President Abraham Lincoln Dreams of His Own Death 159 Years Ago

By H. B. Auld, Jr.

One hundred and fifty-nine years ago today on April 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln dreamed of his own death, seeing himself laying in a casket. The same dream repeated two more nights. Ten days after his first dream, actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated the sixteenth President at Ford’s Theater. President Lincoln lingered on through that night, then died at 7:22 the next morning, April 15, 1865, in a boarding house across the street from Ford’s Theater.

Lincoln prophetically said: “If I am killed, I can die but once; but to live in constant dread of it, is to die over and over again.”

When he left for Ford’s Theater that Friday night, he told his body guard, William H. Crook, about the dreams. Then, he wished Crook “Good-bye” instead of his normal “Good night.”

May President Abraham Lincoln Rest In Peace for the ages.

Last Remaining Survivor of Sinking of the USS ARIZONA Dies at Age 102

by H. B. Auld, Jr.

The United States lost a true American hero yesterday, April 1, 2024. US Navy Lieutenant Commander Louis Anthony Conter (USN, Retired), the last remaining survivor of the sinking of the USS ARIZONA (BB 39) on December 7, 1941, died at the age of 102.

LCDR Conter joined the US Navy November 15, 1939. He completed Basic Training at Naval Training Station, San Diego, CA, and reported to the USS ARIZONA in January, 1940, as a Quartermaster Third Class.

The ARIZONA returned from patrol to Pearl Harbor, HI, on December 6, 1941, the day before the Japanese assault on the naval base the next morning.  On the day of the attack, Quartermaster Conter was on watch on the quarterdeck at 8 a.m.  The ship was struck by a 1,760-pound bomb and then a second bomb which raised the ship out of the water and blew the bow off of the ship.

Conter began aiding his wounded Shipmates when the order to abandon ship came from the ship’s captain.  Conter took to one of the lifeboats and began pulling injured men into his lifeboat before rowing to shore.  He later spent weeks recovering the bodies of the dead.  The ARIZONA sank in just nine minutes.  Almost 1200 of her crew died in the explosions and sinking.  Only 334 men from the ARIZONA survived the attack. 

After the attack, which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt rightly called, “…a date which will live in infamy….” Conter was selected for flight training.  He received his Naval Aviator wings as an enlisted Naval Aviation Pilot in November, 1942. 

He was shot down twice over the Pacific Ocean during his flight career, but managed to row ashore both times in a raft.   Later after being commissioned as a naval Ensign, he served in the New Guinea campaign and in Europe.  He transferred to the Naval Reserve following World War II, but later returned to active duty to serve during the Korean War and the Vietnam Conflict.  He retired as a Navy Lieutenant Commander in December, 1967. 

In civilian life, LCDR Conter co-authored his autobiography, From USS ARIZONA Survivor to Unsung American Hero, The Lou Conter Story, with Annette C. Hull and Warren R. Hull.

LCDR Conter became the last known survivor of the sinking of the USS ARIZONA in April, 2023, when Ken Potts, the other remaining survivor, died. The final survivor of the sinking of the USS ARIZONA, Navy LCDR Louis Anthony Conter, passed away at 102 on April 1, 2024, in Grass Valley, CA.

Sixty-five Years Ago on February 3, 1959: ‘The Day the Music Died’

  • Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson
  • Crickets bass player Waylon Jennings and Buddy Holly
  • The Beechcraft Bonanza after it crashed, killing the young stars and pilot.
  • Buddy Holly’s grave in Lubbock, Texas.

by H. B. Auld, Jr.

Sixty-five years ago today on February 3, 1959, was the day later referred to as “The Day The Music Died.”  That was the day future rock and roll legends Buddy Holly, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, and Ritchie Valens all died in a plane crash in Iowa.  They were just 22, 28, and 17 years old, respectively. 

Buddy Holly and his band, The Crickets, from Lubbock, Texas, were just beginning their rise to musical stardom. They had opened in the Lubbock area for other artists, including a then relatively unknown named Elvis Presley.  They began playing when Buddy was in high school, and this was a chance to tour the USA.  The Winter Dance Party Tour had just finished a concert in Clear Lake, IA, and were headed to their next gig in Moorhead, MN, the next night. Other future stars on the same tour included Dion DiMucci and the Belmonts.

