158th Anniversary of the Fall of Fort Fisher This Weekend-- Part 1

From the January 8, 2023, Port City News (Wilmington, North Carolina) "158th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Fisher reenacts Civil War times."

History comes alive this coming weekend with the 158th anniversary of the fall of Fort Fisher.

It is free and open to the public and the theme is "With Artillery, War Is Made" and will be held January 14 from 10 am to 4 pm.  The living history program will focus on the artillery used at Fort Fisher during the Civil War.

There will,be demonstrations of the 32-pounder banded and  rifled seacoast gun, 12-pound Parrott  gun at  10 am, noon, 1:30 and 3 pm.

--Old B-Runner

Now that West Point is divesting itself of any and all things Confederate, I'm thinking that the 150-pdr. Armstrong gun at Trophy Point that was captured at Fort Fisher which was a CONFEDERATE FORT by the way, should be "divested" back to our fort.

20th Anniversary Celebration Today at Mariners' Museum for Recovery of the Monitor's Turret

From the Chesapeake Bay Magazine.

The Mariners' Museum in Virginia, which is also the home and offices of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary (MNMS), will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Moniior' turret recovery today, August 6.

There will be a scavenger hunt and visitors of all ages can dig through concretion (the goop that surrounds artifacts on the sea floor) to find additional artifacts. (That sounds really neat to me.)

Representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will guide visitors through a virtual dive to the wreck of the Monitor through virtual reality headsets.  There will be additional personnel throughout the museum to give visitors additional and interesting  information about specific exhibits.

At 11 am, Dr. John Broadwater, the former superintendent of the MNMS, will describe how the national marine sanctuary, NOAA, the Navy, The Mariners' Museum and other agencies recovered the Monitor's turret and other artifacts.

After lunch, Will Hoffman, director of conservation and chief conservator, will discuss efforts to preserve the turret over the last twenty years.  He will also discuss the 220 tons of other recovered artifacts from the site.

Sure Wish I Could Be There.  --Old B-Runner

Valor in the Atlantic 2022: Return to the USS Monitor Will Stream Live

I wrote about this expedition in my last two posts.

From the NOAA  National Marine Sanctuaries by Mark Losavio.

You are all invited to join in an exciting  journey  returning to the resting place of the USS Monitor, America's first  national marine sanctuary, as we celebrate the upcoming  50th Anniversary on the National Marine Sanctuary System.  

The Civil War vessel, which sank 160 years ago, will be visited  by an underwater robot and systematically surveyed for the first time since the Monitor's turret  was recovered in 2002.

The expedition will take place May 15-25.

And, you can watch it live.

You can go to You Tune

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs76bohRmsc

--Old B-Runner

160 Years After Sinking, NOAA Scientists Plan to Survey USS Monitor

From the May 13, 2022, Maritime Executive.

U.S. researchers and scientists will soon embark on a 10-day expedition to explore and investigate the  shipwreck of the USS Monitor which sank 160 years ago off the North Carolina coast.  They will be leaving May 15.  This will be the first visit to the wreck since the ship's turret was recovered in 2002.

The remains of the ship are located sixteen miles off Cape Hatteras and the area surrounding the vessel has been designated a national marine sanctuary.

This survey will also commemorate the 50th anniversary  of the creation of the sanctuary.  Earlier this year, the 160th anniversary the ship's launching and of the sea battle between the Monitor and the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia at the Battle of Hampton Roads which changed naval warfare forever.

Over the course of the two-week mission, researchers will also visit  several natural reefs and  historical shipwrecks off the coast of North Carolina.

--Old B-Runner

Captain James Brannon Saves Key West for the Union

From the January 13, 2022, Keys News "Today in Keys History."  

JANUARY 13, 1861

During the night, Captain James M. Brannon, commanding the Army Barracks Key West, marched his men to Fort Zachary Taylor and took command  of the fort.

This action ensured  that Key West would remain in Union hands during the Civil War and provided the Union Navy with a secure base to blockade southern ports.

This was essentially exactly what Major Robert Anderson did at Charleston Harbor after South Carolina seceded and he moved his small force from Fort Moultrie out to Fort Sumter in the harbor.

--Old B-R'er

Wintering at Fort Fisher: The 157th Anniversary Living History Program This Weekend, Jan. 15

From the Fort Fisher State Historic Site.

Step back in time and join us Saturday, January 15, for "Wintering at Fort Fisher:, a living history program commemorating the 2nd Battle of Fort Fisher.  It is free and open to the public and will feature Civil War  reenactors portraying the life of the soldier amid the harsh winter conditions of the Cape Fear area in the winter of 1865.

FEATURES:

**  Reenactor demonstrations

**  Demonstrations of period medical practices

**  Cannon firings

**  Civil War troops training

**  Special tours

Of course, the majority of the fort's garrison had an even worse winter after they were captured Jan. 15, 1865, and moved to Elmira Prison in New York.  They didn't call it "Hellmira" for no reason.

