This Date in Military History:

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1917 – Loretta Walsh becomes first woman Navy petty officer when sworn in as Chief Yeoman.

1918 – General Erich Ludendorff has planned a knock-out blow on the Western Front. He recognizes that, with the imminent arrival of scores of thousands of US troops in France, Germany is likely to lose the war. Ludendorff plans to strike first. He transfers some 70 divisions of troops from the Eastern Front, where the turmoil following the Russian Revolution has effectively ended Russian involvement in the war. In the short term, therefore, Germany has a clear numerical advantage over the British and French. Ludendorff’s plan is to exploit the differences between Britain’s and France’s strategies for facing any major German offensive. He believes the French will give priority to the defense of Paris, while the British are more concerned with defending the ports along the north French coast through which their supplies and troops flow. Ludendorff aims to attack the juncture between the French and British forces in northeast France.

To this end he has three armies, the Seventeenth under General Otto von Below, the Second led by General Georg von der Marwitz, and General Oskar von Huiter’s Eighteenth, prepare for the offensive. These are to advance along a 50-mile front from Arras to St. Quentin and La Fere. This zone is defended byt the British Third Army under General Sir Julian Byng and General Sir Hubert Gough’s Fifth Army. Ludendorff had 63 divisions, many led by elite storm trooper units, earmarked for the attack, while the British can muster just 26. the offensive is code-named Operation Michael but it is also known as the Kaiserschlacht (Kaiser’s Battle).

Operation Michael begins with a sudden five-hour bombardment on the British by 6,000 artillery pieces. They fire both gas and high-explosive shells. Under cover of thick fog the Germans attack, with the specially trained storm trooper units leading the way. The surprise and shock of the onslaught overwhelms the thinly spread British. Gough’s Fifth Army collapses in confusion, exposing the right flank of Byng’s Third Army. However, Bying’s forces, which are holding a narrower front than those of Gough, withdraw across the Somme River in good order. The attackers here, drawn from the German Seventeenth and Second Armies, make significantly fewer gains. Operation Michael will end on April 5th with no decisive victory along these lines on the Somme.

1919 – Navy installs and tests Sperry gyrocompass, in first instance of test of aircraft gyrocompass.

1928 – Coolidge gave the Congressional Medal of Honor to Charles Lindbergh. The Medal of Honor was not always awarded for “courage above and beyond” the call of duty.

1943 –The second military conspiracy plan to assassinate Hitler in a week fails to come off. Maj. Gen. Henning von Tresckow, a member of Gen. Fedor von Bock’s Army Group Center, was the leader of one of many conspiracies against Adolf Hitler. Along with his staff officer, Lt. Fabian von Schlabrendorff, and two other conspirators, both of old German families who also believed Hitler was leading Germany to humiliation, Tresckow had planned to arrest the Fuhrer when he visited the Army Group’s headquarters at Borisov, in the Soviet Union. But their naivete in such matters became evident when Hitler showed up-surrounded by SS bodyguards and driven in one of a fleet of cars. They never got near him. Tresckow would try again on March 13, 1943, in a plot called Operation Flash.

This time, Tresckow, Schlabrendorff, et al., were stationed in Smolensk, still in the USSR. Hitler was planning to fly back to Rastenburg, Germany, from Vinnitsa, in the USSR. A stopover was planned at Smolensk, during which the Fuhrer was to be handed a parcel bomb by an unwitting officer thinking it was a gift of liquor for two senior officers at Rastenburg. All went according to plan and Hitler’s plane took off–the bomb was set to go off somewhere over Minsk. At that point, co-conspirators in Berlin were ready to take control of the central government at the mention of the code word “Flash.” Unfortunately, the bomb never went off at all-the detonator was defective.

A week later on March 21st, on Heroes’ Memorial Day, (a holiday honoring German World War I dead), Tresckow selected Col. Freiherr von Gersdorff to act as a suicide bomber at the Zeughaus Museum in Berlin, where Hitler was to attend the annual memorial dedication. With a bomb planted in each of his two coat pockets, Gersdorff was to sidle up to Hitler as he reviewed the memorials and ignite the bombs, taking the dictator out-along with himself and everyone in the immediate vicinity. Schlabrendorff supplied Gersdorff with bombs-each with a 10-minute fuse. Once at the exhibition hall, Gersdorff was informed that the Fuhrer was to inspect the exhibits for only eight minutes-not enough time for the fuses to melt down.

1944 – US forces moving west from Yalau Plantation link up with Australian forces advancing north, from inland, on the Huon Peninsula.

1945 – The US 8th Air Force targets Me262 fighter bases in western Germany.

1945 – Bureau of Aeronautics initiates rocket-powered surface-to-air guided missile development by awarding contract to Fairchild.

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1945 – US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) is replenishing in preparation for operations around Okinawa. The Japanese 5th Air Force deploys the first Ohka piloted rocket bombs, slung under Misubishi bombers, against the American fleet. The flight of 18 aircraft is intercepted by carrier aircraft and all but one are shot down. Admiral Spruance, command the US 5th Fleet, is present for the operations.

1945 – Most of US 3rd Army forces are engaged in clearing German resistance on the west bank of the Rhine River, to the north of Mannheim. Other elements of US 3rd and US 7th Army units are cooperating to take Annweiler, Neunkirchen, Neustadt and Homberg.