The whole group was traveling in a bus with frequent mechanical difficulties when a snow and ice storm made travel difficult.  Buddy chartered a small private Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft to fly him and his band to Moorhead.  Richardson, who had the flu, convinced Crickets bass player Waylon Jennings to give up his seat to J.P. Afterward, Buddy told Waylon, “I hope your ol’ bus freezes up.” And Waylon replied to Buddy, “Well, I hope your ol’ plane crashes.” Waylon said he regretted those final words to Buddy for the rest of his life.  And young Ritchie Valens beat out Crickets guitarist Tommy Allsup in a coin flip for the remaining seat on the plane. Ironically, Ritchie was then overheard saying, “That’s the only thing I ever won in my life.”  The remaining Cricket drummer, Carl Bunch, would also take the bus.  Flying the plane was a relatively inexperienced 21-year-old pilot named Roger Peterson.  All were killed soon after take-off when the plane crashed into a farm field just six miles from the Mason City Airport, from which the aircraft departed five minutes earlier at 12:55 a.m.  The plane had bounced and rolled over before flipping tail-over-nose several times.  The pilot was found still strapped into the cockpit.  All the passengers were ejected from the plane and lay near the crash site.  All were killed instantly.

Buddy had already written many songs that became hits after his death.  Songs like “Peggy Sue,” “Oh, Boy!” “Maybe Baby,” “True Love Ways,” “Rave On,” “It’s So Easy To Fall In Love,” “Everyday,” “Not Fade Away,” “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore,” “Heartbeat,” “Raining in My Heart,” “Words of Love,” and a recent number one hit “That’ll Be The Day,” became rock and roll classics covered by scores of other artists down through the years. 

In another ironic twist, when word of the plane crash and the death of the tour stars reached the venue at Moorhead, MN, word went out to try to find another local act for the concert that night.  A 15-year-old local boy named Robert Thomas Velline and his band of hastily assembled friends, including his brother Bill, went on that night calling themselves The Shadows.  Robert Velline soon found rock and roll success and stardom as Bobby Vee with a string of hits of his own.

The early morning that the three rock stars crashed and died, February 3, 1959, became known as “The Day the Music Died,” as popularized in a 1971 hit song by Don McLean, entitled “American Pie.”

Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes 38 Years Ago on January 28, 1986

  • The STS-51L crewmembers are: in the back row from left to right: Mission Specialist, Ellison S. Onizuka, Teacher in Space Participant Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist, Greg Jarvis and Mission Specialist, Judy Resnik. In the front row from left to right: Pilot Mike Smith, Commander, Dick Scobee and Mission Specialist, Ron McNair.
  • The Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 11:38 a.m., EST, January 28, 1986. The entire crew of seven was lost in the explosion 73 seconds into the launch. (AP Photo/NASA)

From The History Channel’s “This Day In History“

At 11:38 a.m. EST, on January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Christa McAuliffe is on her way to becoming the first ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space. McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher from New Hampshire, won a competition that earned her a place among the seven-member crew of the Challenger. She underwent months of shuttle training but then, beginning January 23, was forced to wait six long days as the Challenger‘s launch countdown was repeatedly delayed because of weather and technical problems. Finally, on January 28, the shuttle lifted off.

Seventy-three seconds later, hundreds on the ground, including Christa’s family, stared in disbelief as the shuttle broke up in a forking plume of smoke and fire. Millions more watched the wrenching tragedy unfold on live television. There were no survivors.

In 1976, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) unveiled the world’s first reusable manned spacecraft, the Enterprise. Five years later, space flights of the shuttle began when Columbia traveled into space on a 54-hour mission. Launched by two solid-rocket boosters and an external tank, only the aircraft-like shuttle entered into orbit around Earth. When the mission was completed, the shuttle fired engines to reduce speed and, after descending through the atmosphere, landed like a glider. Early shuttles took satellite equipment into space and carried out various scientific experiments. The Challenger disaster was the first major shuttle accident.

Special Commission appointed….

