May 12, 1998
As food and fuel become increasingly hard to come by legitimately, Grunge McLeod, a biker in Butler, Pennsylvania and several of his associates in the Blackhawk Bike Club turn to crime for survival.
Unofficially,
Fighting continues in Mexico City between various armed groups; it is unclear who is in charge.
The Pact offensive in southern Germany rolls on, with the appearance on the battlefield of the Hungarian 1st Corps and Czechoslovakian 1st Army opposite British troops south of Nuremberg and in the former US Army training center at Grafenwohr, respectively. Rumors swirl that additional Soviet and Italian troops are moving through the rear area in Austria and occupied Bavaria.
The assessment team sent to the Sonico hydroelectric plant, located under the Gavia pass in northern Italy, completes its evaluation. The plant's subterranean control center and generator hall are intact and operable, but 1000 liters of fuel are needed to run diesel generators to restore operation before enough electrical power is delivered for self-sufficiency. Transmission lines from the plant appear intact for several kilometers down the mountains from the plant.
US Navy Seebees of the 58th Naval Construction Battalion and repair, salvage and maintenance sailors assigned to 5th Fleet begin an effort to transform the damaged guided missile frigate Samuel Eliot Morison into a stationary defense platform for Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf. 5th Fleet experts have determined that the ship, damaged by a Soviet missile in 1997, cannot be repaired in the region and that there is no reasonable expectation that it can be towed home for repair. Therefore, employment of the ship's weapon systems (chiefly its Mk-13 missile launcher with SM-1MR surface to air missiles and 76mm multi-use gun) to defend the oil processing facilities and adjacent port while the frigate's generators support critical infrastructure ashore (chiefly the pumping stations that keep a steady flow of crude oil going) are the best use for the vessel.
__________________
I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory. Someday this war's gonna end...
|