1945 – General A. A. Vandergrift, 18th Commandant of the Marine Corps, became the first Marine four-star general on active duty.

1946 – The United Nations set up temporary headquarters at Hunter College in New York City.

1947 – President Truman signed Executive Order 9835 requiring all federal employees to swear allegiance to the United States.

1951 – Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall reports that the U.S. military has doubled to 2.9 million since the start of the Korean War.

1951 – The 1st Cavalry Division recaptured Chunchon. The Chinese 3rd Field Army appeared in combat for the first time in Korea.

1953 – U.S. Air Force Captains Manuel J. Fernandez, Jr., 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, and Harold Fischer, 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, qualified as the fourth and fifth “double aces” of the war. An ace has shot down five enemy aircraft; a double ace, 10.

1953 – North Korean truce negotiators expressed their willingness to observe the provisions of the Geneva Convention and exchange sick and wounded prisoners of war. At the same time they hinted that the exchange might lead to a resolution of other issues hindering an armistice.

1965 – The U.S. launched Ranger 9, last in a series of lunar explorations.

1967 – The North Vietnamese press agency reports that an exchange of notes took place in February between President Lyndon B. Johnson and Ho Chi Minh. The agency said that Ho rejected a proposal made by Johnson for direct talks between the United States and North Vietnam on ending the war. The North Vietnamese demanded that the United States “stop definitely and unconditionally its bombing raids and all other acts of war against North Vietnam.” The U.S. State Department confirmed the exchange of letters and expressed regret that Hanoi had divulged this information, since the secret letters were intended as a serious diplomatic attempt to end the conflict. Nothing of any consequence came from Johnson’s initiative.

Meanwhile, in South Vietnam, Operation Junction City produced what General Westmoreland described as “one of the most successful single actions of the year.” In the effort, U.S. forces killed 606 Viet Cong in Tay Ninh Province and surrounding areas along the Cambodian border northwest of Saigon. The purpose of Operation Junction City was to drive the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops away from populated areas and into the open where superior American firepower could be more effectively used against them.

1972 – In Cambodia, more than 100 civilians are killed and 280 wounded as communist artillery and rockets strike Phnom Penh and outlying areas in the heaviest attack since the beginning of the war in 1970. Following the shelling, a communist force of 500 troops attacked and entered Takh Mau, six miles southeast of Pnom Penh, killing at least 25 civilians.

1975 – As North Vietnamese forces advanced, Hue and other northern towns in South Vietnam were evacuated.

1980 – President Jimmy Carter informs a group of U.S. athletes that, in response to the December 1979 Soviet incursion into Afghanistan, the United States will boycott the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. It marked the first and only time that the United States has boycotted the Olympics. After the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan in December 1979 to prop up an unstable pro-Soviet government, the United States reacted quickly and sharply. It suspended arms negotiations with the Soviets, condemned the Russian action in the United Nations, and threatened to boycott the Olympics to be held in Moscow in 1980. When the Soviets refused to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, President Carter finalized his decision to boycott the games.

On March 21, 1980, he met with approximately 150 U.S. athletes and coaches to explain his decision. He told the crowd, “I understand how you feel,” and recognized their intense disappointment. However, Carter defended his action, stating, “What we are doing is preserving the principles and the quality of the Olympics, not destroying it.” Many of the athletes were devastated by the news. As one stated, “As citizens, it is an easy decision to make-support the president. As athletes, it is a difficult decision.” Others declared that the president was politicizing the Olympics. Most of the athletes only reluctantly supported Carter’s decision.

The U.S. decision to boycott the 1980 Olympic games had no impact on Soviet policy in Afghanistan (Russian troops did not withdraw until nearly a decade later), but it did tarnish the prestige of the games in Moscow. It was not the first time that Cold War diplomacy insinuated itself into international sports. The Soviet Union had refused to play Chile in World Cup soccer in 1973 because of the overthrow and death of Chile’s leftist president earlier that year. Even the playing field was not immune from Cold War tensions.

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1984 – A Soviet submarine crashed into the USS Kitty Hawk off the coast of Japan.

1991 – Two US Navy anti-submarine planes collided and 27 were lost at sea.

1991 – A UN Security Council panel decided to lift the food embargo on Iraq.

1996 – The US decided to proceed with plans to deliver weapons to the Islamabad government in Pakistan. $368 mil has already been paid for a naval Orion aircraft and two types of missiles.

1997 – President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin wrapped up their summit in Helsinki, Finland, still deadlocked over NATO expansion, but able to agree on slashing nuclear weapons arsenals.

1998 – Six members of the San Francisco-based Peace workers group were arrested in Kosovo and sentenced to 10 days in jail for not reporting their presence to police. 3 were from the Bay Area. They were released March 23rd.

1999 – It was reported that the Space Laser Energy group, SELENE, proposed to transmit energy to satellites by 2004.

1999 – On the 2nd day of Serb attacks against Kosovo, envoy Richard Holbrooke met with Pres. Milosevic with serious threats of NATO air strikes.

2000 – NATO acknowledged that depleted uranium rounds were used during the 1999 Kosovo war whenever American A-10 ground attack aircraft engaged armored vehicles.

