This Date in Military History:

[SHOOTER13]

1969 – The opening rally of the Days of Rage, a planned series of direct action events, organized by the Weather Underground in Chicago begins. Such direct actions included vandalizing homes, businesses, and automobiles as well as assaulting police officers, in this days events the target was the Drake Hotel, home of Julius Hoffman, the judge in the Chicago 8 trial. Dozens were injured, and more than 280 members of the Weather Underground were arrested. Despite efforts to recruit youth and promote involvement, participation in the “Days of Rage” demonstrations was not as broadly based as advertised, or as participants had hoped. About 800 Weatherman members showed up prior to October 8 and faced 2000 police officers. No more than 300 were left willing to face the enormous gathering of police a second time around on the evening of Wednesday, October 8, 1969, in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, and perhaps half of them were members of Weatherman collectives from around the country. The crowd milled about for several hours, cold and uncertain. Tom Hayden gave a short speech, telling the protesters not to believe press reports that the Chicago 7 disagreed with their action. Abbie Hoffman and John Froines, other members of the Chicago 8, also came but decided not to speak and quickly left. At 10:25 p.m., Jones gave the pre-arranged signal over a bullhorn, and the Weatherman action began. John Jacobs, Jeff Jones, David Gilbert and others led a charge south through the city toward the Drake Hotel and the exceptionally affluent Gold Coast neighborhood, smashing windows in automobiles and buildings as they went. The protesters attacked “ordinary cars, a barber shop…and the windows of lower-middle-class homes” as well as police cars and luxury businesses. The mass of the crowd ran about four blocks before encountering police barricades. The protesters charged the police breaking into small groups, and more than 1,000 police counter-attacked. The Washington DC contingent of Weathermen successfully reached the hotel’s front drive. Before any attempt to gain entrance to the hotel could be made, an unmarked car pulled up to the curb and began firing revolvers into the group of about fifteen unarmed protesters. Although many protesters had motorcycle or football helmets on, the police were better trained and armed. After only a half-hour or so, the riot was over: 28 policemen were injured (none seriously), six Weathermen were shot and an unknown number injured, and 68 protesters were arrested. Jacobs was arrested almost immediately.

1970 – In Paris, a Communist delegation rejects US President Richard Nixon’s October 7 Vietnam peace proposal as “a maneuver to deceive world opinion”.

1981 – An explosive device at the Univ. of Utah was defused. It was later attributed to the Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski.

1985 – The hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro killed American passenger Leon Klinghoffer, dumping his body and wheelchair overboard. A case was filed against the PLO and settled in 1997. The hijackers surrendered to Egyptian authorities and were turned over to Italy which let Abbas slip out of the country. Four heavily armed Palestinian terrorists in October hijack the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, carrying more than 400 passengers and crew, off Egypt. The hijackers demand that Israel free 50 Palestinian prisoners. The terrorists kill a disabled American tourist, 69-year-old Leon Klinghoffer, and throw his body overboard with his wheelchair. After a two-day drama, the hijackers surrender in exchange for a pledge of safe passage. But when an Egyptian jet tries to fly the hijackers to freedom, U.S. Navy F-14 fighters intercept it and force it to land in Sicily. The terrorists are taken into custody by Italian authorities. Counter- terrorist units from the U.S responded, including elements of Delta Force and SEAL Team Six, however the situation was resolved before an assault became necessary.

1987 – U.S. helicopter gunships in the Persian Gulf sank three Iranian patrol boats after an American observation helicopter was fired on. (Two of six Iranian crewmen taken from the water later died.)

1991 – Former assistant secretary of state Elliott Abrams pleaded guilty to withholding information from Congress in the Iran -Contra scandal.

1992 – Iraqi police seized at gunpoint American bomb disposal expert Chad Hall, who was working in a disputed and ill -defined border area between Iraq and Kuwait. He was released two days later.

1993 – Army policy directive authorizes wartime awards (only for actions since June 5th, 1993) and Combat Infantryman Badges and Medical Badges for participants in Somalia fighting. AC130 Spectre gunships come back to Mogadishu and shell the city.

1994 – President Clinton, responding to the massing of Iraqi troops near the Kuwaiti border, warned Saddam Husein not to misjudge “American will or American power” as he ordered additional U.S. forces to the region.

1998 – Iran border troops claimed a victory and said it inflicted heavy casualties over Taliban militia. The Taliban denied any fighting.

1999 – Pres. Clinton asked the US Senate to postpone a vote on the global nuclear test ban treaty due to insufficient votes for passage.

1999 – It was reported that the US Congress had approved $1 billion over 20 years for 7 luxury aircraft for the Pentagon’s top commanders.

2000 – Chechen rebels crossed into Ingushetia and attacked a police patrol. 2 officers were killed and 3 wounded.

2001 – President Bush establishes the Office of Homeland Security in the Executive Office of the President and appoints Pennsylvania Governor, and Gulf War General, Tom Ridge as Director.

2001 – US forces hit Afghanistan with a 2nd wave of attacks. 40 Taliban commanders along with 1,200 men switched sides and handed over control of a provincial road north of Kabul. 4 UN civilian workers were later confirmed as casualties of the bombing; Abdul Saboor, Safiullah, Najibullah and Nasir Ahmad worked for a mine clearing agency. The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan reported 200 civilian casualties.

2001 – A 2nd case of anthrax was reported in Ernesto Blanco (73), a co-worker of the man who died Oct 5 in Florida.

2001 – In Bogota, Colombia, Luis Alfredo Colmenares, a Representative from Arauca, was assassinated by gunmen on a motorcycle.

2001 – A Palestinian rally turned violent as police forces attempted to quell some 2,000 students supportive of Osama bin Laden. 2 students were killed.

2002 – Two Kuwaitis opened fire on U.S. troops on a military exercise on a Kuwait’s Failaka Island in the Persian Gulf, fatally wounding a Marine in what the Interior Ministry called a “terrorist” attack.

2002 – In Colombia heavily armed police in tanks and on foot raided one of Medellin’s most dangerous neighborhoods in an effort to regain control from leftist rebels and their rivals, the right -wing paramilitaries.

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[SHOOTER13]

2002 – In Indian Kashmir suspected Muslim separatist militants disguised as policemen stormed a polling station, gunning down two soldiers, as turbulent state elections ended. A 44% turnout ousted the pro -Indian national Conference.

2003 – In Colombia a car bomb exploded in a black -market shopping district in downtown Bogota, killing at least six people and wounding 12.

2003 – Vietnam and the United States tentatively agreed to allow the first commercial flights between the two countries since the end of the Vietnam War.

2004 – In Iraq kidnappers displayed a video of the beheading of British hostage Kenneth Bigley (62) following an unsuccessful escape attempt.

2004 – American warplanes struck a building where the U.S. command said leaders of al-Zarqawi’s network were meeting. Residents said the house was full of people who had gathered for a wedding. The attack killed 13 people, including the groom.

2010 – Two Russian cosmonauts, Aleksandr Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka, and American astronaut Scott Kelly leave on mission Soyuz TMA-01M for the International Space Station from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome.

2014 – The first person who was diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man, dies in Dallas, Texas.


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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

DURHAM, JOHN S.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 1st Wisconsin Infantry. Place and date: At Perryville, Ky., 8 October 1862. Entered service at: Malone, St. Croix County, Wis. Born: 1843, New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 20 November 1896. Citation: Seized the flag of his regiment when the color sergeant was shot and advanced with the flag midway between the lines, amid a shower of shot, shell, and bullets, until stopped by his commanding officer.

SURLES, WILLIAM H.
Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 2d Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Perryville, Ky., 8 October 1862. Entered service at: Steubenville, Ohio. Born: 24 February 1845, Steubenville, Ohio. Date of issue: 19 August 1891. Citation: In the hottest part of the fire he stepped in front of his colonel to shield him from the enemy’s fire.

ANDERSON, JOHANNES S.
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 132d Infantry, 33d Division. Place and date: At Consenvoye, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Birth: Finland. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: While his company was being held up by intense artillery and machinegun fire, 1st Sgt. Anderson, without aid, voluntarily left the company and worked his way to the rear of the nest that was offering the most stubborn resistance. His advance was made through an open area and under constant hostile fire, but the mission was successfully accomplished, and he not only silenced the gun and captured it, but also brought back with him 23 prisoners.

*COSTIN, HENRY G.
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company H, 115th Infantry, 29th Division. Place and date: Near Bois -de -Consenvoye, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Baltimore, Md. Birth: Baltimore, Md. G.O. No.: 34, W.D., 1919. Citation: When the advance of his platoon had been held up by machinegun fire and a request was made for an automatic rifle team to charge the nest, Pvt. Costin was the first to volunteer. Advancing with his team, under terrific fire of enemy artillery, machineguns, and trench mortars, he continued after all his comrades had become casualties and he himself had been seriously wounded. He operated his rifle until he collapsed. His act resulted in the capture of about 100 prisoners and several machineguns. He succumbed from the effects of his wounds shortly after the accomplishment of his heroic deed.

DOZIER, JAMES C .
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company G, 118th Infantry, 30th Division. Place and date: Near Montbrehain, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Rock Hill, S.C. Born: 17 February 1885, Galivants Ferry, N.C. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: In command of 2 platoons, 1st. Lt. Dozier was painfully wounded in the shoulder early in the attack, but he continued to lead his men displaying the highest bravery and skill. When his command was held up by heavy machinegun fire, he disposed his men in the best cover available and with a soldier continued forward to attack a machinegun nest. Creeping up to the position in the face of intense fire, he killed the entire crew with handgrenades and his pistol and a little later captured a number of Germans who had taken refuge in a dugout nearby.

FOSTER, GARY EVANS
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company F, 118th Infantry, 30th Division. Place and date: Near Montbrehain, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Inman, S.C. Birth: Spartanburg, S.C. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: When his company was held up by violent machinegun fire from a sunken road, Sgt. Foster with an officer went forward to attack the hostile machinegun nests. The officer was wounded, but Sgt. Foster continued on alone in the face of the heavy fire and by effective use of handgrenades and his pistol killed several of the enemy and captured 18.

GREGORY, EARL D.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Headquarters Company, 116th Infantry, 29th Division. Place and date: At Bois -de -Consenvoye, north of Verdun, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Chase City, Va. Birth: Chase City, Va. G.O. No.: 34, W.D., 1919. Citation: With the remark “I will get them,” Sgt. Gregory seized a rifle and a trench -mortar shell, which he used as a handgrenade, left his detachment of the trench -mortar platoon, and advancing ahead of the infantry, captured a machinegun and 3 of the enemy. Advancing still farther from the machinegun nest, he captured a 7.5 -centimeter mountain howitzer and, entering a dugout in the immediate vicinity, single -handedly captured 19 of the enemy.

*HALL, THOMAS LEE
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company G, 118th Infantry, 30th Division. Place and date. Near Montbrehain, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Fort Mill, S.C. Birth: Fort Mill, S.C., G.O. No.: 50, W.D., 1919. Citation: Having overcome 2 machinegun nests under his skillful leadership, Sgt. Hall’s platoon was stopped 800 yards from its final objective by machinegun fire of particular intensity. Ordering his men to take cover in a sunken road, he advanced alone on the enemy machinegun post and killed 5 members of the crew with his bayonet and thereby made possible the further advance of the line. While attacking another machinegun nest later in the day this gallant soldier was mortally wounded.

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[SHOOTER13]

HOLDERMAN, NELSON M.
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, 307th Infantry, 77th Division. Place and date: Northeast of Binarville, in the forest of Argonne, France, 2 -8 October 1918. Entered service at: Santa Ana, Calif. Birth: Trumbell, Nebr. G.O. No.: 11, W.D., 1921. Citation: Capt. Holderman commanded a company of a battalion which was cut off and surrounded by the enemy. He was wounded on 4, 5, and 7 October, but throughout the entire period, suffering great pain and subjected to fire of every character, he continued personally to lead and encourage the officers and men under his command with unflinching courage and with distinguished success. On 6 October, in a wounded condition, he rushed through enemy machinegun and shell fire and carried 2 wounded men to a place of safety.

KARNES, JAMES E.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company D, 117th Infantry, 30th Division. Place and date: Near Estrees, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Knoxville, Tenn. Born: 1889, Arlington, Tenn. G.O. No.: 50, W.D., 1919. Citation: During an advance, his company was held up by a machinegun, which was enfilading the line. Accompanied by another soldier, he advanced against this position and succeeded in reducing the nest by killing 3 and capturing 7 of the enemy and their guns.

McMURTRY, GEORGE G.
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, 308th Infantry, 77th Division. Place and date: At Charlevaux, in the forest of Argonne, France, 2 -8 October 1918. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Born: 6 November 1876, Pittsburgh, Pa. G.O. No.: 118, W.D., 1918. Citation: Commanded a battalion which was cut off and surrounded by the enemy and although wounded in the knee by shrapnel on 4 October and suffering great pain, he continued throughout the entire period to encourage his officers and men with a resistless optimism that contributed largely toward preventing panic and disorder among the troops, who were without food, cut off from communication with our lines. On 4 October during a heavy barrage, he personally directed and supervised the moving of the wounded to shelter before himself seeking shelter. On 6 October he was again wounded in the shoulder by a German grenade, but continued personally to organize and direct the defense against the German attack on the position until the attack was defeated. He continued to direct and command his troops, refusing relief, and personally led his men out of the position after assistance arrived before permitting himself to be taken to the hospital on 8 October. During this period the successful defense of the position was due largely to his efforts.

REGAN, PATRICK
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 115th Infantry, 29th Division. Pace and date: Bois -de -Consenvoye, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Los Angeles, Calif. Birth: Middleboro, Mass. G.O. No.: 50, W.D., 1919. Citation: While leading his platoon against a strong enemy machinegun nest which had held up the advance of 2 companies, 2d Lt. Regan divided his men into 3 groups, sending 1 group to either flank, and he himself attacking with an automatic rifle team from the front. Two of the team were killed outright, while 2d Lt. Regan and the third man were seriously wounded, the latter unable to advance. Although severely wounded, 2d Lt. Regan dashed with empty pistol into the machinegun nest, capturing 30 Austrian gunners and 4 machineguns. This gallant deed permitted the companies to advance, avoiding a terrific enemy fire. Despite his wounds, he continued to lead his platoon forward until ordered to the rear by his commanding officer.

SAMPLER, SAMUEL M.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company H, 142d Infantry, 36th Division. Place and date: Near St. Etienne, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Altus, Okla. Birth: Decatur, Tex. G.O. No.: 59, W.D., 1919. Citation: His company having suffered severe casualties during an advance under machinegun fire, was finally stopped. Cpl. Sampler detected the position of the enemy machineguns on an elevation. Armed with German handgrenades, which he had picked up, he left the line and rushed forward in the face of heavy fire until he was near the hostile nest, where he grenaded the position. His third grenade landed among the enemy, killing 2, silencing the machineguns, and causing the surrender of 28 Germans, whom he sent to the rear as prisoners. As a result of his act the company was immediately enabled to resume the advance.

SLACK, CLAYTON K.
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company D, 124th Machine Gun Battalion, 33d Division. Place and date: Near Consenvoye, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Madison, Wis. Born: 23 February 1896, Plover, Wis. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: Observing German soldiers under cover 50 yards away on the left flank, Pvt. Slack, upon his own initiative, rushed them with his rifle and, single -handed, captured 10 prisoners and 2 heavy -type machineguns, thus saving his company and neighboring organizations from heavy casualties.

*TALBOT, RALPH
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 6 January 1897, South Weymouth, Mass. Appointed from: Connecticut. Citation: For exceptionally meritorious service and extraordinary heroism while attached to Squadron C, 1st Marine Aviation Force, in France. 2d Lt. Talbot participated in numerous air raids into enemy territory. On 8 October 1918, while on such a raid, he was attacked by 9 enemy scouts, and in the fight that followed shot down an enemy plane. Also, on 14 October 1918, while on a raid over Pittham, Belgium, 2d Lt. Talbot and another plane became detached from the formation on account of motor trouble and were attacked by 12 enemy scouts. During the severe fight that followed, his plane shot down 1 of the enemy scouts. His observer was shot through the elbow and his gun jammed. 2d Lt. Talbot maneuvered to gain time for his observer to clear the jam with one hand, and then returned to the fight. The observer fought until shot twice, once in the stomach and once in the hip and then collapsed, 2d Lt. Talbot attacked the nearest enemy scout with his front guns and shot him down. With his observer unconscious and his motor failing, he dived to escape the balance of the enemy and crossed the German trenches at an altitude of 50 feet, landing at the nearest hospital to leave his observer, and then returning to his aerodrome.

BROWN, BOBBIE E.
Rank and organization: Captain, U S. Army, Company C, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Place and date: Crucifix Hill, Aachen, Germany, 8 October 1944. Entered service at: Atlanta, Ga. Born: 2 September 1903, Dublin, Ga. G.O. No.: 74, 1 September 1945. Citation: He commanded Company C, 18th Infantry Regiment, on 8 October 1944, when it, with the Ranger Platoon of the 1st Battalion, attacked Crucifix Hill, a key point in the enemy’s defense of Aachen, Germany. As the leading rifle platoon assaulted the first of many pillboxes studding the rising ground, heavy fire from a flanking emplacement raked it. An intense artillery barrage fell on the American troops which had been pinned down in an exposed position. Seeing that the pillboxes must be neutralized to prevent the slaughter of his men, Capt. Brown obtained a pole charge and started forward alone toward the first pillbox, about 100 yards away. Hugging the ground while enemy bullets whipped around him, he crawled and then ran toward the aperture of the fortification, rammed his explosive inside and jumped back as the pillbox and its occupants were blown up. He rejoined the assault platoon, secured another pole charge, and led the way toward the next pillbox under continuous artillery mortar, automatic, and small -arms fire. He again ran forward and placed his charge in the enemy fortification, knocking it out. He then found that fire from a third pillbox was pinning down his company; so he returned to his men, secured another charge, and began to creep and crawl toward the hostile emplacement.

With heroic bravery he disregarded opposing fire and worked ahead in the face of bullets streaming from the pillbox. Finally reaching his objective, he stood up and inserted his explosive, silencing the enemy. He was wounded by a mortar shell but refused medical attention and, despite heavy hostile fire, moved swiftly among his troops exhorting and instructing them in subduing powerful opposition. Later, realizing the need for information of enemy activity beyond the hill, Capt. Brown went out alone to reconnoiter. He observed possible routes of enemy approach and several times deliberately drew enemy fire to locate gun emplacements. Twice more, on this self -imposed mission, he was wounded; but he succeeded in securing information which led to the destruction of several enemy guns and enabled his company to throw back 2 powerful counterattacks with heavy losses. Only when Company C’s position was completely secure did he permit treatment of his 3 wounds. By his indomitable courage, fearless leadership, and outstanding skill as a soldier, Capt. Brown contributed in great measure to the taking of Crucifix Hill, a vital link in the American line encircling Aachen.

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[SHOOTER13]

9 October

1635 – Founder of Rhode Island Roger Williams is banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a religious dissident after he speaks out against punishments for religious offenses and giving away Native American land.

1767 – Surveying for the Mason–Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania is completed.

1781 – The bombardment of the British forces at Yorktown begins. Among the American guns there were three twenty-four pounders, three eighteen pounders, two eight-inch (203 mm) howitzers and six mortars. At 3:00 pm, the French guns opened the barrage and drove the British frigate, HMS Guadeloupe across the York River, where she was scuttled to prevent capture. At 5:00 pm the Americans opened fire. George Washington fired the first gun; legend has it that it smashed into a table where British officers were eating. The Franco-American guns began to tear apart the British defenses. Washington ordered that the guns fire all night so that the British could not make repairs. All of the British guns on the left were soon silenced. The British soldiers began to pitch their tents in their trenches and soldiers began to desert in large numbers. Some British ships were also damaged by cannonballs that flew across the town into the harbor.