In the aftermath of the disaster, President Ronald Reagan appointed a special commission to determine what went wrong with Challenger and to develop future corrective measures. The presidential commission was headed by former secretary of state William Rogers, and included former astronaut Neil Armstrong and former test pilot Chuck Yeager. The investigation determined that the disaster was caused by the failure of an “O-ring” seal in one of the two solid-fuel rockets. The elastic O-ring did not respond as expected because of the cold temperature at launch time, which began a chain of events that resulted in the massive loss. As a result, NASA did not send astronauts into space for more than two years as it redesigned a number of features of the space shuttle.

In September 1988, space shuttle flights resumed with the successful launching of the Discovery. Since then, the space shuttle has carried out numerous important missions, such as the repair and maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope and the construction of the International Space Station.

On February 1, 2003, a second space-shuttle disaster rocked the United States when Columbia disintegrated upon reentry of the Earth’s atmosphere. All aboard were killed. Despite fears that the problems that downed Columbia had not been satisfactorily addressed, space-shuttle flights resumed on July 26, 2005, when Discovery was again put into orbit.

The Space Shuttle program formally ended on August 31, 2011 after its final mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.

Robert (Rabbie) Burns Was Born 265 Years Ago on January 25, 1759

by H. B. Auld, Jr.and The History Channel

Today is the birthday of Robert Burns, one of the most popular and important days on the Scottish calendar. “Rabbie” was born January 25, 1759, (265 years ago today).

Today’s birthday brings with it the “Burns Night” or Nicht celebrations with much feasting on haggis and other Scottish delicacies, as well as drinking, toasting, and speechmaking.

“Burns, the son of a poor farmer, received little formal schooling but read extensively. A restless, dissatisfied spirit, he fell in love with a young woman named Jean Armour in the mid-1780s but refused to marry her when she became pregnant. The pair endured a legal struggle, at the end of which the courts declared Burns legally single-but he later married Armour anyway. Eventually, the couple had nine children, the last one born on the day of Burns’ funeral.

Burns published his first poetry collection, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, in 1786, and he quickly became the darling of elite Edinburgh intellectuals.

Perhaps more famous for his lively lyrics in the Scottish dialect than for his longer, more literary poems, Burns is still beloved and celebrated today as the author of the New Year’s anthem, “For Auld Lang Syne.” (from The History Channel)

First Nuclear-Powered Sub Launched 70 Years Ago Today

by H.B. Auld, Jr.

The USS NAUTILUS (SSN 571) was launched 70 years ago today:  January 21, 1954.  Thus opened the beginning of the era of nuclear-powered sea vessels for the US Navy that stands today.

The NAUTILUS was launched from Groton, CT, where it was built and christened.  It was commissioned the following September.  During its 26-year career, it set records, made history, and sailed on sea-going missions only dreamed of before.   The project to plan and build a nuclear propulsion power plant for a submarine was led by then-Captain Hyman G. Rickover, often called the “Father of the Nuclear Navy.”  From then until later-Admiral Rickover retired, not a single naval officer entered the Nuclear Navy serving ashore, afloat, or in the Submarine Service without the express permission and approval of Admiral Rickover.  Naval officers withstood a brutal interview process where one wrong misstep or word could eliminate them from nuclear consideration.  Many young Ensigns who withstood and passed Admiral Rickover’s withering interview later went on to serve as four-star admirals themselves, some of them as the US Navy Chief of Operations.

…examples of the legendary application process….

The following stories are examples of the legendary application process to become a nuclear officer under Admiral Rickover. Real or apocryphal, they illustrate the difficulty in becoming a US Navy nuclear officer under Admiral Hyman G. Rickover:

               ONE:  Admiral Rickover invited a group of Ensigns to breakfast in his stateroom one morning.  During breakfast, he observed one Ensign salting his eggs.  He asked, “Ensign, how did you know those eggs needed salting?”   “Sir,” the Ensign answered, “I assumed they needed salt; all eggs need seasoning.”  “Ensign,” Admiral Rickover replied, “You are dismissed.  I want no officer working for me who assumes anything.”  With that, the Ensign immediately returned to the surface fleet.

               TWO:  Admiral Rickover, during an especially tough interview, asked an Ensign: “Son, I won’t have an officer working for me who loses his temper.  I want you to make me mad. Go on, do it.”  The Ensign walked over to a beautifully detailed wooden model of the USS CONSTITUTION sailing ship.  He picked it up, admired it, then dashed it into hundreds of pieces on the floor at Admiral Rickover’s feet.  The Admiral quietly stared daggers through the Ensign for several minutes while he pushed his own temper back down.  When he knew he was composed, he quietly told the Ensign.  “You passed.  Now get out of my office!”

