 |
| President Truman & George C. Marshall (who would later head the Marshall Plan 1948) |
1951 Nuclear Test at Frenchman Flats Nevada - There were two test this week in 1951, January 27 & 28. The first atmospheric nuclear test took place on Area 5. The one-kiloton device called Able was dropped from an Air Force B-50 bomber. The second, the next day, was called Baker was an eight-kiloton bomb also dropped from a B-50 bomber. They were the 4th and 5th airdropped devices since the start of the program (including Hiroshima and Nagasaki). The history of the Nevada test site is available here: Nevada Test Site Guide
 |
| Photo of "Able" Atom Bomb Blast |
January 23, 1968 USS Pueblo Seized by North Korea - I was just 14, and saw the news report on the evening news but didn't think much about it. Never even thought that someday I'd be blogging on the event. And, who in the world would believe that 51 years later, the USS Pueblo would be in the news still with the current negotiations to de-nuc the Korean Peninsula?! It would be great if the USA negotiators made the return of the ship a condition of whatever deal is eventually agreed upon. You can read the History.com article here: USS Pueblo Seized
 |
| Artist Rendition of Attack |
 |
| USS Pueblo - Today in NOKO |
January 23, 1973 - Nixon Announces Peace Settlement - I was stationed aboard the USS Farragut when this news hit. I was a few months away from getting married and my future wife was worried that the ship had another turn in the Tonkin Gulf coming up. It was not scheduled but other ships in Newport R.I., and the Farragut itself, prior to my assignment, had served in Vietnam. It was a possibility we had discussed during our engagement. Overall everyone took the news in stride because other announcements had fallen through. This one stuck though and eventually the long national nightmare was over. The South Vietnamese nightmare continued for a couple more years but that is a post for April.
Read the "This Day In History" article here.
January 28, 1982 - United States Brigadier General James L. Dozier is rescued after being held captive by the Red Brigades in Italy. Kidnapped from his home on December 17, 1981. General Dozier was the deputy Chief of staff at NATO's Southern European land forces headquarters. The Red Brigades in Italy had foreign support from the Czechoslovak StB and the PLO. Small arms, logistics, and training were provided with the PLO being the "middle man" for the transfer from Czechoslovakia.
The general tells his own story: Retired general recalls 1981 terrorist kidnapping
 |
| General Dozier in Uniform |
 |
| General Dozier on Day of Rescue |
 |
| Red Brigade in Italy's Flag |
January 28, 1990 - Romanian protest against Ion Iliescu government. Protesters in the tens of thousands gather in Victory Square to call for open free elections as the former Soviet Union satellite tries to recover from the December 1989 revolution that resulted in the Dictator Ceausescu's death. Romania was one of many Soviet satellite nations experiencing the "Winds of Change" during the turbulent years as the former Soviet Union fell apart. You can read the BBC article here: Romanian Protest
 |
| Ion Illiescu Speaks to the Protesters |
Entertainment From This Week in Cold War History:
January 29,1964 - Dr. Strangelove Movie Release - What a great movie! It holds it's own with any CGI enhanced flick of today. What a wonderful combination of absurdity, comedy, and current events in 1964! And, who can ever forget the ending where Major "King" Kong rides the bomb all the way down as if he was riding a bucking bronco?! An oddity I recognized on the movie posters is that the poster image is of B52s and the movie uses interior shots of a B52 but uses film of B58 Hustlers in flight for the flying scenes. This is one of my Cold War movie favorites.
 |
| One of Movie promotional Posters |
 |
| Major "King" Kong |
January 1972 - American Pie - Don Mclean is on top of the Billboard Charts - Almost all of us in this generation of Cold Warriors knows this song. The backstory is that Don McLean was a paperboy delivering papers when Buddy Holly died in the plane crash. The headline became the catalyst for the song later in his career as as folk singer. The attached link takes you to the full 8 1/2 minutes version on Youtube. American Pie song link.