Due to the recent coronavirus outbreak some of the events might be cancelled.  Check the website and Face Book for further information.

--Old B-Runner

101-Year-Old USS Oklahoma Pearl Harbor Survivor Returns: David Russell

Continued from my Saw the Elephant:  Civil War blog.

Today, I will be posting about Pearl Harbor in all but one of my blogs.

David Russell is traveling to Pearl Harbor with the Best Defense  Foundation, a nonprofit founded by former NFL  linebacker Donnie Edwards that helps World War II veterans visit  their old battlefields.

"Those darn torpedoes, they just kept hitting us and kept hitting us.  I thought they'd never stop.  That ship was dancing around."

He remembers clambering over and around toppled lockers while the battleship slowly rolled over. "You had to walk sort of sideways."

Once he got to the main deck, he crawled over the ship's side and eyed the battleship USS Maryland moored alongside his ship.  He didn't want to swim over to it because leaking oil had caught fire in the water.  Jumping, he was able to catch a rope hanging from the Maryland  and escaped to that battleship without injury.

He then helped pass ammunition to the Maryland's anti-aircraft guns for the rest of the attack.

--Old B-Runner

USS New York (LPD-21),The World Trade Center Rises Again-- Part 1

From Wikipedia. 

A San Antonio -class amphibious  transport dock, and the fifth ship in the U.S. Navy to be named after the state of New York.

I have been writing about her sister ship, the USS Green Bay (LPD-20) in my Cooter's History Thing blog.

Shortly after September 11, 2001, New York governor George E. Pataki wrote a letter to Secretary of Navy Gordon R. England requesting that the Navy bestow the name  "New York" to a surface ship involved in the Global War on Terror to honor the victims of the September 11 terror attacks.  

In his letter, the governor said he understood state names were now reserved for submarines but asked for special consideration so the name could be given to a surface ship.  The request was approved on 28 August 2002.

Marine Corps Honors Oldest Pearl Harbor Survivor John Campbell, 99, in Solana Beach, California

From December 6, CBS 8 News.

A Pearl Harbor Day luncheon commemoration was held at the La Vida retirement home.

He knows he is one of the few surviving members of that day still alive and that number gets smaller every year.  The exact number of survivors is not known, but the San Diego Union Tribune newspaper estimates the number at seven.  I imagine that number is how many in the San Diego area.

"It was a Sunday morning," Mr. Campbell said.  "It's a mystery, all day and all night.  What is this?  What happened?  What is going on?  But we knew they were real bullets.  One guy on each side of me got wounded."

He has written a memoir "The Campbells Are Coming."

--GreGen

9-11 Disease Deaths Grow

Continued from my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog.

The average age of 9/11 First Responders is now about 55.  While many people face increased chances of cancer as they age, the rate among First Responders  is up to 30% higher than in the general population.

These numbers show the continued loss:

**  In 2017, 23 current or former members of the N.Y. City Police Department died of 9/11-related diseases.  That's the same number of NYPD members who died on September 11, 2001.

**  The NYFD lost a stunning 343 members on that day.  Since then line-of-duty deaths linked to 9/11 are approaching 180, now well over half of those lost that day

So many have died since the attacks that a new tablet had to be added to the Hall of Heroes at 1 Police Plaza to accommodate  all the names of the fallen.

"Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)?"-- Part 6

This was supposed to have been posted yesterday, but we lost internet access, so it will have to be todaye 18th anniversary of 9-11, or do you say 9/11?

************************

I'm just a singer of simple songs

I'm not a real political man

I watch CNN

But I'm not sure I can tell you

The difference in Iraq and Iran

But I know Jesus and I talk to God

And I remember this from when I was young

Faith, hope and love are good things He gave us

And the greatest is love.

***************************

Still Hard To Take.

75th Anniversary of D-Day: Those Temporary Harbors Were Called Mulberry Harbours

From Wikipedia.

I posed the question of what happened to the two temporary harbors set up after D-Day and was directed here.

It says they were temporary harbors developed in England during World War II to facilitate the rapid offloading of cargo following D-Day.

After the Allies seized control of the beaches two prefabricated harbors were brought over  in sections across the English Channel and assembled off Omaha Beach, referred to as "Mulberry A" and Gold Beach, "Mulberry B."

Plans were to use them until French ports could be seized.  However, that did not happen right away.

I will eventually get around to writing more about these temporary harbors in my World War II blog.

--Old Secesh

75th Anniversary of D-Day: All Five Beaches Secured By Allies By June 11

14.  ALL FIVE BEACHES SECURED BY ALLIES BY JUNE 11.

Five days after the D-Day invasion, troops immediately began installing two massive temporary harbors that had taken six months to construct back  in England.

All told, the Allies unloaded approximately 2,500,000 men , 500,000 vehicles and 4,000,000 tons of supplies to those temporary harbors over the remaining course of the war.

You can read all fifteen facts about D-Day in this blog and my June 6-8 Civil War and RoadDog's RoadLog blogs.