2000 – Croatia handed over Mladen Naletilic, a Bosnian Croat indicted in 1998 on 17 counts of war crimes, to the UN tribunal. Naletilic commanded a gang of convicts who terrorized Muslims in southwestern Bosnia between 1993-1994.

2001 – The US State Dept. ordered the expulsion of 5 suspected Russian spies and informed Moscow that as many as 50 intelligence officers using diplomatic cover would have to leave over the next few months.

2001 – Space shuttle Discovery glided to a predawn touchdown, bringing home the first residents of the international space station.

2003 – A CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed in Kuwait and killed 12 British and 4 US soldiers. US Marines captured the strategic port in the southern Iraqi city of Umm Qasr.

2003 – US and British troops have captured the Iraqi border town of Umm Qasr. Marines raise US flag over the port area and aim to use it as an entry point for humanitarian aid into the country.

2003 – American troops have seized two airfields in the Iraqi desert west of Baghdad.

2003 – The Bush administration seizes $US 1.7 billion in Iraqi assets already frozen in the US, saying it will use the money for humanitarian purposes in Iraq.

2004 – Pakistani forces agreed to allow a 25-member tribal council free passage into a battlezone in an effort to negotiate a peace deal with local elders sheltering hundreds of al-Qaida fighters. Up to 6,000 Pakistani forces were engaged with some 500 foreign militants, in the Wana area of South Waziristan. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) was suspected to be involved.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

*HOSKING, CHARLES ERNEST, JR.
Rank and organization: Master Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces. Place and date: Phuoc Long Province, Republic of Vietnam, 21 March 1967. Entered service at: Fort Dix, N.J. Born: 12 May 1924, Ramsey, N.J. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. M/Sgt. Hosking (then Sfc.), Detachment A-302, Company A, greatly distinguished himself while serving as company advisor in the III Corps Civilian Irregular Defense Group Reaction Battalion during combat operations in Don Luan District. A Viet Cong suspect was apprehended and subsequently identified as a Viet Cong sniper. While M/Sgt. Hosking was preparing the enemy for movement back to the base camp, the prisoner suddenly grabbed a hand grenade from M/Sgt. Hosking’s belt, armed the grenade, and started running towards the company command group which consisted of 2 Americans and 2 Vietnamese who were standing a few feet away.

Instantly realizing that the enemy intended to kill the other men, M/Sgt. Hosking immediately leaped upon the Viet Cong’s back. With utter disregard for his personal safety, he grasped the Viet Cong in a “Bear Hug” forcing the grenade against the enemy soldier’s chest. He then wrestled the Viet Cong to the ground and covered the enemy’s body with his body until the grenade detonated. The blast instantly killed both M/Sgt. Hosking and the Viet Cong. By absorbing the full force of the exploding grenade with his body and that of the enemy, he saved the other members of his command group from death or serious injury. M/Sgt. Hosking’s risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in the highest tradition of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.

*JOHNSTON, DONALD R.
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company D, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. Place and date: Tay Ninh Province, Republic of Vietnam, 21 March 1969. Entered service at: Columbus, Ga. Born: 19 November 1947, Columbus, Ga. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Johnston distinguished himself while serving as a mortarman with Company D, at a fire support base in Tay Ninh Province. Sp4c. Johnston’s company was in defensive positions when it came under a devastating rocket and mortar attack. Under cover of the bombardment, enemy sappers broke through the defensive perimeter and began hurling explosive charges into the main defensive bunkers.

Sp4c. Johnston and 6 of his comrades had moved from their exposed positions to 1 of the bunkers to continue their fight against the enemy attackers. As they were firing from the bunker, an enemy soldier threw 3 explosive charges into their position. Sensing the danger to his comrades, Sp4c. Johnston, with complete disregard for his safety, hurled himself onto the explosive charges, smothering the detonations with his body and shielding his fellow soldiers from the blast. His heroic action saved the lives of 6 of his comrades. Sp4c. Johnston’s concern for his fellow men at the cost of his life were 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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22 March

1621 – The Plymouth Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe lead by Chief Massassoit reach a treaty agreement. They form a defensive alliance. Squanto, who speaks English because he had been captured by the English in 1615 and spent two years in England, brokers the pact.

1622 – The Powhattan Confederacy massacred 347-350 colonists in Virginia, a quarter of the population. On Good Friday over 300 colonists in and around Jamestown, Virginia, were massacred by the Powhatan Indians. The massacre was led by the Powhatan chief Opechancanough and began a costly 22-year war against the English. Opechancanough hoped that killing one quarter of Virginia’s colonists would put an end to the European threat. The result of the massacre was just the opposite, however, as English survivors regrouped and pushed the Powhattans far into the interior. Opechancanough launched his final campaign in 1644, when he was nearly 100 years old and almost totally blind. He was then captured and executed.

1630 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony outlaws the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables.

1638 – Religious dissident Anne Hutchinson was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. With encouragement from Providence founder Roger Williams, Hutchinson and many of her supporters established the settlement of Portsmouth in what became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

1664 – Charles II gave large tracks of land from west of the Connecticut River to the east of Delaware Bay in North America to his brother James, the Duke of York and Albany. The entire Hudson Valley and New Amsterdam was given to James.