1812 – American Lieutenant Jesse Duncan Elliot captured two British brigs, the Detroit and Caledonia on Lake Erie in the War of 1812. Elliot set the brig Detroit ablaze the next day in retaliation for the British capture seven weeks earlier of the city of Detroit.

1814 – USS Wasp vanished at sea. On this date, she informed the Swedish brig Adonis that she was “standing for the Spanish Main.” She was never seen again, and all hands were lost.”

1822 – George Sykes (d.1880), Major General (Union volunteers), was born.

1852 – The Lighthouse Board, which administered the lighthouse system until 1 July 1910, was organized. “This Board was composed of two officers of the Navy, two officers of the Engineer Corps, and two civilians of high scientific attainments whose services were at the disposal of the President, and an officer of the Navy and of the, Engineers as secretaries. It was empowered under the Secretary of the Treasury to “discharge all the administrative duties” relative to lighthouses and other aids to navigation. The Secretary of the Treasury was president of the Board, and it was authorized to elect a chairman and to divide the coast of the United States into twelve lighthouse districts, to each of which the President was to assign an army or navy officer as lighthouse inspector.”

1858 – The Secretary of the Treasury appointed a 3 man Board of U.S. Revenue Marine officers to consider a lifeboat design best adapted for life -saving work.

1861 – Battle of Santa Rosa Island, Union troops repel a Confederate attempt to capture Fort Pickens, FL.

1863 – Confederate cavalry raiders returned to Chattanooga having attacked Union General William Rosecrans’ supply and communication lines all around east Tennessee.

1864 – At the Battle of Tom’s Brook the Confederate cavalry that harassed Sheridan’s campaign was wiped by Custer and Merrit’s cavalry divisions. After his victory at Fisher’s Hill, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan pursued Early’s army up the Shenandoah Valley to near Staunton. On October 6, Sheridan began withdrawing, as his cavalry burned everything that could be deemed of military significance, including barns and mills. Reinforced by Kershaw’s division, Early followed. Maj. Gen. Thomas Rosser arrived from Petersburg to take command of Fitz Lee’s cavalry division and harassed the retreating Federals. On October 9, Torbert’s troopers turned on their pursuers, routing the divisions of Rosser and Lomax at Tom’s Brook. With this victory, the Union cavalry attained overwhelming superiority in the Valley.

1867 – The Russians formally transferred Alaska to the US. The U.S. had bought Alaska for $7.2 million in gold.

1873 – LT Charles Belknap calls a meeting at the Naval Academy to establish the U.S. Naval Institute for the purpose of disseminating scientific and professional knowledge throughout the Navy.

1888 – The Washington Monument officially opens to the general public.

1906 – Joseph F. Glidden, inventor (barbed wire), died.

1907 – Las Cruces, New Mexico is incorporated. Las Cruces, also known as “The City of the Crosses”, is the county seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico. Las Cruces is the economic and geographic center of the fertile Mesilla Valley, which is the agricultural region on the flood plain of the Rio Grande which extends from Hatch, New Mexico to the west side of El Paso, Texas. Las Cruces is also the home of New Mexico State University (NMSU), New Mexico’s only land grant university. The city’s major employer is the federal government on nearby White Sands Test Facility and White Sands Missile Range.

1917 – The 8th Marines was activated at Quantico, Virginia. Although the regiment would not see combat in Europe during World War I, the officers and enlisted men of the 8th Marines participated in operations against dissidents in Haiti for over five years during the 1920s. During World War II, the regiment was assigned to the 2d Marine Division and participated in combat operations on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa, and earned three Presidential Unit Citations.

1936 – Generators at Boulder Dam (later renamed to Hoover Dam) begin to generate electricity from the Colorado River and transmit it 266 miles to Los Angeles.

1941 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt requested congressional approval for arming U.S. merchant ships.

1942 – First three schools for enlisted WAVES open at Stillwater, OK (Yeoman), Bloomington, IN (Storekeepers), and Madison, WI (Radiomen).

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[SHOOTER13]

1945 – Anti -submarine Patrol Craft USS PC -590 (Coast Guard -manned) grounded and sank in typhoon off Okinawa.

1945 – Parade in New York City honors FADM Chester W. Nimitz and 13 other Navy and Marine Corps Medal of Honor winners.

1950 – Major Eighth Army units assembled along the 38th parallel. Tenth Corps’ 1st Marine Division began embarkation at Inchon for sea movement to Wonsan on the East Coast. The 1st Cavalry Division crossed the 38th parallel north of Kaesong and attacked northward toward Pyongyang.

1952 – Vice Admiral Joseph J. “Jocko” Clark, the last commander of the Navy’s 7th Fleet during the Korean War and a Cherokee descendent, became famous for his self -proclaimed “Cherokee Strikes.”

1969 – In Chicago, the United States National Guard is called in for crowd control as demonstrations continue in connection with the trial of the “Chicago Eight” that began on September 24th.

1985 – The hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise liner surrendered after the ship arrived in Port Said, Egypt.

1990 – Saddam Hussein of Iraq threatened to hit Israel with a new missile.

1992 – To protect the US food airlift, the first American forces arrived in Somalia.

1992 – The U.N. Security Council voted to ban all military flights over Bosnia -Herzegovina.

1993 – Cease -Fire. Aidid unilaterally declares a “total cease fire.” Clinton bars retaliation against Aidid.

1994 – The United States sent troops and warships to the Persian Gulf after Saddam Hussein sent tens of thousands of elite troops and hundreds of tanks toward the Kuwaiti border.

1995 – Saboteurs pulled 29 spikes from a stretch of railroad track, causing an Amtrak train to derail in Arizona; one person was killed and about 100 were injured.

1998 – US diplomats met twice with Yugoslav Pres. Milosevic to resolve the crises in Kosovo and avert a NATO attack.

1999 – The last flight of the SR-71. The Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by Lockheed and its Skunk Works division. Clarence “Kelly” Johnson was responsible for many of the design’s innovative concepts. During reconnaissance missions, the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes to allow it to outrace threats. If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outfly the missile. The SR-71 served with the U.S. Air Force from 1964 to 1998. A total of 32 aircraft were built; 12 were lost in accidents, but none lost to enemy action. The SR-71 has been given several nicknames, including Blackbird and Habu. Since 1976, it has held the world record for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, a record previously held by the YF-12. All Blackbirds have been moved to museums except for the two SR-71s and a few D-21 drones retained by the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.

2000 – In Chechnya 3 Russian soldiers were shot to death in Urus -Martan.

2001 – The US declared air supremacy over Afghanistan. In the first daylight raids since the start of U.S. -led attacks on Afghanistan, jets bombed the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.

2001 – The 2 anthrax cases in Florida were reported to probably have been caused by an intentional release of the deadly bacteria.

2001 – Qatar’s Al -Jazeera broadcast a taped video of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, an al Qaeda spokesman, who called on Muslims to attack US interests worldwide.

2002 – The space shuttle “Atlantis” arrived at the international space station, bringing with it a 14 ton girder.

2002 – Newly -declassified Pentagon reports acknowledge that the United States used deadly chemical and biological warfare agents during Cold War military tests on American soil and in Britain and Canada from 1962 -1971.

2002 – Dean Meyers (53) was shot to death in Manassas, Va., in a shooting that appeared to be linked to 6 previous sniper attacks in the area.

2003 – Scientists in Nature reported that certain types of Navy sonar use was responsible for whale deaths due to beaching.

2003 – Rival warlords in northern Afghanistan said that they had reached a truce after fighting killed dozens of people.

2003 – A suicide car bomber crashed a white Oldsmobile into a police station in Sadr City, Iraq’s largest Shiite Muslim enclave, killing himself, 9 others and wounding as many as 45.

2003 – In Iraq Kirk von Ackerman (37), US army contractor, disappeared between Tikrit and Kirkuk.

2003 – Russia’s defense minister assured NATO that Moscow is not adopting a more aggressive nuclear stance and remains committed to cooperation with the Western alliance.

2004 – Afghanistan’s first direct presidential election was thrust into turmoil hours after it started when all 15 candidates challenging interim leader Hamid Karzai alleged fraud over the ink meant to ensure people voted only once and vowed to boycott the results.

2004 – An exit poll conducted by an American non-profit group found that interim Afghan president Hamid Karzai won the first-ever presidential election with the outright majority needed to avoid a second round.

2004 – US forces in Afghanistan fought militants on the ground and aircraft bombed them in a clash that left 25 rebels dead before the nation’s landmark elections.

2004 – Followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said they will begin handing weapons over to Iraqi police next week.

2006 – North Korea allegedly tests its first nuclear device.

2007 – The United States Supreme Court dismisses the case of the German citizen Khalid El-Masri who accuses the CIA of abducting him to a secret prison in Afghanistan where he claims he was tortured. The US government had argued that a public trial would reveal state secrets.

2009 – First lunar impact of the Centaur and LCROSS spacecrafts as part of NASA’s Lunar Precursor Robotic Program. An unmanned Atlas V rocket launched the two space probes towards the Moon, where they provided a 3-D map and searched for water in conjunction with the Hubble Space Telescope.

2010 – Linda Norgrove, a Scottish aid worker who, with three Afghan colleagues had been kidnapped by the Taliban, is killed accidentally during a failed rescue attempt by the United States in Afghanistan.

2013 – The United States government suspends military and cash aid to Egypt worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

2013 – Juno flies by Earth on its way to orbit Jupiter, but suffers a glitch during the fly-by that puts it in safe mode. Juno is a NASA New Frontiers mission to the planet Jupiter. Juno was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 5, 2011 and will arrive in July 2016. The spacecraft is to be placed in a polar orbit to study Jupiter’s composition, gravity field, magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere. Juno will also search for clues about how the planet formed, including whether it has a rocky core, the amount of water present within the deep atmosphere, how its mass is distributed, and its deep winds, which can reach speeds of 618 kilometers per hour (384 mph).

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

HANFORD, EDWARD R.
Rank and organization: Private, Company H, 2d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Woodstock, Va., 9 October 1864. Entered service at: – – – – – -. Birth: Allegany County, N.Y. Date of issue: 14 October 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 32d Battalion Virginia Cavalry (C.S.A.).

*COLYER, WILBUR E.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 1st Engineers, 1st Division. Place and date: Near Verdun, France, 9 October 1918. Entered service at: South Ozone, Long Island, N.Y. Birth: Brooklyn, N.Y. G.O. No.: 20, W.D., 1919. Citation: Volunteering with 2 other soldiers to locate machinegun nests, Sgt. Colyer advanced on the hostile positions to a point where he was half surrounded by the nests, which were in ambush. He killed the gunner of one gun with a captured German grenade and then turned this gun on the other nests silencing all of them before he returned to his platoon. He was later killed in action.

LOMAN, BERGER
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company H, 132d Infantry, 33d Division. Place and date: Near Consenvoye, France, 9 October 1918. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born. 24 August 1886, Bergen, Norway. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: When his company had reached a point within 100 yards of its objective, to which it was advancing under terrific machinegun fire, Pvt. Loman voluntarily and unaided made his way forward after all others had taken shelter from the direct fire of an enemy machinegun. He crawled to a flank position of the gun and, after killing or capturing the entire crew, turned the machinegun on the retreating enemy.

SCHMIDT, OSCAR, JR.
Rank and organization: Chief Gunner’s Mate, U.S. Navy. Place and date: At sea, 9 October 1918. Entered service at: Pennsylvania. Born: 25 March 1896, Philadelphia, Pa. G.O. No.: 450, 1919. Citation: For gallant conduct and extraordinary heroism while attached to the U.S.S. Chestnut Hill, on the occasion of the explosion and subsequent fire on board the U.S. submarine chaser 219. Schmidt, seeing a man, whose legs were partly blown off, hanging on a line from the bow of the 219, jumped overboard, swam to the sub chaser and carried him from the bow to the stern where a member of the 219’s crew helped him land the man on the afterdeck of the submarine. Schmidt then endeavored to pass through the flames amidships to get another man who was seriously burned. This he was unable to do, but when the injured man fell overboard and drifted to the stern of the chaser Schmidt helped him aboard .

FOSS, JOSEPH JACOB
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Marine Fighting Squadron 121, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. Place and date: Over Guadalcanal, 9 October to 19 November 1942, 15 and 23 January 1943. Entered service at: South Dakota. Born: 17 April 1 915, Sioux Falls, S. Dak. Citation: For outstanding heroism and courage above and beyond the call of duty as executive officer of Marine Fighting Squadron 121, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, at Guadalcanal. Engaging in almost daily combat with the enemy from 9 October to 19 November 1942, Capt. Foss personally shot down 23 Japanese planes and damaged others so severely that their destruction was extremely probable. In addition, during this period, he successfully led a large number of escort missions, skillfully covering reconnaissance, bombing, and photographic planes as well as surface craft. On 15 January 1943, he added 3 more enemy planes to his already brilliant successes for a record of aerial combat achievement unsurpassed in this war. Boldly searching out an approaching enemy force on 25 January, Capt. Foss led his 8 F -4F Marine planes and 4 Army P -38’s into action and, undaunted by tremendously superior numbers, intercepted and struck with such force that 4 Japanese fighters were shot down and the bombers were turned back without releasing a single bomb. His remarkable flying skill, inspiring leadership, and indomitable fighting spirit were distinctive factors in the defense of strategic American positions on Guadalcanal.

*KANDLE, VICTOR L.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near La Forge, France, 9 October 1944. Entered service at: Redwood City, Calif. Birth: Roy, Wash. G.O. No.: 37, 11 May 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On 9 October 1944, at about noon, near La Forge, France, 1st Lt. Kandle, while leading a reconnaissance patrol into enemy territory, engaged in a duel at pointblank range with a German field officer and killed him. Having already taken 5 enemy prisoners that morning, he led a skeleton platoon of 16 men, reinforced with a light machinegun squad, through fog and over precipitous mountain terrain to fall on the rear of a German quarry stronghold which had checked the advance of an infantry battalion for 2 days. Rushing forward, several yards ahead of his assault elements, 1st Lt. Kandle fought his way into the heart of the enemy strongpoint, and, by his boldness and audacity, forced the Germans to surrender. Harassed by machinegun fire from a position which he had bypassed in the dense fog, he moved to within 15 yards of the enemy, killed a German machinegunner with accurate rifle fire and led his men in the destruction of another machinegun crew and its rifle security elements. Finally, he led his small force against a fortified house held by 2 German officers and 30 enlisted men. After establishing a base of fire, he rushed forward alone through an open clearing in full view of the enemy, smashed through a barricaded door, and forced all 32 Germans to surrender. His intrepidity and bold leadership resulted in the capture or killing of 3 enemy officers and 54 enlisted men, the destruction of 3 enemy strongpoints, and the seizure of enemy positions which had halted a battalion attack.

*BURRIS, TONY K.
Rank and organization: Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army, Company L, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division. Place and date: vicinity of Mundung -ni, Korea 8 and 9 October 1951. Entered service at: Blanchard, Okla. Birth: Blanchard, Okla. G.O. No.: 84, 5 September 1952. Citation: Sfc. Burris, a member of Company L, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and outstanding courage above and beyond the call of duty. On 8 October, when his company encountered intense fire from an entrenched hostile force, Sfc. Burris charged forward alone, throwing grenades into the position and destroying approximately 15 of the enemy. On the following day, spearheading a renewed assault on enemy positions on the next ridge, he was wounded by machine gun fire but continued the assault, reaching the crest of the ridge ahead of his unit and sustaining a second wound. Calling for a 57mm. recoilless rifle team, he deliberately exposed himself to draw hostile fire and reveal the enemy position. The enemy machine gun emplacement was destroyed. The company then moved forward and prepared to assault other positions on the ridge line. Sfc. Burris, refusing evacuation and submitting only to emergency treatment, joined the unit in its renewed attack but fire from hostile emplacement halted the advance. Sfc. Burris rose to his feet, charged forward and destroyed the first emplacement with its heavy machine gun and crew of 6 men. Moving out to the next emplacement, and throwing his last grenade which destroyed this position, he fell mortally wounded by enemy fire. Inspired by his consummate gallantry, his comrades renewed a spirited assault which overran enemy positions and secured Hill 605, a strategic position in the battle for “Heartbreak Ridge,” Sfc. Burris’ indomitable fighting spirit, outstanding heroism, and gallant self -sacrifice reflect the highest glory upon himself, the infantry and the U.S. Army.

*YOUNG, ROBERT H.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company E, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. Place and date: North of Kaesong, Korea, 9 October 1950. Entered service at: Vallejo, Calif. Born: 4 March 1929, Oroville. Calif. G.O. No.: 65, 2 August 1951. Citation: Pfc. Young distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action. His company, spearheading a battalion drive deep in enemy territory, suddenly came under a devastating barrage of enemy mortar and automatic weapons crossfire which inflicted heavy casualties among his comrades and wounded him in the face and shoulder. Refusing to be evacuated, Pfc. Young remained in position and continued to fire at the enemy until wounded a second time. As he awaited first aid near the company command post the enemy attempted an enveloping movement. Disregarding medical treatment he took an exposed position and firing with deadly accuracy killed 5 of the enemy.

During this action he was again hit by hostile fire which knocked him to the ground and destroyed his helmet. Later when supporting tanks moved forward, Pfc. Young, his wounds still unattended, directed tank fire which destroyed 3 enemy gun positions and enabled the company to advance. Wounded again by an enemy mortar burst, and while aiding several of his injured comrades, he demanded that all others be evacuated first. Throughout the course of this action the leadership and combative instinct displayed by Pfc. Young exerted a profound influence on the conduct of the company. His aggressive example affected the whole course of the action and was responsible for its success. Pfc. Young’s dauntless courage and intrepidity reflect the highest credit upon himself and uphold the esteemed traditions of the U.S. Army.

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10 October

732 – At Tours, France, Charles Martel killed Abd el-Rahman and halted the Muslim invasion of Europe. Islam’s westward spread was stopped by the Franks at Poitiers.

1798 – Secretary Benjamin Stoddert, first Secretary of the Navy, sent the first instructions to cutters acting in cooperation with the Navy in support of the Quasi-War with France, via the various collectors of customs.

1845 – In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipman students and seven professors.

1863 – The Skirmish at Blue Springs, Tennessee, resulted in 166 casualties. Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, commander of the Department of the Ohio, undertook an expedition into East Tennessee to clear the roads and passes to Virginia, and, if possible, secure the saltworks beyond Abingdon. In October, Confederate Brig. Gen. John S. Williams, with his cavalry force, set out to disrupt Union communications and logistics. He wished to take Bull’s Gap on the East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad. On October 3, while advancing on Bull’s Gap, he fought with Brig. Gen. Samuel P. Carter’s Union Cavalry Division, XXIII Army Corps, at Blue Springs, about nine miles from Bull’s Gap, on the railroad. Carter, not knowing how many of the enemy he faced, withdrew. Carter and Williams skirmished for the next few days. On October 10, Carter approached Blue Springs in force. Williams had received some reinforcements. The battle began about 10:00 am with Union cavalry engaging the Confederates until afternoon while another mounted force attempted to place itself in a position to cut off a Rebel retreat. Captain Orlando M. Poe, the Chief Engineer, performed a reconnaissance to identify the best location for making an infantry attack. At 3:30 pm, Brig. Gen. Edward Ferrero’s 1st Division, IX Army Corps, moved up to attack, which he did at 5:00 pm. Ferrero’s men broke into the Confederate line, causing heavy casualties, and advanced almost to the enemy’s rear before being checked. After dark, the Confederates withdrew and the Federals took up the pursuit in the morning. Within days, Williams and his men had retired to Virginia. Burnside had launched the East Tennessee Campaign to reduce or extinguish Confederate influence in the area; Blue Springs helped fulfill that mission.

