This Date in Military History:

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1927 – The Teapot Dome and Elk hills naval oil reserve, which had featured in the scandals of the Harding Administration, are returned to the jurisdiction of the Navy Department. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Mammoth Company has received them under fraudulent contracts which renders ownership invalid.

1930 – James Benson Irwin, Col. USAF, astronaut (Apollo 15), was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1930 – John North Willys of the Willys-Overland Corporation became the first U. S. ambassador to Poland. Willys had rescued the ailing Overland firm from its woeful production of 465 cars in 1908. By 1916, Willys-Overland produced over 140,000 cars per year. Willys subsequently left the day-to-day operations of the company, moving his personal offices to New York in order to pursue work related to World War I. During his absence, mismanagement nearly buried the company he had worked so hard to build up. Massive strikes, bloated inventories, and other troubles had cost Willys-Overland dearly. By 1920, the company was $46 million in debt.

The briefly retired Walter Chrysler was called on to rework the company’s daily operations, and in no time at all, he had cut the debt by nearly two-thirds to $18 million. Chrysler claimed, however, that without the release of a new model of automobile, the debt would decrease no further. Willys, who remained president of Willys-Overland, disagreed. He maintained that through the improvement of the existing models, the company could regain its original profit margins. Chrysler left.

Continuing to pursue his political interests, Willys became the U.S. ambassador to Poland on this day in 1930. Eight years later Poland would be absorbed into the Third Reich. Three years after that, in 1941, Willys-Overland began mass production of the Willys Jeep, the “General Purpose” vehicle of the U.S. Army. In 1944, Willys’ political and manufacturing legacies merged symbolically as Willys Jeeps carried U.S. troops across liberated Poland.

1941 – CGC Cayuga left Boston with the South Greenland Survey Expedition on board to locate airfields, seaplane bases, radio and meteorological stations, and aids to navigation in Greenland. This was the beginning of the Coast Guard’s predominate role in Greenland during World War II.

1942 – Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia to become supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific theater during World War II.

1942 – United States Naval Forces Europe established to plan joint operations with British.

1944 – The US Eighth Air Force bombed Vienna.

1944 – The battle for Cassino continues. Indian and New Zealander troops of US 5th Army mount attacks on the southwest of the town and along Snake’s Head Ridge to Point 593. German forces mount attacks against Castle Hill and Hangman’s Hill.

1944 – On Manus Island, US forces reach their primary objective and take Lorengau airfield.

1945 – The Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River, at Remagen, collapses under the combined strain of bomb damage and heavy use but US Army engineers have built several other bridges nearby and the advance over the Rhine continues. To the south, the US 3rd Army offensive over the Moselle River takes Koblenz and Boppard on the left flank of the drive while farther forward, the Nahe River has been crossed.

1947 – First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber. The North American B-45 Tornado was the United States Air Force’s first operational jet bomber, and the first multi-jet engined bomber in the world to be refuelled in midair. The B-45 was an important part of the United States’s nuclear deterrent for several years in the early 1950s, but was rapidly succeeded by the Boeing B-47 Stratojet. B-45s and RB-45s served in the United States Air Force’s Strategic Air Command from 1950 until 1959. It was also the first jet bomber of the NATO Alliance, which was formed in 1949.

1951 – The Chinese threw two fresh armies against the U.N. forces in an attempt to delay their advance.

1951 – The newly trained ROK 8th Division replaced the U.S. 1st Marine Division in the Punchbowl area. The 1st Marine Division was moved to the western corridor where it relieved the ROK 1st Division on March 25th.

1958 – Navy Vanguard rocket launches 3.25 pound sphere from Cape Canaveral. This first US artificial satellite was designed to measure the Earth’s shape.

1959 – The USS Skate became the 1st submarine to surface at the North Pole. The ships crew held a funeral service and scattered the ashes of explorer Hubert Wilkins (d.1958), who had attempted the feat in 1931.

1960 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

1961 – The U.S. increased military aid and technicians to Laos.

1962 – The Soviet Union asked the U.S. to pull out of South Vietnam.

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1962 – After requesting the evacuation of a seriously injured crewman, the Russian merchant vessel Dbitelny transferred the patient to the Coast Guard LORAN station on St. Paul Island in the Bering Sea. Meanwhile, a Coast Guard aircraft flew a US Navy doctor and a hospital corpsman there to perform an emergency operation. Afterwards, the injured man was flown to Elmendorf Air Force Base, where he was admitted to the US Air Force hospital.

1964 – President Lyndon B. Johnson presides over a session of the National Security Council during which Secretary of Defense McNamara and Gen. Maxwell Taylor present a full review of the situation in Vietnam. During the meeting, various secret decisions were made, including the approval of covert intelligence-gathering operations in North Vietnam; contingency plans to launch retaliatory U.S. Air Force strikes against North Vietnamese military installations and against guerrilla sanctuaries inside the Laotian and Cambodian borders; and a long-range “program of graduated overt military pressure” against North Vietnam. President Johnson directed that planning for the bombing raids “proceed energetically.” A statement issued to the public afterwards stated that the United States would increase military and economic aid to support South Vietnamese President Nguyen Khanh’s new plan for fighting the Viet Cong. Khanh’s intention was to mobilize all able-bodied South Vietnamese males, raise the pay and status of paramilitary forces, and provide more equipment for the South Vietnamese armed forces.

1966 – A U.S. midget submarine located a missing hydrogen bomb which had fallen from an American bomber into the Mediterranean off Spain.

1967 – The first woman Marine to report to Vietnam for duty, Master Sergeant Barbara J. Dulinsky, began her 18-hour flight to Bien Hoa, 30 miles north of Saigon. MSgt Dulinsky and the other officer and enlisted Women Marines that followed were assigned to the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) based in Saigon. Most worked with the Marine Corps Personnel Section providing administrative support to Marines assigned as far north as the DMZ, but two Lieutenant Colonels, Ruth Reinholz and Ruth O’Holleran, served as historians with the Military History Branch, Secretary Joint Staff, MACV.

1970 – After an investigation, the U.S. Army accuses 14 officers of suppressing information related to an incident at My Lai in March 1968. All eventually had their charges dismissed or were acquitted by courts-martial except Lt. William Calley, the platoon leader of the unit involved. He was found guilty of personally murdering 22 civilians and sentenced to life imprisonment, but his sentence was reduced to 20 years by the Court of Military Appeals and further reduced later to 10 years by the Secretary of the Army. Proclaimed by much of the public as a “scapegoat,” Calley was paroled in 1974 after having served about a third of his 10-year sentence.

1970 – The United States cast its first veto in the U.N. Security Council. The U.S. killed a resolution that would have condemned Britain for failure to use force to overthrow the white-ruled government of Rhodesia.

1973 – First POWs were released from the “Hanoi Hilton” in Hanoi, North Vietnam.

1980 – In Iran, militants refuse to turn hostages over to government until parliament convenes in May.

1982 – Navy Secretary John Lehman testified before Congress on behalf of the Coast Guard. He characterized the relationship between the Navy and the Coast Guard as being “close and warm.” He also praised the new NAVGARD Board, created in November 1980, to formalize the relationship between the two services.

1988 – Planeloads of U.S. soldiers arrived at Palmerola Air Base in Honduras in a show of strength ordered by President Reagan.

1991 – Allied commanders from the Gulf War held a second round of cease-fire talks with Iraqi officers; the Iraqis were told they could not move their warplanes inside Iraq for any reason.

1993 – A Marine is WIA during a shoot-out with gunmen in the Bakara Market. 1 Somali is killed.

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2002 – A patrol observed three vehicles about 45 miles southwest of Gardez. After watching them for a time, commanders called in helicopters to stop the convoy. When their warning shots were met with return fire, the aircraft destroyed the vehicles. In the firefight, 16 people in the convoy were killed, one wounded and one detained. Numerous weapons, ammunition, rocket-propelled grenades were found in the vehicles. A fourth car, just a bit separated from the other three, was stopped, found to contain a family and let go.

2002 – Israeli and Palestinian officials met to prepare for a cease-fire following meetings with US envoy Adm. Zinni. A Palestinian gunman opened fire in Kfar Saba. He killed an Israeli high school student (18) and was shot dead. A suicide bomber detonated himself in Jerusalem.

2003 – Pres. Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to go into exile or face military onslaught. Iraq rejected Bush’s ultimatum, saying that a U.S. attack to force Saddam from power would be “a grave mistake.”

2003 – In Washington, D.C., tobacco farmer Dwight Ware Watson, claiming to be carrying bombs, drove a tractor and trailer into a pond on the National Mall; the threat disrupted traffic for two days until Watson surrendered; there were no bombs.
2003 – Iraq was scheduled to take over as chairman of the UN disarmament organization, but declined the position.

2003 – The US orders its non-essential diplomats and the families of all embassy staff in Israel, Syria and Kuwait to leave. US Secretary of State Colin Powell urges arms inspectors and journalists to leave Baghdad in light of possible military action and because they could be taken hostage.

2003 – Homeland Security Department commences Operation Liberty Shield, an increase in protective measures to defend the homeland coinciding with the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

2005 – George F. Kennan (101), former US diplomat and historian, died. In 1947 Kennan wrote an article that would guide US postwar policy (containment) for decades. He proposed in the piece signed “X” that the US stop the global spread of Communism through ideology and politics, not war. His books included “Russia Leaves the War” (1956).

2005 – The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Munro (WHEC 724), working with HMS Invincible and HMS Nottingham in the Gulf of Aden, intercepted a hijacked vessel at around noon. The interception was ordered after Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (COMUSNAVCENT) received telephone reports from the International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, concerning the hi-jacking of the Thai-flagged fishing boat Sirichai Nava 12 by three Somalis on the evening of 16 March, as well as a fax indicating that the hi-jackers demanded U.S. $800,000 in ransom for the vessel’s crew.

Commander, Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 tasked the Invincible, destroyer Nottingham and Munro to investigate the situation. A Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) team from Munro boarded Sirichai Nava, while a boarding team from Nottingham went onto a second fishing vessel, Ekhwat Patana, which was with the Thai vessel. Munro’s boarding team detained the Somalis without incident. One of the crew members of the Thai vessel had a minor flesh wound, which was treated by the Munro boarding team. The Coast Guardsmen also discovered four automatic weapons in the pilothouse, expended ammunition shells on the deck of the vessel, as well as ammunition on the detained suspects. The three suspects were transferred to Munro. The Munro was assigned to CTF 150, which is the Coalition maritime task force conducting Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in the vicinity of the Horn of Africa, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, North Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman.

2011 – NASA’s MESSENGER space probe becomes the first space craft ever to enter into orbit around the planet Mercury.

2014 – United States Navy SEALs take over a disavowed oil tanker in international waters previously seized by Libyan rebels.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

MULLEN, PATRICK (First Award)
Rank and organization: Boatswain’s Mate, U.S. Navy. Entered service at: Baltimore, Md. Birth: Baltimore, Md. G.O. No.: 59, 22 June 1865. Citation: Served as boatswain’s mate on board the U.S.S. Wyandank during a boat expedition up Mattox Creek, 17 March 1865. Rendering gallant assistance to his commanding officer, Mullen, lying on his back, loaded the howitzer and then fired so carefully as to kill and wound many rebels, causing their retreat.

SANDERSON, AARON
Rank and organization: Landsman, U.S. Navy. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth: North Carolina. G.O. No.: 59, 22 June 1865. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Wyandank during a boat expedition up Mattox Creek, 17 March 1865. Participating with a boat crew in the clearing of Mattox Creek, L/man Anderson carried out his duties courageously in the face of a devastating fire which cut away half the oars, pierced the launch in many places and cut the barrel off a musket being fired at the enemy.

BRYAN, WILLIAM C.
Rank and organization: Hospital Steward, U.S. Army. Place and date: At Powder River, Wyo., 17 March 1876. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. Born: 9 September 1850, Zanesville, Ohio. Date of issue: 15 June 1899. Citation: Accompanied a detachment of cavalry in a charge on a village of hostile Indians and fought through the engagements, having his horse killed under him. He continued to fight on foot, and under severe fire and without assistance conveyed 2 wounded comrades to places of safety, saving them from capture.