D-Day 75th Anniversary: Tons of Supplies and Beach Names

7.  THE U.S. SHIPPED TONS OF SUPPLIES TO THE STAGING AREAS IN ENGLAND.

Since Operation Overlord was launched from England, the U.S. military had to ship  7 million tons of supplies to staging areas, including 450 tons of ammunition.

8.  D-DAY WAS CARRIED OUT ALONG FIVE SECTIONS OF BEACHFRONT.

Operation Overlord was divided among sections of beach front along the Normandy coast codenamed , from west to east: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.

D-Day's 75th Anniversary: A Fort Fisher Precedent to Operation Overlord

Today marks the 75th anniversary of this major world event.

I will be writing about it in the next three posts in every one of my blogs.

The two battles of Fort Fisher were a precedent for D-Day as it involved the largest assemblage of warships ever in U.S. Navy history as well as soldiers (and sailors) landing on an enemy shore, though at Fort Fisher they did not land under enemy fire..

From the History site. "D-Day:  Facts on the epic 1944 invasion that changed the course of WW II" by Dave Roos.

3.  D-DAY WAS THE LARGEST AMPHIBIOUS  INVASION IN MILITARY HISTORY.

The invasion was called Operation Overlord and consisted of 156,115 U.S., English and Canadian troops, 6,939 ships and landing vessels and 2,395 aircraft and gliders that delivered airborne troops.

D-Day 75th Anniversary: The Atlantic Wall

6.  GERMANY HAD FORTIFIED FRANCE'S COAST.

Anticipating an Allied invasion somewhere along the French coast, Adolf Hitler  charged Field Marshal Erwin Rommel with fortifying German defenses in France.

In 1943, Rommel completed construction of the "Atlantic Wall,"  Germany's 2,400 mile  line of bunkers, landmines, and beach and water obstacles.  It is estimated that they planted some 4 million landmines along Normandy's beaches.

Putting My Flags Out Today In Honor of the Doolittle Raiders

Today marks the 77th anniversary of an event that, though it didn't change the course of the war between Japan and the United States, it had a huge impact on the morale of both sides.

Sixteen American B-25 bombers took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and launched a surprise attack on the Japanese homeland.

If the Japanese could launch a surprise aircraft carrier attack on the U.S. at Pearl Harbor five months earlier, the United States could repay the favor.  Doolittle's Raiders did some damage, but not a lot.

But, this was huge for American morale as we had little to cheer about at this point.  It was one defeat and loss after another in the Pacific and U-boats prowling off the east  and Gulf coasts were sinking ships on a regular basis.

For the Japanese, it was an awakening that they were not safe from the Americans.

The last member of the Doolittle Raiders, Richard Cole, died nine days ago, at age 103.

--GreGen

W.H.C. Whiting Announces the Completion of the Cape Lookout Light-House-- Part 1

From NCGENWEB PROJECT  October 10, 2009, "Cape Lookout Lighthouse Anniversary."  By Taneya Koonce.  Family researcher Mark Green posted about this .  His ancestor Joseph Fulford donated the land for the lighthouse back in 1805.

October 10, 2009, marks the 150th anniversary of the second (and still current) lighthouse which was built under the auspices of Captain W.H.C. Whiting, Corps of Engineers of the United States Army.

That would be our W.H.C. Whiting of Wilmington and Fort Fisher fame.

--Old B-Runner

Pictures of the 154th Anniversary Fort Fisher

The Wilmington (NC) Star-News has a large number of photographs taken from the 154th Anniversary of the Second Battle of Fort Fisher which was held on January 12, 2019.  The actual battle took place Jan. 13-15, 1865.

Twenty-four color photographs.  Several were of the 117th New York Infantry re-enactors, plus the 3rd N.C. Junior Reserves (under the age of 18)  Also,  Company F, 10th North Carolina Artillery, (Andrews Battery).

Everyone was wearing heavy coats as it must have been cold out there.

Search   Photos: 154th  anniversary Battle of Fort Fisher  to view them.

I am hoping to be there for the 155th anniversary next January.  Every five years it is an even bigger event.

--Old B-Runner

154th Anniversary Second Battle of Fort Fisher This Saturday-- Part 2: Speakers

SATURDAY, JANUARY 12

During the course of the day, the Fort Fisher State Historic Site will have three speakers:

10:30 a.m.  Becky Sawyer, Fort Fisher interpreter, will discuss the forts new temporary exhibit about the lighthouses at Federal Point.  The peninsula Fort Fisher is on is called Federal Point (changed to Confederate Point during the war).

There have been three lighthouses on it, none of which still stand.

12:30 p.m.:  Dr. Malinda Maynor Lowrey will present "A War Within a War:  Lumbee Indians At Fort Fisher."

She is a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill.

2:30 p.m.:  Dr. Jamie Martinez, associate professor at UNC-Pembroke will have a discussion about insufficient labor in the Confederacy.

Wish I Could Be There.  --Old B-Runner