1713 – The Tuscarora War comes to an end with the fall of Fort Neoheroka, effectively opening up the interior of North Carolina to European colonization. The Tuscarora War began in North Carolina during the autumn of 1711 between the British, Dutch, and German settlers and the Tuscarora Native Americans. The Europeans enlisted the Yamasee and Cherokee as Indian allies against the Tuscarora, who had amassed several allies themselves. This was considered the bloodiest colonial war in North Carolina. Defeated, the Tuscarora signed a treaty with colonial officials in 1718 and settled on a reserved tract of land in what became Bertie County. The first successful and permanent settlement of North Carolina by Europeans began in earnest in 1653.

The Tuscarora lived in peace with the European settlers who arrived in North Carolina for over 50 years at a time when nearly every other colony in America was actively involved in some form of conflict with Native Americans. However, the settlers increasingly encroached on Tuscarora land, raided villages to take slaves, and introduced epidemic diseases. After their defeat, most of the Tuscarora migrated north to New York where they joined their Iroquoian cousins, the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. They were accepted as the sixth nation. Their chief said that Tuscarora remaining in the South after 1722 were no longer members of the tribe.

1765 – Hoping to scrounge up funds to maintain a military presence in the colonies, the British government passed the notorious Stamp Act. The legislation levied a direct tax on all materials printed for commercial and legal use in the colonies, including everything from broadsides and insurance policies to playing cards and dice. Though the Stamp Act was a common fundraising vehicle in England, it stirred a storm of protest in the colonies. The colonists’ anger was partially grounded in fears that the Stamp Act would open the gates to a flood of taxes. They also felt that, as English citizens, their consent, as meted out through representative assemblies, was mandatory for the passage of tax legislation. In response, the colonists rioted, staged demonstrations, and refused to comply with the tax. Under pressure from British business interests, Parliament eventually repealed the legislation. However, the fracas over the Stamp Act had helped plant seeds for a far larger movement against the British government and the struggle for independence.

1775 – British statesman Edmund Burke made a speech in the House of Commons, urging the government to adopt a policy of reconciliation with America.

1778 – Captain Cook sighted Cape Flattery in Washington state.

1794 – Congress passed laws prohibiting slave trade with foreign countries, although slavery remained legal in the United States. Congress banned US vessels from supplying slaves to other countries.

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1817 – Confederate General Braxton Bragg is born in Warrenton, North Carolina. Bragg commanded the Army of Tennessee for 17 months, leading them to several defeats and losing most of the state of Tennessee to the Yankees. Bragg graduated from West Point in 1837, fifth in a class of 50. He fought in the Seminole War of the 1830s and the Mexican War in 1846 and 1847. In Mexico, he earned three promotions but also survived two assassination attempts by soldiers in his command. Bragg was temperamental and acerbic, a capable soldier but a difficult personality. These character flaws would later badly damage the Confederate war effort. When the Civil War began, Bragg was appointed commander of the Gulf Coast defenses but was soon promoted to major general and attached to General Albert Sidney Johnston’s Army of Tennessee. Bragg fought bravely at the Battle of Shiloh on April 6-7, 1862, leading attacks while having two horses shot out from under him. When Johnston was killed during the battle, Bragg became second in command to Pierre G. T. Beauregard. Beauregard was forced to relinquish his command for health reasons, and President Jefferson Davis turned to Bragg.

Bragg’s record as army commander was dismal. He marched northward in the fall of 1862 to regain Kentucky, but he was turned back at the Battle of Perryville in October. On New Year’s Eve, Bragg clashed with the army of General William Rosecrans at the Battle of Stones River. They fought to a standstill, but Bragg was forced to retreat and leave the Union in control of central Tennessee. In the summer of 1863, Rosecrans outmaneuvered Bragg, backing the Confederates entirely out of the state. Only at Chickamauga, Georgia, in September did Bragg finally win a battle, but the victory came in spite of Bragg’s leadership rather than because of it. Bragg followed up his victory by pinning the Yankees in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Union forces, now led by General Ulysses S. Grant, broke the siege in November and nearly destroyed Bragg’s army.

Bragg was finished, having now alienated most of his generals and lost the confidence of his soldiers. He resigned his command and went to Richmond to be a military advisor to President Davis. Bragg fled southward with Davis at the end of the war but both men were captured in Georgia. Bragg was soon released, and he worked as an engineer and a railroad executive after the war before his death in 1876. He is remembered as one of the primary reasons for the Confederate defeat.

1820 – U.S. Navy officer Stephen Decatur, hero of the Barbary Wars, is mortally wounded in a duel with disgraced Navy Commodore James Barron at Bladensburg, Maryland. Although once friends, Decatur sat on the court-martial that suspended Barron from the Navy for five years in 1808 and later opposed his reinstatement, leading to a fatal quarrel between the two men. Born in Maryland in 1779, Stephen Decatur was reared in the traditions of the sea and in 1798 joined the United States Navy as a midshipman aboard the new frigate, United States. That year, he saw action in the so-called quasi-war with France and in 1799 was commissioned a lieutenant. Five years later, during the Tripolitan War, he became the most lauded American naval hero since John Paul Jones.