1877 – Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer was buried at West Point in New York. George Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio and graduated last in his class from West Point in 1861. He immediately joined his regiment at the First Battle of Bull Run. As a staff officer, his daring and energy, and in particular a spirited reconnaissance on the Chickahominy River, brought him to the notice of General George McClellan, who made him an aide-de-camp with the rank of captain. A few hours afterwards Custer attacked a Confederate picket post and drove back the enemy. He continued to serve with McClellan until the general was relieved of his command, when Custer returned to duty with his regiment as a lieutenant. In 1863, Custer was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers. He distinguished himself at the head of the Michigan cavalry brigade in the Battle of Gettysburg, and frequently did good service in the remaining operations of the campaign of 1863. When the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac was reorganized under Sheridan in 1864, Custer retained his command, and took part in the various actions of the cavalry in the Wilderness and Shenandoah campaigns. In February 1864, Custer raided a Confederate camp in a battle known as the Battle of Rio Hill. At the end of September 1864, he was appointed to command a division, and on October 9 fought in the brilliant cavalry action called the Battle of Woodstock. While retaining his regular-army rank of captain, he was rapidly given brevet commissions in the Volunteers as major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel, and finally brevet-major-general for his services at Gettysburg, Yellow Tavern and Winchester. His part in the decisive Battle of Cedar Creek was most conspicuous. He served with General Philip Sheridan in the last great cavalry raid, won the action of Waynesboro, and in the final campaign added to his laurels by his conduct at Dinwiddie and Five Forks.

At the close of the war he received the brevets of brigadier and major-general in the regular army, and was promoted major-general of volunteers. In 1866 Custer was made lieutenant-colonel with the 7th U.S. Cavalry, and took part under General Winfield Scott Hancock in the expedition against the Cheyenne Indians, upon whom he inflicted a crushing defeat at Washita River on November 27, 1868. Even though the Cheyenne he massacred were not part of a hostile tribe (and were in fact on reservation land), this was still regarded as the first substantial US victory in the Indian Wars. In 1873 he was sent to the Dakota Territory to protect a railroad survey party against the Sioux. Then on August 4 of that year near the Tongue River, Custer and the 7th Cavalry clashed for the first time with the Sioux. Only one man on each side was killed.

In 1876, an expedition that included Custer and his regiment was made against the Sioux and their allies. As the advance guard of the troops under Gen. Alfred Terry, Custer’s force arrived at the junction of the Bighorn and Little Bighorn rivers, in what is now the state of Montana, on the night of June 24. The main body was due to join him on the 26th. The presence of what was judged a very large encampment of Indians was reported to the general by his Crow Indian scouts. Despite this warning, on June 25, Custer divided his regiment into three commands and moved forward to surround and attack the encamped Indians. The 7th Cavalry met stiff resistance and were counter attacked by the full forces of the enemy, killing Custer and 264 men. The flanking columns maintained themselves with difficulty until General Terry arrived. Custer’s last words are said to be: “Hurrah, boys, we’ve got them! We’ll finish them up and then go home to our station.” Following the recovery of Custer’s body from where he fell during the Battle of Little Big Horn the previous year, Custer was given a funeral with full military honors and was laid to rest at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York on October 10, 1877.

After his death, Custer achieved the lasting fame that eluded him in life. The public saw him as a tragic military hero and gentleman who sacrificed his life for his country. Custer’s wife, Elizabeth, who accompanied him in many of his frontier expeditions, did much to advance this view with the publication of several books about her late husband: Boots and Saddles, Life with General Custer in Dakota (1885), Tenting on the Plains (1887) and Following the Guidon (1891). General Custer himself wrote about the Indian wars in My Life on the Plains (1874). Custer would be called today a “media personality” who understood the value of good public relations—he frequently invited correspondents to accompany him on his campaigns, and their favorable reportage contributed to his high reputation that lasted well into the 20th century.

However, this assessment of Custer’s actions during the Indian Wars has undergone substantial reconsideration in modern times. For many critics, Custer was the personification and culmination of the U.S. Government’s ill-treatment of the Native American tribes. Others equate the actions of the 7th Cavalry under his command with Holocaust-type atrocities perpetrated during World War II, or with ethnic cleansing of the 1990s. Recent films and books including Little Big Man and Son of the Morning Star depict Custer as a cruel and murderous military commander whose actions today would warrant possible dismissal and court-martial. Within the context of post-Civil War expansion, however, Custer’s actions differed little from the standard military strategy of the time, which ultimately destroyed Native American culture in the American West.

1913 – Panama Canal was completed when President Woodrow Wilson triggered a blast which exploded the Gamboa Dike by pressing an electric button at the White House in Washington, D.C.

1918 – While President Woodrow Wilson was attempting to establish “peace without victory” with Germany, the German UB-123 torpedoed RMS Leinster, a civilian mail and passenger ferry, off the coast of Ireland. Leinster was usually escorted by a Royal Air Force airship as a precaution, but on October 10, 1918, the ferry set out alone. Leinster was sunk; 564 passengers and crewmen perished, many of them American and Allied troops. After Leinster, the Germans lost their chance for an easy peace.

1923 – First American-built rigid airship, Shenandoah, is christened. It used helium gas instead of hydrogen.

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1938 – Germany completed its annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland. The Munich Agreement was a settlement permitting Nazi Germany’s annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country’s borders mainly inhabited by German speakers, for which a new territorial designation “Sudetenland” was coined. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe, without the presence of Czechoslovakia. Today, it is widely regarded as a failed act of appeasement toward Germany.

1941 – The destroyer USS Kearney is attacked by a German, submarine. In the attack, ten sailors are killed and scores injured. America suffers its first war casualties in World War II. Pearl Harbor is still seven weeks away.

1944 – Nearly two hundred of Admiral Halsey’s planes struck Naha, Okinawa’s capital and principal city, in five separate waves. The city was almost totally devastated. The American war against Japan was coming inexorably closer to the Japanese homeland.

1950 – A total of sixteen Air Guard squadrons are mobilized for duty during the Korean War. Five of these fighter squadrons, the 111th (TX), 136th (TX), 154th (AR), 158th (GA) and 196th (CA) would fly missions in Korea. Sixteen other units were deployed to NATO bases in Europe.

1950 – In the west, the 1st Cavalry Division’s 8th Cavalry Regiment crossed the 38th parallel in the vicinity of Kaesong. The ROK 3rd Division entered Wonsan on the East Coast.

1950 – A 3d ARS H-5 crew administered, for the first time while a helicopter was in flight, blood plasma to a rescued pilot. The crewmembers received Silver Stars for this action.

1953 – A Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of Korea is concluded in Washington, D.C.

1954 – Ho Chi Minh entered Hanoi after French troops withdraw.

1957 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, after he is refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.

1960 – Navy assigned responsibility for program management and technial direction of Project SPASUR, the first U.S. universal satellite detection and tracking network.

1965 – Ronald Reagan spoke at Coalinga Junior College and called for an official declaration of war in Vietnam.

1966 – Marines launch Operation “Kent,” Vietnam. (concluded 15 October).

1967 – The Outer Space Treaty, signed on January 27 by more than sixty nations, comes into force. The Outer Space Treaty, formally the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, is a treaty that forms the basis of international space law. The treaty was opened for signature in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union on 27 January 1967. As of May 2013, 102 countries are parties to the treaty, while another 27 have signed the treaty but have not completed ratification. Among its principles, it bars states, party to the treaty, from placing nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in orbit of Earth, installing them on the Moon or any other celestial body, or to otherwise station them in outer space. It exclusively limits the use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes and expressly prohibits their use for testing weapons of any kind, conducting military maneuvers, or establishing military bases, installations, and fortifications. However, the Treaty does not prohibit the placement of conventional weapons in orbit. The treaty also states that the exploration of outer space shall be done to benefit all countries and shall be free for exploration and use by all the States. The treaty explicitly forbids any government from claiming a celestial resource such as the Moon or a planet, claiming that they are the common heritage of mankind. Art. II of the Treaty states that “outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means”. However, the State that launches a space object retains jurisdiction and control over that object. The State is also liable for damages caused by their space object.

1968 – The 1stMarDiv and 1st MAW were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, Da Nang, Vietnam.

1973 – Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with evasion of federal income tax.

1975 – Israel formally signed the Sinai accord with Egypt.

1979 – Panama assumed sovereignty over Canal Area.

1982 – US imposed sanctions against Poland for banning Solidarity trade union.

1985 – U.S. fighter jets from the USS Saratoga forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody.

1990 – The space shuttle “Discovery” landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California, ending a virtually flawless four-day mission.

1992 – Iraq released U.S. munitions expert Clinton Hall, two days after he’d been taken prisoner in the demilitarized zone separating Iraq and Kuwait.

1993 – Thousands of Somalis demonstrated in the capital of Mogadishu to support warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, an event that coincided with the arrival of special U.S. envoy Robert Oakley.

1994 – Iraq announced it was withdrawing its forces from the Kuwaiti border; seeing no signs of a pullback, President Clinton dispatched 350 additional aircraft to the region.

1995 – Israel began a West Bank pullback and freed hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

1996 – In Afghanistan three military commanders formed a pact against the Taliban. Gen’l. Rashid Dostum, Ahmad Shah Massoud and Abdul Karim Khalily held 10 northern provinces against 19 held by the Taliban.

1998 – David Sheldon Boone (46), a former Pentagon analyst, was arrested for selling top defense secrets to the former Soviet Union. He was lured back to the US from Germany.

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2000 – President Clinton met with Vice Marshal Jo Myong Rok, the most senior North Korean official to ever visit the US.

2001 – U.S. jets pounded the Afghan capital of Kabul.

2001 – An unmanned US spy plane was lost over southern Iraq, the 3rd since Aug 27th.

2001 – The FBI issued a list of 22 most wanted terrorists dating back to 1985 with rewards up to $5 million for tips that prevent attacks or lead to arrests.

2001 – In Florida a 3rd case of anthrax was identified in a 35-year-old woman who worked in the same office as Robert Stevens. The strain was reported to match one from Iowa in the 1950s commonly used by lab researchers.

2001 – US warplanes struck an ammunition dump at the edge of Kandahar and secondary explosions left some civilian casualties.

2001 – The 56-member Organization of Islamic Conference, called by Iran, issued a communique that sidestepped US action in Afghanistan: “The conference rejected the targeting of any Islamic or Arab state under the pretext of fighting terrorism.”

2001 – Turkey granted the government the authority to send troops overseas and to allow foreign troops to be stationed on its soil.

2002 – The US Congress gave Pres. Bush authorization to use armed forces against Iraq. The House voted 296-133 in favor.

2002 – Allied planes bombed radar and missile sites in the southern no-fly zone over Iraq, targeting President Saddam Hussein’s air defenses for the third time this week.

2003 – In southern Afghanistan 41 Taliban militants escaped from prison by digging a 30-foot-long tunnel with apparent help from officials.

2003 – In Sadr City, Iraq, 2 Americans and 2 Iraqis were killed in a gunfight.

2004 – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld visited Iraq.

2004 – Libyan officials said police have arrested 17 non-Libyans suspected of being al-Qaida members who entered this North African country illegally.

2009 – United States President Barack Obama announces he will end the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy against homosexuals serving in the U.S. military.

2013 – Scott Carpenter, Mercury 7 astronaut and second American to orbit the earth, dies at 88 following complications from a stroke. Malcolm Scott Carpenter (born May 1, 1925) was an American test pilot, astronaut, and aquanaut. He was one of the original seven astronauts selected for NASA’s Project Mercury in April 1959. Carpenter was the second American (after John Glenn) to orbit the Earth and the fourth American in space, following Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, and John Glenn. After being chosen for Project Mercury in 1959, Carpenter, along with the other six astronauts, oversaw the development of the Mercury capsule. He served as backup pilot for John Glenn, who flew the first U.S. orbital mission aboard Friendship 7 in February 1962. Carpenter, serving as capsule communicator on this flight, can be heard saying “Godspeed, John Glenn” on the recording of Glenn’s liftoff. When Deke Slayton was withdrawn on medical grounds from Project Mercury’s second manned orbital flight (which Slayton would have named Delta 7), Carpenter was assigned to replace him. He flew into space on May 24, 1962, atop the Mercury-Atlas 7 rocket for a three-orbit science mission that lasted nearly five hours. His Aurora 7 spacecraft attained a maximum altitude of 164 miles (264 km) and an orbital velocity of 17,532 miles per hour (28,215 km/h).

In July 1964 in Bermuda, Carpenter sustained a grounding injury from a motorbike accident while on leave from NASA to train for the Navy’s SEALAB project. In 1965, for SEALAB II, he spent 28 days living on the ocean floor off the coast of California. During the SEALAB II mission, Carpenter’s right index finger was wounded by the toxic spines of a scorpion fish. He returned to work at NASA as Executive Assistant to the Director of the Manned Spacecraft Center, then returned to the Navy’s Deep Submergence Systems Project in 1967, based in Bethesda, Maryland, as a Director of Aquanaut Operations for SEALAB III. In the aftermath of aquanaut Berry L. Cannon’s death while attempting to repair a leak in SEALAB III, Carpenter volunteered to dive down to SEALAB and help return it to the surface, although SEALAB was ultimately salvaged in a less hazardous way. Carpenter retired from the Navy in 1969, after which he founded Sea Sciences, Inc., a corporation for developing programs for utilizing ocean resources and improving environmental health.

2014 – Islamic State forces capture the headquarters of Kurdish forces defending the Syrian border town of Kobane with the United Nations warning of massacre.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

DARROUGH, JOHN S.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 113th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Eastport, Miss., 10 October 1864. Entered service at: Concord, Morgan County, Ill. Birth: Kentucky. Date of issue: 5 February 1895. Citation: Saved the life of a captain.

CARTER, ROBERT G.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: On Brazos, River, Tex., 10 October 1871. Entered service at: Bradford, Mass. Birth: Bridgeport, Maine. Date of issue: 27 February 1900. Citation: Held the left of the line with a few men during the charge of a large body of Indians, after the right of the line had retreated, and by delivering a rapid fire succeeded in checking the enemy until other troops came to the rescue.

BONG, RICHARD 1. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Army Air Corps. Place and date: Over Borneo and Leyte, 10 October to 15 November 1944. Entered service at: Poplar, Wis. Birth: Poplar, Wis. G.O. No.: 90, 8 December 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty in the Southwest Pacific area from 10 October to 15 November 1944. Though assigned to duty as gunnery instructor and neither required nor expected to perform combat duty, Maj. Bong voluntarily and at his own urgent request engaged in repeated combat missions, including unusually hazardous sorties over Balikpapan, Borneo, and in the Leyte area of the Philippines. His aggressiveness and daring resulted in his shooting down 8 enemy airplanes during this period.

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11 October

1726 – Benjamin Franklin returned to Philadelphia from England.

1776 – The first naval battle of Lake Champlain was fought during the American Revolution. American forces led by Gen. Benedict Arnold suffered heavy losses, but managed to stall the British. British forces had successfully resisted the American assault on Quebec in the early months of the war and pursued the retreating invaders back to their bases at Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga. The approach of winter in late 1775 had forced the British to return to Canada, but a strike against the rebels by way of Lake Champlain was a top priority for the campaign in 1776. Sir Guy Carleton, the British commander in Canada, supplemented his forces with 5,000 German mercenaries and a fleet of ships to be used in the planned assault. Vessels sailed up the St. Lawrence River, were laboriously disassembled and transported around the rapids on the Richelieu River, then reassembled for service on Lake Champlain. Smaller craft were built on site. The showpiece of the British fleet was the HMS Inflexible, an 18-gun man-of-war.

The remnants of the American invasion force occupied Fort Ticonderoga in 1776 under increasingly dire circumstances. Food, clothing and ammunition supplies were low and morale was flagging. Brigadier General Benedict Arnold received permission to construct a fleet on Lake Champlain to stop or at least slow the impending British advance. Shipwrights were brought in from New England coastal towns to construct the fleet, including special flat-bottomed craft that were fitted with both sails and oars and carried cannon in the bow. The workers had no alternative to using green lumber, which quickly warped and allowed water into the vessels. In all, three schooners, three galleys, eight gunboats and a sloop were constructed. The British were unaware of the American efforts to build a fleet and allowed their own shipbuilding activities to stretch into the late summer. Arnold realized that he was badly outgunned and would have no chance against a direct confrontation with the enemy. He sought the most favorable position he could find, choosing to array his fleet in an arc from Valcour Island to near the New York shore in an area a few miles south of the village of Plattsburgh. The British fleet finally set sail in early October, the Inflexible in the lead and the troop transports at the rear. The two forces met on the 11th. The American ships were not easily visible in the bay and much of the British flotilla sailed past. When the American presence was made known, the larger British vessels had difficulty reversing direction and were late in joining the fray.

In the ensuing seven-hour battle, both sides sustained heavy damage, but the British were unable to bring the full force of their firepower to bear because of the cramped confines forced by the American position; only a few of the British vessels could align themselves between the island and the shore and fire at close range. Soldiers delivered by Carleton’s ships poured withering fire from the shore into the American ships, which inflicted heavy casualties. As night approached, the British attempted to bottle-up the bay and were confident that they could complete their task in the morning. Arnold had lost the Philadelphia and knew he stood little chance when the battle resumed. During the night a heavy fog descended. Arnold capitalized on the reduced visibility by silently sailing his damaged fleet around the British blockade and heading south toward Crown Point. When the fog lifted in the morning, the British beheld an empty bay and immediately began pursuit. A valiant delaying action was fought by the Congress, with Arnold at the helm, and the Washington, which enabled other ships to reach Crown Point. At the last moment, Arnold’s ship managed to sprint to shore, where it was set afire, and the crew escaped on land to Crown Point. Crown Point could not withstand a British assault, and was destroyed as the garrison and Arnold’s surviving men pushed on to Ticonderoga.

When the British fleet arrived outside of Ticonderoga, the Americans blasted away with their cannon — despite the fact that they were dangerously low on powder and shot — which gave the British the impression that they were prepared to mount a protracted defense of their position. Carleton was taken in by the ruse. He returned American prisoners in his possession under a flag of truce, then turned his fleet around and sailed back to Canada. Arnold’s small navy was nearly destroyed: 11 of 15 ships were lost and 80 casualties sustained. However, Fort Ticonderoga was held and the British invasion halted. The significance of Arnold’s defense would be noted in the following year’s campaign when the British again mounted an offensive from the north; had Arnold and his men failed, the campaign of 1777 would have begun from Ticonderoga rather than Canada and might have ended differently.

1779 – Polish nobleman General Casimir Pulaski was killed while fighting for American independence during the Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah, Ga. Of all the Polish officers who took part in the American War of Independence, Casimir Pulaski was the most romantic and professionally the most prominent. He was born into the middle gentry at Warka, Poland, March 4, 1747. His family was rich and had enhanced their fortune as clients of the Czartoryski family with whose nationalist policies it was identified. His education was typical of its time, he learned a smattering of languages and manners in the service of the Duke of Courland. It was here that young Pulaski first came into contact with the interference of foreign powers in Polish affairs, that lead to the first great act of his life. Joseph Pulaski, Casimir’s father impatient with the Russian interference precipitated an armed movement called the Confederation of Bar in 1768. Casimir was one of the founding members and on his father’s death in 1769, carried the burden of military command. His greatest success was in the taking and holding of Jasna Gora at Czestochowa, the holist place in Poland. His brilliant defense against the Russians thrilled all of Europe. Unfortunately soon afterward he was implicated in a plot to kill the Polish King and forced into exile. Burdened by debts Pulaski was found in Paris by Benjamin Franklin and enlisted in for American cause. Pulaski joined George Washington’s army just before the battle of Brandywine. Acting under Washington’s orders without commission Pulaski lead the scouting party that discovered the British flanking movement and the American escape route. He then gathered all available cavalry to cover the retreat, leading a dashing charge that surprised the British and allowed the American army to escape.

