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35-399: The squadron's first insignia was approved for use by VF-20 during World War II, and was a " Joker " breaking out of a deck of cards carrying a machine gun. This insignia was selected by the squadron because the young and inexperienced pilots in the squadron were referred to as the "Jokers". It was approved by Chief of Naval Operations on 15 March 1944. The next insignia adopted by the squadron

70-406: A character comparable to that which would merit the award of a Silver Star Medal for heroism, or a Legion of Merit for non-combat meritorious service to an individual. Normal performance of duty or participation in many combat missions does not, in itself, justify the award. An award will not be made to a unit for actions of one or more of its component parts, unless the unit performed uniformly as

105-561: A few combat veterans. On 16 April 1944 the squadron departed Naval Air Station Alameda aboard USS  Essex en route to Hawaii for four months of operational training prior to its first combat tour. On 31 August 1944, the squadron's first combat action came as combat strikes were flown from USS  Enterprise  (CV-6) in squadron F6F Hellcats against the Bonin Islands . Strikes followed to Yap and Palau Islands , Peleliu Island, Okinawa , Formosa , Luzon , and Leyte . VF-20

140-660: A fighter capability for the ASW carriers. From May to December 1967, the squadron deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War aboard USS  Intrepid . This was the squadron's first combat action since 1945. Attack Squadron 34 was disestablished on 29 May 1969. The squadron was assigned to these home ports, effective on the dates shown: * During the squadron's Pacific tour from April 1944 to February 1945 it operated from numerous air and shore stations. The squadron first received

175-456: A pack. The Joker's use varies greatly. Many card games omit the cards entirely; as a result, Jokers are sometimes used as informal replacements for lost or damaged cards in a deck by simply noting the lost card's rank and suit on the Joker. Other games, such as a 25‑card variant of Euchre which uses the Joker as the highest trump, make it one of the most important in the game. Often, the Joker

210-628: A squadron F2H-2. His flight took 3 hours and 58 minutes and set a new long distance record for the Banshee. In early 1956, VA-34 accepted its first F7U Cutlass , which it operated until receiving A-4 Skyhawks in March 1957. The squadron was the first Skyhawk squadron to deploy to the Mediterranean. On 4 March 1958 during cross-deck operations, the squadron landed its A4D-1 Skyhawks aboard HMS  Ark Royal . In July 1958, VA-34 flew support missions during

245-519: A team, in a manner justifying collective recognition. U.S. Army , U.S. Air Force , U.S. Space Force , and U.S Coast Guard units are also eligible to be awarded the NUC as long as they are directly attached or assigned to U.S. Navy or Marine Corps units during the time period or event for which the award is given. U.S. Army members of units awarded the NUC wear the Navy Unit Commendation ribbon on

280-567: A variant game called "Euchre with the Joker" in which the blank card ranked above all the rest. While the term "best bower" appears in a satirical 1861 piece about the American Civil War, this may only refer to the Right Bower and not a special card produced for that purpose. Samuel Hart is credited with printing the first illustrated "Best Bower" card in 1863 with his "Imperial Bower". Best Bower-type Jokers continued to be produced well into

315-645: Is a United States Navy and United States Coast Guard unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps commands may recommend any Navy or Marine Corps unit for the NUC that has distinguished itself by outstanding heroism in action against the enemy, but not sufficient to justify the award of the Presidential Unit Citation . A unit must have performed service of

350-469: Is a wild card, which allows it to represent other existing cards. The term "Joker's wild" originates from this practice. However, in Zwicker Jokers are higher value, matching and scoring cards while, in one variant, a normal suit card is the only one that is wild. The Joker can be an extremely good or extremely bad card to have, depending on the game you are playing. In Euchre it is often used to represent

385-458: Is also known as Jucker , the original German spelling of Euchre. One British manufacturer, Charles Goodall , was manufacturing packs with Jokers for the American market in 1871. The first Joker for the domestic British market was sold in 1874. Italians call Jokers "Jolly", for many early cards were labelled "Jolly Joker". The notion of a Joker was later transferred to the game of Poker where it

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420-646: The Jokers embarked on USS  Kwajalein at Ulithi and departed for the United States, arriving there in the latter part of the month. During WWII, eight VF-20 pilots became aces , 12 pilots received the Navy Cross and 22 received the Silver Star . VF-20 was credited with the destruction of over 15 ships and 407 aircraft, not counting the even greater number that were damaged but not destroyed. For their combat efforts