               THREE:  Admiral Rickover always kept a jar of hard candy on his desk.  Whenever an interviewee would enter, Admiral Rickover would always genially offer the Ensign a piece of candy.  Later, at the end of the interview, Admiral Rickover would again offer the same Ensign another piece of candy before his departure.  It did not matter if the Ensign took a piece of candy or not.  The admiral wanted to see if the Ensign would change his mind and take or refuse candy he had already taken or refused at the beginning of the interview.  He wanted no Sailors in the nuclear program who would be indecisive and change their minds.

The latest nuclear-powered submarine is the Fast Attack Virginia-class submarine USS HYMAN G. RICKOVER (SSN 795), commissioned October 14, 2023. 

Pearl Harbor Ambushed in Sunday Morning Attack 82 Years Ago Today

by HB Auld, Jr. (reprinted from this Weblog earlier)

Eighty-two years ago today on December 7, 1941, Imperial Japan attacked the neutral United States with a surprise Sunday morning ambush on naval bases at Pearl Harbor, HI.

During the unprovoked assault on the United States, aircraft from the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service killed 2,403 US citizens and injured 1,178 others. It also sank four battleships and damaged four others, damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer. Additionally, 188 aircraft were destroyed and another 159 planes were damaged.

“…a date which will live in infamy….”

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The following day, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appeared before Congress and, declaring the previous day “…a date which will live forever in infamy…,” requested that Congress declare war against Japan. Congress quickly complied and the United States entered World War II hostilities against Japan.

My own father, HB Auld, Sr., was already serving in the US Army when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and spent the remainder of his military service fighting the Japanese on the island of New Guinea.

My father-in-law, JB Kattes, enlisted in the US Army on December 11, 1941, four days after the surprise attack, and served in the US Army in Washington, Alaska, and Georgia until the end of the War.

God bless all of the men and women who served and all of those who gave their lives in Pearl Harbor and elsewhere in the War.

ALWAYS REMEMBER: THAT DAY IN DECEMBER: God bless America!

Jeopardy! Streak Ends 19 Years Ago

by HB Auld, Jr.

Nineteen years ago today on November 30, 2004, the longest running streak in Jeopardy! history ended. Ken Jennings answered the Final Jeopardy! question incorrectly, ending his 74-game winning streak. During that streak, he amassed $2.5 million dollars in winnings.

Ken Jennings’ record streak ran from June 2 to November 30, 2004. He was defeated by Nancy Zerg who was then defeated the next day. In his 75th and final game, Ken answered “Fed-Ex” to Nancy’s correct answer of “H&R Block.”

Forty-nine year old Jennings ascended to Jeopardy! host duties after long-time host Alex Trebek died of pancreatic cancer November 8, 2020.

Beatle George Harrison Died 22 Years Ago on November 29, 2001

  • 392279 01: (FILE PHOTO) Beatles guitarist and singer George Harrison performs December 3, 1963 during a concert. It was reported November 8, 2001 that Harrison is undergoing cancer treatment in a Staten Island, N.Y., hospital. Harrison, 58, died in Los Angeles after a long battle against cancer, a family friend said November 30, 2001. (Photo by Getty Images)

by HB Auld, Jr, (reprinted from this blog, November 29, 2021)

Remembering “the quiet Beetle,” George Harrison who died 22 years ago today, November 29, 2001, of non-small cell lung cancer which spread to his brain. George Harrison was 58 years old.

George Harrison was born in Liverpool, England, on February 25, 1943. He met Paul McCartney on a bus on the way to school and bonded over music. Later, he auditioned for John Lennon with Paul who played as “The Quarrymen,” a skiffle group. John turned George down as being too young at 15. Later, he re-auditioned for John on the top of a double-decker bus. He wound up playing for The Quarrymen as a guitar fill-in when needed.

When The Beatles broke up in 1970, George Harrison released his “All Things Must Pass” album, which included his hit single, “My Sweet Lord.” George was sued by The Chifons in 1971, claiming his My Sweet Lord was plagiarized from their “He’s So Fine.” George denied consciously plagiarizing their hit, but lost in US court when the judge judge ruled that he had done so subconsciously.