Congress rewarded Pulaski with a commission as brigadier general and command of all American cavalry. He spent the winter of 1777-8 training and outfitting the cavalry units but in March, he gave way before the intrigues of his jealous officers. He requested and Washington approved the formation of an independent corp of cavalry and light infantry of foreign volunteers. Pulaski’s Legion became the training ground for American cavalry officers including “Light Horse” Harry Lee, the father of Robert E. Lee, and the model for Lee’s and Armand’s legions. Thirteen Polish officers served under Pulaski in the legion. The best assessment of Pulaski’s legion came from a British officer who called them simply “the best damned cavalry the rebels ever had”. In 1779 Pulaski and his legion were sent south to the besieged city of Charleston where he immediately raised morale and assisted in breaking the siege. A joint operation with the French was planed to recapture the city of Savannah. Against Pulaski’s advice the French commander ordered an assault against the strongest point of the British defense, Seeing the allied troops falter Pulaski galloped forward to rally the men, when he was mortally wounded by British cannon shot. He died two days later and was buried at sea. Pulaski was the romantic embodiment of the flashing saber and the trumpets calling to the charge, and that is how history has remembered him. The larger-Than-life aspect of his death has often obscured his steadier, quieter, and more lasting services. It was in the drudgery of forging a disciplined American cavalry that could shadow and report on British movements, in the long distance forage raids to feed and clothe the troops at Valley Forge, and the bitter hit and run rearguard actions that covered retreating American armies that slowed British pursuit, that gave Pulaski the title of “Father of the American cavalry”.

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1809 – Along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, explorer Meriwether Lewis dies under mysterious circumstances at an inn called Grinder’s Stand. Meriwether Lewis was born in Albemarle County Virginia on August 18, 1774. He was the second of three children of Lucy and John Lewis. His father died when we he was five. Lewis’s mother, left to raise her children and run a plantation, soon remarried. From age thirteen to eighteen Lewis attended local schools taught by ministers. When he was eighteen, his stepfather died and Lewis returned home to take over the job of running the plantation. Lewis joined the US Army in 1794 and rose to the rank of Captain in 1800. In 1801 Captain Lewis became private secretary to US President Thomas Jefferson. Under Jefferson’s direction, Lewis planned an exploration of a route west to the Pacific coast of North America. Lewis invited William Clark to join the expedition, and the two men privately agreed to lead it jointly. In addition to command, Lewis served as the party’s naturalist. On the expedition he collected plant, animal, and mineral specimens. In May of 1804 the expedition sponsored by the US Government, and lead by Lewis and Clark started up the Missouri River from a camp near St. Louis.

By late fall, the explorers reached what is now North Dakota and spent the winter there. The following spring they continued along the Missouri and in late summer crossed the Rocky Mountains. They obtained horses, supplies, and valuable information from the Indians they met on their journey. Following the Clearwater, Snake, and Columbia Rivers they made their way to the Pacific coast, which they reached in November of 1805. The party spent the winter on the coast of what is now Oregon and began the trip home in March of 1806. The explorers returned along nearly the same route by which they had come, reaching St. Louis in September of 1806 after traveling a total of 8,000 miles (12,800 kilometers). As a reward for his service, Jefferson named Lewis governor of the Louisiana Territory in 1807. In 1809 Lewis died under ambiguous circumstances. It is speculated that personal and professional problems may have driven him to suicide, but some people believe he was murdered.

1824 – Marquis de Lafayette visits the Washington Navy Yard during his year long tour of America. He returned to the yard the next day, October 12, to continue his visit.

1862 – The Confederate Congress in Richmond passed a draft law allowing anyone owning 20 or more slaves to be exempt from military service. This law confirmed many southerners opinion that they were in a ‘rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight.’

1862 – American Civil War: In the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam, Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and his men loot Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during a raid into the north.

1863 – Skirmish at Rheatown, Henderson’s Mill, Tennessee.

1864 – Slavery was abolished in Maryland.

1865 – President Johnson paroled CSA Vice President Alexander Stephens.

1879 – The first annual conference of the National Guard Association is held. The Association, which continues in operation today, acts as a political interest group representing Guard concerns with members of Congress. Federal law prohibits members of the armed forces on active duty from ‘lobbying’ Congress so the Association, which is composed of active and retired Guard officers, performs this function.

1890 – The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) was founded in Washington, D.C.

1896 – The crew of the Pea Island (North Carolina) Life-Saving Station, under the command of Keeper Richard Etheridge, performed one of their finest rescues when they saved the passengers and crew of the schooner E.S. Newman, after that ship ran aground during a hurricane. Pushed before the storm, the ship lost all sails and drifted almost 100 miles before it ran aground about two miles south of the Pea Island Lifesaving Station. Etheridge, a veteran of nearly twenty years, readied his crew. They hitched mules to the beach cart and hurried toward the vessel. Arriving on the scene, they found Captain S. A. Gardiner and eight others clinging to the wreckage. Unable to fire a line because the high water prevented the Lyle Gun’s deployment, Etheridge directed two surf men to bind themselves together with a line. Grasping another line, the pair moved into the breakers while the remaining surf men secured the shore end. The two surf men reached the wreck and tied a line around one of the crewmen. All three were then pulled back through the surf by the crew on the beach. The remaining eight persons were carried to shore in this fashion. After each trip two different surf men replaced those who had just returned. For their efforts the crew of the Pea Island Life-Saving station were awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal in 1996.

1910 – Former President Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane. He flew for four minutes with Arch Hoxsey in a plane built by the Wright brothers at Kinloch Field (Lambert–St. Louis International Airport), St. Louis, Missouri.

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1939 – Albert Einstein wrote his famous letter to FDR about the potential of the atomic bomb. Einstein, a long time pacifist, was concerned that the Nazis would get the bomb first. In the letter, Einstein argued the scientific feasibility of atomic weapons, and urged the need for development of a US atomic program. The physicists Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, and Edward Teller, who were profoundly disturbed by the lack of American atomic action, had enlisted the aid of the Nobel prize-winner Einstein in the summer of 1939, hoping that a letter from such a renowned scientist would persuade Roosevelt into action.

1942 – In the World War II Battle of Cape Esperance in the Solomon Islands, U.S. cruisers and destroyers decisively defeated a Japanese task force in a night surface encounter sinking two Japanese ships while losing only USS Duncan (DD-485).

1945 – Negotiations between Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek and Communist leader Mao Tse-tung broke down. Nationalist and Communist troops were soon engaged in a civil war.

1950 – Task Force 77 Aircraft destroy North Korean vessels off Songjin and Wonsan and north of Hungham.

1951 – A Marine battalion was flown by transport helicopters to a frontline combat position for the first time, when HMR-161 lifted the 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, and its equipment, during Operation Bumblebee, northeast of Yanggu, Korea. This is the first battalion sized combat helolift.

1952 – Two USAF 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing F-86 Sabre jet pilots shot down enemy aircraft. It was future ace Captain Clyde A. Curtin’s first aerial victory of the war. Captain Clifford Jolley chalked up his seventh and final enemy aircraft kill. Four other MiGs were destroyed in a series of battles over northwest Korea.

1954 – The Vietminh formally take control of Hanoi and North Vietnam. Unlike Diem in the South, Ho Chi Minh face no rebellious factions or challenges to their authority. The long war against the French, however, has devastated the North economically.

1958 – The lunar probe Pioneer 1 was launched; it failed to go as far as planned, fell back to Earth, and burned up in the atmosphere.

1961 – At a meeting of the National Security Council, President Kennedy is asked to accept ‘as our real and ultimate objective the defeat of the Vietcong.’ The Joint Chiefs of Staff estimate that 40,000 US troops could clean up ‘the Vietcong threat,’ and another 120,000 could cope with possible North Vietnamese or Communist Chinese intervention. Kennedy decides to send General Maxwell Taylor to Vietnam to study the situation.

1963 – A US National Security Action memorandum that recommended plans to withdraw 1,000 US Military personnel by the end of the year was approved. The memo followed McNamara’s return from a trip to South Vietnam.

1963 – Navy medical team from Norfolk, VA begins massive inoculation program to safeguard against outbreak of typhoid in the wake of Hurricane Flora.

1966 – U.S. Forces launched Operation Robin, in Hoa Province south of Saigon in South Vietnam, to provide road security between villages.

1967 – Operation Coronado VI began in Rung Sat Zone. The Mobile Riverine Force, 9th Inf Div conducted this operation to provide security of the Long Tau Channel.

1968 – Apollo 7, The first manned Apollo mission, was launched from Cape Kennedy with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard. It made 163 orbits. The mission lasted 10 days and 20 hours. Recovery was by HS-5 helicopters from USS Essex (CVS-9).

1972 – A French mission in Vietnam was destroyed by a U.S. bombing raid.

1972 – A race riot occurs on the United States Navy aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk off the coast of Vietnam during Operation Linebacker. During the USS Kitty Hawk riot, sometimes called the Kitty Hawk mutiny, many crewmen were injured, but Kitty Hawk participated in Linebacker as assigned. Approximately 100–200 black Kitty Hawk crewmen rioted as a response to perceived grievances against the Navy and the officers of Kitty Hawk, which appeared to represent institutionalized racism on the ship. One such grievance was the belief that black crewmen were routinely assigned to menial or degrading duties. Black crewmen also believed that white crewmen received milder non-judicial punishments than black sailors for the same offenses. In addition, there was lingering resentment from a racially charged brawl involving Kitty Hawk sailors in the Philippines shortly before the ship left port. During the riot, black sailors assaulted and injured a number of white crewmen. Three had to be evacuated to shore hospitals for further treatment. Forty-five to 60 Kitty Hawk crewmen were injured in total. The carrier’s commander—Captain Marland Townsend—and executive officer—Commander Benjamin Cloud (who was black)—dissuaded the rioters from further violence and prevented white sailors from retaliating. This allowed the carrier to launch her Linebacker air missions as scheduled on the morning of 12 October. Nineteen of the rioters were later found guilty by the Navy of at least one charge connected to the riot. The incident was publicized in The New York Times. Subsequent racial unrest on Kitty Hawk′s sister ship Constellation sparked Congressional hearings to examine race relations in the Navy and policies and programs instituted by Navy leaders to deal with racial issues.

1976 – George Washington’s appointment, posthumously, to the grade of General of the Armies by congressional joint resolution Public Law 94-479 is approved by President Gerald R. Ford.

1984 – Space shuttle Challenger astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space.

1985 – Arab-American activist Alex Odeh was killed by a bomb blast in Santa Ana, California.

1986 – President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev opened two days of talks concerning arms control and human rights in Reykjavik, Iceland.

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1993 – In Haiti, army-backed toughs prevented American troops from landing as part of a U.N. peace mission and drove away U.S. diplomats waiting to greet the soldiers.

1993 – Yasser Arafat won endorsement for his peace accord with Israel from the Palestine Central Council.

1994 – U.S. troops in Haiti took over the National Palace.

1994 – Iraqi troops began moving north, away from the Kuwaiti border.

1995 – In Bosnia a cease-fire was declared.

1996 – In Operation Global Sea US officials arrested 34 members of a drug trafficking network operated primarily by Nigerian women. Jumoke Kafayat Majekodunmi, aka Kafi, used a women’s clothing store in Chicago as the center of operations.

1996 – US FBI agents arrested 7 in West Virginia for plotting to bomb the national fingerprinting records facility in Charleston.

1996 – In Angola the UN extended the 7,200 peacekeeping mission for 2 months. The Security Council threatened sanctions against UNITA which has delayed integrating 26,000 fighters into the national army and interfered with UN activities.

1998 – Richard Holbrooke met again with Pres. Milosevic in an effort to avoid NATO attacks on Serbia due to the Serb stand on Kosovo.

1998 – In Afghanistan the Taliban battled opposition forces for the 2nd day in the northeast Takhar province.

1998 – In Bosnia forensic experts began exhuming 274 bodies in the village of Donja Glumina. They were believed to be Bosnian Muslims killed in Srebrenica by Serbs in Jul 1995.

1999 – In Chechnya more people fled Russian attacks and Moscow demanded that Islamic militants be handed over before any peace settlement.

2000 – The shuttle Discovery with a crew of 7 lifted off from Cape Canaveral for an 11-day mission to the International Space Station. It marked the shuttle fleet’s 100th mission. STS-92 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Discovery. STS-92 marked the 100th mission of the Space Shuttle.

2000 – Palestinians continued to riot in Gaza and the West Bank and the death toll approached 100.

2001 – In his first prime-time news conference since taking office, President George W. Bush offered the Taliban a chance to stop America’s punishing assaults on Afghanistan by turning over suspected terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.

2001 – The FBI warned that new acts of terrorism could target Americans over the next few days.

2001 – The Bush administration asked newspapers not to publish full transcripts of messages from Osama bin Laden due to the possibility of coded messages.

2001 – In NYC Mayor Giuliani rejected a $10 million donation from Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal due to an attached press release that said the US should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance toward the Palestinian cause.

2001 – The Pentagon confirmed the 1st US death in Operation Enduring Freedom. Air Force Sgt. Evander Earl Andrews was killed in a fork lift accident in Qatar.

2001 – Abdul Salam Zaeem, Afghan ambassador to Pakistan, said US bombing in Afghanistan killed some 100 noncombatants in the Torghar region near Jalalabad. The total civilian casualties since Oct 7 was estimated at 170.

2001 – In Afghanistan that Northern Alliance claimed to have taken the central province of Ghar and the provincial capital Chaghcharan.
American bombing reportedly killed as many as 200 civilians in Karam and Jalalabad.

2001 – In Colombia AUC paramilitary shot and killed 5 men in the town of Samaniego.

2001 – In Macedonia police found a cache of arms in an area held by ethnic Albanian rebels.

2001 – A Palestinian militant blew himself up while trying to plant a bomb along a West Bank road used by Israelis.

2002 – The Senate joined the House in approving, 77-23, the use of America’s military might against Iraq.

2002 – Kenneth Bridges (53) was shot and killed in Spotsylvania, Va., the 8th victim of the DC area sniper.

2002 – In Vantaa, Finland, a blast in the Myyrmanni shopping mall of suburban Helsinki killed 7 people, including chemistry student Petri Gerdt (19), the suspected bomber. 80 others were injured.

2002 – The Philippine military reported that marines clashed with Abu Sayyaf rebels on Jolo Island and at least 11 soldiers were killed.

2003 – Israeli forces killed a Palestinian and razed dozens of homes in a Gaza Strip refugee camp as Israeli opposition politicians and Palestinian officials sought to revive peace talks.

2003 – In Nepal at least 3 policemen and 35 Maoist rebels were killed in an overnight battle as the rebels resumed attacks on government forces after a 9-day cease-fire.

2004 – The main opposition candidate in Afghanistan’s first-ever presidential election backed off a boycott of the vote, saying he would accept the formation of an independent commission to look into alleged cheating.

2004 – In Iraq followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr trickled in to police stations in Baghdad’s Sadr City district to hand in weapons. Two soldiers from Task Force Baghdad were killed and five wounded in a rocket attack in southern Baghdad.

2004 – An Arabic language television station broadcast video showing three hooded gunmen threatening to behead a Turkish hostage within three days unless the Americans release all Iraqi prisoners and all Turks leave Iraq.

2007 – Turkey recalls its ambassador to the United States due to anger over an upcoming House of Representatives vote on recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

2009 – Luis Armando Pena Soltren, a suspect wanted for the 1968 hijacking of Pan Am Flight 281, is surrendered after more than 40 years. Pan Am Flight 281 was a regularly scheduled Pan American World Airways flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was hijacked on November 24, 1968, by 4 men from JFK International Airport, New York to Havana, Cuba. US Fighter jets followed plane to Cuba. Soltren, lived as a fugitive in Cuba. He pleaded guilty to the hijacking on March 18, 2010. On January 4, 2011 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, without the possibility of parole.

2012 – A gunman kills Qassem M. Aqlan, the Yemeni chief of security employed at the U.S. embassy in the capital, Sana’a.

2014 – USS America (LHA 6), the Navy’s newest and most technologically advanced amphibious assault ship, was commissioned during a formal ceremony at Pier 30/32 during San Francisco Fleet Week. More than 8,000 friends, family members and invited guests gathered in front of the ship to witness its introduction to the fleet. During the ceremony, Adm. Harry B. Harris, commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, commended the crew for their performance during acceptance trials and sailing around South America. He said because conflict and crisis can arise at any time, warships like America will be needed as the nation conducts its strategic rebalance to the Pacific.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day

*BLACKWELL, ROBERT L.
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company K, 119th Infantry, 30th Division. Place and date: Near St. Souplet, France, 11 October 1918. Entered service at: Hurdle Mills, N.C. Birth: Person County, N.C. G.O. No.: 13, W.D., 1919. Citation: When his platoon was almost surrounded by the enemy and his platoon commander asked for volunteers to carry a message calling for reinforcements, Pvt. Blackwell volunteered for this mission, well knowing the extreme danger connected with it. In attempting to get through the heavy shell and machinegun fire this gallant soldier was killed.

HILTON, RICHMOND H.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company M, 118th Infantry, 30th Division. Place and date: At Brancourt, France, 11 October 1918. Entered service at: Westville, S.C. Born: 8 October 1898, Westville, S.C. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: While Sgt. Hilton’s company was advancing through the village of Brancourt it was held up by intense enfilading fire from a machinegun. Discovering that this fire came from a machinegun nest among shell holes at the edge of the town, Sgt. Hilton, accompanied by a few other soldiers, but well in advance of them, pressed on toward this position, firing with his rifle until his ammunition was exhausted, and then with his pistol, killing 6 of the enemy and capturing 10. In the course of this daring exploit he received a wound from a bursting shell, which resulted in the loss of his arm.

KEARBY, NEEL E. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps. Place and date: Near Wewak, New Guinea, 11 October 1943. Entered service at: Dallas, Tex. Birth: Wichita Falls, Tex. G.O. No.: 3, 6 January 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy, Col. Kearby volunteered to lead a flight of 4 fighters to reconnoiter the strongly defended enemy base at Wewak. Having observed enemy installations and reinforcements at 4 airfields, and secured important tactical information, he saw an enemy fighter below him, made a diving attack and shot it down in flames. The small formation then sighted approximately 12 enemy bombers accompanied by 36 fighters. Although his mission had been completed, his fuel was running low, and the numerical odds were 12 to 1, he gave the signal to attack. Diving into the midst of the enemy airplanes he shot down 3 in quick succession. Observing 1 of his comrades with 2 enemy fighters in pursuit, he destroyed both enemy aircraft. The enemy broke off in large numbers to make a multiple attack on his airplane but despite his peril he made one more pass before seeking cloud protection. Coming into the clear, he called his flight together and led them to a friendly base. Col. Kearby brought down 6 enemy aircraft in this action, undertaken with superb daring after his mission was completed.

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12 October

1492 – Christopher Columbus sited land, an island of the Bahamas which he named San Salvador, but which was called Guanahani by the local Taino people. Pinta’s lookout, Rodrigo de Triana, saw a white cliff in the moonlight on the morning of Oct 12th. Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, or Cristobal Colon to his Spanish patrons, led a group of exhilarated sailors ashore on a sunny Caribbean island they christened San Salvador. Seeking to establish profitable Asian trade routes by sailing west, Columbus seriously underestimated the size of the Earth–never dreaming that two great continents blocked his path to the east. Columbus, returning to Spain after his first expedition, submitted a report of the wonders he had seen to Ferdinand and Isabella. The original report was not illustrated, but later editions, were imaginatively illustrated with woodcuts showing cowering Indians and an ocean-going ship with oars. Even after four voyages to America, Columbus believed until the end of his life in 1506 that he had discovered an isolated corner of Asia.

1748 – British and Spanish naval forces engage at the Battle of Havana during the War of Jenkins’ Ear.

1776 – British Brigade began guarding Throgs Necks Road in Bronx.

1792 – First celebration of Columbus Day in the USA held in New York City.

1861 – The Confederate ironclad Manassas attacked the northern ship Richmond on the Mississippi River. The Manassas was the Confederacy‘s first operational ironclad. Originally a New England tugboat called the Enoch Train, the ship was refit with iron sheathing and an iron prow for ramming. The underpowered ship was used in defense of New Orleans, finally being dispatched by the Union warship Mississippi.