GLAVINSKI, ALBERT
Rank and organization: Blacksmith, Company M, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Powder River, Mont., 17 March 1876. Entered service at:——. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 16 October 1877. Citation: During a retreat he selected exposed positions, he was part of the rear guard.

MURPHY, JEREMIAH
Rank and organization: Private, Company M, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Powder River, Mont., 17 March 1876. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 16 October 1877. Citation: Being the only member of his picket not disabled, he attempted to save a wounded comrade.

*DEVORE, EDWARD A., Jr.
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company B, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Saigon, Republic of Vietnam, 17 March 1968. Entered service at: Harbor City, Calif. Born: 15 June 1947, Torrance, Calif. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. DeVore, distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on the afternoon of 17 March 1968, while serving as a machine gunner with Company B, on a reconnaissance-in-force mission approximately 5 kilometers south of Saigon. Sp4c. DeVore’s platoon, the company’s lead element, abruptly came under intense fire from automatic weapons, Claymore mines, rockets and grenades from well-concealed bunkers in a nipa palm swamp. One man was killed and 3 wounded about 20 meters from the bunker complex.

Sp4c. DeVore raced through a hail of fire to provide a base of fire with his machine gun, enabling the point element to move the wounded back to friendly lines. After supporting artillery, gunships and air strikes had been employed on the enemy positions, a squad was sent forward to retrieve their fallen comrades. Intense enemy frontal and enfilading automatic weapons fire pinned down this element in the kill zone. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Sp4c. DeVore assaulted the enemy positions. Hit in the shoulder and knocked down about 35 meters short of his objectives, Sp4c. DeVore, ignoring his pain and the warnings of his fellow soldiers, jumped to his feet and continued his assault under intense hostile fire.

Although mortally wounded during this advance, he continued to place highly accurate suppressive fire upon the entrenched insurgents. By drawing the enemy fire upon himself, Sp4c. DeVore enabled the trapped squad to rejoin the platoon in safety. Sp4c. DeVore’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty in close combat were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 39th Infantry, and the U.S. Army.

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Damn, a lot happened!

 

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18 March

1644 – In Virginia the Opechancanough Indians rise up against the settlers but after two years they will be defeated decisively. They will be forced to give up all the land between the James and York Rivers. The resulting peace will last until 1675.

1692 – Following the accession of William III to the English throne, Pennsylvania is declared a royal colony and New York governor Benjamin Fletcher is declared governor of Pennsylvania, depriving William Penn of his proprietary powers. The Crown takes over Pennsylvania because the pacifist Quakers refused to involve themselves in the war against France and because William Penn had maintained friendly relations with the former English monarch, James II.

1741 – New York governor George Clarke’s complex at Fort George is burned in an arson attack, starting the New York Conspiracy of 1741. The Conspiracy of 1741, also known as the Negro Plot of 1741 or the Slave Insurrection of 1741, was a supposed plot by slaves and poor whites in the British colony of New York in 1741 to revolt and level New York City with a series of fires. Historians disagree as to whether such a plot existed and, if there was one, its scale. During the court cases, the prosecution kept changing the grounds of accusation, ending with linking the insurrection to a Popish plot of Spanish and other Catholics.

1766 – After four months of widespread protest in America, the British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act, a taxation measure enacted to raise revenues for a standing British army in America. The Stamp Act was passed on March 22, 1765, leading to an uproar in the colonies over an issue that was to be a major cause of the Revolution: taxation without representation. Enacted in November 1765, the controversial act forced colonists to buy a British stamp for every official document they obtained. The stamp itself displayed an image of a Tudor rose framed by the word “America” and the Latin phrase Honi soit qui mal y pense–“Shame to him who thinks evil of it.”

The colonists, who had convened the Stamp Act Congress in October 1765 to vocalize their opposition to the impending enactment, greeted the arrival of the stamps with outrage and violence. Most Americans called for a boycott of British goods, and some organized attacks on the customhouses and homes of tax collectors. After months of protest, and an appeal by Benjamin Franklin before the British House of Commons, Parliament voted to repeal the Stamp Act in March 1766. However, the same day, Parliament passed the Declaratory Acts, asserting that the British government had free and total legislative power over the colonies.

1781 – British General Cornwallis retreats to Willmington to wait for reinforcements from General Clinton.

1818 – Congress passes the first Pension Act, which provides lifetime pensions authorized for veterans of the War for Independence with nine months Continental service in need of assistance.

1837 – Stephen Grover Cleveland was born in Caldwell, N.J. He was the 22nd (1885-1889) and 24th (1893-1897) president of the United States, the only President elected for two non-consecutive terms.

1863 – Confederate women rioted in Salisbury, N.C. to protest the lack of flour and salt in the South.

1864 – The U.S. Sanitary Commission Fair in Washington, D.C., closes with President Lincoln commending the organization for its fine work. The Sanitary Commission formed in 1861, the creation of northern civilians concerned for Union troops’ medical care. The voluntary association raised more than $22 million in donations and medical supplies, and it represented a major contribution by Yankee women to the war effort. Although administered by men, the vast majority of its volunteers were women. The commission raised supplies and provided lodging and meals to wounded soldiers and troops returning home on furlough. It gathered medicine and bandages for the army and sent inspectors to the camps to oversee the set up of clean water supplies, latrines, and cooking facilities. Volunteers worked on the front lines as doctors and nurses helped evacuate wounded soldiers to the rear.

Some generals and army doctors found commission workers to be annoying and troublesome, especially when they criticized army medical practices. One doctor complained about what he saw as “sensation preachers, village doctors, and strong-minded women” interfering with the doctors’ work. Some of these women included noted reformer Dorthea Dix and Mary Ann Bickerdyke, a tough no-nonsense church volunteer who became the commission’s agent to the Army of the Tennessee before the Battle of Shiloh. She was completely dedicated to caring for common soldiers, and she was not afraid to challenge doctors and officers when she thought their care was being compromised.

At Chattanooga, she ordered timbers for breastworks burned to keep wounded soldiers warm–when military police asked her who had authorized the burning, she replied, “Under the authority of God Almighty. Have you got anything better than that?”

The commission’s work fit 19th century women’s socially proscribed roles as caretakers and nurturers of men, but the work also allowed women to carve out their own careers, and it could be seen as a step forward for the women’s rights movement. Lincoln said at the closing of the Sanitation Commission Fair, “if all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of the world in praise of women applied to the women of America, it would not do them justice for their conduct during this war.”

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1865 – The Congress of the Confederate States of America adjourned for the last time.

1865 – Battle of Wilson’s raid to Selma, Alabama.

1874 – Hawaii signed a treaty giving exclusive trading rights with the islands to the United States.

1880 – A Frenchman, Ferdinand de Lesseps is asked to testify before a House committee regarding the French Canal Company which is building the Panama Canal. De Lesseps attempts to assure the House that France has no official connection with the canal. Born on November 19, 1805 in Versailles, France. His Family was long distinguished in the French diplomatic service. At age 19, having studied law, he was appointed eleve-counsel to his uncle, then the French ambassador to Lisbon. He served in Tunis later with his father, until 1832 the year of his fathers death. Then came 7 years in Egypt, later Rotterdam, Malaga, Barcelona and Madrid. With the new Viceroy Mohammed Said in Egypt, whom de Lesseps had befriended years ago, he rushed to Cairo and soon the construction of the Suez Canal under his command began. November 17, 1869 the Gran Opening with luxuries ceremonies, a Cairo opera house had been built for the occasion and Verdi had been commissioned to write Aida. De Lesseps became a hero presented with many decorations. In 1875 de Lesseps made his first public declaration of interest in an interoceanic canal.

On the first day of the new year of 1880, on board a steam launch standing of the mouth of the Rio Grande, de Lesseps young daughter Fernanda dug the first shovel of sand into a champagebox and the Panama Canal was symbolically begun. By the end of January 1881, the first group of French engineers of the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoceanique arrived at Colon and the great task of construction commenced. In the years to follow men and machinery poured into Panama to confront the geographical obstacles of the Isthmus: the backbone of the continental divide at the Culebra Cut and the mighty Chagres river.At this time the French stood at the pinnacle of 19th century engineering. Their finest engineers and machinery were sent to work.

For 8 years a valiant and determined effort was made on the isthmus. The climate, with its torrential rains, incessant heat and fatal disease, took its toll. Financial mismanagement, stock failure and bad publicity eventually forced the failure of the company. The official end came on February 4th 1889 and the companies assets went into the hands of the liquidator. By may all work was halted on the isthmus. De Lesseps died in France in 1894.

1890 – The 1st US State Naval Militia was organized in Massachusetts.

1906 – Roy L. Johnson, US admiral (WW II-Pacific Ocean), was born.

1909 – Einar Dessau of Denmark used a short-wave transmitter to converse with a government radio post about six miles away in what is believed to have been the first broadcast by a “ham” operator.

1917 – The Germans sank the U.S. ships, City of Memphis, Vigilante and the Illinois, without any type of warning.

1924 – The Soldier’s Bonus Bill is passed by the House. It offers 20-year annuities for veterans and will cost $2,000,000,000. The Senate will concur in 23 April, but Coolidge will veto it. Congress will override the veto.

1938 – Mexico nationalizes all oil properties of the US and other foreign-owned companies. There will be no financial settlement until 1941.

1939 – Georgia finally ratified the Bill of Rights, 150 years after the birth of the federal government. Connecticut and Massachusetts, the only other states to hold out, also accepted the Bill of Rights in this year.

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1942 – War Relocation Authority is created to “Take all people of Japanese descent into custody, surround them with troops, prevent them from buying land, and return them to their former homes at the close of the war.” Anger toward and fear of Japanese Americans began in Hawaii shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor; everyone of Japanese ancestry, old and young, prosperous and poor, was suspected of espionage. This suspicion quickly broke out on the mainland; as early as February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered that German, Italian, and Japanese nationals-as well as Japanese Americans-be barred from certain areas deemed sensitive militarily. California, which had a significant number of Japanese and Japanese Americans, saw a particularly virulent form of anti-Japanese sentiment, with the state’s attorney general, Earl Warren (who would go on to be the chief justice of the United States), claiming that a lack of evidence of sabotage among the Japanese population proved nothing, as they were merely biding their time.

While roughly 2,000 people of German and Italian ancestry were interned during this period, Americans of Japanese ancestry suffered most egregiously. The War Relocation Authority, established on March 18, 1942, was aimed at them specifically: 120,000 men, women, and children were rounded up on the West Coast. Three categories of internees were created: Nisei (native U.S. citizens of Japanese immigrant parents), Issei (Japanese immigrants), and Kibei (native U.S. citizens educated largely in Japan). The internees were transported to one of 10 relocation centers in California, Utah, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, and Wyoming. The quality of life in a relocation center was only marginally better than prison: Families were sardined into 20- by 25-foot rooms and forced to use communal bathrooms. No razors, scissors, or radios were allowed. Children attended War Relocation Authority schools.

One Japanese American, Gordon Hirabayashi, fought internment all the way to the Supreme Court. He argued that the Army, responsible for effecting the relocations, had violated his rights as a U.S. citizen. The court ruled against him, citing the nation’s right to protect itself against sabotage and invasion as sufficient justification for curtailing his and other Japanese Americans’ constitutional rights. In 1943, Japanese Americans who had not been interned were finally allowed to join the U.S. military and fight in the war.

More than 17,000 Japanese Americans fought; the all-Nisei 442nd Regiment, which fought in the Italian campaign, became the single most decorated unit in U.S. history. The regiment won 4,667 medals, awards, and citations, including 1 Medal of Honor, 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, and 560 Silver Stars. Many of these soldiers, when writing home, were writing to relocation centers. In 1990, reparations were made to surviving internees and their heirs in the form of a formal apology by the U.S. government and a check for $20,000.

1943 – The US 2nd Corps (commanded by General Patton) captures Gafsa and advances toward El Guettar.

1943 – The CGC Ingham rescued all hands from the torpedoed SS Matthew Luckenbach.

1944 – Allied destroyers bombard the Japanese base at Wewak during the night (March 18-19).

1944 – On Manus, the village of Lorengau is captured by US forces. On Los Negros American and Japanese forces engage near Papitalai.

1944 – US Task Group 50.10 (Admiral Lee) bombards Mili Atoll. Two battleships and the carrier Lexington are involved. The USS Iowa is damaged by fire from a Japanese coastal battery.