455-565: The Right Bower , the trump Jack, was the "commanding card" with the Left Bower , the Jack of the same colour, as the second-highest card. According to card game historian, David Parlett , the Joker was added to a 32‑card pack in the 1850s specifically for the game of Euchre and is first mentioned in a set of rules in 1868 where the blank specimen card is adapted for use in play. This gave rise to

490-648: The USS ; Philippine Sea . In November 1950, VF-34 transitioned to its first jet aircraft, the F9F Panther . After returning from a cruise aboard USS  Leyte in December 1951, the unit transferred to NAS Cecil Field , Florida. In February 1952, the squadron began initial training in the F2H Banshee In April 1953 the squadron embarked on USS  Antietam with its F2H-2s to conduct evaluation tests on

525-505: The United States during the Civil War , and was created as a trump card for the game of Euchre . It has since been adopted into many other card games , where it often acts as a wild card , but may have other functions such as the top trump, a skip card (forcing another player to miss a turn), the lowest-ranking card, the highest-value card, or a card of a different value from the rest of

560-660: The amphibious landings in Beirut, Lebanon, by U.S. Marines . In June 1959, whilst operating from NAS Mayport , the squadron conducted the first operational firing of the Bullpup air-to-ground missile in the Atlantic Fleet. From 1959 through 1966, the Blue Blasters operated from the decks of USS  Saratoga  (CVA-60) and USS  Essex  (CV-9) . In April 1961, VA-34's A4D-2 Skyhawks operated from USS  Essex in

595-490: The 20th century. Cards labelled "Joker" began appearing around the late 1860s, with some depicting clowns and jesters such as Elizabethan jester Richard Tarlton . The idea behind the three top cards in Euchre appears to have originated from Germany where the games Juckerspiel and Bester Bube ("Best Bower") also used Jacks as best, right and left bowers. It is also believed that the term "Joker" comes from Juckerspiel , which

630-649: The Caribbean Sea during the Bay of Pigs invasion . This operation involved the first use of jet attack aircraft as part of an ASW Air Group, CVSG-60, operating aboard an ASW designated carrier. From 26 October to 8 November 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis , the entire squadron flew aboard USS  Enterprise to augment the assigned air wing. VA-34 flew numerous missions in support of Cuban quarantine, later transferring to USS  Independence until her return to

665-589: The Navy's angled deck . On 26 May 1954 the squadron was aboard USS  Bennington , en route to the Mediterranean Sea, when an explosion aboard ship resulted in the death of 7 squadron personnel. The ship returned to the States and the squadron disembarked. On 31 October 1954 Ensign Duane L. Varner completed a 1,900 mile nonstop, non-refueling, transcontinental flight from Los Alamitos, California, to NAS Cecil Field in

700-532: The United States on 26 November. From 3–21 December 1962 the squadron was aboard USS  Saratoga for carrier refresher training in the Caribbean and continued operations relating to the Cuban Missile Crisis. From December 1963 to February 1964 the squadron provided detachments of A-4C Skyhawks aboard USS  Intrepid and USS  Randolph . The aircraft were used for Combat Air Patrol to provide

735-512: The action. This final action brought his air-to-air kills to 16, making him one of the high ranking aces for the Navy. Only eight other Navy pilots equaled or exceeded this record. From December 1944 to January 1945, VF-20 engaged in another series of combat actions, flying missions against targets on and around Luzon, Formosa, French Indochina (Vietnam), Hong Kong , the South China Sea , and Okinawa. Many of these operations were in support of

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770-508: The card manufacturing industry. Each company produces their own depictions of the card. The publishers of playing cards trademark their Jokers, which have unique artwork that often reflect contemporary culture. Out of convention, Jokers tend to be illustrated as jesters. There are usually two Jokers per deck, often noticeably different. For instance, the United States Playing Card Company (USPCC) prints one as monochrome and

805-512: The command was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation in 1944 and 1945, along with the Navy Unit Citation while aboard Enterprise . In April 1946, the squadron transitioned to the F8F Bearcat . From July to September 1948, in cooperation with Commander Operational Development Force, Atlantic Fleet, the squadron participated in the experimental carrier controlled approach program aboard

840-620: The following aircraft on the dates shown: This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons . Joker (playing card) The Joker is a playing card found in most modern French-suited card decks , as an addition to the standard four suits (Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades). Since the second half of the 20th century, they have also been found in Spanish - and Italian -suited decks, excluding stripped decks . The Joker originated in

