers. He chose them.”
During Mike Monsoor’s funeral in San Diego, as his coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, SEALs were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of two’s, with the coffin moving up the center. As Mike’s coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin. The slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin arrived grave side, it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the Tridents pinned to it. This was a fitting send-off for a warrior hero.
Thank you for your service and sacrifice Michael Monsoor. Rest in Peace
July 27, 1949 – The world’s first jet-powered airliner, the de Havilland Comet makes its maiden flight ushering in the age of jet travel.
July 27, 1953 – The United States, People’s Republic of China and North Korea sign an armistace ending the Korean War. South Korea refuses to sign but agrees to observe the armistace.
July 27, 1972 – Developed for the United States Air Force as an All-Weather Tactical Air Superiority Fighter, the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle flies for the first time.
July 27, 1995 – The Korean War Veteran’s Memorial in Washington, DC is dedicated. The memorial includes lifelike statues of an infantry squad moving over a field beside a wall with haunting images of Korean War scenes etched into it’s surface.
July 26, 1944 – The first German V-2 Rocket hits England. The V-2 Rocket (Vergeltungswaffe 2) is the first operational ballistic missile and first man-made object to achieve sub-orbital spaceflight. Over 3,000 V-2’s were launched by the German Wehrmacht against Allied military and civilian targets causing the deaths of 7,250 persons while as many as 20,000 at Mittelbau-Dora died constructing the V-2s.
July 26, 1948 – Executive Order #9981 is signed into law by US President Harry S. Truman, commanding the desegregation of the United States Military.
July 26, 1971 – Apollo 15 is launched. The ninth manned Apollo mission, fourth to the moon, takes astronauts David R. Scott, Alfred M. Worden and James B. Irwin into space for 12 days. Scott and Irwin spent three days on the moon’s surface.
July 19, 1963 – American test pilot and USAF Atronaut Joseph Albert “Joe” Walker flies the North American X-15 to an altitude of 347,800 feet (106,010 meters or 65.8 Miles) setting a new record. As this flight exceeded 100km, it qualified as “human spaceflight” under both the United States Air Force and Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) rules. This and one subsequent flight of the X-15, also flown by Joe Walker, were the only two powered spaceplane flights to exceed the 100km threshhold until SpaceShipOne did in 2004. Joe Walker was the first human to enter space twice.
A brief video about the North American X-15 Rocket Plane
Whew, I apologize for the long break between posts. I’m sure you’ll agree, life gets interesting at times and even the best laid plans are subject to change. Life’s little adventures aside, I’m back and ready to rattle on about history and aviation on a regular basis once again.
Today is one of those dates when it appears not a whole lot happened within the era and subject area I cover here so instead of the usual blurb about what happened on July 13, 19xx I’m just going to share a video I found.
I am in the middle of an outstanding book titled “D-Day with the Screaming Eagles” by George Koskimaki (book review to come soon) and I understandably got interested in watching footage of the book’s topic. I found a great short video on YouTube I feal worthy of sharing; it is about 10 minutes long and is made up of actual WWII footage mixed with some from the HBO series “Band of Brothers“.
July 29, 1967 – 
Petty Officer 2nd Class 
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