1945 – About 1300 American bombers, with some 700 escorting fighters, drop 3000 tons of bombs on Berlin, despite heavy anti-aircraft defenses, including numerous jet fighters. The US fleet loses 25 bombers and 5 fighters.

1945 – Forces of US 3rd Army capture Bingen and Bad Kreuznach as the advance to the southwest continues. To the south, the progress of US 7th Army is beginning to accelerate, with most of its forward units having now crossed the German border.

1945 – There are American landings on Panay by 14,000 men of US 40th Infantry Division (General Brush) in the area near Iloilo. There is little initial opposition from the Japanese garrison.

1945 – US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) conducts air raids on airfields on Kyushu. There are Japanese Kamikaze attacks by about 10 planes which hit Intrepid, Yorktown and Enterprise but fail to disable any of the aircraft carriers. Admiral Spruance, command the US 5th Fleet, is present for the operations.

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1950 – In a surprise raid on the communist People’s Republic of China (PRC), military forces of the Nationalist Chinese government on Taiwan invade the mainland and capture the town of Sungmen. Because the United States supported the attack, it resulted in even deeper tensions and animosities between the U.S. and the PRC. In October 1949, the leader of the communist revolution in China, Mao Zedong, declared victory against the Nationalist government of China and formally established the People’s Republic of China. Nationalist troops, politicians, and supporters fled the country and many ended up on Taiwan, an island off the Chinese coast. Once there, they declared themselves the real Chinese government and were immediately recognized as such by the United States.

Officials from the United States refused to have anything to do with the PRC government and adamantly refused to grant it diplomatic recognition. Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek bombarded the mainland with propaganda broadcasts and pamphlets dropped from aircraft signaling his intention of invading the PRC and removing what he referred to as the “Soviet aggressors.” In the weeks preceding the March 18, 1950 raid, Chiang had been particularly vocal, charging that the Soviets were supplying the PRC with military advisors and an imposing arsenal of weapons. On March 18, thousands of Nationalist troops, supported by air and sea units, attacked the coast of the PRC, capturing the town of Sungmen that lay about 200 miles south of Shanghai. The Nationalists reported that they killed over 2,500 communist troops. Battles between the raiding group and communist forces continued for weeks, but eventually the Nationalist forces were defeated and driven back to Taiwan.

Perhaps more important than the military encounter was the war of words between the United States and the PRC. Communist officials immediately charged that the United States was behind the raid, and even suggested that American pilots and advisors accompanied the attackers. (No evidence has surfaced to support those charges.) American officials were cautiously supportive of the Nationalist attack, though what they hoped it would accomplish beyond minor irritation to the PRC remains unknown. Just eight months later, military forces from the PRC and the United States met on the battlefield in Korea.

Despite suggestions from some officials, including the commander of U.S. troops Gen. Douglas MacArthur, that the United States “unleash” the Nationalist armies against mainland China, President Harry S. Truman refrained from this action, fearing that it would escalate into World War III.

1951 – Following the withdrawal of communist forces, Seoul was again in U.N. hands.

1952 – There was a Communist offensive in Korea.

1953 – The Eisenhower Administration protests the Soviet Union’s firing on a US bomber over international water.

1959 – President Eisenhower signed the Hawaii statehood bill.

1963 – The US Supreme Court made its Gideon ruling which said poor defendants have a constitutional right to an attorney. Gideon had been forced to defend himself in Florida in Jan 1962, and petitioned the Supreme Court to hear his complaint.

1968 – The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.

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1969 – U.S. B-52 bombers are diverted from their targets in South Vietnam to attack suspected communist base camps and supply areas in Cambodia for the first time in the war. President Nixon approved the mission–formally designated Operation Breakfast–at a meeting of the National Security Council on March 15. This mission and subsequent B-52 strikes inside Cambodia became known as the “Menu” bombings. A total of 3,630 flights over Cambodia dropped 110,000 tons of bombs during a 14-month period through April 1970. This bombing of Cambodia and all follow up “Menu” operations were kept secret from the American public and the U.S. Congress because Cambodia was ostensibly neutral. To keep the secret, an intricate reporting system was established at the Pentagon to prevent disclosure of the bombing. Although the New York Times broke the story of the secret bombing campaign in May 1969, there was little adverse public reaction.

1970 – Returning to Cambodia after visits to Moscow and Peking, Prince Norodom Sihanouk is ousted as Cambodian chief of state in a bloodless coup by pro-western Lt. Gen. Lon Nol, premier and defense minister, and First Deputy Premier Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak, who proclaim the establishment of the Khmer Republic. Sihanouk had tried to maintain Cambodian neutrality, but the communist Khmer Rouge, supported by their North Vietnamese allies, had waged a very effective war against Cambodian government forces. After ousting Sihanouk and taking control of the government, Lon Nol immediately set about to defeat the communists.

Between 1970 and 1975, he and his army, the Forces Armees Nationale Khmer (FANK), with U.S. support and military aid, would battle the Khmer Rouge communists for control of Cambodia. When the U.S. forces departed South Vietnam in 1973, both the Cambodians and South Vietnamese found themselves suddenly fighting the communists alone. Without U.S. support, Lon Nol’s forces succumbed to the Khmer Rouge in April 1975. The victorious Khmer Rouge evacuated Phnom Penh and began reordering Cambodian society, which resulted in a killing spree and the notorious “killing fields.” Eventually, hundreds of thousands of Cambodians were murdered or died from exhaustion, hunger, and disease. During the five years of bitter fighting for control of the country, approximately 10 percent of Cambodia’s 7 million people died.

1970 – The U.S. postal strike of 1970 begins, one of the largest wildcat strikes in U.S. history. The U.S. postal strike of 1970 was a groundbreaking two-week strike by federal postal workers in March 1970. The strike was unique both because it was against the government and because it was the largest wildcat strike in U.S. history. President Richard Nixon called out the United States armed forces and the National Guard in an attempt to distribute the mail and break the strike. The strike influenced the contents of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which transformed the Post Office into the more corporate United States Postal Service and guaranteed collective bargaining rights (though not the right to strike.)

1971 – U.S. helicopters airlifted 1,000 South Vietnamese soldiers out of Laos.

1974 – Navy sent to sweep mines from Suez Canal.

1975 – South Vietnam abandoned most of the Central Highlands of Vietnam to Hanoi.

1977 – US restricted citizens from visiting Cuba, Vietnam, N. Korea and Cambodia.

1977 – Vietnam handed over MIA remains to US.

1980 – A congressman claims many U.S. combat planes can’t fly for lack of spare parts.

1981 – The U.S. disclosed that there were biological weapons tested in Texas in 1966.

1989 – The space shuttle Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, completing a five-day mission.

1991 – The CGC Cape Hatteras (WPB 95305) was decommissioned on 18 March 1991. She was the last 95-foot patrol boat in the Coast Guard. She was then transferred to Uruguay.

1994 – The space shuttle Columbia returned from a two-week mission.

1996 – In New York, the United Nations and Iraq end a second round of negotiations over the sale of Iraq’s oil. While both sides have reached agreement on several key issues, the details concerning distribution of aid to Kurds in northern Iraq remains unresolved. Due in part to market uncertainty surrounding the talks, oil prices rise to their highest levels since the 1991 Gulf War. The U.N.-Iraq talks are scheduled to restart on April 8th.

1997 – Iraq grants Russia most favored nation status to receive Iraqi oil exports in exchange for humanitarian goods. Of the first 37 contracts approved by the United Nations in the oil-for-food sale,7 went to Russian companies representing almost 20% of the volume of oil in the sale.

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1999 – A US federal judge ordered US telephone companies to pay $6.2 million owed to Cuba to the families of 3 Cuban Americans killed in 1996.

1999 – In Paris the ethnic Albanians signed the peace proposal, which the Serbian delegation rejected. The Kosovar Albanian delegation signed a U.S.-sponsored peace accord following talks in Paris; the Clinton administration warned NATO would act against Serb targets if Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic didn’t accept the agreement.

2001 – US National Reconnaissance Office was planning a $25 billion project for some 12 satellites to be deployed by 2005.

2002 – Britain planned to send 1,700 troops to Afghanistan to join the 6,300 US forces.

2003 – US President George W. Bush gives a televised speech saying “Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict commenced at a time of our choosing”.

2003 – Some $900 million was taken from Iraq’s Central Bank by Saddam Hussein and his family. The New York Times reported on May 5 that Saddam ordered the money taken from the Central Bank and sent his son Qusai in the middle of the night.

2003 – In Australia PM John Howard said his government would commit 2,000 military personnel to any U.S.-led strike aimed at disarming Iraq.

2004 – In Kosovo Albanians set fire to Serb Orthodox churches as NATO scrambled to deploy up to 1,000 more troops to stifle an explosion of ethnic violence. The death toll reached 31 with hundreds injured in fighting between Serbs and ethnic Albanians as violence continued for a 2nd day.

2006 – The USS Cape St. George, a Ticonderoga-class cruiser and the USS Gonzalez, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, engaged pirate vessels after receiving fire from them. The pirates were eliminated.

2006 – USS Winston Churchill engages pirates off the coast of Somalia, killing one, capturing 12, after the U.N. Security Council on March 15, encouraged any naval forces near Somalia to take action against suspected piracy. This occurred after an attack on a UN World Food Program-chartered ship bringing drought-relief food supplies on March 13th.

2007 – The Coast Guard made the largest cocaine seizure in its history (to date) when CGCs Hamilton and Sherman seized 42,845 pound of cocaine aboard the Panamanian-flagged M/V Gatun off the coast of Panama. The Gatun was first located by a HC-130 on 17 March.

2013 – M23 Movement leader Bosco Ntaganda surrenders himself at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, having been wanted by the ICC since 2006 on war crimes charges.

2014 – The United States expels all Syrian diplomats and closes the Syrian embassy in Washington D.C.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

*McGEE, WILLIAM D.
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Medical Detachment, 304th Infantry, 76th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Mulheim, Germany, 18 March 1945. Entered service at: Indianapolis, Ind. Birth: Indianapolis, Ind. G.O. No.: 21, 26 February 1946. Citation: A medical aid man, he made a night crossing of the Moselle River with troops endeavoring to capture the town of Mulheim. The enemy had retreated in the sector where the assault boats landed, but had left the shore heavily strewn with antipersonnel mines. Two men of the first wave attempting to work their way forward detonated mines which wounded them seriously, leaving them bleeding and in great pain beyond the reach of their comrades.

Entirely on his own initiative, Pvt. McGee entered the minefield, brought out 1 of the injured to comparative safety, and had returned to rescue the second victim when he stepped on a mine and was severely wounded in the resulting explosion. Although suffering intensely and bleeding profusely, he shouted orders that none of his comrades was to risk his life by entering the death-sown field to render first aid that might have saved his life. In making the supreme sacrifice, Pvt. demonstrated a concern for the well-being of his fellow soldiers that transcended all considerations for his own safety and a gallantry in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.

*MURPHY, FREDERICK C.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Medical Detachment, 259th Infantry, 65th Infantry Division. Place and date: Siegfried Line at Saarlautern, Germany, 18 March 1945. Entered service at: Weymouth, Mass. Birth: Boston, Mass. G.O. No.: 21, 26 February 1946. Citation: An aid man, he was wounded in the right shoulder soon after his comrades had jumped off in a dawn attack 18 March 1945, against the Siegfried Line at Saarlautern, Germany. He refused to withdraw for treatment and continued forward, administering first aid under heavy machinegun, mortar, and artillery fire. When the company ran into a thickly sown antipersonnel minefield and began to suffer more and more casualties, he continued to disregard his own wound and unhesitatingly braved the danger of exploding mines, moving about through heavy fire and helping the injured until he stepped on a mine which severed one of his feet.

In spite of his grievous wounds, he struggled on with his work, refusing to be evacuated and crawling from man to man administering to them while in great pain and bleeding profusely. He was killed by the blast of another mine which he had dragged himself across in an effort to reach still another casualty. With indomitable courage, and unquenchable spirit of self-sacrifice and supreme devotion to duty which made it possible for him to continue performing his tasks while barely able to move, Pfc. Murphy saved many of his fellow soldiers at the cost of his own life.

