U.S. flag raised on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945

U.S. flag raised on Iwo Jima: During the bloody Battle for Iwo Jima, U.S. Marines from the 3rd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Regiment of the 5th Division take the crest of Mount Suribachi, the island’s highest peak and most strategic position, and raise the U.S. flag. Marine photographer Louis Lowery was with them and recorded the event. American soldiers fighting for control of Suribachi’s slopes cheered the raising of the flag, and several hours later more Marines headed up to the crest with a larger flag. Joe Rosenthal, a photographer with the Associated Press, met them along the way and recorded the raising of the second flag along with a Marine still photographer and a motion-picture cameraman.

Rosenthal took three photographs atop Suribachi. The first, which showed five Marines and one Navy corpsman struggling to hoist the heavy flag pole, became the most reproduced photograph in history and won him a Pulitzer Prize. The accompanying motion-picture footage attests to the fact that the picture was not posed. Of the other two photos, the second was similar to the first but less affecting, and the third was a group picture of 18 soldiers smiling and waving for the camera. Many of these men, including three of the six soldiers seen raising the flag in the famous Rosenthal photo, were killed before the conclusion of the Battle for Iwo Jima in late March.

In early 1945, U.S. military command sought to gain control of the island of Iwo Jima in advance of the projected aerial campaign against the Japanese home islands. Iwo Jima, a tiny volcanic island located in the Pacific about 700 miles southeast of Japan, was to be a base for fighter aircraft and an emergency-landing site for bombers. On February 19, 1945, after three days of heavy naval and aerial bombardment, the first wave of U.S. Marines stormed onto Iwo Jima’s inhospitable shores.

The Japanese garrison on the island numbered 22,000 heavily entrenched men. Their commander, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, had been expecting an Allied invasion for months and used the time wisely to construct an intricate and deadly system of underground tunnels, fortifications, and artillery that withstood the initial Allied bombardment. By the evening of the first day, despite incessant mortar fire, 30,000 U.S. Marines commanded by General Holland Smith managed to establish a solid beachhead.

During the next few days, the Marines advanced inch by inch under heavy fire from Japanese artillery and suffered suicidal charges from the Japanese infantry. Many of the Japanese defenders were never seen and remained underground manning artillery until they were blown apart by a grenade or rocket, or incinerated by a flame thrower.

While Japanese kamikaze flyers slammed into the Allied naval fleet around Iwo Jima, the Marines on the island continued their bloody advance across the island, responding to Kuribayashi’s lethal defenses with remarkable endurance. On February 23, the crest of 550-foot Mount Suribachi was taken, and the next day the slopes of the extinct volcano were secured.

By March 3, U.S. forces controlled all three airfields on the island, and on March 26 the last Japanese defenders on Iwo Jima were wiped out. Only 200 of the original 22,000 Japanese defenders were captured alive. More than 6,000 Americans died taking Iwo Jima, and some 17,000 were wounded. History Channel / Wikipedia / National Archives.gov / February 23, 1945: U.S. flag raised on Iwo Jima (CBS News)

Understanding Military Terminology - Master air attack plan

(DOD) A plan that contains key information that forms the foundation of the joint air tasking order. Also called MAAP. Joint Publications JP 3-60 (Joint Targeting - Just Security)

The Old Salt’s Corner

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

ARGUMENT

How a Ship having passed the Line was driven by storms to the cold Country towards the South Pole; and how from thence she made her course to the tropical Latitude of the Great Pacific Ocean; and of the strange things that befell; and in what manner the Ancyent Marinere came back to his own Country.

PART I

An ancient Mariner meeteth three Gallants bidden to a wedding-feast, and detaineth one.

It is an ancient Mariner,

And he stoppeth one of three.

“By thy long beard and glittering eye,

Now wherefore stopp’st thou me?

The Bridegroom’s doors are opened wide,

And I am next of kin;

The guests are met, the feast is set:

May’st hear the merry din.”

He holds him with his skinny hand,

“There was a ship”, quoth he.

“Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!”

Eftsoons his hand dropt he.

The Wedding-Guest is spell-bound by the eye of the old seafaring man, and constrained to hear his tale.

continued ...

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

(originally published in Lyrical Ballads, 1798)

Full Poem

“I’m Just Sayin”

In physics, are three scientific laws concerning the behaviour of moving bodies, which are fundamental to classical mechanics (and since Einstein, which are valid only within inertial reference frames). Discovered and stated by Isaac Newton (1643–1727), they can be formulated, in modern terms, as follows:

● First law: “A body remains at rest, or keeps moving in a straight line (at a constant velocity), unless acted upon by a net outside force.”

● Second law: “The acceleration of an object of constant mass is proportional to the net force acting upon it.”

● Third law: &ldquoWhenever one body exerts a force upon a second body, the second body exerts an equal and opposite force upon the first body.”

~ Newton's laws of motion

“Thought for the Day”

“The Earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations.”

~ Pope John Paul II

“What I Have Learned”

“Men who look upon themselves born to reign,

and others to obey, soon grow insolent.