In 1971, George joined Ravi Shankar in the live The Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden to raise money and awareness for the starving refugees of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

In 1988, George formed The Traveling Wilburys with Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty and recorded “Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1.” After Roy Orbison’s death in 1988, the group recorded their second album as a quartet. George came up with the prank idea to name it “Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.” just “…to confuse the buggers.”

George and his wife, Olivia, were attacked in their home in Friar Park on December 30, 1999, by Michael Abram, a 34-year old suffering from mental illness. George was stabbed 40 times, including once which punctured his lung. Abrams later expressed remorse for the attack.

In May, 2001, George underwent lung surgery to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs/ In November 2001, he began radiotherapy at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City for non-small cell lung cancer that had spread to his brain. When the news was made public, Harrison lamented his physician’s breach of his privacy, and his estate later claimed damages.

George Harrison died on private property belonging to Paul McCartney on Heather Road in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA. At his death, he was surrounded by his wife, Olivia; his son, Dhani; his friend, Ravi Shankar; and others. After George died, his ashes were scattered, according to Hindu tradition, by his close family in a private ceremony in the Ganges and Yamunba Rivers near Varanasi, India.

His final words before he died were to Olivia and Dhani: “Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another.”

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy Assassinated 60 Years Ago Today

by H. B. Auld, Jr.

Sixty years ago today at approximately 1:00 p.m., CST, on Friday November 22, 1963, we lost our 35th President of the United States, President John F. Kennedy, to an assassin’s bullets.  He was shot shortly after noon, allegedly by Lee Harvey Oswald, as the presidential motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. 

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his wife of just 10 years, Jacqueline Kennedy, spent the previous night at the Texas Hotel in Fort Worth.  The following morning, President Kennedy, his wife, and a Texas delegation all exited the hotel to fly to Dallas.  A light rain was falling, but several thousand supporters were there to greet him and hear his brief remarks. 

“There are no faint hearts in Fort Worth,” he began, “and I appreciate your being here this morning. Mrs. Kennedy is organizing herself. It takes longer, but, of course, she looks better than we do when she does it.”  He continued his short speech, talking about a strong defense, space issues, and continuing the growing economy. 

The Presidential Party motorcaded to Carswell Air Force Base, where they flew to Love Field in Dallas, thirteen minutes away.  Arriving at Love Field, the President and First Lady went to the fence and greeted well-wishers, shaking several hands.

The rain stopped and the delegation decided to remove the plastic bubble top for the trip through Dallas to the Trade Mart where the President was scheduled to speak at a luncheon there. 

President Kennedy was struck in his neck and his head.

Making its way through Dallas, the motorcade turned from Main Street into Dealy Plaza.  As it drove past the Texas School Book Depository on their right, gunshots rang out.  President Kennedy was struck in his neck and his head.  He slumped toward his wife.  Texas Governor John Connally, a passenger in the President’s limousine, was struck by a bullet in his back.  The motorcade immediately sped away to the closest hospital, Parkland Memorial Hospital, which was just 12 minutes away.  Renowned surgeon, Dr. Robert N. McClelland, worked to revive the stricken president, to no avail.  A Catholic priest entered Trauma Room Three and administered the Last Rites to President Kennedy, who was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m.  Vice-President Lyndon Baines Johnson, known to his friends as “LBJ,” assumed the presidency when Dallas Judge Sarah T. Hughes administered the Oath of Office aboard Air Force One as LBJ’s wife, Lady Bird Johnson, and JFK’s widow, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, looked on.  Soon afterward, LBJ, the 36th President of the United States, flew back to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, with Air Force One carrying the body of President John F. Kennedy in a casket in the belly of the aircraft.

President John F. Kennedy’s accused assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was himself killed 48 hours later on Sunday as he was being transferred from police headquarters to the Dallas County Jail. 

The late President John F. Kennedy was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery the next day, Monday, November 25, 1963.

The end of the John F. Kennedy Camelot Era brought with it a beginning of some darker times: more assassinations, including his brother Bobby and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr; the Vietnam War; Watergate; a presidential resignation; 9/11; and more. But it also brought forth times in the sunlight: the Paris Peace Accord, the Ronald Reagan Presidency, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and much more.

Rest In Peace, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.