In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson ordered U.S. Navy vessels to the Mediterranean Sea in protest of continuing raids against U.S. ships by pirates from the Barbary states–Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripolitania. Sustained action began in June 1803, and in October the U.S. frigate Philadelphia ran aground near Tripoli and was captured by Tripolitan gunboats. The Americans feared that the well-constructed warship would be used as a model for building future Tripolitan frigates, and on February 16, 1804, Stephen Decatur led a daring expedition into Tripoli harbor to destroy the captured vessel.

After disguising himself and his men as Maltese sailors, Decatur’s force sailed into Tripoli harbor and boarded the Philadelphia, which was guarded by Tripolitans who were quickly overpowered by the Americans. After setting fire to the frigate, Decatur and his men escaped without the loss of a single American. The Philadelphia subsequently exploded when its gunpowder reserve was lit by the spreading fire. Famed British Admiral Horatio Nelson hailed the exploit as the “most bold and daring act of the age,” and Decatur was promoted to captain.

In August 1804, Decatur returned to Tripoli Harbor as part of a larger American offensive and emerged as a hero again during the Battle of the Gunboats, which saw hand-to-hand combat between the Americans and the Tripolitans. In 1807, Commodore James Barron, who fought alongside Decatur in the Tripolitan War, aroused considerable controversy when he failed to resist a British attack on his flagship, the Chesapeake. Decatur sat on the court-martial that passed a verdict expelling Barron from the Navy for five years.

This began the dispute between Decatur and Barron that would end 13 years later on the dueling grounds in Maryland. In the War of 1812, Decatur distinguished himself again when, as commander of the USS United States, he captured the British ship of war Macedonian off the Madeira Islands. Barron, meanwhile, was overseas when his Navy expulsion ended in 1813 and did not return to the United States to fight in the ongoing war with England. This led to fresh criticism of Barron from Decatur, who later used his influence to prevent Barron’s reinstatement in the Navy.

In June 1815, Decatur returned to the Mediterranean to lead U.S. forces in the Algerian War, the second Barbary conflict. By December, Decatur forced the dey (military ruler) of Algiers to sign a peace treaty that ended American tribute to Algeria. Upon his return to the United States, he was honored at a banquet in which he made a very famous toast: “Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong!”

Appointed to the Navy Board of Commissioners, Decatur arrived in Washington in 1816, where he became a prominent citizen and lived a satisfying life politically, economically, and socially. In 1818, however, dark clouds began to gather when he vocally opposed Barron’s reinstatement into the Navy. The already strained relations between the two men deteriorated, and in March 1820 Decatur agreed to Barron’s request to meet for a duel. Dueling, though generally frowned on, was still acceptable among Navy men. On March 22, at Bladensburg in Maryland, Decatur and Barron lifted their guns, fired, and each man hit his target. Decatur died several hours later in Washington, and the nation mourned the loss of the great naval hero. Barron recovered from his wounds and was reinstated into the Navy in 1821 with diminished rank.

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1865 – Assistant Secretary Fox directed Commodore Montgomery, Commandant of the Washington Navy Yard, to have U.S.S. Bat ready to convoy steamer River Queen at noon the next day: “The President will be in the River Queen, bound to City Point.” Lincoln was headed for a conference with his top commanders. In a hard fought battle (19-22 March), General Sherman had just defeated a slashing attack by General Johnston at Bentonville, mid-way between his two river contacts with the sea at Fayetteville and Goldsboro. At Goldsboro Sherman was joined by General Schofield’s army, which had been brought to Wilmington by ships. Confident of the security of his position, Sherman could leave his soldiers for a few days and take steamer Russia to City Point and the meeting with Lincoln, Grant, and Porter.

1882 – Congress outlawed polygamy. The Edmunds Act was adopted by the US to suppress polygamy in the territories.

1907 – James Gavin, U.S. Army General, was born. He commanded the 82nd Airborne Division on D-Day, Operation Market-Garden and the Battle of the Bulge.

1915 – The term “Naval Aviator” replaces former “Navy Air Pilot” for officers qualified as aviators.

1917 – The U.S. became the first to recognize the Kerensky Government in Russia.

1917 – The first Coast Guard aviators graduated from Pensacola Naval Aviation Training School. Third Lieutenant Elmer Stone became Naval Aviator #38 (and later Coast Guard Aviator #1).

1929 – A US Coast Guard vessel sank a Canadian schooner suspected of carrying liquor.

1929 – Navy ships protect Americans and their property during Mexican revolution.

1933 – During Prohibition, President Roosevelt signed a measure to make wine & beer containing up to 3.2 percent alcohol legal.

1934 – Philippine independence was granted by the US and was guaranteed to begin in 1945. 1944 – Admiral Doenitz orders all U-boats to disperse from groups and work singly. This decision represents the final victory of the Allied escort forces over the German U-boats. The Germans have decided to give up on convoy attacks until new U-boat designs become available.

1944 – The forces of the New Zealand Corps (part of US 5th Army) makes a final attack on German-held Cassino. It fails. General Freyberg, commanding the corps, then calls off the attack. Allied troops are withdrawn from the most advance positions and the remainder consolidate recent gains.