Selected from the rest of mankind,

their minds are early poisoned by importance;

and the world they act in

differs so materially from the world at large,

that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interests,

and when they succeed in the government

are frequently the most ignorant and

unfit of any throughout the dominions.”

~ Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

Bizarre News (we couldn’t make up stuff this good – real news story)

Hilarious footage shows the man clambering out of the boot of his car after squeezing into a tight spot in China

When a parking space seems just a bit too tight, most of us keep moving to find another one.

But this motorist was a little more ambitious.

The Mirror (01/20/2017)

Mr. Answer Man Please Tell Us: What Are Those Tiny Bits of Rubber That Stick Out of Tires?

Upon landing on the surface of the Moon you put on your oxygen mask, don a space suit over it and exit your ship. Jumping to the surface you pop the quick release straps on your space suit as you land.

They have no purpose.

The tire is made in a big solid mold—those tiny bits of “flash” are the rubber that solidified in holes used to vent the mold, or pump the rubber into the mold.

When the tire is pulled out of the mold, the solidified rubber in the holes pulls out with it (thus clearing the holes for the next tire).

They are actually interestingly called “nubbins” and there are clever ways to eliminate them—which is why you don’t see them so often on expensive tires from manufacturers with more advanced equipment.

Patexia • Quora • Good Year • Michelin • Wikipedia • How tires are made (YouTube)

Where Did That Saying Come From?

“Bandy around:”  Meaning: To argue, discuss in a lively fashion.

Origin: Bandy was a medieval bat-and-ball game, similar to hockey.

To “bandy” words is to knock them back and forth as one would bandy a ball.

Phrases.org UK

NAVSPEAK aka U.S. Navy Slang

NON: “Needs of the Navy” a priority over anything to do with one's family or person; as in God, Country, Family.

NQP: “Non-Qual-Puke:” A non-qualified crewman who is not yet able to stand watch. Also applies in the Submarine Service to a crewman who is not yet qualified in submarines.

No Balls: An expression used to suggest that a person does not have the balls/guts to do what he (or she) is boasting he (or she) will do.

No Boat:: The USS New Orleans (LPH-11).

No Fuck: Vagina (pejorative): The city, rather than the base, of Norfolk, Virginia. For the base, see “Black Hole”.

No Load: A useless sailor. One who does not pull his share of the load. Named for the maintenance catapult shots where only the shuttle is moved down the track with no aircraft attached. Also possibly named to represent a generator that is providing no power to the system and therefore not taking on its share of the load. (Onboard Submarines, often used as part of the phrase “Air Breathing No Load”, meaning a useless sailor or rider who is using up resources and providing nothing in return.)

Just for you MARINE

One Slow County: Another name for Onslow County, North Carolina. Camp Lejeune and Jacksonville are located within the county lines.

Oorah: Spirited cry used since the mid-20th century, comparable to Hooah used in the Army or Hooyah by Navy SEALs; most commonly used to respond to a verbal greeting or as an expression of enthusiasm. The origin is often disputed.

Naval Aviation Squadron Nicknames

VT-22 - Fixed Wing Training Squadrons: “Golden Eagles”
Formerly ATU-6, Jet Transitional Training Unit-1 (JTTU-1), ATU-3, ATU-212 Established June 13th 1949, redesig VT-22 on May 1st 1960 Intermediate Tailhook, Advanced Jet TRAWING 2, Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas

Science & Technology

How the dinosaurs REALLY died out: Researchers reconstruct the dark and frozen conditions on Earth after asteroid megastrike • Forget self-driving cars: Airbus will test a prototype for a self-FLYING taxi by the end of this year • Why menopause evolved: It prevents older females from becoming a sexual threat, groundbreaking whale study reveals • What could possibly go wrong? Robot cars are now learning to drive by playing Grand Theft Auto • What do your colour choices say about YOU? Clever test reveals your personality based on the combinations you find most appealing • The delicate art of apologising (without making it worse) by psychologist HARRIET LERNER who’s studied the subject for 20 years • Military spy laser could transform Earth's atmosphere into a giant magnifying glass to snoop on enemies • Space mountain: Astronaut shares stunning out of this world shot of the Rockies from the ISS Daily Mail

The Strange, Mysterious or Downright Weird

Doe! Deer and Macaque Caught Monkeying Around

Too much monkey business? A young male Japanese macaque — a tailless monkey with distinctive cheek pouches — was recently observed mounting and performing sexual actions on the backs of female sika deer on Japan's Yakushima island.

The monkey clambered onto the deer and thrust his pelvis repeatedly, in typical copulatory fashion, and chased away other monkeys that approached the deer, researchers described in a new study.

Although sexual monkeyshines between different species are relatively common in the animal kingdom, this behavior is most frequently seen between species that are closely related, or between distant species that are in captivity, according to the study authors. This male macaque was part of a group of males on the island that were of lower social standing, and his affinity for hoofed partners might stem from restricted access to available females, they said. (Animal Sex: 7 Tales of Naughty Acts in the Wild). Live Science (01/12/2017)