© Artistic Ave Productions
By Artistic Ave Productions – Own work, – CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Apr 092021
Feb 202021
How many 7 year olds come back to school after a weekend with a photo of an F-16 Fighter Jet with their name on it???
Dec 292020
Towers
- 3.1Flakturm I – Berliner Zoo, Berlin
- 3.2Flakturm II – Friedrichshain, Berlin
- 3.3Flakturm III – Humboldthain, Berlin
- 3.4Flakturm IV – Heiligengeistfeld, Hamburg
- 3.5Flakturm VI – Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg
- 3.6Flakturm V – Stiftskaserne, Vienna
- 3.7Flakturm VII – Augarten, Vienna
- 3.8Flakturm VIII – Arenbergpark, Vienna
Planned towers (not built)
Retribution given thru above links
May 032020
Maj. Michelle M. Curran
Lead Solo
Maj. Michelle M. Curran is the Lead Solo Pilot for the United States Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. As Thunderbird 5, she flies the #5 jet and serves as the squadron’s Chief of Standardization and Evaluation. She is in her second season with the team. Curran entered the Air Force in 2009 with a Reserve Officer Training Corps commission from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. She completed the Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training at Columbus, MS and assigned to the F-16 Misawa Air Base, Japan. Curran has flown more than 1,500 hours in the F-16, including 163 combat hours over Afghanistan in support of Operation Resolute Support and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Prior to the Thunderbirds, she was an F-16 Instructor Pilot and Flight Commander at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas.
EDUCATION
2009 Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice, University of St. Thomas
2010 Air and Space Basic Course, Squadron Officer College
2014 Squadron Officer School
ASSIGNMENTS
Nov 2009 – Nov 2011 Student, Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training and Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals,
14th Operational Support Squadron Columbus AFB, Miss.
Nov 2011 – Nov 2012 Student, F-16 Basic Course, 308th Fighter Squadron, Luke AFB, Ariz.
Nov 2012 – Nov 2015 F-16 Pilot/Chief of Scheduling, 13th Fighter Squadron, Misawa AB, Japan
Nov 2015 – Sept 2018 F-16 Instructor Pilot/Flight Commander, 355th Fighter Squadron, NAS JRB Fort Worth, Texas
Sept 2018 – Present Thunderbird #5, Opposing Solo, USAF Air Demonstration Squadron, Nellis AFB, Nev.
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Senior Pilot
Flight hours: More than 1,500
Aircraft flown: T-6, T-38, F-16C
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Air Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant Aug 2009
First Lieutenant Aug 2011
Captain Aug 2013
Major July 2019
Mar 182020
Jul 222019
Calvin Leon Graham (April 3, 1930 – November 6, 1992) was the youngest U.S. serviceman to serve and fight during World War II. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States Navy from Houston, Texas on August 15, 1942, at the age of 12.
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Calvin Leon Graham
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Seaman First Class Calvin Graham in 1942
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| Born | April 3, 1930 Canton, Texas |
| Died | November 6, 1992 (aged 62) Fort Worth, Texas |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/ |
United States Navy United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1942–1943 1948–1951 |
| Rank | Seaman first class – USN Corporal – USMC[1] |
| Unit | USS South Dakota |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards |  Bronze Star Medal (1+1 “V” Device)  Purple Heart |
Graham’s decorations and military awards, as finally settled circa 1994 after intervention by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton:
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| 1st Row | Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V” | |||||
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| 2nd Row | Purple Heart Medal | Navy Unit Commendation with service star |
American Campaign Medal | |||
| 3rd Row | Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two service stars |
World War II Victory Medal | National Defense Service Medal | |||
Aug 032018
USS Iowa BB61, lead ship of a class of 45,000-ton battleships, was built at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York.
Commissioned in February 1943, she spent her initial service in the Atlantic and carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to and from Casablanca, Morocco, in November 1943.
Early in January 1944, Iowa steamed to the Pacific, where she took part in the Marshalls Campaign later in that month and in February.
From then until the end of 1944, she was actively involved in raids against Japanese facilities and campaigns to capture the Marianas, the Palaus and Leyte, including participation in the Battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf.
After overhaul in early 1945, Iowa returned to the western Pacific for the Okinawa campaign and the final operations against Japan. She was present in Tokyo Bay during the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945.
She returned to the United States later in that month and operated with the Pacific Fleet until she was decommissioned in March 1949.
The Korean War brought Iowa back into active service. She was recommissioned in August 1951 and made a combat deployment to Korean waters in April-October 1952, during which time she served as Seventh Fleet flagship. Upon return to the U.S., she was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet.
Over the next several years, Iowa made several European cruises and was present for the International Naval Review in Hampton Roads, Virginia, in June 1957. She was decommissioned in February 1958.
After two and a half decades in “mothballs”, Iowa was modernized under the 1980s defense buildup and recommissioned in April 1984. She went to European waters in 1985, 1986 and 1987-88, with the latter cruise continuing into the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.
A fire in her second sixteen-inch gun turret killed 47 crewmen on 19 April 1989, but Iowa was still able to deploy to Europe and the Mediterranean Sea in mid-year. Turret two remained unrepaired when she decommissioned for the last time in October 1990. USS Iowa is presently part of the Reserve Fleet.
Jan 312018
Apr 192017
Engraving of Kilroy on the WWII Memorial in Washington DC
Feb 012017
New Suffolk Today:
A United States Submarine Veterans designated
USSVI National Memorial Site
The New Suffolk Memorial is in New Suffolk, LI, NY and is on a grassy knoll, in the sand, facing Peconic Bay.
It is within a stones’ throw of the original “Holland Torpedo Boat” docks and is within the original boatyard.
The inscription reads:
- “Be it known by all that this monument marks the location of the first United States Submarine Base and commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the United States Submarine Service which had it’s birthplace here on this point of land in the hamlet of New Suffolk, Long Island on 11 April 1900.
- This Monument is a testimony to all the gallant men who have served on submarines of the United States Navy”
Memorial was dedicated 8 April 2000
United States Submarine Veterans Long Island Base.
Information provided by
John R. Saeli USSVI Long Island Base
fevroute@worldnet.att.net
- © Sid Harrison – USSVI WebMaster
- From the late Floyd D. Houston’s memoribilia, the four historical images shown immediately above were submitted by the grandson of Floyd D. Houston . Mr. Houston was one of the latter owners of the New Suffolk Boatyard.