TREADWELL, JACK L.
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, Company F, 180th Infantry, 45th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Nieder-Wurzbach, Germany, 18 March 1945. Entered service at: Snyder. Okla. Birth: Ashland, Ala. G.O. No.: 79, 14 September 1945. Citation: Capt. Treadwell (then 1st Lt.), commanding officer of Company F, near Nieder-Wurzbach, Germany, in the Siegfried line, single-handedly captured 6 pillboxes and 18 prisoners. Murderous enemy automatic and rifle fire with intermittent artillery bombardments had pinned down his company for hours at the base of a hill defended by concrete fortifications and interlocking trenches. Eight men sent to attack a single point had all become casualties on the hare slope when Capt. Treadwell, armed with a submachine gun and hand grenades, went forward alone to clear the way for his stalled company.

Over the terrain devoid of cover and swept by bullets, he fearlessly advanced, firing at the aperture of the nearest pillbox and, when within range, hurling grenades at it. He reached the pillbox, thrust the muzzle of his gun through the port, and drove 4 Germans out with their hands in the air. A fifth was found dead inside. Waving these prisoners back to the American line, he continued under terrible, concentrated fire to the next pillbox and took it in the same manner. In this fort he captured the commander of the hill defenses, whom he sent to the rear with the other prisoners. Never slackening his attack, he then ran across the crest of the hill to a third pillbox, traversing this distance in full view of hostile machine gunners and snipers. He was again successful in taking the enemy position. The Germans quickly fell prey to his further rushes on 3 more pillboxes in the confusion and havoc caused by his whirlwind assaults and capture of their commander.

Inspired by the electrifying performance of their leader, the men of Company F stormed after him and overwhelmed resistance on the entire hill, driving a wedge into the Siegfried line and making it possible for their battalion to take its objective. By his courageous willingness to face nearly impossible odds and by his overwhelming one-man offensive, Capt. Treadwell reduced a heavily fortified, seemingly impregnable enemy sector.

*WILKIN, EDWARD G.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company C, 157th Infantry, 45th Infantry Division. Place and date: Siegfried Line in Germany, 18 March 1945. Entered service at: Longmeadow, Mass. Birth: Burlington, Vt. G.O. No.: 119, 17 December 1945. Citation: He spearheaded his unit’s assault of the Siegfried Line in Germany. Heavy fire from enemy riflemen and camouflaged pillboxes had pinned down his comrades when he moved forward on his own initiative to reconnoiter a route of advance. He cleared the way into an area studded with pillboxes, where he repeatedly stood up and walked into vicious enemy fire, storming 1 fortification after another with automatic rifle fire and grenades, killing enemy troops, taking prisoners as the enemy defense became confused, and encouraging his comrades by his heroic example. When halted by heavy barbed wire entanglements, he secured bangalore torpedoes and blasted a path toward still more pillboxes, all the time braving bursting grenades and mortar shells and direct rifle and automatic-weapons fire.

He engaged in fierce fire fights, standing in the open while his adversaries fought from the protection of concrete emplacements, and on 1 occasion pursued enemy soldiers across an open field and through interlocking trenches, disregarding the crossfire from 2 pillboxes until he had penetrated the formidable line 200 yards in advance of any American element. That night, although terribly fatigued, he refused to rest and insisted on distributing rations and supplies to his comrades. Hearing that a nearby company was suffering heavy casualties, he secured permission to guide litter bearers and assist them in evacuating the wounded. All that night he remained in the battle area on his mercy missions, and for the following 2 days he continued to remove casualties, venturing into enemy-held territory, scorning cover and braving devastating mortar and artillery bombardments.

In 3 days he neutralized and captured 6 pillboxes single-handedly, killed at least 9 Germans, wounded 13, took 13 prisoners, aided in the capture of 14 others, and saved many American lives by his fearless performance as a litter bearer. Through his superb fighting skill, dauntless courage, and gallant, inspiring actions, Cpl. Wilkin contributed in large measure to his company’s success in cracking the Siegfried Line. One month later he was killed in action while fighting deep in Germany.

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19 March


1687 – French explorer Robert Cavelier (43), Sieur de La Salle, the first European to navigate the length of the Mississippi River, was murdered by mutineers while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in present-day Texas.

1776 – The Continental Congress authorizes privateering raids on British shipping. There was not much of a U.S .Navy during the Revolution. The U.S. forces at sea were primarily privateers, preying on British commerce. They were extremely effective in capturing British merchant ships, cutting off British supplies and raising insurance rates for shipping. Although they did not constitute a US Navy, American privateers were a significant presence at sea, and played an important role in the success of the Revolution.

1798 – President John Adams informs Congress of the failure of US negotiations with France. France had been America’s major ally in the War of Independence, and without its assistance the United States may not have won independence. But the new government of Revolutionary France viewed a 1794 commercial agreement between the United States and Great Britain, known as Jay’s Treaty, as a violation of France’s 1778 treaties with the United States. The French initiated seizures of American ships trading with their British enemies and refused to receive a new United States minister when he arrived in Paris in December 1796. In his annual message to Congress at the close of 1797, President John Adams had reported on France’s refusal to negotiate and spoke of the need “to place our country in a suitable posture of defense.”

1822 – Boston was incorporated as a city.

1862 – Flag Officer Foote’s forces attacking Island No. 10 continued to meet with strong resistance from Confederate batteries. “This place, Island No. 10,” Foote observed, ”is harder to conquer than Columbus, as the island shores are lined with forts, each fort commanding the one above it. We are gradually approaching . . . The mortar shells have done fine execution.

1863 – The SS Georgiana, said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is destroyed on her maiden voyage with a cargo of munitions, medicines and merchandise then valued at over $1,000,000.

1865 – Confederate General Joseph Johnston makes a desperate attempt to stop Union General William T. Sherman’s drive through the Carolinas in the war’s last days, but Johnston’s motley army cannot stop the advance of Sherman’s mighty army. Following his famous March to the Sea in late 1864, Sherman paused for a month at Savannah, Georgia. He then turned north into the Carolinas, destroying all that lay in his path in an effort to demoralize the South and hasten the end of the war. Sherman left Savannah with 60,000 men divided into two wings. He captured Columbia, South Carolina, in February and continued towards Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he planned to meet up with another army coming from the coast.

Sherman intended to march to Petersburg, Virginia, where he would join General Ulysses S. Grant and crush the army of Robert E. Lee, the largest remaining Confederate force. Sherman assumed that Rebel forces in the Carolinas were too widely dispersed to offer any significant resistance, but Johnston assembled 17,000 troops and attacked one of Sherman’s wings at Bentonville on March 19. The Confederates initially surprised the Yankees, driving them back before a Union counterattack halted the advance and darkness halted the fighting.

The next day, Johnston established a strong defensive position and hoped for a Yankee assault. More Union troops arrived and gave Sherman a nearly three to one advantage over Johnston. When a Union force threatened to cut off the Rebel’s only line of retreat on March 21, Johnston withdrew his army northward. The Union lost 194 men killed, 1,112 wounded, and 221 missing, while the Confederates lost 240 killed, 1,700 wounded, and 1,500 missing. About Sherman, Johnston wrote to Lee that, “I can do no more than annoy him.” A month later, Johnston surrendered his army to Sherman.

1883 – Joseph W. Stilwell, US general (China), was born.

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1892 – James Alward Van Fleet was born in Coytesville, New Jersey and raised in Florida. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1915, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant of infantry. The following year he participated in the Mexican border campaign of 1916-1917. During World War I he commanded a machine-gun battalion in the 6th Division and saw action in the Gerardmer sector and in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. In the interwar period, Van Fleet endured the round of peacetime assignments: teaching military science at Kansas State Agricultural College, South Dakota State College and the University of Florida; he was a student and an instructor at the Infantry School; a unit instructor of the organized reserve at San Diego, California; commanded a battalion in the 42nd Infantry Regiment in Panama, served with the 5th Infantry Regiment at Fort Williams, Maine, commanded a battalion in the 29th Infantry Regiment; and, beginning in February 1941, with the rank of colonel, commanded the 8th Infantry Regiment.

Unlike his contemporaries, America’s entry into World War II did not bring Van Fleet rapid promotion to general rank or high command. When Van Fleet had been at the Infantry School, George C. Marshall, then assistant commandant in charge of the academic department, had confused him with someone else who had a similar name and was a well-known alcoholic. Consequently, as Marshall’s importance in the Army grew in the 1930s, culminating in his appointment as chief of staff in 1939, Van Fleet’s career progression suffered. He was not selected either for the Command and General Staff College or the Army War College. The pattern continued after Pearl Harbor, so that in 1944, Van Fleet was still commanding the 8th Infantry with the rank of colonel.

On D-Day he led the 8th Infantry, part of the 4th Division, ashore at Utah beach, Normandy, and several weeks later in the capture of Cherbourg, France. In these actions, Van Fleet displayed courage under fire and demonstrated that he was a driving leader who got things done. Thereafter, with the confusion about his identity finally “cleared up” to Marshall’s satisfaction, Van Fleet’s rise was spectacular. Promoted to the rank of brigadier general, Van Fleet was assistant commander of the 2nd Division during the St. Lo breakout and the capture of Brest, France, and commanded the 4th Division during the Siegfried Line Campaign and the 90th Division during the operation to capture Metz, France, and the Battle of the Bulge. In March 1945, Van Fleet, now holding the rank of major general, assumed command of the III Corps, leading it through the American First Army’s encirclement of the Ruhr pocket in Germany and the American Third Army’s drive into Austria. By the end of the war, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, regarded Van Fleet as one of the “greatest fighting” soldiers in his command.

1898 – USS Oregon departs San Francisco for 14,000 mile trip around South America to join U.S. Squadron off Cuba.

1903 – The U.S. Senate ratified the Cuban treaty, gaining naval bases in Guantanamo and Bahia Honda.

1916 – Eight Curtiss “Jenny” planes of the First Aero Squadron take off from Columbus, New Mexico, in the first combat air mission in U.S. history. The First Aero Squadron, organized in 1914 after the outbreak of World War I, was on a support mission for the 7,000 U.S. troops who invaded Mexico to capture Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. On March 9, 1916, Villa, who opposed American support for Mexican President Venustiano Carranza, led a band of several hundred guerrillas across the border on a raid of the town of Columbus, New Mexico, killing 17 Americans. On March 15, under orders from President Woodrow Wilson, U.S. Brigadier General John J. Pershing launched a punitive expedition into Mexico to capture Villa. Four days later, the First Aero Squadron was sent into Mexico to scout and relay messages for General Pershing.

Despite numerous mechanical and navigational problems, the American fliers flew hundreds of missions for Pershing and gained important experience that would later be used by the pilots over the battlefields of Europe. However, during the 11-month mission, U.S. forces failed to capture the elusive revolutionary, and Mexican resentment over U.S. intrusion into their territory led to a diplomatic crisis. In late January 1917, with President Wilson under pressure from the Mexican government and more concerned with the war overseas than with bringing Villa to justice, the Americans were ordered home.

1917 – Navy Department authorizes enrollment of women in Naval Reserve with ratings of yeoman, radio electrician, or other essential ratings.

1918 – Congress authorized time zones and approved Daylight Saving Time.

1918 – A German seaplane was shot down for the first time by an American pilot.

1920 – The U.S. Senate rejected for the second time the Treaty of Versailles by a vote of 49-35, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed for approval.

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1924 – U.S. troops are rushed to Tegucigalpa as rebel forces take the Honduran capital. The October 1923 Honduran presidential elections and the subsequent political and military conflicts had proved to be especially contentious. Under heavy pressure from Washington, local military commander and governor of Tegucigalpa, General Rafael López Gutiérrez allowed an unusually open campaign and election. The long-fragmented conservatives had reunited in the form of the National Party of Honduras (Partido Nacional de Honduras–PNH), which ran as its candidate General Tiburcio Carías Andino, the governor of the department of Cortés. However, the Liberal Party of Honduras (Partido Liberal de Honduras–PLH), was unable to unite around a single candidate and split into two dissident groups, one supporting former president Policarpo Bonilla, the other advancing the candidacy of Juan Angel Arias.