1945 – Representatives from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Yemen meet in Cairo to establish the Arab League, a regional organization of Arab states. Formed to foster economic growth in the region, resolve disputes between its members, and coordinate political aims, members of the Arab League formed a council, with each state receiving one vote. When the State of Israel was created in 1948, the league countries jointly attacked but were repulsed by the Israelis. Two years later, Arab League nations signed a mutual defense treaty. Fifteen more Arab nations eventually joined the organization, which established a common market in 1965.

1945 – The US 5th Division (an element of US 3rd Army) establishes a bridgehead over the Rhine River near Nierstein. Other US 3rd Army units are completing the mopping up west of the Rhine and preparing to make crossings of their own.

1945 – The carriers of US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) are attacked by Japanese Kamikaze aircraft that fail to achieve significant success. However, it is noted that many of the attacks are made by manned rocket bombs. Admiral Spruance, commanding the US 5th Fleet, is present for the operations.

1946 – First U.S. built rocket to leave the earth’s atmosphere reached a 50-mile height.

1946 – USS Missouri departs U.S. to return body of deceased Turkish ambassador to the U.S. back to Turkey for burial. Missouri arrived in Istanbul on April 5th.

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1947 – In response to public fears and Congressional investigations into communism in the United States, President Harry S. Truman issues an executive decree establishing a sweeping loyalty investigation of federal employees. As the Cold War began to develop after World War II, fears concerning communist activity in the United States, particularly in the federal government, increased. Congress had already launched investigations of communist influence in Hollywood, and laws banning communists from teaching positions were being instituted in several states. Of most concern to the Truman administration, however, were persistent charges that communists were operating in federal offices. In response to these fears and concerns, Truman issued an executive order on March 21, 1947, which set up a program to check the loyalty of federal employees.

In announcing his order, Truman indicated that he expected all federal workers to demonstrate “complete and unswerving loyalty” the United States. Anything less, he declared, “constitutes a threat to our democratic processes.” The basic elements of Truman’s order established the framework for a wide-ranging and powerful government apparatus to perform loyalty checks. Loyalty boards were to be set up in every department and agency of the federal government. Using lists of “totalitarian, fascist, communist, or subversive” organizations provided by the attorney general, and relying on investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, these boards were to review every employee. If there existed “reasonable grounds” to doubt an employee’s loyalty, he or she would be dismissed.

A Loyalty Review Board was set up under the Civil Service Commission to deal with employees’ appeals. Truman’s loyalty program resulted in the discovery of only a few employees whose loyalty could be “reasonably” doubted. Nevertheless, for a time his order did quiet some of the criticism that his administration was “soft” on communism. Matters changed dramatically in 1949-1950. The Soviets developed an atomic bomb, China fell to the communists, and Senator Joseph McCarthy made the famous speech in which he declared that there were over 200 “known communists” in the Department of State. Once again, charges were leveled that the Truman administration was “coddling” communists, and in response, the Red Scare went into full swing.

1951 – Eighth Army reached the 38th parallel, as it had in fall 1950, after the Inchon invasion.

1952 – Six new Marine battalions and Marine air groups were activated on the West Coast, giving the Corps the full authorized limit of three divisions and three wings.

1953 – Chinese forces, supported by artillery and mortar fire, assaulted Hill Hedy and Bunker Hill. Hand-to-hand combat ensued before the enemy was finally forced to disengage.

1965 – The State Department acknowledges that the United States had supplied the South Vietnamese armed forces with a “non-lethal gas which disables temporarily” for use “in tactical situations in which the Viet Cong intermingle with or take refuge among non-combatants, rather than use artillery or aerial bombardment.” This announcement triggered a storm of criticism worldwide. The North Vietnamese and the Soviets loudly protested the introduction of “poison gas” into the war. Secretary of State Dean Rusk insisted at a news conference on March 24 that the United States was “not embarking upon gas warfare,” but was merely employing “a gas which has been commonly adopted by the police forces of the world as riot-control agents.”

1968 – President Lyndon B. Johnson announces the appointment of General William Westmoreland as Army Chief of Staff; Gen. Creighton Abrams replaced him as commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam. Westmoreland had first assumed command of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam in June 1964, and in that capacity was in charge of all American military forces in Vietnam. One of the war’s most controversial figures, General Westmoreland was given many honors when the fighting was going well, but when the war turned sour, many Americans blamed him for problems in Vietnam. Negative feeling about Westmoreland grew particularly strong following the Tet Offensive of 1968. As Westmoreland’s successor, Abrams faced the difficult task of implementing the Vietnamization program instituted by the Nixon administration. This included the gradual reduction of American forces in Vietnam while attempting to increase the combat capabilities of the South Vietnamese armed forces.

1972 – Congress sent the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution to the states for ratification. It fell three states short of the 38, two-thirds, needed for approval. The U.S. Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment.

1974 – The Viet Cong proposed a new truce with the United States and South Vietnam, which includes general elections.

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1982 – NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center on its third mission, STS-3. STS-3 was NASA’s third Space Shuttle mission, and was the third mission for the Space Shuttle Columbia. It landed eight days later on 30 March. STS-3 was the first shuttle launch with an unpainted external tank, and the only mission to land at the White Sands Space Harbor near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The shuttle was forced to land at White Sands due to flooding at its originally planned landing site, Edwards Air Force Base.

