Word: airstrip
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...Japanese were resourceful warriors. On the island of New Georgia, they cleared palm trees for an airstrip but left the tops suspended on wires. Beneath this camouflage, the field was completed before U.S. reconnaissance photos could detect the ruse. In 1941-42 the Japanese had island-hopping plans of their own. From their major base at Rabaul, just off New Guinea, they moved to Buka and Bougainville-the most northerly of the Solomons. From there, they established bases southward on other islands, including Guadalcanal...
...their intended effect, the Rhodesians reported their mission accomplished after five days at Mapai, and packed up to return home. The joint operations command in Salisbury announced that 32 guerrillas had been killed and only one Rhodesian-a pilot who was shot down after taking off from the airstrip at Mapai. For its part, Mozambique reported that it shot down three Rhodesian planes and a helicopter, and engaged the Rhodesian forces in "heavy fighting." Minister of Combined Operations Roger Hawkins denied such claims, as well as Mozambique's announcement that a number of Rhodesian troops had been taken prisoner...
Considering the size and scope of the operation, there was little evidence of any major gains. Even the cache of weapons displayed from the operation turned out to be unconvincing. TIME Correspondent William McWhirter, who landed at the dusty airstrip at Chiredzi in southeastern Rhodesia, reports: "Spread out on two canvas aprons on the brown grass were two small heaps that looked like the remains from a weapons picnic or the last leftovers from some outdoor arms fair. There were a couple of rocket launchers, several assault rifles and ancient carbines, some mortars with rounds. The sad little arrangements were...
...inferno had occurred on Los Rodeos' single, fog-shrouded airstrip. Two 231-ft.-long Boeing 747 jumbo jets, each weighing some 700,000 Ibs., had collided?incredibly?on the ground. Taking off down a runway visible for less than a sixth of its length, KLM 4805 (the Rhine River) smashed into Pan American 1736 (the Clipper Victor), taxiing toward the same takeoff point. Roaring at full power, the KLM's hot engines (2000° F.) and massive landing gear crunched through the Pan Am's fuselage with such impact and explosive fire that aluminum and steel parts of both planes were...
...Stanley Cloud, Tuesday's primaries ended nine months of almost constant travel with Jimmy Carter. Looking back, he finds that two episodes stand out. There was a night last September when Carter was stranded at a deserted airstrip in rural New Hampshire. The man who was to become his party's nominee waited in the silent dark 30 minutes for someone-anyone-to give him a lift. The other episode also occurred in that crucial early primary. Says Cloud: "A status test for reporters in the Carter campaign is whether or not you were on the 'white...