1862 – J.E.B. Stuart completed his “2nd ride around McClellan.” Following the September 17, 1862, Battle of Sharpsburg in Maryland, Gen. Robert E. Lee’s battered Confederate Army of Northern Virginia slipped back across the Potomac River and set up camp in the valleys of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains while it tried to reorganize and revitalize. Gen. George B. McClellan’s much larger Union Army of the Potomac had not been so badly hurt in the recent battle and probably could have destroyed Lee’s ragged army with a vigorous pursuit. Instead, McClellan kept his men in camps on the north side of the Potomac, citing the need to reorganize and recondition the force before following Lee into Virginia. Wanting to buy his army as much time to recuperate as possible, Lee summoned cavalry chief Gen. Jeb Stuart to headquarters on October 6 and proposed a cavalry raid into Pennsylvania. Lee needed information on enemy dispositions and intentions and wanted Stuart to destroy a vital Union railroad bridge at Chambersburg, PA, and then return with horses and supplies confiscated from the Pennsylvania countryside.

This was just the type of daring, independent mission that Stuart loved to undertake. On the afternoon of October 9, three 600-man Confederate cavalry brigades gathered at Darkesville, VA, and rode northward, arriving at McCoy’s Ford on the Potomac River after dark. At dawn the next morning the raiders easily pushed back the Union pickets at the ford and continued northward through the rolling hills of Maryland’s panhandle, reaching Pennsylvania by 10:00am. Stuart had given strict orders that the property of Marylanders was to be protected, but upon entering Pennsylvania, Rebel troopers spread out over the countryside and began seizing horses. The “Dutch” German immigrant farmers were flabbergasted to find Confederate troopers rounding up their horses and stealing their newly harvested fodder. Stuart ordered his men not to seize the horses of female travelers they came across.

1862 – There was a skirmish at Monocacy, Maryland.

1870 – Gen. Robert E. Lee died in Lexington, Va., at 63. General Robert Edward Lee, the commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, dies peacefully at his home in Lexington, Virginia. He was 63 years old. Lee was born to Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee and Ann Carter Lee at Stratford Hall, Virginia, in 1807. His father served in the American Revolution under George Washington. Lee attended West Point and graduated second in his class in 1829. He did not earn a single demerit during his four years at the academy. Lee sided with the Confederacy and spent the first year of the war as an advisor to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. He assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia when Joseph Johnston was wounded in battle in May 1862.

Over the next three years, Lee earned a reputation as one of the greatest military leaders in history for his use of brilliant tactics and battlefield leadership. His invasions of the north, at Antietam and Gettysburg, however, ended in defeat. After Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox in 1865, he returned to Richmond and an uncertain future. With his military career over, he accepted the presidency of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. Under his leadership, the struggling institution’s enrollment increased from a few dozen to more than 300 students. He contributed to faculty stability, revamped the curriculum, and improved the physical condition of the campus. He also became a symbol of the defeated South, a dignified and stoic figure who was lionized by North and South alike. He suffered a stroke on September 28, 1870, and lingered for two weeks before passing. The school changed its name to Washington and Lee College soon after he died.

1871 – President Grant condemned the Ku Klux Klan.

1872 – Apache (Chiricahua) leader Cochise signed a peace treaty with General O.O. Howard in Arizona Territory.

1892 – The American Pledge of Allegiance was 1st recited in public schools to commemorate Columbus Day. Francis Bellamy, a Socialist and magazine editor of Rome, NY, wrote the “Pledge of Allegiance.”

1901 – President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the “Executive Mansion” to the White House.

1914 – USS Jupiter (AC-3) is first Navy ship to complete transit of Panama Canal.

1917 – The 1st Marine Aviation Squadron and 1st Marine Aeronautic Company formed at Philadelphia.

1933 – The United States Army Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz Island, is acquired by the United States Department of Justice.

1942 – During World War II, President Roosevelt delivered one of his so-called “fireside chats” in which he recommended drafting 18- and 19-year-old men.

1942 – Japanese ships retreat after their defeat in the Battle of Cape Esperance with the Japanese commander, Aritomo Gotō dying from wounds suffered in the battle and two Japanese destroyers sunk by Allied air attack.

1942 – During World War II, Attorney General Francis Biddle announced that Italian nationals in the United States would no longer be considered enemy aliens.

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1943 – The U.S. Fifth Army began preparation for an assault crossing of the Volturno River in Italy. The enemy had no reason to suspect that a major battle was impending. Our customary night patrols worked their way down to the river, drawing an occasional burst of machinegun fire from the enemy bank or causing a nervous German outpost to shoot off a colored signal flare. This had been going on for days and signified nothing out of the ordinary to the enemy troops in their fox holes and gun emplacements. Back in our rear bivouac areas, it was a different story. Here was all the bustle and ordered confusion which accompany the movement of troops. Tank drivers warmed up their motors, engineers loaded rubber pontons onto trucks, artillerymen studied their fire plans, and long lines of infantrymen marched out to their forward assembly areas. The preparatory phase of the Volturno crossing was over; Fifth Army was ready to strike.

1944 – Aircraft from Carrier Task Force 38 attack Formosa.

1946 – Joseph W. Stilwell, US general in China, died. General Joseph W. Stilwell, the man who commanded the U.S. and Chinese Nationalist resistance to Japanese incursions into China and Burma, dies today at age 63. Born March 19, 1883, in Palatka, Florida, and a graduate of the West Point Military Academy, Stilwell began distinguishing himself early in his career. In World War I, he served with the American Expeditionary Force in Europe, as well as in the Philippines. He was also a student of the Chinese language, which garnered him a position as military attache in Peking from 1935 to 1939. It was during the 1930s that Stilwell began to bond with the Chinese peasantry-and developed an infamous distrust, if not contempt, for Chinese political leadership. Known for his straight-talking manner and as a man who did not suffer fools gladly, he made no qualms about his dislike for Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, who Stilwell considered corrupt and greedy (and whom he nicknamed “the Peanut”). Nevertheless, when World War II broke out, Stilwell reluctantly accepted Chiang’s offer to become commander of U.S. Army forces in China and Burma-as well as to become Chiang’s chief of staff. Stilwell also supervised the dispersion of American Land-Lease shipments to China, much-needed supplies for the war effort that Chiang wanted funneled through his office. Stilwell’s initial military operation, to keep open the Burma Road between India and China and to repel Japanese incursions into Burma, failed. The operation in Burma was so disastrous that Chinese forces under his command stopped taking orders. And as Allied supplies to China were being strangled (the Burma Road was the necessary shipping route), Stilwell and his forces were forced to retreat into India.

“We got run out of Burma, and it is humiliating as hell,” the general later admitted. Further attempts by Stilwell to rally Chinese forces against the Japanese in both Burma and China were often thwarted by both Chiang, who was more concerned about the communist threat of Mao Tse-tung, and not allowing his ultimate authority to be usurped by the Americans, and the American Air Force, which, naturally, wanted to divert the war effort from the ground to the air. Stilwell did manage to lead Chinese divisions to retake Myitakyina, and its airfield, from Japanese control, rebuilding the Ledo Road, a military highway in India that led into Burma (the road was later renamed Stilwell Road). But conflicts with Chiang resulted in Stilwell’s removal in 1944. He then served as commander of the 10th Army on Okinawa, ultimately receiving the surrender of 100,000 Japanese troops in the Ryukyu Islands, in southern Japan. Stilwell finished off his career as commander of the 6th Army. The man who Gen. George C. Marshall declared “far-sighted” and “one of the exceptionally brilliant and cultured men in the Army…qualified for any command in peace or war,” died in San Francisco-with his nation at peace.

1950 – The battleship USS Missouri bombarded Chongjin.

1950 – The USS Pirate and USS Pledge were both destroyed by mines. The Pirate sank in four minutes with six killed and 43 wounded. The Pledge suffered seven killed in action and 36 wounded.

1950 – FEAF Combat Cargo Command began an airlift of ROK military supplies to Wonsan, which ROK forces had captured two days earlier. It also began transporting 600 tons of bridge sections to Kimpo airfield.

1953 – US and Greece signed a peace treaty that included US bases.

1957 – RADM Dufek arrives at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica to command Operation Deep Freeze III during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58.

1960 – Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev disrupted a U.N. General Assembly session by pounding his desk with a shoe during a dispute.

1964 – The Soviet Union launched a Voskhod space capsule with a three-man crew on the first manned mission involving more than one crew member.

1965 – End of Project Sealab II where teams of naval divers and scientists spent 15 days in Sealab moored 205 feet below surface near La Jolla, California.

1966 – Operation “Teton,” RVN.

1967 – At a news conference, Secretary of State Dean Rusk makes controversial comments in which he says that congressional proposals for peace initiatives–a bombing halt or limitation, United Nations action, or a new Geneva conference–were futile because of Hanoi’s opposition. Without the pressure of the bombing, he asked, “Where would be the incentive for peace?” He added that the Vietnam War was a test of Asia’s ability to withstand the threat of “a billion Chinese…armed with nuclear weapons.” Critics claimed that he had invoked the familiar “yellow peril” of Chinese power.

1970 – President Richard Nixon announced the pullout of 40,000 more American troops in Vietnam by Christmas.

1983 – Granada’s Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard, a hardline Marxist, leads a coup that ousts Prime Minister Maurice Bishop. Bishop and most of his cabinet will be executed a week later. The U.S. is concerned by increasingly close ties between Granada and Cuba as well as the construction of a 10,000-foot runway that could be used by Soviet and Cuban military and cargo aircraft.

1984 – IRA bombed the hotel where Margaret Thatcher was staying in Brighton. Thatcher escaped but five people were killed. Patrick McGee was sentenced to 8 life sentences for his role in the bombing. McGee was freed in 1999 as part of the Northern Ireland peace accord.

1986 – The superpower meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, ended in stalemate, with President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev unable to agree on arms control or a date for a full-fledged summit in the United States.

1993 – Hundreds of militant right-wingers in Haiti cheered as an American warship retreated in a major setback for a U.N. mission to restore democracy.

1993 – US soldiers wound two Somalis near K-4 traffic circle. GIs are fired on by small arms and RPG’s.

1994 – Panama granted political asylum to ousted Haitian military leader Raoul Cedras.

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1994 – NASA loses radio contact with the Magellan spacecraft as the probe descends into the thick atmosphere of Venus (the spacecraft presumably burned up in the atmosphere).

1995 – After a 2-day delay, the US-brokered cease-fire in Bosnia-Herzegovina went into effect a minute after midnight. Fighting continued over contested towns in northwest Bosnia.

1998 – Yugoslav Pres. Milosevic agreed to withdraw troops from Kosovo and allow international verification as NATO prepared to authorize air strikes if he does not comply.

2000 – Pres. Clinton lifted key economic sanctions against Serbia.

2000 – A US Navy destroyer, the USS Cole, refueling in Yemen suffered an enormous explosion in a terrorist attack. Initial reports had at least 6 sailors killed with 11 missing. The death toll was revised to 17. The 8,600-ton Cole was returned to the US aboard the Norwegian ship Blue Marlin. In 2001 a video tape by “Al-Sahab Productions” circulated among Muslim militants with footage of the bombed vessel. The Cole returned to active duty in 2003 following $250 million in repairs.

Those killed: Hull Maintenance Technician 2nd Class Kenneth Clodfelter, Electronics Technician Chief Petty Officer Richard Costelow, Mess Management Specialist Seaman Lakeina Francis, Information Systems Technician Seaman, Timothy Lee Gauna, Signalman Seaman Cherone Louis Gunn, Seaman James Rodrick McDaniels, Engineman 2nd Class Marc Ian Nieto, Electronics Warfare Technician 2nd Class Ronald Owens, Seaman Lakiba Nicole Palmer, Engineman Fireman Joshua Langdon Parlett, Fireman Patrick Howard Roy, Electronics Warfare Technician 1st Class Kevin Shawn Rux, Mess Management Specialist 3rd Class Ronchester Santiago, Operations Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Lamont Saunders, Fireman Gary Graham Swenchonis Jr., Ensign Andrew Triplett, Seaman Craig Bryan Wibberley.

2000 – In Chechnya a car bomb exploded outside a Grozny police stations and at least 10 people were killed.

2000 – In Ecuador suspected Columbian FARC guerrillas kidnapped 5 Americans and 5 other foreign oil workers, hijacked a helicopter, and crossed back to Columbia. It was later suspected that the kidnappers were Ecuadoran criminals rather than Colombian guerrillas. One American was later killed and 2 Frenchmen escaped.

2000 – The Palestinian Authority released hundreds of prisoners including senior Islamic militants.

2001 – Taliban leaders withdrew over $6 million from the Kabul Da Afghanistan Bank.

2001 – In Colombia AUC paramilitary shot and killed 5 men and 2 women in the town of Piamonte. The army reported that it had discovered14 bodies in a single grave in the town of Albania.

2001 – In Spain a bombing caused wide damage in Madrid. Basque separatists were suspected.

2001 – The US indicated it would aid Uzbekistan if it were attacked. Uzbekistan was the first among Central Asian nations to allow the US to use its airspace and deploy troops on its territory for the anti-terrorism war in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks. The United States set up a military base in southern Uzbekistan, deploying hundreds of troops there.

2002 – In Indonesia a car bomb ripped through the Sari Club at the Kuta Beach resort packed with foreign tourists on the island of Bali, sparking a blaze that killed 202 people and injured 300 others. It was the worst terrorist act in Indonesia’s history. Authorities said a second bomb exploded near the island’s U.S. consular office. An estimated 100 victims were from Australia.

2002 – Kuwait’s interior minister said that 15 Kuwaitis in police custody had confessed to a deadly attack on U.S. Marines, but that no firm link has been established between them and al-Qaida.

2002 – Seven Filipino soldiers died and 25 others were wounded in a fierce clash with Muslim rebels deep in the jungle of southern Sulu island.

2003 – In Colombia government forces battled rebels and right-wing paramilitaries in several locations in heavy fighting that killed 27 gunmen and two soldiers.

2003 – In Baghdad a suicide attacker, stopped from reaching a hotel full of Americans, detonated his car bomb on a commercial avenue, killing six bystanders and wounding dozens.

2003 – In the Philippines Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, terrorist bombmaker for Jemaah Islamiyah, was killed in a shootout with police in Pigcauayan.

2003 – In northern Spain 2 bombs exploded in a parking lot, destroying 11 freight trucks. No one was injured in the blast blamed on the armed Basque separatist group ETA.

2004 – A videotape surfaced on the Internet showing what was said to be the confession and beheading of an Arab Shiite Muslim, presumably Iraqi, who was accused of serving the U.S. Army by “assassinating Sunni leaders.”

2010 – The trial of Ahmed Ghailani, the first Guantanamo Bay prisoner to face a criminal trial in the United States, begins in New York City. He was indicted in the United States as a participant in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. He was on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list from its inception in October 2001. In 2004, he was captured and detained by Pakistani forces in a joint operation with the United States, and was held until June 9, 2009, in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp; one of 14 Guantanamo detainees who had previously been held at secret locations abroad. Ghailani was transported from Guantanamo Bay to New York City to await trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in June 2009. On November 17, 2010, a jury found him guilty of one count of conspiracy, but acquitted him of 284 other charges including all murder counts. On Tuesday, January 25, 2011, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, the presiding judge in the case, sentenced Ahmed Ghailani, 36, to life in prison for the bombing, stating that any sufferings Ghailani experienced at the hands of the CIA or other agencies while in custody at Guantanamo Bay pales in comparison to the monumental tragedy of the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, which killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, and left thousands injured or otherwise impacted by the crimes. The attacks were one of the deadliest non-wartime incidents of international terrorism to affect the United States; they were on a scale not surpassed until the September 11th attacks three years later.

2011 – Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian man also known as the “underwear bomber”, pleads guilty to attempting to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day 2009 in a trial in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. Abdulmutallab was convicted in a US federal court of eight criminal counts, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted murder of 289 people. On 16 February 2012 he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

2014 – A Texas health care worker contracts Ebola. The health care worker is the first person to contract the disease in the United States of America, the first infection in the US to occur by secondary contact, and the second in the world sickened from exposure outside of the African continent. The health care worker, who was in full protective gear while providing hospital care for an Ebola patient who later died, tested positive for the virus and is in stable condition, health officials said Sunday. Meanwhile, a top federal health official said the health care worker’s Ebola diagnosis shows there was a clear breach of safety protocol and all those who treated Thomas Eric Duncan must considered to be potentially exposed.


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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

WOODFILL, SAMUEL
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 60th Infantry, 5th Division. Place and date: At Cunel, France, 12 October 1918. Entered service at: Bryantsburg, Ind. Birth: Jefferson County, Ind. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: While he was leading his company against the enemy, his line came under heavy machinegun fire, which threatened to hold up the advance. Followed by 2 soldiers at 25 yards, this officer went out ahead of his first line toward a machinegun nest and worked his way around its flank, leaving the 2 soldiers in front. When he got within 10 yards of the gun it ceased firing, and 4 of the enemy appeared, 3 of whom were shot by 1st Lt. Woodfill. The fourth, an officer, rushed at 1st Lt. Woodfill, who attempted to club the officer with his rifle. After a hand-to-hand struggle, 1st Lt. Woodfill killed the officer with his pistol. His company thereupon continued to advance, until shortly afterwards another machinegun nest was encountered. Calling on his men to follow, 1st Lt. Woodfill rushed ahead of his line in the face of heavy fire from the nest, and when several of the enemy appeared above the nest he shot them, capturing 3 other members of the crew and silencing the gun. A few minutes later this officer for the third time demonstrated conspicuous daring by charging another machinegun position, killing 5 men in one machinegun pit with his rifle. He then drew his revolver and started to jump into the pit, when 2 other gunners only a few yards away turned their gun on him. Failing to kill them with his revolver, he grabbed a pick lying nearby and killed both of them. Inspired by the exceptional courage displayed by this officer, his men pressed on to their objective under severe shell and machinegun fire.

*PENDLETON, JACK J.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company I, 120th Infantry, 30th Infantry Division. Place and date: Bardenberg, Germany, 12 October 1944. Entered service at: Yakima, Wash. Birth: Sentinel Butte, N. Dak. G.O. No.: 24, 6 April 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 12 October 1944. When Company I was advancing on the town of Bardenberg, Germany, they reached a point approximately two-thirds of the distance through the town when they were pinned down by fire from a nest of enemy machineguns. This enemy strong point was protected by a lone machinegun strategically placed at an intersection and firing down a street which offered little or no cover or concealment for the advancing troops. The elimination of this protecting machinegun was imperative in order that the stronger position it protected could be neutralized. After repeated and unsuccessful attempts had been made to knock out this position, S/Sgt. Pendleton volunteered to lead his squad in an attempt to neutralize this strongpoint. S/Sgt. Pendleton started his squad slowly forward, crawling about 10 yards in front of his men in the advance toward the enemy gun. After advancing approximately 130 yards under the withering fire, S/Sgt. Pendleton was seriously wounded in the leg by a burst from the gun he was assaulting. Disregarding his grievous wound, he ordered his men to remain where they were, and with a supply of handgrenades he slowly and painfully worked his way forward alone. With no hope of surviving the veritable hail of machinegun fire which he deliberately drew onto himself, he succeeded in advancing to within 10 yards of the enemy position when he was instantly killed by a burst from the enemy gun. By deliberately diverting the attention of the enemy machine gunners upon himself, a second squad was able to advance, undetected, and with the help of S/Sgt. Pendleton’s squad, neutralized the lone machinegun, while another platoon of his company advanced up the intersecting street and knocked out the machinegun nest which the first gun had been covering. S/Sgt. Pendleton’s sacrifice enabled the entire company to continue the advance and complete their mission at a critical phase of the action.

