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First naval battle where contestants never were in visual range of each other.

It was my understanding that tactically the IJF had a slight edge.The Allies achieved a strategic victory by halting the push southward and blunting the seaborne thrust toward Port Moresby by the US Pacific Fleet and ANZAC forces . The Battle of the Coral Sea saw the ascendancy of U.S. Navy aviation.

Dug this up
The Bomb That Changed the Course of the War

On 8 May 1942, 24 SBD Dauntless dive bombers from USS Yorktown (CV-5) commenced an attack on the Japanese fleet carrier IJN Shokaku in the Coral Sea. As each bomber nosed over in near-vertical dives from 18,000 feet on the wildly maneuvering Shokaku, their windscreens and bomb sights fogged over so badly during the descent that the U.S. pilots were blinded, forced to release their bombs "by memory." Although one bomb hit the Shokaku very near the bow and started a serious fire, one bomb after another missed.

Finally one SBD, piloted by Lieutenant John Powers (U.S. Naval Academy '35), his wing on fire after being hit by canon fire from a Japanese Zero fighter, pressed his dive well below the standard minimum pull-up altitude. Power's bomb hit Shokaku nearly dead center and caused horrific and nearly fatal damage, starting massive fires and killing over 100 Japanese sailors. Unable to pull up in time, Powers flew through the frag pattern of his own bomb and crashed alongside the Shokaku. Although 15 dive bombers off the USS Lexington (CV-2) would later manage to hit the Shokaku with one more bomb, it was Power's bomb that knocked Shokaku out of action for the rest of the battle, leaving her unable to recover aircraft, and with damage so severe that she was unable to participate in the critical and decisive Battle of Midway one month later, where her presence could have easily turned that battle into a catastrophic defeat for the United States.

By the sacrifice of his life and that of his radioman-gunner (Radioman Second Class Everett Clyde Hill), Powers quite likely prevented the loss of the Yorktown at the Battle of the Coral Sea and changed the outcome of two of the most important battles of World War II. For his valor, Powers was awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously. Hill's parents received his $10,000 G.I. life insurance policy payout.

Heroes

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 

Victoria Woodhull Is Nominated for President of the US (1872)
Woodhull was a prominent US women's rights advocate, suffragist, and owner of a weekly publication known for printing the first English translation of The Communist Manifesto. In May of 1872, she became the first female candidate for president when a group of suffragists formed a political party and nominated her, but because she was a woman many disputed the legality of her candidacy.

Engine #73 of the Tallulah Falls Railroad at the last depot on the line, the Franklin NC Depot. Photo from Frank Ardrey Jr.  The TF ran from Cornelia GA up through Rabun County to Franklin until it was shut down in 1961.



When I was a kid about 6, my mom would drive to her parent's house in Tennessee with part of the route being parallel to these RR tracks.  I remember one trestle that made an impression on me, it's long gone of course.  There was a place overlooking Tallulah Gorge where one could see the RR grade below the road.  I don't recall seeing any trains running.  Some of the stations survived now tourist shops mostly.

My mom preferred going a different route through SC, but I liked this one, it was more scenic, but the roads then were old and curvy and slow.

Either way we had to cross the Smokies, which was fun for me.  Sometimes we'd see bears, usually with people in cars feeding them.

I had not watched "Pacific" until earlier this week.  I had started the book a long while back and the first parts I viewed as not as good as "Band of Bros" (I still don't), but I went back a while later and read it.  It's obviously overlapping with "With the Old Breed" a lot, which is probably the best war memoir I've ever read, it'll make a pacifist out of you, and
HfMP"..  Pacific was pretty depressing, for me, which is warranted.

The old "war movies" can be entertaining, but they really don't play up the horrors and miseries of war for obvious reasons.  May is when my son's unit in Iraq started taking casualties, so I get a lot of FB memorials about now from Marines. 

The Pacific was less fighting(maybe) than the ETO but even more brutal(IMHO). The IJF never signed the terms of The Geneva Convention that even the Wehrmacht had agreed to. What the IJF did to the Chinese just after Doolittle's raid for aiding/abetting American Airmen, alone - slaughtered 1/4 of a million inhabitants.When the IJF pulled back from Manilla on Luzon in the Philippines 100,000 to the blade their goons bayoneted pregnant women.That's just some of it we know.

The Press in the USA kept much of this from the public as many of their sons/brothers suffered the same tormenting fates.Then of course all of viruses,diseases in the steaming hot jungles always humid or raining was rife with infections. With modern societies nowhere around with up to date medical facilities that Europe had though many had been damaged,destroyed. ETO got more press simply because most Americans had relatives living and/or fighting there. Many Chinese and Phillipinos even today detest Japan for the wanton henious disregard for life. Though murder - a slug to the head would be merciful,much like the SS Camps

I remember maybe the old board you had posted pictures of the crew - B24 if i remember right.Great choice for the Pacific. The B-24 design was fairly simple, and the fuel consumption was highly efficient and incredible range many of them served as personnel transports at first, but their capability as effective submarine hunters was quickly recognized closing the atlantic gap that the allies ships could not because of fuel. Operating by the British and Canadians(then the GIs) on the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean, B-24 bombers made significant contributions in the Battle of the Atlantic. Nicknamed "VLR" for "Very Long Range", these converted Liberator bombers were involved with 72 U-boat sinkings.

Angelo Bartelli, Notre Dame QB, finished 2nd for the Heisman in 1941.
He produced 3 points that year.
3 extra point kicks. 
No passing TDs.
No rushing TDs.
1 interception on defense.
.
He threw 10 interceptions at QB.
Ran for 1.4 yards per carry.
.
What in the actual hell?

Maybe nobody else had a better year but the guy who won?

Maybe the ND worship was strong already?

Maybe no one scored more than 3 total points for the SEASON?  Maybe no one had a better TD/INT ratio than 0/10?!?