As a result, each candidate failed to secure a majority. Carías received the greatest number of votes, with Bonilla second, and Arias a distant third. By the terms of the Honduran constitution, this stalemate left the final choice of president up to the legislature, but that body was unable to obtain a quorum and reach a decision. In January 1924, López Gutiérrez announced his intention to remain in office until new elections could be held, but he repeatedly refused to specify a date for the elections. Carías, reportedly with the support of United Fruit, declared himself president, and an armed conflict broke out. In February the United States, warning that recognition would be withheld from anyone coming to power by revolutionary means, suspended relations with the López Gutiérrez government for its failure to hold elections. Conditions rapidly deteriorated in the early months of 1924.

On February 28, a pitched battle took place in La Ceiba between government troops and rebels. Even the presence of the U.S.S. Denver and the landing of a force of United States Marines were unable to prevent widespread looting and arson resulting in over US$2 million in property damage. Fifty people, including a United States citizen, were killed in the fighting. In the weeks that followed, additional vessels from the United States Navy Special Service Squadron were concentrated in Honduran waters, and landing parties were put ashore at various points to protect United States interests. One force of marines and sailors was even dispatched inland to Tegucigalpa to provide additional protection for the United States legation. Shortly before the arrival of the force, López Gutiérrez died, and what authority remained with the central government was being exercised by his cabinet. General Carías and a variety of other rebel leaders controlled most of the countryside but failed to coordinate their activities effectively enough to seize the capital.

1928 – Marine planes bombed a bandit group at Nueve Segovia, Nicaragua. This was the first use of close air support. In 1927, a civil war led to American intervention. Following were years of sporadic bush fighting which continued until 1932. Observation Squadron One from San Diego and Observation Squadron Four from Quantico, constituted the Marine Aviation support for the brigade. The Nicaraguan deployment produced some notable achievements by Marine Aviation, precursors of what was to become the Marine air-ground team standard of future decades. In January 1927, 8 officers and 81 enlisted men of VO-1M, led by Maj. Ross Rowell, arrived at Corinto, Nicaragua with six DH’s. Amidst the anarchy of the civil and banditry, the U.S. Marines held the railroad.

In July the Sandinista rebels (the original ones) besieged 37 Marines at the Ocotal garrison, 125 miles from Manaagua. Patrolling Marine pilots, Lt. Hayne Boyden and Gunner Micahel Wodarczyk, discovered the defenders’ plight. After they reported this to Maj. Rowell, he led five DH’s to bomb the rebels. From 1,500 feet, they conducted one of the first dive bombing missions, killing dozens of Sandinistas. Rowell and his fliers flew 50 missions against the Nicaraguan guerrillas.

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1941 – The 99th Pursuit Squadron also known as the Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-black unit of the US Army Air Corps, is activated. The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of a group of African-American military pilots (fighter and bomber) who fought in World War II.

Formally, they also included the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces. The name also applies to the navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks and other support personnel for the pilots. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the United States armed forces. During World War II, Black Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to the Jim Crow laws and the American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government. The Tuskegee Airmen were subjected to racial discrimination, both within and outside the army.

All black military pilots who trained in the United States trained at Moton Field and Tuskegee Army Air Field, located near Tuskegee, Alabama, which included five Haitians from the Haitian Air Force (Alix Pasquet, Raymond Cassagnol, Pelissier Nicolas, Ludovic Audant, and Eberle Guilbaud). Although the 477th Bombardment Group trained with North American B-25 Mitchell bombers, they never served in combat. The 99th Pursuit Squadron (later, 99th Fighter Squadron) was the first black flying squadron, and the first to deploy overseas (to North Africa in April 1943, and later to Sicily and Italy). The 332nd Fighter Group, which originally included the 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons, was the first black flying group.

The group deployed to Italy in early 1944. In June 1944, the 332nd Fighter Group began flying heavy bomber escort missions, and in July 1944, the 99th Fighter Squadron was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group, which then had four fighter squadrons. The 99th Fighter Squadron was initially equipped with Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter-bomber aircraft. The 332nd Fighter Group and its 100th, 301st and 302nd Fighter Squadrons were equipped for initial combat missions with Bell P-39 Airacobras (March 1944), later with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts (June–July 1944), and finally with the aircraft with which they became most commonly associated, the North American P-51 Mustang (July 1944).

When the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group painted the tails of their P-47s and later, P-51s, red, the nickname “Red Tails” was coined. The red markings that distinguished the Tuskegee Airmen included red bands on the noses of P-51s as well as a red rudder, the P-51B and D Mustangs flew with similar color schemes, with red propeller spinners, yellow wing bands and all-red tail surfaces.

1942 – FDR ordered men between 45 and 64 to register for non military duty.

1942 – SecNav gave Civil Engineering Corps command of Seabees.

1945 – US 7th Army forces complete the capture of Saarlouis. Fighting in Saarbrucken and the towns to the east continues. US 3rd Army continues to advance east and southeast toward the Rhine River. Worms is reached, while to the left and right other units are near Mainz and Kaiserslautern.

1945 – In their northward attacks along the west coast, US 1st Corps captures Bauang, south of San Fernando, on Luzon.

1945 – US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) conducts air raids naval bases in the Inland Sea, with Kure specifically targeted. Six Japanese carriers and 3 battleships are reported damaged. There are Japanese Kamikaze attacks in response which badly damage the carriers Franklin and Wasp as well as hitting Enterprise and Essex. The 832 killed on board the USS Franklin is the heaviest casualty list ever recorded on a US ship. Admiral Spruance, command the US 5th Fleet, is present for the operations.

1945 – Adolf Hitler issued his so-called “Nero Decree,” ordering the destruction of German facilities that could fall into Allied hands. Hitler ordered a scorched-earth policy. Hitler had decreed that Paris should be left a smoking ruin, but Dietrich von Choltitz thought better of his Führer’s order.

1945 – Off the coast of Japan, a dive bomber hits the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 724 of her crew. Badly damaged, the ship is able to return to the U.S. under her own power.

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1945 – The first all-Coast Guard hunter-killer group ever established during the war, made up of four units of Escort Division 46, searched for a reported German U-boat near Sable Island. The hunter-killer group was made up of the Coast Guard-manned destroyer escorts USS Lowe, Menges, Mosley, and Pride, and was under the overall command of CDR R. H. French, USCG. He flew his pennant from the Pride. Off Sable Island the warships located, attacked and sank the U-866 with the loss of all hands. Interestingly, the Menges had been a victim of a German acoustic torpedo during escort of convoy operations in the Mediterranean in 1944. The torpedo had detonated directly under her stern, causing major damage and casualties, but she remained afloat. She was later towed to port and the stern of another destroyer escort, one that had been damaged well forward, was welded onto the Menges. She then returned to action.

1949 – In a precursor to the establishment of a separate, Soviet-dominated East Germany, the People’s Council of the Soviet Zone of Occupation approves a new constitution. This action, together with the U.S. policy of pursuing an independent pathway in regards to West Germany, contributed to the permanent division of Germany. The postwar status of Germany had become a bone of contention between the United States and the Soviet Union even before World War II ended. The Soviet Union wanted assurances that Germany would be permanently disarmed and demanded huge reparations from the postwar German government. The United States, however, was hesitant to commit to these demands. By 1945, many U.S. officials began to see the Soviet Union as a potential adversary in the postwar world and viewed a reunified-and pro-West-Germany as valuable to the defense of Europe.

When the war ended in May 1945, Russian forces occupied a large portion of Germany, including Berlin. Negotiations between the United States, Russia, Britain, and France resulted in the establishment of occupation zones for each nation. Berlin was also divided in zones of occupation. While both the United States and Russia publicly called for a reunified Germany, both nations were coming to the conclusion that a permanently divided Germany might be advantageous. For the United States, West Germany, with its powerful economy and potential military strength, would make for a crucial ally in the developing Cold War. The Soviets came to much the same conclusion in regards to East Germany. When, in 1949, the United States proposed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (a military and political alliance between America and several European states) and began to discuss the possible inclusion of a remilitarized West Germany in NATO, the Soviets reacted quickly.

The new constitution for East Germany, approved by the People’s Council of the Soviet Zone of Occupation (a puppet legislative body dominated by the Soviets), made clear that the Russians were going to establish a separate and independent East Germany. In October 1949, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was declared. Months earlier, in May, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) had been formally proclaimed. Germany remained a divided nation until the collapse of the communist government in East Germany and reunification in 1990.

1952 – The 1,000,000th Jeep was produced. In 1939, the American Bantam Car Company submitted its original design for an all-terrain troop transport vehicle–featuring four-wheel drive, masked fender-mount headlights, and a rifle rack under the dash–to the U.S. Armed Forces. The Army loved Bantam’s design, but the development contract for the vehicle was ultimately awarded to the Willys-Overland Company for its superior production capabilities. Bantam wound up fulfilling a government contract for 3,000 vehicles during the war; but the Jeep, as designed by Willys-Overland, would become the primary troop transport of the U.S. Army. Mass production of the Willys Jeep began after the U.S. declaration of war in 1941.

The name “Jeep” is reportedly derived from the Army’s request that car manufacturers develop a “General Purpose” vehicle. “Gee Pee” turned to “Jeep” somewhere along the battle lines. Another story maintains that the name came from a character in the Popeye cartoon who, like the vehicle, was capable of incredible feats. The Willys Jeep became a cultural icon in the U.S. during World War II, as images of G.I.’s in “Gee Pees,” liberating Europe, saturated newsreels in movie theaters across the country. Unlike the Hummer of recent years, the Jeep was not a symbol of technological superiority but rather of the courage of the American spirit–a symbol cartoonist Bill Mauldin captured when he drew a weeping soldier firing a bullet into his broken down Willys Jeep.

By 1945, 660,000 Jeeps had rolled off the assembly lines and onto battlefields in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Many remained abroad after the war, where their parts were integrated into other vehicles or their broken bodies were mended with colorful impromptu repairs. Wherever the Jeep roamed, it lived up to its design as a vehicle for general use. During the war, Jeep hoods were used as altars for field burials. Jeeps were also used as ambulances, tractors, and scout cars. After the war, surplus Jeeps found their way into civilian life as snowplows, field plows, and mail carriers. Willys-Overland released its first civilian Jeep model, called the CJ (Civilian Jeep) in 1945.

1954 – The 1st rocket-driven sled on rails was tested in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

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1963 – In San Jose, Costa Rica, President John F. Kennedy and the presidents of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and El Salvador pledge to fight Communism.

1965 – The wreck of the SS Georgiana, valued at over $50,000,000 and said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is discovered by teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence, exactly 102 years after its destruction.

1966 – The South Korean Assembly votes to send 20,000 additional troops to Vietnam to join the 21,000 Republic of Korea (ROK) forces already serving in the war zone. The South Korean contingent was part of the Free World Military Forces, an effort by President Lyndon B. Johnson to enlist allies for the United States and South Vietnam. By securing support from other nations, Johnson hoped to build an international consensus behind his policies in Vietnam. The effort was also known as the “many flags” program. South Korean forces had been in South Vietnam since August 1964, when Seoul sent a liaison unit to Saigon. The first contingent was followed in February 1965 by engineer units and a mobile hospital. Although initially assigned to non-combat duties, they came under fire on April 3. In September 1965, in response to additional pleas from Johnson, the South Korean government greatly expanded its troop commitment to Vietnam and agreed to send combat troops. By the close of 1969, over 47,800 Korean soldiers were actively involved in combat operations in South Vietnam. Seoul began to withdraw its troops in February 1972, following the lead of the United States as it drastically reduced its troop commitment in South Vietnam.

1970 – The National Assembly grants “full power” to Premier Lon Nol, declares a state of emergency, and suspends four articles of the constitution, permitting arbitrary arrest and banning public assembly. Lon Nol and First Deputy Premier Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak had conducted a bloodless coup against Prince Norodom Sihanouk the day before and proclaimed the establishment of the Khmer Republic. Between 1970 and 1975, Lon Nol and his army, the Forces Armees Nationale Khmer (FANK), with U.S. support and military aid, fought the communist Khmer Rouge for control of Cambodia. When the U.S. forces departed South Vietnam in 1973, both the Cambodians and South Vietnamese found themselves fighting the communists alone. Without U.S. support, Lon Nol’s forces succumbed to the Khmer Rouge in April 1975. The victorious Khmer Rouge evacuated Phnom Penh and began reordering Cambodian society, which resulted in a killing spree and the notorious “killing fields.” Eventually, hundreds of thousands of Cambodians were murdered or died from exhaustion, hunger, and disease. During the five years of bitter fighting, approximately 10 percent of Cambodia’s 7 million people died.