1989 – Fawn Hall, Oliver North’s former secretary, began two days of testimony at North’s Iran-Contra trial in Washington.

1991 – A US warplane shot down a second Iraqi jet fighter that had violated the cease-fire ending the Persian Gulf War.

1993 – The launch of the space shuttle Columbia was scrubbed with three seconds left in the countdown.

1993 – The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips (80586), featuring a 60 MHz clock speed, 100+ MIPS, and a 64 bit data path.

1996 – Shannon Lucid, astronaut, went into space on the shuttle Atlantis. She transferred to the Russian Mir space station and broke the US space endurance record of 115 days on 7/15/96.

1997 – Iraqi Oil Minister Amer Rashid announces the establishment of a new Iraq/Russian oil company which will work independently of Iraq’s national oil company, and reports that other agreements would be signed with France and China. Russia and France were Iraq’s main arms suppliers before the Gulf War.

1999 – Serb attacks on ethnic Albanians continued after envoy Richard Holbrooke failed to convince President Milosevic to stop.

2001 – President Bush met with Chinese Deputy Premier Qian Qichen and said the US would support Taiwan’s military needs.

2001 – Russia threatened to expel 50 American personnel in response to US expulsions of Russian intelligence agents.

2001 – The Russian Duma was expected to pass a bill to allow the storage of spent nuclear fuel for projected earnings of some $20 billion.

2002 – The US State Dept. ordered all non-essential Embassy and Consulate personnel in Pakistan to return home.

2003 – U.S. forces reported seizing a large weapons cache in Afghanistan.

2003 – In the 4th day of Operation Iraqi Freedom intermittent explosions were heard throughout the day in Baghdad and by late afternoon at least 12 huge columns of smoke could be seen rising from all along the southern horizon of the city. US and British forces reached half way to Baghdad and British forces were left surrounding Basra. Special operations forces have taken control of an airfield in western Iraq and secured several border positions. Major-General Stanley Mc Chrystal of the Joint Chiefs of Staff announces that US ships and warplanes have hit Iraq with 500 cruise missiles and several hundred precision weapons.

2003 – Two British Royal Navy helicopters collided over the Persian Gulf, killing all 7 on board including a US Navy officer.

2003 – Turkey opens its air space to US warplanes for operations against Iraq.

2003 – A US soldier threw grenades into three tents at Camp Pennsylvania, a 101st Airborne command center in Kuwait, killing one fellow serviceman and wounding 13.

2003 – Three Iraqi sailors were captured in the northern Persian Gulf, the first Prisoners of War (POWs) taken by Coast Guard forces deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 24-member crew of the CGC Adak plucked the Iraqi sailors from the sea. The Iraqis had jumped overboard as their patrol boat was destroyed by coalition forces operating in the Gulf. The POWs were taken aboard the Adak and later transferred to an undisclosed location.

2004 – Afghan soldiers deployed to the western city of Herat after some of the fiercest factional fighting since the 2001 fall of the Taliban killed a Cabinet minister and as many as 100 others.

2005 – In Afghanistan US warplanes killed five suspected Taliban or al-Qaida militants near the Pakistani border after guerrillas launched an overnight rocket and gun attack on American and Afghan military positions.

2005 – Iraqi and US forces killed 80 militants in a battle west of Tikrit.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

McNERNEY, DAVID H.
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. place and date: polei Doc, Republic of Vietnam, 22 March 1967. Entered service at: Fort Bliss, Tex. Born: 2 June 1931, Lowell, Mass. Citation: 1st Sgt. McNerney distinguished himself when his unit was attacked by a North Vietnamese battalion near polei Doc. Running through the hail of enemy fire to the area of heaviest contact, he was assisting in the development of a defensive perimeter when he encountered several enemy at close range. He killed the enemy but was painfully injured when blown from his feet by a grenade. In spite of this injury, he assaulted and destroyed an enemy machinegun position that had pinned down 5 of his comrades beyond the defensive line.

Upon learning his commander and artillery forward observer had been killed, he assumed command of the company. He adjusted artillery fire to within 20 meters of the position in a daring measure to repulse ??enemy assaults. When the smoke grenades used to mark the position were gone, he moved into a nearby clearing to designate the location to friendly aircraft. In spite of enemy fire he remained exposed until he was certain the position was spotted and then climbed into a tree and tied the identification panel to its highest branches. Then he moved among his men readjusting their position, encouraging the defenders and checking the wounded. As the hostile assaults slackened, he began clearing a helicopter landing site to evacuate the wounded. When explosives were needed to remove large trees, he crawled outside the relative safety of his perimeter to collect demolition material from abandoned rucksacks. Moving through a fusillade of fire he returned with the explosives that were vital to the clearing of the landing zone.

Disregarding the pain of his injury and refusing medical evacuation 1st Sgt. McNerney remained with his unit until the next day when the new commander arrived. First Sgt. McNerney’s outstanding heroism and leadership were inspirational to his comrades. His actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.

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23 March

1713 – The capture of the Tuscarora tribe’s stronghold of Fort Nohuke by South Carolinian forces ends Tuscarora raids. The tribe moves northward and joins the Iroquois Confederacy as the Sixth Indian Nation.

