Browsing: Military

A Brief History On January 7, 1948, a Kentucky Air National Guard pilot met his death trying to intercept a UFO! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find another well documented close encounter, this time of the deadly kind. Captain Tom Mantell flying his P-51 Mustang was a World War II veteran, not a civilian or some rookie.  Mantell and 3 other Mustang pilots were directed to intercept a huge round white object, perhaps a football field across!  Multiple witnesses from spots in Ohio and Kentucky, including a sergeant at the Fort Knox control tower and members of the Kentucky Highway…

Read More

A Brief History On January 3, 1944, the top American air combat ace, Pappy Boyington, was shot down. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, later made famous for his exploits leading “The Black Sheep” squadron flying his F4U Corsair against the Japanese in the Pacific theater in World War II. Commanding fighter squadron VMF 214, Pappy and his “Black Sheep” were known for their penchant for getting rowdy and partying with a purpose, hence their appellation.  The Corsair fighter plane they flew was vastly superior in many ways to their main opponent, the A6M Zero flown by…

Read More

A Brief History Is December 26th the Most Wacked Date in History?  So many disasters occurred we can not even include them all! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find our cracked odyssey starting in 1846 in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where the Donner Party, close to death from starvation and freezing, resorts to cannibalism to survive!  At least they apparently waited for their food to die on its own and did not murder each other. In 1862, the U.S. conducted its largest mass hanging ever, when 38 Native Americans are hanged from a single scaffold!  Incredibly, it could have been worse! …

Read More

A Brief History On December 25, 1826, cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point cracked the annals of history with an Eggnog Riot! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find the long gray line of cadets leading their disciplined life of study in a controlled environment with distractions like alcoholic beverages prohibited.  Fighting, gambling, cursing, all the things young men pursue with gusto at other colleges were forbidden there, even back then. Boys being boys, soldiers being soldiers, the cadets were upset to be strictly limited to non-alcoholic eggnog for their Christmas party, and of course they decided…

Read More

A Brief History Today, we celebrate our 100th post by going back to December 16, 1838 when the Ncome River in South Africa became the Blood River at what is known as The Battle of Blood River where the river ran red with blood! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find the Boers, colonists of Dutch extraction, trying to settle land long owned by the Zulu Kingdom in what is now South Africa. The Zulu people were tall and physically imposing, living in large numbers with a warrior culture among their men and boys, and led by King Dingane.  The Boers,…

Read More