SANDY KOZEL
Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973)
Johnson served as the 36th president of the United States
from 1963 to 1969.
He holds the distinction of being one of the few presidents
who served in all elected offices at the federal level.
At 2:10 p.m., five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers comprising
Flight 19 took off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida
on a routine three-hour training mission. Flight 19 was scheduled to
take them due east for 120 miles, north for 73 miles, and then back
over a final 120-mile leg that would return them to the naval base.
They never returned.
Two hours after the flight began, the leader of the squadron, who
had been flying in the area for more than six months, reported that
his compass and back-up compass had failed and that his position
was unknown. The other planes experienced similar instrument malfunctions. Radio facilities on land were contacted to find the
location of the lost squadron, but none were successful. After two
more hours of confused messages from the fliers, a distorted radio transmission from the squadron leader was heard at 6:20 p.m., apparently calling for his men to prepare to ditch their aircraft simultaneously because of lack of fuel.
MIKE GRACIA
On this day, Pvt. Eddie Slovik became the first American
soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion
and the only one who suffered such a fate during World
War II.
ROSS SIMPSON
Soldiers run for cover during crossfire between pro-Ceaucescu
troops and anti-regime supporters near the Republican square in Bucharest.
Romanian demonstrators sit on top of a tank as it passes in
front of a burning building, December 22, 1989.