*SCOTT, NORMAN
Rank and organization: Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy. Born: 10 August 1889, Indianapolis, Ind. Appointed from: Indiana. Citation: For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty during action against enemy Japanese forces off Savo Island on the night of 11-12 October and again on the night of 12-13 November 1942. In the earlier action, intercepting a Japanese Task Force intent upon storming our island positions and landing reinforcements at Guadalcanal, Rear Adm. Scott, with courageous skill and superb coordination of the units under his command, destroyed 8 hostile vessels and put the others to flight. Again challenged, a month later, by the return of a stubborn and persistent foe, he led his force into a desperate battle against tremendous odds, directing close-range operations against the invading enemy until he himself was killed in the furious bombardment by their superior firepower. On each of these occasions his dauntless initiative, inspiring leadership and judicious foresight in a crisis of grave responsibility contributed decisively to the rout of a powerful invasion fleet and to the consequent frustration of a formidable Japanese offensive. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.

*COURSEN, SAMUEL S.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company C 5th Cavalry Regiment. Place and date: Near Kaesong, Korea, 12 October 1950. Entered service at: Madison, N.J. Born: 4 August 1926 Madison, N.J. G.O. No.: 57, 2 August 1951. Citation: 1st Lt. Coursen distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action. While Company C was attacking Hill 174 under heavy enemy small-arms fire, his platoon received enemy fire from close range. The platoon returned the fire and continued to advance. During this phase 1 his men moved into a well-camouflaged emplacement, which was thought to be unoccupied, and was wounded by the enemy who were hidden within the emplacement. Seeing the soldier in difficulty he rushed to the man’s aid and, without regard for his personal safety, engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat in an effort to protect his wounded comrade until he himself was killed. When his body was recovered after the battle 7 enemy dead were found in the emplacement. As the result of 1st Lt. Coursen’s violent struggle several of the enemies’ heads had been crushed with his rifle. His aggressive and intrepid actions saved the life of the wounded man, eliminated the main position of the enemy roadblock, and greatly inspired the men in his command. 1st Lt. Coursen’s extraordinary heroism and intrepidity reflect the highest credit on himself and are in keeping with the honored traditions of the military service.

WEST, ERNEST E.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company L, 14th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Sataeri, Korea, 12 October 1952. Entered service at: Wurtland Ky. Born: 2 September 1931, Russell, Ky. G.O. No.: 7, 29 January i954. Citation: Pfc. West distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. He voluntarily accompanied a contingent to locate and destroy a reported enemy outpost. Nearing the objective, the patrol was ambushed and suffered numerous casualties. Observing his wounded leader lying in an exposed position, Pfc. West ordered the troops to withdraw, then braved intense fire to reach and assist him. While attempting evacuation, he was attacked by 3 hostile soldiers employing grenades and small-arms fire. Quickly shifting his body to shelter the officer, he killed the assailants with his rifle, then carried the helpless man to safety. He was critically wounded and lost an eye in this action. but courageously returned through withering fire and bursting shells to assist the wounded. While evacuating 2 comrades, he closed with and killed 3 more of the foe. Pfc. West’s indomitable spirit, consummate valor, and intrepid actions inspired all who observed him, reflect the highest credit on himself, and uphold the honored traditions of the military service.

*PERKINS, WILLIAM THOMAS, JR.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division. Place and date: Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam, 12 October 1967. Entered service at: San Francisco, Calif. Born: 10 August 1947, Rochester, N.Y. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a combat photographer attached to Company C. During Operation MEDINA, a major reconnaissance in force southwest of Quang Tri, Company C made heavy combat contact with a numerically superior North Vietnamese Army force estimated at from 2 to 3 companies. The focal point of the intense fighting was a helicopter landing zone which was also serving as the Command Post of Company C. In the course of a strong hostile attack, an enemy grenade landed in the immediate area occupied by Cpl. Perkins and 3 other marines. Realizing the inherent danger, he shouted the warning, “Incoming Grenade” to his fellow marines, and in a valiant act of heroism, hurled himself upon the grenade absorbing the impact of the explosion with his body, thereby saving the lives of his comrades at the cost of his life. Through his exceptional courage and inspiring valor in the face of certain death, Cpl. Perkins reflected great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

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1492 – Christopher Columbus sited land, an island of the Bahamas which he named San Salvador, but which was called Guanahani by the local Taino people.

In Kommiefornia, we cannot use the name of Columbus. It has been changed to Indigenous. Flippin Libtards!

 

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Columbus, Ohio did the same damn thing...!!

Those friggin' Liberals won't be happy until the tear down anything and everything about our nations' history...from statues and holidays to the actual teaching of it in schools.

Conservatives better wake up and fight back...!!

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13 October

1670 – Virginia passed a law that blacks arriving in the colonies as Christians could not be used as slaves.

1754 – American Revolutionary War heroine Molly Pitcher was born. During the American Revolution, at the Battle of Monmouth, NJ, Molly helped out as a water carrier, gaining her nickname, Molly Pitcher. Her husband, John, was wounded during the battle and Molly dropped the water pitcher, taking up her husband’s job of loading and firing a cannon. General George Washington appointed her a non-commissioned officer.

1775 – Navy Founded. The Continental Congress voted to fit out two sailing vessels, armed with ten carriage guns, as well as swivel guns, and manned by crews of eighty, and to send them out on a cruise of three months to intercept transports carrying munitions and stores to the British army in America. This was the original legislation out of which the Continental Navy grew and as such constitutes the birth certificate of the navy. To understand the momentous significance of the decision to send two armed vessels to sea under the authority of the Continental Congress, we need to review the strategic situation in which it was made and to consider the political struggle that lay behind it. Americans first took up arms in the spring of 1775 not to sever their relationship with the king, but to defend their rights within the British Empire. By the autumn of 1775, the British North American colonies from Maine to Georgia were in open rebellion. Royal governments had been thrust out of many colonial capitals and revolutionary governments put in their places. The Continental Congress had assumed some of the responsibilities of a central government for the colonies, created a Continental Army, issued paper money for the support of the troops, and formed a committee to negotiate with foreign countries. Continental forces captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain and launched an invasion of Canada.

In October 1775 the British held superiority at sea, from which they threatened to stop up the colonies’ trade and to wreak destruction on seaside settlements. In response a few of the states had commissioned small fleets of their own for defense of local waters. Congress had not yet authorized privateering. Some in Congress worried about pushing the armed struggle too far, hoping that reconciliation with the mother country was still possible. Yet, a small coterie of men in Congress had been advocating a Continental Navy from the outset of armed hostilities. Foremost among these men was John Adams, of Massachusetts. For months, he and a few others had been agitating in Congress for the establishment of an American fleet. They argued that a fleet would defend the seacoast towns, protect vital trade, retaliate against British raiders, and make it possible to seek out among neutral nations of the world the arms and stores that would make resistance possible. Still, the establishment of a navy seemed too bold a move for some of the timid men in Congress. Some southerners agreed that a fleet would protect and secure the trade of New England but denied that it would that of the southern colonies. Most of the delegates did not consider the break with England as final and feared that a navy implied sovereignty and independence. Others thought a navy a hasty and foolish challenge to the mightiest fleet the world had seen. The most the pro-navy men could do was to get Congress to urge each colony to fit out armed vessels for the protection of their coasts and harbors. Then, on 3 October, Rhode Island’s delegates laid before Congress a bold resolution for the building and equipping of an American fleet, as soon as possible. When the motion came to the floor for debate, Samuel Chase, of Maryland, attacked it, saying it was “the maddest Idea in the World to think of building an American Fleet.” Even pro-navy members found the proposal too vague. It lacked specifics and no one could tell how much it would cost. If Congress was yet unwilling to embrace the idea of establishing a navy as a permanent measure, it could be tempted by short-term opportunities.

Fortuitously, on 5 October, Congress received intelligence of two English brigs, unarmed and without convoy, laden with munitions, leaving England bound for Quebec. Congress immediately appointed a committee to consider how to take advantage of this opportunity. Its members were all New Englanders and all ardent supporters of a navy. They recommended first that the governments of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut be asked to dispatch armed vessels to lay in wait to intercept the munitions ships; next they outlined a plan for the equipping by Congress of two armed vessels to cruise to the eastward to intercept any ships bearing supplies to the British army. Congress let this plan lie on the table until 13 October, when another fortuitous event occurred in favor of the naval movement. A letter from General Washington was read in Congress in which he reported that he had taken under his command, at Continental expense, three schooners to cruise off Massachusetts to intercept enemy supply ships. The commander in chief had preempted members of Congress reluctant to take the first step of fitting out warships under Continental authority. Since they already had armed vessels cruising in their name, it was not such a big step to approve two more. The committee’s proposal, now appearing eminently reasonable to the reluctant members, was adopted.

The Continental Navy grew into an important force. Within a few days, Congress established a Naval Committee charged with equipping a fleet. This committee directed the purchasing, outfitting, manning, and operations of the first ships of the new navy, drafted subsequent naval legislation, and prepared rules and regulations to govern the Continental Navy’s conduct and internal administration. Over the course of the War of Independence, the Continental Navy sent to sea more than fifty armed vessels of various types. The navy’s squadrons and cruisers seized enemy supplies and carried correspondence and diplomats to Europe, returning with needed munitions. They took nearly 200 British vessels as prizes, some off the British Isles themselves, contributing to the demoralization of the enemy and forcing the British to divert warships to protect convoys and trade routes. In addition, the navy provoked diplomatic crises that helped bring France into the war against Great Britain. The Continental Navy began the proud tradition carried on today by our United States Navy, and whose birthday we celebrate each year in October.

1792 – The cornerstone of the executive mansion, later known as the White House, was laid during a ceremony in the District of Columbia.

1795 – William Prescott, American Revolutionary soldier, died. Prescott inherited a large estate and resided in Pepperell, Massachusetts. In 1755, he served as a lieutenant and captain in the provincial army under General John Winslow in an expedition against Nova Scotia. His success in that campaign attracted Winslow’s attention, and he offered Prescott a commission in the regular army. Prescott declined and retired to his estate after the war. In 1774, he was appointed to command a regiment of minutemen, with which he marched to Lexington to oppose British General Gage’s forces. Before Prescott arrived at Lexington, however, the British had retreated, so he joined the provincial army in Cambridge. In 1775, he was sent to Charlestown with 1,000 men, and procedeed to see action at the Battle of Bunker Hill, actually fought on Breed’s Hill. An advisor of General Gates said of him, “that is Col. Prescott – he is an old soldier, and will fight as long as a drop of blood remains in his veins.” During the course of the battle, Prescott reportedly shouted to the Continental troops, “don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.” After the battle, which ended with a British victory with heavy casualties, Prescott returned to his estate. He became a representative in the Massachusetts legislature and served for several years. A statue of Prescott was erected on Bunker Hill in 1881.

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1812 – At the Battle of Queenston Heights, a Canadian and British army defeated the Americans who had tried to invade Canada. This was the 1st major land battle in the War of 1812. By the fall of 1812, the Americans are desperate for a major victory. Hull’s surrender at Detroit is proof that the invasion of Canada will not be a simple “matter of marching” as some American politicians have boasted. The United States has not followed its original plan of striking at Canada simultaneously on three fronts, and this will cost them control of the Western frontier. The short Dearborn-Prevost armistice give the U.S. some time to recover from the shock of its early losses. All eyes have now turned toward the Army of the Center gathering along the Niagara River. U.S. Major General Stephen Van Rensselaer has command of a sizable army near Lewiston, but is far from inspired by the quality of his troops. To make matters worse, Van Rensellaer is a major general of the militia and receives little respect from the officers of the regular army. But he is under pressure from the President and must act. Early in the morning of October 13, 1812, Van Rensselaer attacks across the Niagara River.

Despite heavy British fire and the treacherous river currents, most of the first wave of the American force reach the Canadian shore. But their objective is Queenston Heights – 80 meters straight above them. They manage to find a fisherman’s path and half the force heads up the embankment. Meanwhile, the small British force at Queenston Heights is heartened by arrival of General Brock from Fort George and news that there are more reinforcements on the way. Part of the American force reaches the top of the promontory and circles behind the British artillery position. The redcoats are forced from the Heights with only enough time to spike their biggest cannon. The headstrong General Brock decides to counter-attack immediately. Charging ahead of his troops, Isaac Brock is shot and killed. The battle for control of the Heights continues for hours. The American troops waiting to cross the Niagara refuse to budge. The militiamen can hear the battle-cries of the Mohawks from across the river and suddenly remember their constitutional rights: they cannot be forced to fight on foreign soil. Without reinforcements, it is only a matter of time before the initial American attackers are outnumbered, and trapped, on the Canadian side of the river.

As the British retake the town of Queenston, the US troops on the Heights cannot consolidate their position. Men scramble down the embankment and, crazed with fear, leap from the cliffs. Others hide in the forest or attempt to swim back to the American side. The remaining US troops quickly surrender. Although this is a decisive victory for the British, it has been won at great cost. Brock has been killed. He was an intelligent and well-liked commander and also a crucial link with Tecumseh’s confederacy. The battle at Queenston convinces many people that a defense of Canada is possible. Brock’s death becomes a unifying factor for many Upper Canadians; they now have a hero to mourn and a common debt to repay.

1845 – An overwhelming majority of voters, 94%, in the Republic of Texas approve a proposed constitution that, if accepted by the U.S. Congress, will make Texas a U.S. state. Geographically located in the south central part of the country, Texas shares an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south and borders the U.S. states of New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Texas has an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km2).

1860 – The 1st US aerial photo was taken from a balloon over Boston.

1864 – Battle at Darbytown Road Virginia resulted in 337 casualties. Union forces advanced to find and feel the new Confederate defensive line in front of Richmond. While mostly a battle of skirmishers, a Federal brigade assaulted fortifications north of Darbytown Road and was repulsed with heavy casualties. The Federals retired to their entrenched lines along New Market Road.

1864 – Battle of Harpers Ferry, WV (Mosby’s Raid). Learning that the garrison at Harpers Ferry had not retreated after his incursion into Maryland, Lee decided to surround the force and capture it. He divided his army into four columns, three of which converged upon and invested Harpers Ferry. On September 15, after Confederate artillery was placed on the heights overlooking the town, Union commander Col. Miles surrendered the garrison of more than 12,000. Miles was mortally wounded by a last salvo fired from a battery on Loudoun Heights. Jackson took possession of Harpers Ferry, then led most of his soldiers to join with Lee at Sharpsburg. After paroling the prisoners at Harpers Ferry, A.P. Hill’s division arrived in time to save Lee’s army from near-defeat at Sharpsburg.

1884 – Greenwich was established as universal time meridian of longitude.

1914 – Garrett Morgan invented and patented the gas mask.

1919 – There was a race riot at Elaine, Arkansas. Located in Phillips County, Arkansas, in 1919 Elaine was a small town mostly inhabited by black sharecroppers. Robert L. Hill, a 26 year-old black man from Winchester, Arkansas visited Elaine and realized that the sharecroppers were being consistently exploited and cheated by the landlords. He founded the Organization of the Progressive Farmers’ and Household Union of America as an alliance of black tenant farmers. With the support of the Union (which had several lodges around Elaine) blacks were able to organize acts of resistance among cotton workers. These included the refusal of Elaine sawmill workers to let the women of their families work for whites, and demands for higher wages for cotton pickers. Union members hired lawyers (from the firm of Bratton, Bratton and Casey, based in Little Rock) to sue for money that the landlords owed them for cotton. Robert Hill began to insist that Union meetings should be secure and guarded in order to keep out all whites. In a meeting on Wednesday, October 13, 1919, at a church in Hoop Spur, guards armed with rifles and shotguns circled the building in order to protect those meeting inside. A car stopped close to the building and a white man said to the guards “Going coon hunting, boys?” Although the guards did not reply, a shot was quickly fired. Each side blamed the other for firing the first shot, but shots began to fly everywhere and the meeting quickly dispersed.

Special Agent W.A. Adkings of the Missouri Pacific Railroad was one of the men in the car, and was killed in this initial exchange of gunfire. By the morning of October 14, whites from Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee had flocked to the area and were confiscating and using the guns of any blacks they encountered. Fighting flared in the streets of Elaine, as blacks assembled and attacked whites, while whites ransacked the homes of black residents. Governor Brough sent troops to the scene on the request of Sheriff Kitchen. Elaine was placed under martial law. The troops arrested all the black people they could find, and blacks were not released (even if they could prove that they were innocent) unless a white person vouched for them. Many blacks were charged with being part of the “conspiracy” to commit murder. Twelve were executed for first degree murder. Fifty were found guilty of second degree murder, of whom ten received twenty-one year prison sentences. Robert Hill was eventually arrested in Kansas but was never extradited to Arkansas to stand trial.

1930 – New German Reichstag opened with 107 Nazi Party members in uniform.

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1942 – In the first of four attacks, two Japanese battleships sail down the slot and shelled Henderson field on Guadalcanal, in an unsuccessful effort to destroy the American Cactus Air Force. The bombers based there have become too effective and the Japanese dispatch the battleships Konga and Haruna to bombard the field. About 50 aircraft are destroyed in the attacks, more than half the field’s complement.

1943 – During World War II, Italy declared war on Germany, its one-time Axis partner.

1943 – Along Italy’s Volturno River, the US 3rd, 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions make good progress despite weather and German demolitions forcing advances only along major roadways.

1944 – The US 1st army entered Aachen, Germany.

1951 – Hill 851, the last peak comprising Heartbreak Ridge, was secured by the 23rd Regimental Combat Team of the 2nd Infantry Division after a fierce assault of bayonets, grenades and flame-throwers. Total allied casualties were over 3,700, more than 1,800 suffered by the 23rd Infantry RCT alone. Total enemy casualties were estimated 25,000. A total of 6,060 prisoners were taken.

1952 – In preparation for the Kojo amphibious demonstration, FEAF and USN aircraft hit enemy positions around Kojo, and USN surface craft shelled the beach area. After a respite of almost a year, the enemy, using small fabric-covered biplanes, hassled Cho-do and the Seoul area with “Bedcheck Charlie” raids.

1954 – USS Saipan begins relief and humanitarian aid to Haitians who were victims of Hurricane Hazel. The operation ended 19 October.

1960 – Opponents of Fidel Castro were executed in Cuba.

1965 – Marine Attack Squadron 211 was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces Gallantry Cross for Vietnam service, 13 October 1965 to 13 July 1966.

1966 – 173 US airplanes bombed North-Vietnam.

1969 – Pres. Nixon ordered a worldwide “secret” nuclear alert to scare the Soviets into forcing concessions from North Vietnam. Nixon called that tactic a “madman strategy,” and it did not work.

1971 – Anchorage, AK & Camp Murray, Fort Lewis, Washington — Two states tie for claiming to have enlisted the first female soldier into their Army National Guard. In Camp Murray Specialist Five Nora Campbell is sworn on this date as a member of the Washington National Guard. At virtually the same time Specialist Five Mary L. Cunningham is sworn in as a member of the Alaska Army Guard in Anchorage. Both are members of their respective State Area Headquarters. (The Specialist Five rank is no longer in use, it was the equivalent to a Sergeant, E-5). In 1967 Congress authorized the enlistment of prior-service female personnel into the Guard under Public Law 90-130 effective 1 July 1968. Only prior service women were allowed to join at this point due to the war in Vietnam demanding so much money that none was available to train women for enlisted Guard service. The Air Guard immediately enlisted its first prior-service woman when Technical Sergeant Reannie Pocock joined the 146th Military Airlift Wing, CA ANG in 1968. However, the Army Guard waited three years before finally accepting its first enlisted women soldiers. As the war in Vietnam drew to a close in the early 1970s, and the all-volunteer and Total Force policies took effect, Congress amended the law, added more money for Guard training and allowed the direct enlistment of women with no prior-service experience.

1983 – The Space Shuttle Challenger, carrying seven, the largest crew to date, landed safely at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

1987 – The US Navy made the 1st military use of trained dolphins in the Persian Gulf.

1988 – The first U.S. merchant marine World War II veterans received their Coast Guard issued discharge certificates. Congress gave the merchant mariners veterans’ status and tasked the Coast Guard with administering the discharges.

