April 10, 2013
ATOMIC SUB SINKS WITH TOTAL LOSS OF CREW
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The United States Navy reported the tragic news that USS Thresher, an atomic submarine, had sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 50 years ago today, April 10, 1963,
USS Thresher was unable to resurface during a training mission off the coast of New England.
The entire crew of 129 including officers, sailors and civilians perished.
Launched in 1960, USS Thresher was the 1st of a new class of atomic submarines which were said to be quieter and could reach greater depths than previous atomic subs.
President John F. Kennedy ordered all flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims who, according to a later investigative report, lost their lives when a short circuit in the ship's electrical system prevented it from surfacing.
The United States Navy took corrective actions to prevent future such tragedies.
USS Thresher, April 1961
SNIPER FIRES AT BUT MISSES GENERAL WALKER
Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) Retired United States Army General Edwin Walker* narrowly escaped death 50 years ago, April 10, 1963, when a sniper fired a rifle shot through a window at his Dallas home.
The bullet struck the wall just above Walker's head as he sat at his desk The incident took place at 9 p.m. local time.
General Walker was grazed in the arm by fragments of the bullet.
General Edwin A. Walker
United States Army (1931-1961)
*General Edwin A."Ted" Walker (1909-1993) was born in Center Point, Texas. He graduated from West Point in 1931 & served in both WWII & the Korean War.
He opposed integration of Little Rock High School & attempted to resign from the army, but President Eisenhower reassigned him to Germany.
JFK's Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara relieved him of command in 1961. General Walker died of lung cancer at his home in Dallas, Texas.
An eyewitness, a 14 year neighbor boy, told police he saw 2 men drive out of a church parking lot adjacent to Walker's home just after the shooting.**
General Walker, an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Texas in 1962, had been dismissed from the army for passing out ultra right-wing "John Birch" literature to his troops.
The shooter remained unknown until the Warren Commission, while investigating the assassination of JFK, determined that Lee Harvey Oswald had fired the shot.
The Commission based their conclusion on a letter Oswald left for his wife Marina, on photographs found in Oswald's personal possessions & testimony of firearms experts.
**According to Robert Groden, it was Marina Oswald who told authorities after her husband's arrest for the murder of JFK that he had tried to kill Walker. Groden also states that Walker said the bullet retrieved from his wall did not match CE399, the bullet alleged to have passed through both JFK & John Connally.
Groden concludes, "It is highly unlikely that Lee was the assailant in the Walker shooting. Indeed, as targets, President Kennedy and General Walker were at opposite ends of the political spectrum."
SOURCE: "The Search for Lee Harvey Oswald," by Robert J. Groden, Penguin Books, New York, 1995.
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ATOMIC SUB SINKS WITH TOTAL LOSS OF CREW
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The United States Navy reported the tragic news that USS Thresher, an atomic submarine, had sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 50 years ago today, April 10, 1963,
USS Thresher was unable to resurface during a training mission off the coast of New England.
The entire crew of 129 including officers, sailors and civilians perished.
Launched in 1960, USS Thresher was the 1st of a new class of atomic submarines which were said to be quieter and could reach greater depths than previous atomic subs.
President John F. Kennedy ordered all flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims who, according to a later investigative report, lost their lives when a short circuit in the ship's electrical system prevented it from surfacing.
The United States Navy took corrective actions to prevent future such tragedies.
USS Thresher, April 1961
SNIPER FIRES AT BUT MISSES GENERAL WALKER
Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) Retired United States Army General Edwin Walker* narrowly escaped death 50 years ago, April 10, 1963, when a sniper fired a rifle shot through a window at his Dallas home.
The bullet struck the wall just above Walker's head as he sat at his desk The incident took place at 9 p.m. local time.
General Walker was grazed in the arm by fragments of the bullet.
General Edwin A. Walker
United States Army (1931-1961)
*General Edwin A."Ted" Walker (1909-1993) was born in Center Point, Texas. He graduated from West Point in 1931 & served in both WWII & the Korean War.
He opposed integration of Little Rock High School & attempted to resign from the army, but President Eisenhower reassigned him to Germany.
JFK's Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara relieved him of command in 1961. General Walker died of lung cancer at his home in Dallas, Texas.
An eyewitness, a 14 year neighbor boy, told police he saw 2 men drive out of a church parking lot adjacent to Walker's home just after the shooting.**
General Walker, an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Texas in 1962, had been dismissed from the army for passing out ultra right-wing "John Birch" literature to his troops.
The shooter remained unknown until the Warren Commission, while investigating the assassination of JFK, determined that Lee Harvey Oswald had fired the shot.
The Commission based their conclusion on a letter Oswald left for his wife Marina, on photographs found in Oswald's personal possessions & testimony of firearms experts.
**According to Robert Groden, it was Marina Oswald who told authorities after her husband's arrest for the murder of JFK that he had tried to kill Walker. Groden also states that Walker said the bullet retrieved from his wall did not match CE399, the bullet alleged to have passed through both JFK & John Connally.
Groden concludes, "It is highly unlikely that Lee was the assailant in the Walker shooting. Indeed, as targets, President Kennedy and General Walker were at opposite ends of the political spectrum."
SOURCE: "The Search for Lee Harvey Oswald," by Robert J. Groden, Penguin Books, New York, 1995.
You Tube Video