1979 – The U.S. House of Representatives began televising its day-to-day business. Brian Lamb launched C-Span, a TV public service broadcasting medium that focused on public affairs without comment or analysis.

1981 – One technician was killed and two others were injured during a routine test on space shuttle Columbia.

1985 – In a legislative victory for President Reagan, the Senate voted, 55-45, to authorize production of the MX missile.

1987 – President Reagan, in a news conference, repudiated his policy of selling arms to Iran, saying, “I would not go down that road again.”

1994 – Talks between North Korea and South Korea collapsed, imperiling a U.S.-brokered deal to resolve the North Korean nuclear dispute.

1996 – The U.N. Security Council issues a Presidential statement terming Iraq’s behavior a clear violation of Iraq’s obligations under relevant resolutions.

1998 – President Clinton eased US restrictions on humanitarian aid and travel to Cuba. Cuban-American households would be allowed to send back $1,200 a year.

1999 – At a White House news conference, President Clinton prepared the nation for airstrikes against Serbian targets following the collapse of Kosovo peace talks in Paris.

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2001 – Nato asked for additional troops in Kosovo to help stop Albanian guerrillas from crossing into Macedonia. Macedonia moved tanks and troops into Tetovo.

2002 – Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega’s appeal for parole was turned down.

2003 – Iraqi President Saddam Hussein appears on national television and rejects the US ultimatum to leave the country or face war. He says “this battle will be Iraq’s last battle against the tyrannous villains and the last battle of aggression undertaken by America against the Arabs”.

2003 – A Cuban airliner was hijacked to Key West. 6 hijackers took control of the plane without telling the 25 passengers and six crew members about their asylum plans. The six were later convicted of federal hijacking charges.

2003 – PM Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was preparing to open its airspace to US warplanes but would not allow them access to airbases.

2003 – The Pentagon says that British and American warplanes have bombed 10 Iraqi artillery positions in the southern no-fly zone.

2004 – In central Afghanistan U.S. warplanes and ground forces killed five suspected Taliban fighters at a compound in Uruzgan province.

2004 – Thousands of Pakistani army reinforcements joined a major offensive in tribal border villages where al-Qaida’s No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri and hundreds of other militants are believed surrounded.

2004 – Yemen security forces captured the nation’s most wanted man and another militant who escaped from prison last year after being detained for the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. Jamal Badawi and Fahd al-Quso were arrested in the mountains of southern Abyan province.

2007 – Waleed bin Attash, a suspected al Qaeda operative, confesses plotting the USS Cole bombing as well as the bombing of two United States embassies in Africa. Walid Muhammad Salih bin Roshayed bin Attash (born 1979) is a Yemeni prisoner held in extrajudicial detention at the United States’ Guantanamo Bay detention camps. He confessed purchasing the explosives and small boat used in the Cole bombing, as well as recruiting the perpetrators, and planning the operation 18 months before the actual attack; he stated that he was in Kandahar, Afghanistan with bin Laden at the time of the Cole attack, and in Karachi at the time of the simultaneous embassy bombings meeting with the mastermind of the attack.

2011 – The United States Navy fires Tomahawk cruise missiles at Gaddafi’s air defenses as Operation Odyssey Dawn gets underway.

2013 – The United States Air Force successfully launches an Atlas V 401 rocket carrying a missile defense satellite SBIRS-GEO 2.

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[SHOOTER13]

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

ANDERSON, PETER
Rank and organization: Private, Company B, 31st Wisconsin Infantry. Place and date: At Bentonville, N.C., 19 March 1865. Entered service at:——. Birth: Lafayette County, Wis. Date of issue: 16 June 1865. Citation: Entirely unassisted, brought from the field an abandoned piece of artillery and saved the gun from falling into the hands of the enemy.

CLUTE, GEORGE W.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company I, 14th Michigan Infantry. Place and date: At Bentonville, N.C., 19 March 1865. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Marathon, Mich. Date of issue: 26 August 1898. Citation: In a charge, captured the flag of the 40th North Carolina (C.S.A.), the flag being taken in a personal encounter with an officer who carried and defended it.

DOUGALL, ALLAN H.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant and Adjutant, 88th Indiana Infantry. Place and date: At Bentonville, N.C., 19 March 1865. Entered service at: New Haven, Allen County, Ind. Birth: Scotland. Date of issue: 16 February 1897. Citation: In the face of a galling fire from the enemy he voluntarily returned to where the color bearer had fallen wounded and saved the flag of his regiment from capture.

PLANT, HENRY E.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company F, 14th Michigan Infantry. Place and date: At Bentonville, N.C., 19 March 1865. Entered service at: Cockery, Mich. Birth: Oswego County, N.Y. Date of issue: 27 April 1896. Citation: Rushed into the midst of the enemy and rescued the colors, the color bearer having fallen mortally wounded.

BURR, HERBERT H.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company C, 41st Tank Battalion, 11th Armored Division. Place and date: Near Dorrmoschel, Germany, 19 March 1945. Entered service at: Kansas City, Mo. Birth: St. Joseph, Mo. G.O. No.: 73, 30 August 1945. Citation: He displayed conspicuous gallantry during action when the tank in which he was bow gunner was hit by an enemy rocket, which severely wounded the platoon sergeant and forced the remainder of the crew to abandon the vehicle. Deafened, but otherwise unhurt, S/Sgt. Burr immediately climbed into the driver’s seat and continued on the mission of entering the town to reconnoiter road conditions. As he rounded a turn he encountered an 88-mm. antitank gun at pointblank range. Realizing that he had no crew, no one to man the tank’s guns, he heroically chose to disregard his personal safety in a direct charge on the German weapon.

At considerable speed he headed straight for the loaded gun, which was fully manned by enemy troops who had only to pull the lanyard to send a shell into his vehicle. So unexpected and daring was his assault that he was able to drive his tank completely over the gun, demolishing it and causing its crew to flee in confusion. He then skillfully sideswiped a large truck, overturned it, and wheeling his lumbering vehicle, returned to his company. When medical personnel who had been summoned to treat the wounded sergeant could not locate him, the valiant soldier ran through a hail of sniper fire to direct them to his stricken comrade. The bold, fearless determination of S/Sgt. Burr, his skill and courageous devotion to duty, resulted in the completion of his mission in the face of seemingly impossible odds.

GARY, DONALD ARTHUR
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, Junior Grade, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Franklin. Place and date: Japanese Home Islands near Kobe, Japan, 19 March 1945. Entered service at: Ohio. Born: 23 July 1903, Findlay, Ohio. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as an engineering officer attached to the U.S.S. Franklin when that vessel was fiercely attacked by enemy aircraft during the operations against the Japanese Home Islands near Kobe, Japan, 19 March 1945. Stationed on the third deck when the ship was rocked by a series of violent explosions set off in her own ready bombs, rockets, and ammunition by the hostile attack, Lt. (j.g.) Gary unhesitatingly risked his life to assist several hundred men trapped in a messing compartment filled with smoke, and with no apparent egress. As the imperiled men below decks became increasingly panic stricken under the raging fury of incessant explosions, he confidently assured them he would find a means of effecting their release and, groping through the dark, debris-filled corridors, ultimately discovered an escape way.

Stanchly determined, he struggled back to the messing compartment 3 times despite menacing flames, flooding water, and the ominous threat of sudden additional explosions, on each occasion calmly leading his men through the blanketing pall of smoke until the last one had been saved. Selfless in his concern for his ship and his fellows, he constantly rallied others about him, repeatedly organized and led fire-fighting parties into the blazing inferno on the flight deck and, when fire rooms 1 and 2 were found to be inoperable, entered the No. 3 fire room and directed the raising of steam in 1 boiler in the face of extreme difficulty and hazard. An inspiring and courageous leader, Lt. (j.g.) Gary rendered self-sacrificing service under the most perilous conditions and, by his heroic initiative, fortitude, and valor, was responsible for the saving of several hundred lives. His conduct throughout reflects the highest credit upon himself and upon the U.S. Naval Service.

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[SHOOTER13]

O’CALLAHAN, JOSEPH TIMOTHY
Rank and organization: Commander (Chaplain Corps), U.S. Naval Reserve, U.S.S. Franklin. Place and date: Near Kobe, Japan, 19 March 1945. Entered service at: Massachusetts. Born: 14 May 1904, Boston, Mass. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as chaplain on board the U.S.S. Franklin when that vessel was fiercely attacked by enemy Japanese aircraft during offensive operations near Kobe, Japan, on 19 March 1945. A valiant and forceful leader, calmly braving the perilous barriers of flame and twisted metal to aid his men and his ship, Lt. Comdr. O’Callahan groped his way through smoke-filled corridors to the open flight deck and into the midst of violently exploding bombs, shells, rockets, and other armament.

With the ship rocked by incessant explosions, with debris and fragments raining down and fires raging in ever-increasing fury, he ministered to the wounded and dying, comforting and encouraging men of all faiths; he organized and led firefighting crews into the blazing inferno on the flight deck; he directed the jettisoning of live ammunition and the flooding of the magazine; he manned a hose to cool hot, armed bombs rolling dangerously on the listing deck, continuing his efforts, despite searing, suffocating smoke which forced men to fall back gasping and imperiled others who replaced them. Serving with courage, fortitude, and deep spiritual strength, Lt. Comdr. O’Callahan inspired the gallant officers and men of the Franklin to fight heroically and with profound faith in the face of almost certain death and to return their stricken ship to port.

BUCHA, PAUL WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, Company D, 3d Battalion. 187th Infantry, 3d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. Place and date: Near Phuoc Vinh, Binh Duong Province, Republic of Vietnam, 16- 19 March 1968. Entered service at: U .S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y. Born: 1 August 1943, Washington, D.C. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Capt. Bucha distinguished himself while serving as commanding officer, Company D, on a reconnaissance-in-force mission against enemy forces near Phuoc Vinh, The company was inserted by helicopter into the suspected enemy stronghold to locate and destroy the enemy. During this period Capt. Bucha aggressively and courageously led his men in the destruction of enemy fortifications and base areas and eliminated scattered resistance impeding the advance of the company. On 18 March while advancing to contact, the lead elements of the company became engaged by the heavy automatic weapon, heavy machine gun, rocket propelled grenade, Claymore mine and small-arms fire of an estimated battalion-size force.

Capt. Bucha, with complete disregard for his safety, moved to the threatened area to direct the defense and ordered reinforcements to the aid of the lead element. Seeing that his men were pinned down by heavy machine gun fire from a concealed bunker located some 40 meters to the front of the positions, Capt. Bucha crawled through the hail of fire to single-handedly destroy the bunker with grenades. During this heroic action Capt. Bucha received a painful shrapnel wound. Returning to the perimeter, he observed that his unit could not hold its positions and repel the human wave assaults launched by the determined enemy. Capt. Bucha ordered the withdrawal of the unit elements and covered the withdrawal to positions of a company perimeter from which he could direct fire upon the charging enemy. When 1 friendly element retrieving casualties was ambushed and cut off from the perimeter, Capt. Bucha ordered them to feign death and he directed artillery fire around them.

During the night Capt. Bucha moved throughout the position, distributing ammunition, providing encouragement and insuring the integrity of the defense. He directed artillery, helicopter gunship and Air Force gunship fire on the enemy strong points and attacking forces, marking the positions with smoke grenades. Using flashlights in complete view of enemy snipers, he directed the medical evacuation of 3 air-ambulance loads of seriously wounded personnel and the helicopter supply of his company. At daybreak Capt. Bucha led a rescue party to recover the dead and wounded members of the ambushed element. During the period of intensive combat, Capt. Bucha, by his extraordinary heroism, inspirational example, outstanding leadership and professional competence, led his company in the decimation of a superior enemy force which left 156 dead on the battlefield. His bravery and gallantry at the risk of his life are in the highest traditions of the military service, Capt. Bucha has reflected great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

*McMAHON, THOMAS J.
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company A, 2d Battalion, 1st Infantry, 196th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division. place and date: Quang Tin province, Republic of Vietnam, 19 March 1969. Entered service at: portland, Maine. Born: 24 June 1948, Washington, D.C. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. McMahon distinguished himself while serving as medical aid man with Company A. When the lead elements of his company came under heavy fire from well-fortified enemy positions, 3 soldiers fell seriously wounded.