1990 – At the start of a three-day conference in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, the crown prince of Kuwait promised greater democracy for the emirate if it were freed from Iraqi occupation.

1990 – Le Duc Tho, co-founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party, died in Hanoi at age 79. He was the 1975 North Vietnamese negotiator in Paris.

1993 – The U.N. Security Council voted to reimpose sanctions on Haiti unless military leaders there stopped violating a U.N.-brokered accord.

1994 – Pro-British Protestant paramilitaries in Northern Ireland announced a cease-fire matching the Irish Republican Army’s six-week-old truce.

1995 – The Coast Guard cutter Ida Lewis is launched, the first of the new 175-foot Keeper class buoy tenders.

1996 – In Iraq the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) regained Sulaymaniyah, its former headquarters.

1997 – The Cassini spacecraft was scheduled to be launched aboard a Titan rocket from Cape Canaveral for a trip to end in 2004 at Saturn. It will carry the Huygens probe to be deployed on the Saturn moon Titan. It was postponed.

1998 – Eric Robert Rudolph, a suspect in the bombing of a Birmingham, Ala. abortion clinic, was reported to be linked to the 1996 Olympics bombing and would be charged for that and 2 other bombings in Atlanta.

1998 – In the West Bank an Israeli man, Itamar Doron (24) was killed and another wounded by suspected terrorists. The slaying prompted Prime Minister Netanyahu to declare that there was no chance of signing a new peace deal with the Palestinians.

1998 – Serbian authorities announced that elections will be held in Kosovo under international supervision next year. NATO authorized air strikes if Milosevic does no comply with UN demands.

1999 – The US Senate rejected the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban treaty 51-48.

1999 – In Georgia gunmen seized 6 UN observers and a translator as they delivered aid to Abkhazia. 4 of the observers were released the next day and the ransom was raised to $350,000. The last of the hostages were released 2 days later.

2000 – Janko “Tuta” Janjic (43), a war crimes suspect, killed himself in Foca, a town in the Serb section of Bosnia, when NATO troops came to arrest him.

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[SHOOTER13]

2001 – Anthrax was confirmed in 3 US states. In Florida 5 more employees tested positive; in Nevada a letter sent to a Microsoft office tested positive; and in NYC a letter sent to NBC News tested positive.

2001 – The US confirmed that an errant 2,000-pound bomb hit residential buildings in Kabul and that 4 people were killed.

2002 – Stephen Ambrose (b.Jan 10, 1936), historian, died in New Orleans. Stephen Ambrose was born in 1936 and grew up in Whitewater, Wisconsin. He became a history professor known for his liberal views (for example he left a teaching job at Kansas State University in order to protest over a visit from Richard Nixon during the bombings of Laos and Cambodia. He also spoke out against America’s involvement in the Vietnam war. However, he was largely unknown outside of academic circles until 1994 when he published ‘D-Day’ (published 50 years after D-Day itself). His focus in this and future books was on the ordinary soldier.

In addition to his books about World War II, Ambrose wrote about many other aspects of American history. He was the author of numerous books of history, including the New York Times bestsellers Undaunted Courage and D-Day, as well as multi-volume biographies of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He also founded the Eisenhower Center and was President of the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans. He lived in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and Helena, Montana. Ambrose’s film work included consulting roles on two Spielberg projects, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and a documentary. He also consulted on a mini series made for cable TV based on his bestselling book ‘Band of Brothers.’ He died in October 2002 at the age of 66.

2002 – Israeli troops backed by tanks and a helicopter entered the Rafah refugee camp hunting for tunnels used to smuggle weapons and drugs into the Gaza Strip. Two Palestinians were killed and 28 wounded.

2003 – Hundreds of Afghan troops backed by U.S. soldiers and helicopters attacked a suspected Taliban hide-out, killing at least 4 rebels and capturing 8 others.

2003 – In western Nepal Communist rebels attacked a police training camp overnight, sparking a gunbattle that left at least 12 policemen and 15 guerrillas dead.

2004 – In Pakistan talks aimed at freeing two Chinese engineers taken hostage by al-Qaida-linked militants in a lawless region near the Afghanistan border have broken down and tribal elders said they would support the military using force to free the pair.

2004 – A Russian rocket lifted off in Kazakhstan carrying 2 Russians and an American to replace the crew of the International Space Station.

2006 – The establishment of the Dawlat al-ʻIraq al-Islāmīyah, “Islamic State of Iraq” (ISI) was announced. A cabinet was formed and Abu Abdullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi became ISI’s figurehead emir, with the real power residing with the Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri. ISI will had been through many names since its inception in early 2004, including Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and the Mujahideen Shura Council. ISI will later be known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and, simply, the Islamic State. The group’s original founder was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The group claimed authority over the Iraqi governorates of Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salah al-Din, Nineveh, and parts of Babil.

2012 – Residents of Los Angeles watch in awe as U.S. Space Shuttle Endeavour inches through the city on a giant trolley, bound for a museum. Hundreds of trees in its path are chopped down.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

HYMER, SAMUEL
Rank and organization: Captain, Company D, 115th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Buzzard’s Roost Gap, Ga., 13 October 1864. Entered service at: Rushville, Schuyler County, Ill. Born: 17 May 1829, Harrison County, Ind. Date of issue: 28 March 1896. Citation: With only 41 men under his command, defended and held a blockhouse against the attack of Hood’s Division for nearly 10 hours, thus checking the advance of the enemy and insuring the safety of the balance of the regiment, as well as that of the 8th Kentucky Infantry, then stationed at Ringgold, Ga.

BURT, JAMES M.
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, Company B, 66th Armored Regiment, 2d Armored Division. Place and date: Near Wurselen, Germany, 13 October 1944. Entered service at: Lee, Mass. Birth: Hinsdale, Mass. G.O. No.: 95, 30 October 1945. Citation: Capt. James M. Burt was in command of Company B, 66th Armored Regiment on the western outskirts of Wurselen, Germany, on 13 October 1944, when his organization participated in a coordinated infantry-tank attack destined to isolate the large German garrison which was tenaciously defending the city of Aachen. In the first day’s action, when infantrymen ran into murderous small-arms and mortar fire, Capt. Burt dismounted from his tank about 200 yards to the rear and moved forward on foot beyond the infantry positions, where, as the enemy concentrated a tremendous volume of fire upon him, he calmly motioned his tanks into good firing positions.

As our attack gained momentum, he climbed aboard his tank and directed the action from the rear deck, exposed to hostile volleys which finally wounded him painfully in the face and neck. He maintained his dangerous post despite pointblank self-propelled gunfire until friendly artillery knocked out these enemy weapons, and then proceeded to the advanced infantry scouts’ positions to deploy his tanks for the defense of the gains which had been made. The next day, when the enemy counterattacked, he left cover and went 75 yards through heavy fire to assist the infantry battalion commander who was seriously wounded. For the next 8 days, through rainy, miserable weather and under constant, heavy shelling, Capt. Burt held the combined forces together, dominating and controlling the critical situation through the sheer force of his heroic example.

To direct artillery fire, on 15 October, he took his tank 300 yards into the enemy lines, where he dismounted and remained for 1 hour giving accurate data to friendly gunners. Twice more that day he went into enemy territory under deadly fire on reconnaissance. In succeeding days he never faltered in his determination to defeat the strong German forces opposing him. Twice the tank in which he was riding was knocked out by enemy action, and each time he climbed aboard another vehicle and continued the fight. He took great risks to rescue wounded comrades and inflicted prodigious destruction on enemy personnel and materiel even though suffering from the wounds he received in the battle’s opening phase. Capt. Burt’s intrepidity and disregard of personal safety were so complete that his own men and the infantry who attached themselves to him were inspired to overcome the wretched and extremely hazardous conditions which accompanied one of the most bitter local actions of the war. The victory achieved closed the Aachen gap.

*OLSON, ARLO L.
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, 1 5th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Crossing of the Volturno River, Italy, 13 October 1943. Entered service at: Toronto, S. Dak. Birth: Greenville, lowa. G.O. No.: 71, 31 August 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On 13 October 1943, when the drive across the Volturno River began, Capt. Olson and his company spearheaded the advance of the regiment through 30 miles of mountainous enemy territory in 13 days. Placing himself at the head of his men, Capt. Olson waded into the chest-deep water of the raging Volturno River and despite pointblank machine-gun fire aimed directly at him made his way to the opposite bank and threw 2 handgrenades into the gun position, killing the crew. When an enemy machinegun 150 yards distant opened fire on his company, Capt. Olson advanced upon the position in a slow, deliberate walk. Although 5 German soldiers threw handgrenades at him from a range of 5 yards, Capt. Olson dispatched them all, picked up a machine pistol and continued toward the enemy. Advancing to within 15 yards of the position he shot it out with the foe, killing 9 and seizing the post. Throughout the next 13 days Capt. Olson led combat patrols, acted as company No. 1 scout and maintained unbroken contact with the enemy.

On 27 October 1943, Capt. Olson conducted a platoon in attack on a strongpoint, crawling to within 25 yards of the enemy and then charging the position. Despite continuous machinegun fire which barely missed him, Capt. Olson made his way to the gun and killed the crew with his pistol. When the men saw their leader make this desperate attack they followed him and overran the position. Continuing the advance, Capt. Olson led his company to the next objective at the summit of Monte San Nicola. Although the company to his right was forced to take cover from the furious automatic and small arms fire, which was directed upon him and his men with equal intensity, Capt. Olson waved his company into a skirmish line and despite the fire of a machinegun which singled him out as its sole target led the assault which drove the enemy away. While making a reconnaissance for defensive positions, Capt. Olson was fatally wounded. Ignoring his severe pain, this intrepid officer completed his reconnaissance, Supervised the location of his men in the best defense positions, refused medical aid until all of his men had been cared for, and died as he was being carried down the mountain.

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[tazo2503]

One more time... kudos to Kev for all the work and effort that goes into this thread!

Hey havvy, I vote y’all give Shooter 1,000 extra likes for this!

 

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14 October

1734 – Francis Lightfoot Lee, US farmer and signer of the Declaration of Independence), was born. His father for several years held the office of president of the king’s council of the provincial government of Virginia. He had several sons, all of whom were highly distinguished for their talents, and for the services which they rendered their country. Philip Ludwell, a member of the king’s council; Thomas Ludwell, a member of the Virginia assembly; Richard Henry, as the champion of American freedom; William, as a sheriff and alderman of London, and afterwards a commissioner of the continental congress at the courts of Berlin and Vienna; and Arthur as a scholar, a politician, and diplomatist. The fortune bequeathed him by his father rendered the study of a profession unnecessary. He, therefore, devoted himself for several years to reading, and to the enjoyment of his friends. He was a man, however, in whom dwelt the spirit of the patriot, and who could not well be neglected, nor could he well neglect his country, when the political troubles of the colonies began.

In 1765, he was returned a member of the House of Burgesses from the county of Loudon, where his estate was situated. In this situation, he proved himself to be a gentleman of strong good sense and discriminating judgment; and to this office he was annually re-elected until 1772; when having become connected by marriage with a daughter of Colonel John Tayloe, of the county of Richmond, he removed to that county, the citizens of which soon after elected him a member o[ the house of burgesses. In 1775, Mr. Lee was chosen a member of the continental congress, by the Virginia convention. This was an eventful period in the annals of America. It was the year in which was shed the first blood in the revolutionary struggle. It was emphatically the year of “clouds and darkness,” in which indeed the hope of better days was indulged, but in which, notwithstanding this hope, “men’s souls were tried.” Mr. Lee continued a member of congress until the spring of 1779. During his attendance upon this body, he seldom took part in the public discussions, but few surpassed him in his warmth of patriotism, and in his zeal to urge forward those measures which contributed to the success of the American arms, and the independence of the country. To his brother, Richard Henry Lee, the high honor was allotted of bringing forward the momentous question of independence, and to him, and his associates in that distinguished assembly, the not inferior honor was granted of aiding and supporting and finishing this important work. As already noticed, Mr. Lee retired from congress in the year 1779. It was his wish to be exempted from public care, and in the pleasures of home to seek those enjoyments which were consentaneous to his health and happiness. This seclusion, however, he was not permitted long to enjoy.

The internal condition of Virginia, at this time, was one of much agitation and perplexity. His fellow citizens, justly appreciating the value of such a man, summoned him by their suffrages to represent them in the legislature of Virginia. While a member of the continental congress, he had been characterized for integrity, sound judgment, and love of country. In his present office, he was distinguished for the same virtues. He could not content himself, however, long in this situation. He became wearied with the duties of public life; and at length, relinquished them for the pleasures of retirement. Mr. Lee, having no children to require his care and attention, devoted much of his time to the pleasures of reading, farming, and the company of his friends. His death was occasioned by a pleurisy, which disease about the same time, also, attacked his beloved wife, and terminated the life of both, within a few days of each other.

1890 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States (1953-1961), was born in Denison, Texas, third of seven sons of David Jacob and Ida Elizabeth Stover Eisenhower. The family returned to Abilene, Kansas, in 1892. Graduated from Abilene High School, 1909. Worked at Belle Springs Creamery, 1909-1911. Entered United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, June 14, 1911, and graduated June 12, 1915. Commissioned a Second Lieutenant, September 1915. Married Mamie Geneva Doud of Denver, Colorado, July 1, 1916. First son, Doud Dwight, born September 24, 1917, and died January 2, 1921. Second son, John Sheldon Doud, born August 3, 1922. Served with the Infantry September 1915 to February 1918 in Ft. Sam Houston, Camp Wilson and Leon Springs, Texas and Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia. Served with the Tank Corps, February 1918 to January 1922 in Camp Meade, Maryland, Camp Colt, Pennsylvania, Camp Dix, New Jersey, Ft. Benning, Georgia, and Ft. Meade, Maryland. Promoted to First Lieutenant on July 1, 1916; Captain on May 15, 1917; Major (temporary) on June 17, 1918; and to Lieutenant Colonel (temporary) on October 14, 1918. Reverted to permanent rank of Captain on June 30, 1920 and was promoted to Major on July 2, 1920. Volunteered to participate as a Tank Corps observer in the First Transcontinental Motor Convoy from July 7, 1919 to September 6, 1919. Assigned as executive officer to General Fox Conner, Camp Gaillard, Panama Canal Zone, January 1922 to September 1924. Served in various capacities in Maryland and Colorado until August 1925. Entered Command and General Staff School, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, August 19, 1925, graduated first in a class of 245, June 18, 1926. Served as battalion commander, 24th Infantry, Ft. Benning, Georgia, August 1926 to January 1927.

Next assigned to American Battle Monuments Commission, directed by General John J. Pershing. January to August 1927 served in Washington, D.C. office, writing a guidebook to World War I battlefields. In charge of guidebook revision and European office, Paris, France July 1928 to September 1929. August 27, 1927, entered Army War College, Washington, D.C. and graduated June 30, 1928. Served as executive officer to General George V. Moseley, Assistant Secretary of War, Washington, D.C., November 1929 to February 1933. Served as chief military aide to General Douglas MacArthur, Army Chief of Staff, until September 1935. September 1935 to December 1939 assigned to General MacArthur as assistant military advisor to the Philippine Government. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, July 1, 1936. Assigned to General DeWitt Clinton, Commander, 15th Infantry, for a short term in Ft.Ord, California, and then permanently to Ft. Lewis, Washington as regimental executive, February 1940 to November 1940. Chief of Staff for General Thompson, Commander, 3rd Division, Ft. Lewis until March 1941. Served as Chief of Staff to General Kenyon Joyce, Commander 9th Army Corps, Ft. Lewis, until June 1941. Designated Chief of Staff to General Walter Kreuger, Commander 3rd Army, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, June 1941 to December 1941. Promoted to Colonel (temporary), March 11, 1941, and to Brigadier General (temporary), September 29, 1941.

Assigned to General Staff, Washington, D.C., December 1941 to June 1942. Named Deputy Chief in charge of Pacific Defenses under Chief of War Plans Division, General Leonard Gerow, December 1941. Designated as Chief of War Plans Division, February 1942. In April 1942, appointed Assistant Chief of Staff in charge of Operations Division for General George Marshall, Chief of Staff. March 27, 1942, promoted to Major General (temporary). Conducted mission to increase cooperation among World War II allies, London, England, May 1942. Designated Commanding General, European Theater, London, England, June 1942. Named Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces, North Africa, November 1942. Promoted to Lieutenant General (temporary), July 7, 1942 and to General (4 stars) (temporary), February 11, 1943. He was appointed Brigader General (permanent) on August 30, 1943 and was promoted to Major General (permanent) on the same date. Appointed Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces, December 1943. Commanded forces of Normandy invasion, June 6, 1944. December 20, 1944, promoted to General of the Army (5 stars). Shortly after the German surrender, May 8, 1945, appointed Military Governor, U.S. Occupied Zone, Frankfurt, Germany. On April 11, 1946, wartime rank of General of the Army converted to permanent rank. Designated as Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, November 19, 1945. Inaugurated as President, Columbia University, New York City, June 7, 1948. Named Supreme Allied Commander, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Europe, and given operational command of Treaty Organization, Europe and given operational command of U.S. Forces, Europe, December 16, 1950. Retired from active service, May 31, 1952 and resigned his commission July 1952. Announced his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination for President on June 4, 1952 in Abilene.

Was nominated at the Republican convention and elected on November 4, 1952. Served two terms as President of the United States, January 20, 1953 to January 20, 1961. Saw end of Korean War, promoted Atoms for Peace, and dealt with crises in Lebanon, Suez, Berlin, and Hungary in foreign affairs. Saw Alaska and Hawaii become states. Was concerned with civil rights issues and the interstate highway system in domestic affairs. In March 1961, by Public Law 87-3, signed by President John F. Kennedy, returned to active list of regular Army with rank of General of the Army from December 1944. Maintained office at Gettysburg College and residence at his farm near Gettysburg, PA, January 1961-March 1969. General Dwight D. Eisenhower died on March 28, 1969 at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. He was buried in the Place of Meditation at the Eisenhower Center, Abilene, Kansas on April 2, 1969.

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[SHOOTER13]

1912 – Theodore Roosevelt, former president and the Bull Moose Party candidate, was shot at close range by anarchist William Schrenk while greeting the public in front of the Hotel Gilpatrick in Milwaukee while campaigning for the presidency. He was saved by the papers in his breast pocket and still managed to give a 90 minute address in Milwaukee after requesting his audience to be quiet because “there is a bullet in my body.” Schrenk was captured and uttered the now famous words “any man looking for a third term ought to be shot.”

1917 – Marines 1st Aeronautic Co. prepared for Azores duty at Cape May, New Jersey.

1918 – Naval Aviators of Marine Day Squadron 9 make first raid-in-force for the Northern Bombing Group in World War I when they bombed German railroad at Thielt Rivy, Belgium.

1918 – The second phase of the US-French Meuse-Argonne Offensive begins. The intervening time has been used in reorganize. US forces are now divided into two new armies. The First under General Hunter Liggett and the Second commanded by General Robert Lee Bullard with General Pershing in overall command. Liggett’s First Army advances northward at a steady pace in the face of intense German resistance, while Bullard’s Second Army moves to the northeast between the Meuse and Moselle Rivers. The Germans are forced to rush still more reinforcements from other threatened sectors of the Western Front.

1933 – The Geneva disarmament conference broke up as Germany proclaimed withdrawal from the disarmament initiative, as well as from the League of Nations, effective October 23rd.

1938 – The Nazis planned Jewish ghettos for all major cities.