875-515: The highest trump. In Gin Rummy it is wild. However, in the children's game of Old Maid , a solitary Joker represents the Old Maid, the card to be avoided. Generally, the Joker is omitted from patience games as in many others of its type. However, there are variations of solitaire games where a Joker does take part, most often as a wild card. Navy Unit Citation The Navy Unit Commendation ( NUC )

910-511: The landings at Lingayen Gulf . As part of Admiral Halsey's Northern Strike Group, VF-20 assisted in sinking one of the world's largest battleships, the Japanese battleship Musashi (sister ship to the Yamato ), and was given credit for partial kills on several Japanese cruisers and destroyers. 22 January 1945 was the last day of combat action for the squadron during World War II. In February 1945

945-461: The other in colour. At times, the Jokers will each be colored to match the colors used for suits ; e.g., there will be a red Joker and a black Joker. In games where the Jokers may need to be compared, the red, full-color, or larger-graphic Joker usually outranks the black, monochrome, or smaller-graphic one. If the Joker colors are similar, the Joker without a guarantee will outrank the guaranteed one. With

980-403: The pack (see e.g. Zwicker which has six Jokers with this function). By contrast, a wild card is any card that may be used to represent another card or cards – it does not need be a Joker. The game of Euchre is credited with the introduction of the Joker into card games. However, Euchre originally did not use Jokers. In the earliest rules of 1844, 32 standard cards are used and

1015-436: The red and black Jokers, the red one can alternately be counted as a Heart/Diamond and the black one can alternately be counted as a Club/Spade. The Unicode for playing cards provide symbols for three Jokers: red, black, and white. Many decks do not provide the Joker with a corner index symbol; of those that do, the most common is a solid star (as is the case with Bee cards). It is also common for decks to simply display

1050-437: The squadron's disestablishment in 1969. In 1957 the squadron adopted the Blue Blasters nickname, taking inspiration from their blue tail colors and their nuclear weapon delivery capability; hence the name "Blue Blasters." VF-20 "Jokers" was established on 15 October 1943 as part of Air Group 20 stationed at Naval Air Station San Diego , California . The squadron was composed of numerous newly winged Naval Aviators along with

1085-500: The word "JOKER" in the corner. Bicycle cards use a "US" monogram as the Joker index. Joker collecting has been popular for an unknown amount of time, but with the advent of the Internet and social media, it has emerged as a hobby. Many unusual Jokers are available for purchase online, while other collectible Jokers are catalogued online for viewing. Guinness World Records has recognized Denoto de Santis, an Italian magician, as having

VA-34 (1943–1969) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-651: The world's largest collection of Jokers. The Joker is often compared to " (the) Fool " in the Tarot or Tarock decks. They share many similarities both in appearance and in play function. In central Europe, the Fool, or Sküs , is the highest trump; elsewhere as an "excuse" ( L'Excuse ) that can be played at any time to avoid following suit , but cannot win. In a standard deck in the US or Britain, there are usually two Jokers. In other countries, such as Germany, there are usually three Jokers in

1155-656: Was heavily involved in the initial invasion operations in the Philippines, including the epic Battle of Leyte Gulf from 24–25 October 1944. VF-20 aircraft struck elements of all three Japanese Task Forces which were converging on Leyte Gulf. On 11 December 1944, VF-20 cross-decked to the USS  Lexington On 14 December 1944, Lieutenant (junior grade) Douglas Baker was on a strike mission against Clark Field on Luzon when he encountered Japanese fighter opposition. During this engagement he destroyed four Japanese aircraft before being shot down by antiaircraft fire and lost in

1190-721: Was initially called the Mistigris. This happened around 1875, where it functioned as a wild card . Packs with two Jokers started to become the norm during the late 1940s for the game of Canasta . Since the 1950s, German and Austrian packs have included three Jokers to play German Rummy . In Poland, the third Joker is known as the blue Joker because the KZWP monopoly during the Polish People's Republic printed all third Jokers blue. In Schleswig-Holstein , Zwicker packs come with six Jokers. Jokers do not have any standardized appearance across

1225-404: Was the outline of a human skull, approved by CNO on 1 February 1946. Superimposed on the nose of a skull was a human skeleton with the arms holding paddles that became the eyes of the skull, while the teeth were represented by the word “Fighting 20.” On 10 June 1949, CNO approved another modification to the squadron insignia which embellished the skull design. This insignia was in use from 1949 until

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