Sp4c. McMahon, with complete disregard for his safety, left his covered position and ran through intense enemy fire to the side of 1 of the wounded, administered first aid and then carried him to safety. He returned through the hail of fire to the side of a second wounded man. Although painfully wounded by an exploding mortar round while returning the wounded man to a secure position, Sp4c. McMahon refused medical attention and heroically ran back through the heavy enemy fire toward his remaining wounded comrade. He fell mortally wounded before he could rescue the last man. Sp4c. McMahon’s undaunted concern for the welfare of his comrades at the cost of his life are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

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*RAY, DAVID ROBERT
Rank and organization: Hospital Corpsman Second Class, U.S. Navy, 2d Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein), FMF. Place and date: Quang Nam Province, Republic of Vietnam, 19 March 1969. Entered service at: Nashville, Tenn. Born: 14 February 1945, McMinnville, Tenn. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a HC2c. with Battery D, 2d Battalion, at Phu Loc 6, near An Hoa. During the early morning hours, an estimated battalion-sized enemy force launched a determined assault against the battery’s position, and succeeded in effecting a penetration of the barbed-wire perimeter. The initial burst of enemy fire caused numerous casualties among the marines who had immediately manned their howitzers during the rocket and mortar attack. Undaunted by the intense hostile fire, HC2c. Ray moved from parapet to parapet, rendering emergency medical treatment to the wounded. Although seriously wounded himself while administering first aid to a marine casualty, he refused medical aid and continued his lifesaving efforts.

While he was bandaging and attempting to comfort another wounded marine, HC2c. Ray was forced to battle 2 enemy soldiers who attacked his position, personally killing 1 and wounding the other. Rapidly losing his strength as a result of his severe wounds, he nonetheless managed to move through the hail of enemy fire to other casualties. Once again, he was faced with the intense fire of oncoming enemy troops and, despite the grave personal danger and insurmountable odds, succeeded in treating the wounded and holding off the enemy until he ran out of ammunition, at which time he sustained fatal wounds.

HC2c. Ray’s final act of heroism was to protect the patient he was treating. He threw himself upon the wounded marine, thus saving the man’s life when an enemy grenade exploded nearby. By his determined and persevering actions, courageous spirit, and selfless devotion to the welfare of his marine comrades, HC2c. Ray served to inspire the men of Battery D to heroic efforts in defeating the enemy. His conduct throughout was in keeping with the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

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[havasu]

Kev, thank you for keeping these heroes names alive and as a reminder of how real men lived.

 

[tazo2503]

+1 on that!

 

[SHOOTER13]

20 March

1760 – The great fire of Boston destroyed 349 buildings.

1782 – English Prime Minister, Lord North, resigns under pressure from the peace faction in Parliament. He is succeeded by Lord Rockingham on 22 March who will seek immediate and direct negotiation with American representatives.

1807 – President Jefferson sends new instructions to US special envoy William Pinkney and US minister to Great Britain James Monroe, advising them to use the 1806 Monroe-Pinkney Treaty as a basis for reopening negotiations on British interference with US commercial shipping.

1833 – CDR Geisinger of Peacock negotiates first commercial treaty with King of Siam.

1863 – Battle of Pensacola, Florida- evacuated by Federals.

1865 – A plan by John Wilkes Booth to abduct U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was ruined when Lincoln changed his plans and did not appear at the Soldier’s Home near Washington, DC.

1896 – U.S. Marines landed in Corinto, Nicaragua to protect U.S. citizens in the wake of a revolt. José Santos Zelaya, became president of Nicaragua in 1894. He instituted a vigorous dictatorship, extended Nicaraguan authority over the Mosquito Coast, promoted economic development, and interfered in the affairs of neighboring countries. His financial dealings with Britain aroused the apprehension of the United States and helped bring about his downfall in 1909. The 1869 revolt was the result of Zelaya’s decision to succeed himself as President.

1916 – Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.

1917 – Gideon Sundback, Swedish-born engineer, patented an all-purpose zipper while working for the Automatic Hook and Eye Co. of Hoboken, New Jersey. The zipper name was coined by B.F. Goodrich in 1923, who used it to fasten rubber galoshes.

1918 – The Bolsheviks asked for American aid to rebuild their army.

1922 – President Harding ordered U.S. troops back from the Rhineland.

1922 – The 11,500-ton Langley was commissioned into the U.S. Navy as America’s first aircraft carrier. Langley was not regarded as a beautiful ship. Her flight deck was 533 feet long and 64 feet wide with an open-sided hanger deck, inspiring the nickname “the Old Covered Wagon.” Under the leadership of Commander Kenneth Whiting, Langley served as a base for reconnaissance aircraft and a laboratory to develop new procedures for launching and recovering planes, such as the use of cross-deck arresting wires to brake incoming aircraft.

1929 – The Canadian schooner I’m Alone was taken under fire and captured by CGC Wolcott for violating the Volstead Act. This precipitated an international incident with Canada that was adjudicated by an international tribunal in the Coast Guard’s favor.

1933 – Giuseppe [Joe] Zangara was electrocuted for an assassination attempt on FDR.

1933 – Roosevelt continued his aggressive first month in office, signing the Economy Act into law. Another strike against the Depression, the Economy Act slashed the salaries of federal employees in the name of preserving the nation’s fiscal resources. It also forced veterans to forgo part of their war benefits in the name of the economy. Along with these austerity measures, the Economy Act also forced the federal government to shuffle various agencies in hopes of maximizing their cost efficiency.

1939 – Naval Research Lab recommends financing research program to obtain power from uranium.

1941 – Sabotage was discovered on an Italian vessel at Wilmington, North Carolina. The Coast Guard investigated all Italian and German vessels in American ports and took into “protective custody” 28 Italian vessels, two German and 35 Danish vessels. Coast Guard boarding teams discovered that their crews had damaged 27 of the Italian ships and one of the German ships. The Coast Guard also took into custody a total of 850 Italian and 63 German officers and crew. Two months later these vessels were requisitioned for service with the United States by order of Congress for the Latin American trade.

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1942 – General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: “I came out of Bataan and I shall return”.

1943 – The Allies attacked Rommel’s forces on the Mareth Line in North Africa.

1943 – Marine “Avengers” conducted the first aerial mine-laying mission.

1944 – British General Alexander, Supreme Allied Command in the Mediterranean, agrees to the request of New Zealand Corps commander General Freyberg to halt attacks on Cassino because of heavy losses, unless substantial progress is achieved within the next two days.

1944 – The US 4th Marine Division (General Noble) lands on Emirau Island, in the Matthias group. There is no Japanese resistance. Naval support includes 4 carriers and 7 cruisers. Admiral Griffin commands 4 battleships and 2 carriers in attacks on Kavieng as cover for the landings.

1945 – US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) is replenishing in preparation for operations around Okinawa. There are Japanese Kamikaze attacks that fail to achieve significant success. Admiral Spruance, command the US 5th Fleet, is present for the operations.

1945 – Troops of US 7th Army capture Saarbrucken as well as Zweibrucken a little to the east. Forces of US 3rd Army capture Ludwigshafen and Kaiserslautern. Farther north, the US 1st Army continues fighting to expand the Remagen bridgehead which is now almost 30 miles wide and 19 miles deep.

1951 – The battleship USS Missouri fired 246 tons of 16-inch shells and 2,000 rounds of 5-inch ammunition on Wonsan in the heaviest such attack of the war.

1952 – The United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.

1953 – The Joint Chiefs of Staff approved Operation MOOLAH. This was an effort to entice MiG pilots to defect with their aircraft and in return receive political asylum and a monetary reward.

1954 – After a force of 60,000 Viet Minh with heavy artillery had surrounded 16,000 French troops, news of Dien Bien Phu’s impending fall reaches Washington. French General Henri Navarre had positioned his forces 200 miles behind enemy lines in a remote area adjacent to the Laotian border. He hoped to draw the communists into a set-piece battle in which he supposed superior French firepower would prevail. He underestimated the enemy. Viet Minh General Vo Nguyen Giap entrenched artillery in the surrounding mountains and massed five divisions around the French positions. The battle, which far exceeded the size and scope of anything to date in the war between the French and the Viet Minh, began with a massive Viet Minh artillery barrage and was followed by an infantry assault.

Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and other members of the Eisenhower administration were stunned at the turn of events and discussions were held to decide on a course of action. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Arthur Radford proposed the use of nuclear strikes against the Viet Minh. Other options included massive conventional air strikes, paratrooper drops, and the mining of Haiphong Harbor. In the end, President Eisenhower decided that the situation was too far gone and ordered no action to be taken to aid the French. Fierce fighting continued at Dien Bien Phu until May 7, 1954, when the Viet Minh overran the last French positions. The shock at the fall of Dien Bien Phu led France, already plagued by public opposition to the war, to agree to grant independence to Vietnam at the Geneva Conference in 1954.

1957 – Britain accepted a NATO offer to mediate in Cyprus, but Greece rejected it.

1965 – President Lyndon B. Johnson orders 4,000 troops to protect the Selma-Montgomery civil rights marchers.

1968 – Retired U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Shoup estimates that up to 800,000 men would be required just to defend South Vietnamese population centers. He further stated that the United States could only achieve military victory by invading the North, but argued that such an operation would not be worth the cost. Also on this day: The New York Times publishes excerpts from General Westmoreland’s classified end-of-year report, which indicated that the U.S. command did not believe the enemy capable of any action even approximating the Tet Offensive. This report, Shoup’s comments, and other conflicting assessments of the situation in Vietnam contributed to the growing dissatisfaction among a large segment of American society with the Vietnam War.

At the end of the previous year, Johnson administration officials had insisted that the United States had turned a corner in the war. The strength and scope of the Tet Offensive flew in the face of these claims, feeding a widening credibility gap. Despite administration assurances that the situation was getting better in Vietnam, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong had launched a massive attack at 3:00 A.M. on January 31, 1968, simultaneously hitting Saigon, Da Nang, Hue, and other major cities, towns, and military bases throughout South Vietnam. One assault team got within the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon before they were destroyed. In the end, the communist forces were resoundingly defeated, but the United States suffered a fatal strategic blow. The Tet Offensive cost the government the confidence of the American people and public opinion turned against the war.

1969 – US president Nixon proclaimed he would end Vietnam war in 1970...It would drag on for 5 more years.

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[SHOOTER13]

1980 – The U.S. made an appeal to the International Court concerning the American Hostages in Iran. UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim warns U.S. not to use force in attempt to free American hostages in Iran.

1991 – A US jet fighter shot down an Iraqi warplane in the first air attack since the Gulf War cease-fire.

1991 – April Glaspie, the US ambassador to Iraq, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Saddam Hussein had lied to her by denying he would invade Kuwait.

1997 – Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin met in Helsinki for talks on arms control and NATO expansion. They agreed to negotiate a new arms accord to reduce strategic warheads, and to give Russia a more formal role in the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations.

1998 – In Mexico a new law, the Nationality Act, went into effect that allowed Mexican-born Americans and their children to hold Mexican nationality and US citizenship. The law permitted dual nationality but not dual citizenship.

2001 – The skipper of the USS Greeneville took the stand in a Navy court and accepted sole responsibility for the February 9th
collision of his submarine with a Japanese trawler off Hawaii that killed nine Japanese.

2002 – US began war games with South Korea, the biggest ever.

2002 – At Fort Drum, NY, a soldier was killed and 14 were injured when 2 artillery shells fell far short of their target.

2002 – In Bosnia the US Embassy was shut down to the public due to a possible terrorist threat.

2002 – In Lima, Peru, a car bomb explosion outside the US Embassy killed 9 people. Pres. Bush was scheduled to arrive 3 days later.