1938 – The first flight of the Curtiss Aircraft Company’s P-40 Warhawk fighter plane. The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational service. The Warhawk was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in frontline service until the end of the war. It was the third most-produced American fighter, after the P-51 and P-47; by November 1944, when production of the P-40 ceased, 13,738 had been built, all at Curtiss-Wright Corporation’s main production facilities at Buffalo, New York. P-40 Warhawk was the name the United States Army Air Corps adopted for all models, making it the official name in the United States for all P-40s. The British Commonwealth and Soviet air forces used the name Tomahawk for models equivalent to the P-40B and P-40C, and the name Kittyhawk for models equivalent to the P-40D and all later variants. P-40s first saw combat with the British Commonwealth squadrons of the Desert Air Force in the Middle East and North African campaigns, during June 1941. No. 112 Squadron Royal Air Force, was among the first to operate Tomahawks in North Africa and the unit was the first Allied military aviation unit to feature the “shark mouth” logo, copying similar markings on some Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 110 twin-engine fighters.

The P-40’s lack of a two-stage supercharger made it inferior to Luftwaffe fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 or the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in high-altitude combat and it was rarely used in operations in Northwest Europe. Between 1941 and 1944, the P-40 played a critical role with Allied air forces in three major theaters: North Africa, the Southwest Pacific and China. It also had a significant role in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Alaska and Italy. The P-40’s performance at high altitudes was not as important in those theaters, where it served as an air superiority fighter, bomber escort and fighter bomber. Although it gained a postwar reputation as a mediocre design, suitable only for close air support, recent research including scrutiny of the records of individual Allied squadrons, indicates that the P-40 performed surprisingly well as an air superiority fighter, at times suffering severe losses but also taking a very heavy toll of enemy aircraft, especially when flown against the lightweight and maneuverable Japanese fighters like the Oscar and Zero in the manner recommended in 1941 by General Claire Chennault, the AVG’s commander in southern China. The P-40 offered the additional advantage of low cost, which kept it in production as a ground-attack aircraft long after it was obsolete as a fighter. In 2008, 29 P-40s were still airworthy.

1942 – On Guadalcanal, despite the damage from the night’s shelling by the Japanese, American aircraft take off from Henderson Field. They damage three Japanese transports unloading at Tassafaronga.

1943 – The American 8th Air Force conducts a raid on the German ball-bearing works at Schweinfurt. The force of 291 B-17 Flying Fortresses does considerable damage to the target but lose 60 planes with others damaged. The loss rate is too high to maintain so the USAAF abandons long-range, unescorted daylight raids.

1943 – Along the Volturno River in Italy, the US 5th Army offensive continues. The 6th Corps continues to advance while elements of the British 10th Corps cross the river and continue to push forward. In the east, the Canadian 1st Division (part of British 13th Corps, 8th Army) captures Campobasso.

1944 – German Field Marshal Rommel (52), suspected of complicity in the July 20th plot against Hitler, was visited at home by two of Hitler’s staff and given the choice of public trial or suicide by poison. He chose suicide and it was announced that he died of wounds.

1944 – On Peleliu, the US 81st Infantry Division replaces the US 1st Marine Division in the front line on the island. American authorities announce that the occupation of Angaur has been completed but Japanese remnant forces continue to resist in the north of the island.

1944 – US Task Group 38.4 conducts air strikes on Aparri Airfield on Luzon.

1944 – One group from US Task Force 38 (Admiral Mitscher) continues to launch air strikes on Japanese positions. The 246 American planes engaged suffer 23 aircraft lost. The cruiser USS Houston is also crippled in a torpedo attack. Meanwhile, American B-29 Superfortress bombers, operating from bases in China, bomb the island.

1944 – CGCs Eastwind and Southwind captured the Nazi weather and supply vessel Externsteine off the coast of Greenland after a brief fire-fight. There were no casualties. The Coast Guardsmen christened their prize-of-war USS Eastbreeze and placed a prize crew on board. The prize crew was commanded by LT Curtiss Howard and consisted of 36 men, including some from Southwind. After sailing with the Greenland Patrol for three weeks, Eastbreeze sailed on to Boston where the Navy renamed it as USS Callao. The Externsteine/Eastbreeze/Callao was the only enemy surface vessel captured at sea by U.S. naval forces during the war. The Eastwind and Southwind had gone farther north and returned under their own power than any vessel ever before. Finally, this naval battle had taken place farther north than any previous battle, laurels enough for the Greenland Patrol.

1947 – Air Force test pilot Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager (24) flew the experimental Bell X-1 [Bell XS-1] rocket plane aircraft and broke the sound barrier to Mach 1.07 for the first time over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., which was then called Muroc Army Air Field. The area has the largest dry lake bed in the world, a 44-square mile area known as Rogers Lake. Suspended from the belly of a Boeing B-29, Glamorous Glennis was dropped at 10:26 a.m. from a height of 20,000 feet. Yeager (who had broken two ribs in a riding accident the night before) fired the four rocket motor chambers in pairs, breaking through the sound barrier as he increased airspeed to almost 700 mph and climbed to an altitude of 43,000 feet. The XS-1 remained at supersonic speeds for 20.5 seconds, with none of the buffeting that characterized high-speed subsonic flight. The 14-minute flight was Yeager’s ninth since being named primary pilot in June 1947. The Air Force and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (the forerunner of NASA) did not make the event public until Jun 10, 1948.

1949 – Leaders of the American Communist Party were convicted of conspiracy to advocate the violent overthrow of the US government under provisions of the Smith Act. They were sentenced with fines and imprisonment. The trial, held in New York in 1949, was one of the lengthiest trials in American history. Large numbers of supporters of the defendants protested outside the courthouse on a daily basis. The trial featured twice on the cover of Time magazine. The defense frequently antagonized the judge and prosecution, and five defendants were jailed for contempt of court because they disrupted the proceedings. The prosecution’s case relied on undercover informants who described the goals of the CPUSA, interpreted communist texts, and testified that they believed the CPUSA advocated the violent overthrow of the US government. While the trial was under way, events outside the courtroom influenced public perception of communism: the Soviet Union tested its first nuclear weapon, and communists prevailed in the Chinese Civil War. Public opinion was overwhelmingly against the defendants. After a 10 month trial the jury found all 11 defendants guilty and the judge sentenced them to terms of up to five years in federal prison, further sentencing all five defense attorneys to imprisonment for contempt of court.

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1950 – North Korean aircraft bombed Kimpo Airfield and Inchon Harbor.

1950 – Nine Chinese armies, totaling over 300,000 men, began to cross the Yalu River. By traveling at night and hiding during the day, the largely foot-mobile Communist Chinese Forces avoided detection by U.N. aerial surveillance.

1952 – Operation SHOWDOWN commenced as the 7th Infantry Division and the ROK 2nd Infantry Division attempted to seize the Sniper Ridge complex and improve IX Corps’ defensive line north of Kumwha. The Battle of Triangle Hill, also known as Operation Showdown was a protracted military engagement during the Korean War. The main combatants were two United Nations infantry divisions, with additional support from the United States Air Force, against elements of the 15th and 12th Corps of the People’s Republic of China. The battle was part of American attempts to gain control of “The Iron Triangle”, and ran until November 25, 1952. The immediate American objective was a forested ridge of high ground 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) north of Gimhwa-eup near the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The hill was occupied by the veterans of the People’s Volunteer Army’s 15th Corps. Over the course of nearly a month, substantial American and South Korean forces made repeated attempts to capture Triangle Hill and the adjacent Sniper Ridge. Despite clear superiority in artillery and aircraft, escalating American and South Korean casualties resulted in the attack being halted after 42 days of fighting, with Chinese forces regaining their original positions.

1958 – The American Atomic Energy Commission, with supporting military units, carries out an underground nuclear weapon test at the Nevada Test Site, just north of Las Vegas.

1961 – After US Air Force B-52G with eight persons aboard was reported overdue and possibly down in the Atlantic Ocean somewhere off Newfoundland, the Coast Guard commander, Eastern Area, coordinated the extensive search that resulted. Participating in it were 79 US Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force, and Canadian aircraft, 5 US Coast Guard cutters, and 2 merchant ships. Despite this search that lasted through 18 October and covered 286,225 square miles, no trace of the missing B-52 or its crew was found.

1962 – A U.S. Air Force U-2 reconnaissance plane and its pilot fly over the island of Cuba and take photographs of Soviet missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads being installed and erected in Cuba. Major Richard Heyser took 928 pictures on a path selected by DIA analysts, capturing images of what turned out to be an SS-4 construction site at San Cristóbal, Pinar del Río Province (now in Artemisa Province), in western Cuba.

1966 – 175 US airplanes bombed North Vietnam.

1968 – The first live telecast from a manned U.S. spacecraft was transmitted from Apollo 7.

1969 – Race riots took place in Springfield, Mass.

1970 – The Harvard University Center for international Studies in Cambridge Massachusetts was bombed by a group calling itself the “Proud Eagle Tribe.” Weather Underground would take direct credit four years later.

1993 – U.S. helicopter pilot Michael Durant and a Nigerian peacekeeper were freed by Somali fighters loyal to Mohamed Farrah Aidid.

1993 – In Haiti, gunmen assassinated Justice Minister Guy Malary, a supporter of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

1998 – The UN for a 7th year called for an end to the US economic embargo against Cuba. Only the US and Israel cast negative votes.

1998 – In Serbia police shut down the Danas newspaper, as well as the independent Dvevni Telegraph in Belgrade. NATO positioned warplanes in Italy for a possible attack.

1999 – At Cape Canaveral, Florida, Launch Complex 41, built in 1945, was destroyed to make way for Atlas V rockets. Demolished was the Launch Complex 41 Umbilical Tower (UT) and the Launch Complex 41 Mobile Service Tower (MST), which was the largest moving vehicle in the world. Both had most recently been used to support launches of Air Force Titan IVB rockets, the largest and most powerful unmanned rockets in the United States. Launch Complex 41 was being leased from the Air Force by Lockheed Martin, to be refurbished to support the company’s yet-to-be-launched Atlas V rocket, expected to make its debut by the end of 2001. The complex supported its first launch — an Air Force Titan III-C rocket — on December 21, 1965. The most recent launch, prior to demolition, had been an Air Force Titan IVB rocket on April 9, 1999. There had been 27 launches from Launch Complex 41. Launch Complex 41 represents hallowed ground for NASA. The NASA Viking 1 and 2 Mars landers were launched from the complex in 1975, as were the NASA Voyager 1 and 2 deep space probes in 1977. These remain among the most popular missions in NASA history.

1999 – In Bosnia 4 NATO soldiers were injured as they attempted to seize weapons in the divided city of Mostar.

2001 – President George W. Bush sternly rejected a Taliban offer to discuss handing over Osama bin Laden to a third country, saying, “They must have not heard. There’s no negotiations.”

2001 – US warplanes hit Afghanistan targets around Kabul and knocked out the overseas telephone exchange. Bombs also hit the cities of Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Heart. Abu Baseer al-Masri, al Qaeda fighter and Egyptian militant, was killed near Jalalabad.

2002 – President Bush called recent attacks in Kuwait, Indonesia and Yemen part of a grim pattern of terror, and said, “We’ve got a long way to go” to defeat Osama bin Laden’s global network.

2002 – Linda Franklin (47) of Arlington, Va., was shot in the head and killed as she and her husband loaded packages into their car outside a Home Depot at the Seven Corners Shopping Center. She had worked as an analyst for the FBI.

2003 – It was reported that Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers proposed an elevator reaching 62,000 miles into the sky to launch payloads into space.

2003 – Afghan soldiers backed by U.S. troops and helicopters killed 7 Taliban and captured 12 others during a 2-day raid in southern Afghanistan.

2003 – In St. Marc, Haiti, protesters hurled rocks at police and blocked streets with flaming tire barricades for a 2nd day, demanding President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s resignation.

2003 – In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, hundreds took to the streets demanding reforms, the first large-scale protest in this conservative kingdom where demonstrations are illegal.

2004 – The US Army announced that up to 28 U.S. soldiers face possible criminal charges in connection with the deaths of two prisoners at an American-run prison in Afghanistan two years ago.

2004 – Insurgents struck deep inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, setting off bombs at a market and a popular cafe that killed at least 10 people.

2004 -In Iraq up to 19 members of the 343rd Quartermaster Company were detained for refusing to deliver fuel under conditions that they deemed unsafe.

2004 – Pakistani special forces attacked kidnappers holding two Chinese engineers near the Afghan border, killing all five of the al-Qaida-linked militants. One of the hostages was killed in the raid, while the other survived.

2005 – A high ranking undercover Central Intelligence Agency officer, Jose A Rodriguez, Jr., will coordinate CIA, FBI, and State Department spying operations as the new director of the National Clandestine Service.

2010 – The Obama administration asks United States District Court for the Central District of California judge Virginia A. Phillips to stay her ruling in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of America that the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy is unconstitutional while it appeals the decision.

2011 – U.S. President Barack Obama authorizes the deployment of up to 100 American soldiers to Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to assist in operations against the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency.

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Congressional medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

CORSON, JOSEPH K.
Rank and organization: Assistant Surgeon, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves (35th Pennsylvania Volunteers). Place and date: Near Bristoe Station, Va., 14 October 1863. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Born: 26 November 1836, Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery County, Pa. Date of issue: 13 May 1899. Citation: With one companion returned in the face of the enemy’s heavy artillery fire and removed to a place of safety a severely wounded soldier who had been left behind as the regiment fell back.

CULLEN, THOMAS
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company I, 82d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Bristoe Station, Va., 14 October 1863. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 22d or 28th North Carolina (C.S.A.).

HANSCOM, MOSES C.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company F, 19th Maine Infantry. Place and date: At Bristoe Station, Va., 14 October 1863. Entered service at: Bowdoinham, Maine. Birth: Danville, Maine. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of the flag of 26th North Carolina (C.S.A.).

SACRISTE, LOUIS J.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, Company D, 116th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Chancellorsville, Va., 3 May 1863. At Auburn, Va., 14 October 1863. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Born: 15 June 1843, New Castle County, Del. Date of issue: 3I January 1889. Citation: Saved from capture a gun of the 5th Maine Battery. Voluntarily carried orders which resulted in saving from destruction or capture the picket line of the 1st Division, 2d Army Corps.

URELL, M. EMMET
Rank and organization: Private, Company E, 82d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Bristoe Station, Va., 14 October 1863. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 6 June 1870. Citation: Gallantry in action while detailed as color bearer; was severely wounded.

GOODMAN, DAVID
Rank and organization: Private, Company L, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Lyry Creek, Ariz., 14 October 1869. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Paxton, Mass. Date of issue: 3 March 1870. Citation: Bravery in action.

RAERICK, JOHN
Rank and organization: Private, Company L, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Lyry Creek, Ariz., 14 October 1869. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 3 March 1870. Citation: Gallantry in action with Indians.

DONALDSON, MICHAEL A.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company I, 165th Infantry, 42d Division. Place and date: At Sommerance-Landres-et St. Georges Road, France, 14 October 1918. Entered service at: Haverstraw, N.Y. Born: 1884, Haverstraw, N.Y. G.O. No.: 9, W.D., 1923. Citation: The advance of his regiment having been checked by intense machinegun fire of the enemy, who were entrenched on the crest of a hill before Landres-et St. Georges, his company retired to a sunken road to reorganize their position, leaving several of their number wounded near the enemy lines. Of his own volition, in broad daylight and under direct observation of the enemy and with utter disregard for his own safety, he advanced to the crest of the hill, rescued one of his wounded comrades, and returned under withering fire to his own lines, repeating his splendidly heroic act until he had brought in all the men, 6 in number.

ROBINSON, ROBERT GUY
Rank and organization: Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, 1st Marine Aviation Force Place and date: Pittham, Belgium, 14 October 1918. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born: 30 April 1896, New York, N.Y. Citation: For extraordinary heroism as observer in the 1st Marine Aviation Force at the front in France. In company with planes from Squadron 218, Royal Air Force, conducting an air raid on 8 October 1918, G/Sgt. Robinson’s plane was attacked by 9 enemy scouts. In the fight which followed, he shot down 1 of the enemy planes. In a later air raid over Pittham, Belgium, on 14 October 1918, his plane and 1 other became separated from their formation on account of motor trouble and were attacked by 12 enemy scouts. Acting with conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in the fight which ensued, G/Sgt. Robinson, after shooting down 1 of the enemy planes, was struck by a bullet which carried away most of his elbow. At the same time his gun jammed. While his pilot maneuvered for position, he cleared the jam with one hand and returned to the fight. Although his left arm was useless, he fought off the enemy scouts until he collapsed after receiving 2 more bullet wounds, one in the stomach and one in the thigh.

*TALBOT, RALPH
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 6 January 1897, South Weymouth, Mass. Appointed from: Connecticut. Citation: For exceptionally meritorious service and extraordinary heroism while attached to Squadron C, 1st Marine Aviation Force, in France. 2d Lt. Talbot participated in numerous air raids into enemy territory. On 8 October 1918, while on such a raid, he was attacked by 9 enemy scouts, and in the fight that followed shot down an enemy plane. Also, on 14 October 1918, while on a raid over Pittham, Belgium, 2d Lt. Talbot and another plane became detached from the formation on account of motor trouble and were attacked by 12 enemy scouts. During the severe fight that followed, his plane shot down 1 of the enemy scouts. His observer was shot through the elbow and his gun jammed. 2d Lt. Talbot maneuvered to gain time for his observer to clear the jam with one hand, and then returned to the fight. The observer fought until shot twice, once in the stomach and once in the hip and then collapsed, 2d Lt. Talbot attacked the nearest enemy scout with his front guns and shot him down. With his observer unconscious and his motor failing, he dived to escape the balance of the enemy and crossed the German trenches at an altitude of 50 feet, landing at the nearest hospital to leave his observer, and then returning to his aerodrome.

SCHOWALTER, EDWARD R., JR.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company A, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Kumhwa, Korea, 14 October 1952. Entered service at: Metairie, La. Born: 24 December 1927, New Orleans, La. G.O. No.: 6, 28 January 1954. Citation: 1st Lt. Schowalter, commanding, Company A, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. Committed to attack and occupy a key-approach to the primary objective, the 1st Platoon of his company came under heavy vicious small-arms, grenade, and mortar fire within 50 yards of the enemy-held strongpoint, halting the advance and inflicting several casualties. The 2d Platoon moved up in support at this juncture, and although wounded, 1st Lt. Schowalter continued to spearhead the assault. Nearing the objective he was severely wounded by a grenade fragment but, refusing medical aid, he led his men into the trenches and began routing the enemy from the bunkers with grenades. Suddenly from a burst of fire from a hidden cove off the trench he was again wounded. Although suffering from his wounds, he refused to relinquish command and continued issuing orders and encouraging his men until the commanding ground was secured and then he was evacuated. 1st Lt. Schowalter’s unflinching courage, extraordinary heroism, and inspirational leadership reflect the highest credit upon himself and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.

*FOSTER, PAUL HELLSTROM
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, 3d Marine Division. Place and date: Near Con Thien, Republic of Vietnam, 14 October 1967. Entered service at: San Francisco, Calif. Born: 17 April 1939, San Mateo, Calif. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an artillery liaison operations chief with the 2d Battalion. In the early morning hours the 2d Battalion was occupying a defensive position which protected a bridge on the road leading from Con Thien to Cam Lo. Suddenly, the marines’ position came under a heavy volume of mortar and artillery fire, followed by an aggressive enemy ground assault. In the ensuing engagement, the hostile force penetrated the perimeter and brought a heavy concentration of small arms, automatic weapons, and rocket fire to bear on the battalion command post. Although his position in the fire support coordination center was dangerously exposed to enemy fire and he was wounded when an enemy hand grenade exploded near his position,

Sgt. Foster resolutely continued to direct accurate mortar and artillery fire on the advancing North Vietnamese troops. As the attack continued, a hand grenade landed in the midst of Sgt. Foster and his 5 companions. Realizing the danger, he shouted a warning, threw his armored vest over the grenade, and unhesitatingly placed his body over the armored vest. When the grenade exploded, Sgt. Foster absorbed the entire blast with his body and was mortally wounded. His heroic actions undoubtedly saved his comrades from further injury or possible death. Sgt. Foster’s courage, extraordinary heroism, and unfaltering devotion to duty reflected great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

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