2003 – (9:34 p.m., 19 March EST) the military invasion of Iraq began. The invasion of Iraq, led by U.S. army General Tommy Franks, began under the codename “Operation Iraqi Liberation”, later renamed “Operation Iraqi Freedom”, the UK codename Operation Telic, and the Australian codename Operation Falconer. Coalition forces also cooperated with Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the north. Approximately forty other governments, the “U.S.-led coalition against Iraq,” participated by providing troops, equipment, services, security, and special forces, with 248,000 soldiers from the United States, 45,000 British soldiers, 2,000 Australian soldiers and 194 Polish soldiers from Special Forces unit GROM sent to Kuwait for the invasion. The invasion force was also supported by Iraqi Kurdish militia troops, estimated to number upwards of 70,000.

According to General Tommy Franks, the objectives of the invasion were, “First, end the regime of Saddam Hussein. Second, to identify, isolate and eliminate Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. Third, to search for, to capture and to drive out terrorists from that country. Fourth, to collect such intelligence as we can related to terrorist networks. Fifth, to collect such intelligence as we can related to the global network of illicit weapons of mass destruction. Sixth, to end sanctions and to immediately deliver humanitarian support to the displaced and to many needy Iraqi citizens. Seventh, to secure Iraq’s oil fields and resources, which belong to the Iraqi people. And last, to help the Iraqi people create conditions for a transition to a representative self-government.”

2003 – Some 600 US and Romanian ground troops in Afghanistan began Operation Valiant Strike, an intensified search for Taliban, al Qaeda and loyalists to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

2003 – Norwegian police arrested Mullah Krekar, the leader of a Kurdish guerrilla group suspected of links to al-Qaida, on kidnapping charges.

2003 – Turkey’s parliament approved a motion allowing over-flights for US warplanes. Turkey announced plans to send thousands of troops into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq.

2004 – NATO-led forces surrounded Kosovska Mitrovica in efforts to separate ethnic Albanians and Serbs and prevent a resurgence of attacks that killed 28 people and wounded 600. Ethnic Albanians looted villages and apartments abandoned by Serb civilians. Some 110 homes and at least 16 Serb Orthodox churches were destroyed by arson.

2004 – The Pakistani military commander leading a five-day assault on armed militants holed up in mud fortresses said a “high-value” terror suspect remained inside, possibly wounded, but there was no way to know whether it was al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.

2004 – The hunt for terrorists on Pakistan’s frontier appears to be narrowing on an Uzbek terror group that once trained in Afghanistan.

2005 – In Jordan an appeals court has overturned the conviction of a Jordanian found guilty of financing Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi’s insurgent group in Iraq. The Court of Cassation said the Oct. 31 conviction of Bilal Mansur al-Hiyari by the military State Security Court “fell short of adequate justifications and causes.”

2007 – Commercial spaceflight venture SpaceX launches the second Falcon 1 rocket into space, though failing to reach orbit.

2009 – The United States Navy’s USS Hartford and USS New Orleans collide in the Strait of Hormuz.

2014 – United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid orders an investigation into the breach by the CIA into the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s computer systems.

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[SHOOTER13]

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

*VILLEGAS, YSMAEL R.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company F, 127th Infantry, 32d Infantry Division. Place and date: Villa Verde Trail, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 20 March 1945. Entered service at: Casa Blanca, Calif. Birth: Casa Blanca, Calif. G.O. No.: 89, 19 October 1945. Citation: He was a squad leader when his unit, in a forward position, clashed with an enemy strongly entrenched in connected caves and foxholes on commanding ground. He moved boldly from man to man, in the face of bursting grenades and demolition charges, through heavy machinegun and rifle fire, to bolster the spirit of his comrades. Inspired by his gallantry, his men pressed forward to the crest of the hill. Numerous enemy riflemen, refusing to flee, continued firing from their foxholes.

S/Sgt. Villegas, with complete disregard for his own safety and the bullets which kicked up the dirt at his feet, charged an enemy position, and, firing at point-blank range killed the Japanese in a foxhole. He rushed a second foxhole while bullets missed him by inches, and killed 1 more of the enemy. In rapid succession he charged a third, a fourth, a fifth foxhole, each time destroying the enemy within. The fire against him increased in intensity, but he pressed onward to attack a sixth position. As he neared his goal, he was hit and killed by enemy fire. Through his heroism and indomitable fighting spirit, S/Sgt. Villegas, at the cost of his life, inspired his men to a determined attack in which they swept the enemy from the field.

HAGEMEISTER, CHARLES CHRIS
Rank and organization: Specialist Fifth Class (then Sp4c.) U .S. Army, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Place and date: Binh Dinh Province, Republic of Vietnam, 20 March 1967. Entered service at: Lincoln, Nebr. Born: 21 August 1946, Lincoln, Nebr. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. While conducting combat operations against a hostile force, Sp5c. Hagemeister’s platoon suddenly came under heavy attack from 3 sides by an enemy force occupying well concealed, fortified positions and supported by machine guns and mortars. Seeing 2 of his comrades seriously wounded in the initial action, Sp5c. Hagemeister unhesitatingly and with total disregard for his safety, raced through the deadly hail of enemy fire to provide them medical aid.

Upon learning that the platoon leader and several other soldiers also had been wounded, Sp5c. Hagemeister continued to brave the withering enemy fire and crawled forward to render lifesaving treatment and to offer words of encouragement. Attempting to evacuate the seriously wounded soldiers, Sp5c. Hagemeister was taken under fire at close range by an enemy sniper. Realizing that the lives of his fellow soldiers depended on his actions, Sp5c. Hagemeister seized a rifle from a fallen comrade, killed the sniper, 3 other enemy soldiers who were attempting to encircle his position and silenced an enemy machine gun that covered the area with deadly fire.

Unable to remove the wounded to a less exposed location and aware of the enemy’s efforts to isolate his unit, he dashed through the fusillade of fire to secure help from a nearby platoon. Returning with help, he placed men in positions to cover his advance as he moved to evacuate the wounded forward of his location. These efforts successfully completed, he then moved to the other flank and evacuated additional wounded men despite the fact that his every move drew fire from the enemy. Sp5c. Hagemeister’s repeated heroic and selfless actions at the risk of his life saved the lives of many of his comrades and inspired their actions in repelling the enemy assault. Sp5c. Hagemeister’s indomitable courage was in the highest traditions of the U.S. Armed Forces and reflect great credit upon himself.

*KAWAMURA, TERRY TERUO
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, 173d Engineer Company, 173d Airborne Brigade, Republic of Vietnam. Place and date: Camp Radcliff, Republic of Vietnam, 20 March 1969. Entered service at: Oahu, Hawaii. Born. 10 December 1949, Wahiawa, Oahu, Hawaii. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Cpl. Kawamura distinguished himself by heroic action while serving as a member of the 173d Engineer Company. An enemy demolition team infiltrated the unit quarters area and opened fire with automatic weapons. Disregarding the intense fire, Cpl. Kawamura ran for his weapon.

At that moment, a violent explosion tore a hole in the roof and stunned the occupants of the room. Cpl. Kawamura jumped to his feet, secured his weapon and, as he ran toward the door to return the enemy fire, he observed that another explosive charge had been thrown through the hole in the roof to the floor. He immediately realized that 2 stunned fellow soldiers were in great peril and shouted a warning.

Although in a position to escape, Cpl. Kawamura unhesitatingly wheeled around and threw himself on the charge. In completely disregarding his safety, Cpl. Kawamura prevented serious injury or death to several members of his unit. The extraordinary courage and selflessness displayed by Cpl. Kawamura are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

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[SHOOTER13]

21 March

1617 – Pocahontas (Rebecca Rolfe) died of either small pox or pneumonia while in England with her husband, John Rolfe. As Pocahontas and John Rolfe prepared to sail back to Virginia, she died reportedly from the wet English winter. She was buried at the parish church of St. George in Gravesend, England.

1788 – Almost the entire city of New Orleans, Louisiana, was destroyed by fire. 856 buildings were burned.

1791 – Hopley Yeaton of New Hampshire was commissioned as “Master of a Cutter in the Service of the United States for the Protection of the Revenue.” This first commission of a seagoing officer of the United States was signed by George Washington and attested to by Thomas Jefferson. Twelve other commissions of officers of revenue cutters were signed on the same date. Yeaton was subsequently assigned to command the Revenue cutter Scammel, stationed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

1806 – Lewis and Clark began their trip home after an 8,000 mile trek of the Mississippi basin and the Pacific Coast.

1851 – Yosemite Valley was discovered (by non-natives) in California. The 58 men of the Mariposa Battalion under Major James D. Savage were the first whites to enter Yosemite Valley. Their first view of the valley was from the plateau later named Mount Beatitude. They expelled Chief Tenaya and his band of Ahwahneechee Indians. Dr. Bunnell, a physician in the battalion, named the valley Yosemite to honor the local Indians. He did not realize that the word “yohemeti” meant “some of them are killers” and was an insult against the valley people.

1863 – Union General Edwin Vose Sumner dies while awaiting reassignment to the far West. His death came months after he led his corps at the Battle of Antietam. Born in Boston in 1793, Sumner joined the army in 1819. He had already spent more than a quarter of a century in the military when he fought in the Mexican War, traveling down the Santa Fe Trail with Stephen Watts Kearney to capture New Mexico. Sumner was transferred to Winfield Scott’s command for the remainder of the war, and he earned the nickname “Bullhead” when a bullet ricocheted off his skull at the Battle of Cerro Gordo. Sumner served in Kansas during the troubles of the 1850s when pro-slave and anti-slave settlers clashed. He provided escort for president-elect Abraham Lincoln in 1861, and when the war erupted, Lincoln made Sumner commander of the Department of the Pacific. In March 1862, he was given command of II Corps in the Army of the Potomac.

During the Seven Days’ battle in June, Sumner performed somewhat sluggishly but his fighting spirit carried down to his men. At Antietam in September, Sumner’s men attacked General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s corps and nearly broke it before heavy fire drove them back. Sumner’s command suffered a frightful toll, absorbing nearly half of the Union’s 12,500 casualties from that day. Sumner fought at Fredericksburg in December, and he remained loyal to General Ambrose Burnside in early 1863 when several generals were contemplating a mutiny against their commander. Tired of the infighting and political intrigue among the Army of the Potomac’s staff, and perhaps feeling too old to command in the field, Sumner requested reassignment. He was again appointed to the Department of the Pacific, but he died in Syracuse, New York, before moving to the West.

1865 – The Battle of Bentonville, N.C. ended, marking the last Confederate attempt to stop Sherman. Union General William Sherman considered Judson Kilpatrick, his cavalry chief, ‘a hell of a damn fool.’ At Monroe’s Cross Roads, N.C., his carelessness and disobedience of orders proved Sherman’s point.

1865 – The heavy guns of Union gunboats supported the landing of troops of General Canby’s command at Dannelly’s Mills on the Fish River, Alabama. This was a diversionary operation intended to prevent the movement of additional Confederate troops to Mobile during the week prior to the opening of the Federal attack against that city.

1866 – The US Congress authorized national soldiers’ homes.

1885 – Raoul Lufbery, French-born American fighter pilot of World War I, was born.

1907 – Following the Roosevelt Corollary, Marines land in Honduras to protect American interests and to help quell revolution there. Nicaragua’s powerful President Zelaya began to support exiled Honduran liberals in their efforts to topple Manuel Bonilla, who had become, in effect, the Honduran dictator. Supported by elements of the Nicaraguan army, the exiles invaded Honduras in February 1907 and established a provisional junta. With the assistance of Salvadoran troops, Manuel Bonilla tried to resist, but in March his forces were decisively beaten in a battle notable for the introduction of machine guns into Central American civil strife.

By 1907 the United States looked with considerable disfavor on the role Zelaya of Nicaragua was playing in regional affairs. When the Nicaraguan army entered Honduras in 1907 to overthrow Bonilla, the United States government, believing that Zelaya wanted to dominate the entire region, landed marines at Puerto Cortés to protect the North American bananas trade. Other United States naval units prevented a Nicaraguan attack on Bonilla’s last position at Amapala in the Golfo de Fonseca. After negotiations conducted by the United States naval commander, Manuel Bonilla sought refuge on the U.S.S. Chicago, and the fighting came to an end.

The United States chargé d’affaires in Tegucigalpa took an active role in arranging a final peace settlement, with which Zelaya was less than happy. The settlement provided for the installation of a compromise regime, headed by General Miguel Dávila, in Tegucigalpa. Dávila was a liberal but was distrusted by Zelaya, who made a secret arrangement with El Salvador to oust him from office. This plan failed to reach fruition.

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