1775 – During a speech before the second Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry responds to the increasingly oppressive British rule over the American colonies by declaring, “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

Following the signing of the American Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, Patrick Henry was appointed governor of Virginia by the Continental Congress. The first major American opposition to British policy came in 1765 after Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a taxation measure to raise revenues for a standing British army in America. Under the banner of “no taxation without representation,” colonists convened the Stamp Act Congress in October 1765 to vocalize their opposition to the tax. With its enactment on November 1, 1765, most colonists called for a boycott of British goods and some organized attacks on the customhouses and homes of tax collectors. After months of protest, Parliament voted to repeal the Stamp Act in March 1765.

Most colonists quietly accepted British rule until Parliament’s enactment of the Tea Act in 1773, which granted the East India Company a monopoly on the American tea trade. Viewed as another example of taxation without representation, militant Patriots in Massachusetts organized the “Boston Tea Party,” which saw British tea valued at some 10,000 pounds dumped into Boston harbor. Parliament, outraged by the Boston Tea Party and other blatant destruction of British property, enacted the Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts, in the following year.

The Coercive Acts closed Boston to merchant shipping, established formal British military rule in Massachusetts, made British officials immune to criminal prosecution in America, and required colonists to quarter British troops. The colonists subsequently called the first Continental Congress to consider a united American resistance to the British. With the other colonies watching intently, Massachusetts led the resistance to the British, forming a shadow revolutionary government and establishing militias to resist the increasing British military presence across the colony.

In April 1775, Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, ordered British troops to march to Concord, Massachusetts, where a Patriot arsenal was known to be located. On April 19, 1775, the British regulars encountered a group of American militiamen at Lexington, and the first volleys of the American Revolutionary War were fired.

1780 – British forces under Banastre Tarleton, moving to Charleston, scatter Colonial Militia at Bee’s Plantation, SC.

1806 – After passing a wet and tedious winter near the Pacific Coast, Lewis and Clark happily leave behind Fort Clatsop and head east for home. The Corps of Discovery arrived at the Pacific the previous November, having made a difficult crossing over the rugged Rocky Mountains. Their winter stay on the south side of the Columbia River-dubbed Fort Clatsop in honor of the local Indians-had been plagued by rainy weather, thieving Indians, and a scarcity of fresh meat. No one in the Corps of Discovery regretted leaving Fort Clatsop behind. In the days before their departure, Captains Lewis and Clark prepared for the final stage of their journey. Lewis recognized the possibility that some disaster might still prevent them from making it back east and he prudently left a list of the names of all the expedition’s men with Chief Coboway of the Clatsops.

Lewis asked the chief to give the list to the crew of the next trading vessel that arrived so the world would learn that the expedition did reach the Pacific. The previous few days had been stormy, but on March 22, the rain began to ease. The captains agreed to depart the next day, and they made a parting gift of Fort Clatsop and its furniture to Chief Coboway. At 1 p.m. on this day in 1806, the Corps of Expedition set off up the Columbia River in canoes. After nearly a year in the wilderness, they had severely depleted the sizeable cache of supplies with which the expedition had begun–they set off on their return trip with only canisters of gunpowder, some tools, a small cache of dried fish and roots, and their rifles.

The expedition had expended almost all of its supplies. Ahead loomed the high, rugged slopes of the Rocky Mountains that had proved so difficult to cross in the other direction the previous year. This time, however, Lewis and Clark had the advantage of knowing the route they would take. Still, they knew the passage would be difficult, and they were anxious to find the Nez Perce Indians, whose help they would need to cross the mountains. The months to come would witness some of the most dangerous moments of the journey, including Lewis’ violent confrontation with Blackfeet Indians near the Marias River of Montana in July.

Nonetheless, seven months later to the day, on September 23, 1806, the Corps of Discovery arrived at the docks of St. Louis, where their long journey had begun nearly two and a half years before.

1810 – In France, Napoleon Bonaparte signs the Rambouillet Decree which mandates the seizure, confiscation and sale of any US ship in French ports. The Decree is published 14 May and is to be retroactive to 20 May 1809.

1815 – USS Hornet captures HMS Penguin in battle lasting 22 minutes.

1829 – The Creek Indians receive a message from President Jackson ordering them to either conform to the laws of Alabama or to relocate across the Mississippi River.

1839 – 1st recorded use of “OK” [oll korrect] was in Boston’s Morning Post.

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1862 – Confederate General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson suffers a rare defeat when his attack on Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley fails. Jackson was trying to prevent Union General Nathaniel Banks from sending troops from the Shenandoah to General George McClellan’s army near Washington. McClellan was preparing to send his massive army by water to the James Peninsular southeast of Richmond for a summer campaign against the Confederate capital. When Turner Ashby, Jackson’s cavalry commander, detected that Yankee troops were moving out of the valley, Jackson decided to attack and keep the Union troops divided. Ashby attacked at Kernstown on March 22nd. He reported to Jackson that only four Union regiments were present–perhaps 3,000 men.

In fact, Union commander James Shields actually had 9,000 men at Kernstown but kept most of them hidden during the skirmishing on March 22nd. The rest of Jackson’s force arrived the next day, giving the Confederates about 4,000 men. The 23rd was a Sunday, and the religious Jackson tried not to fight on the Sabbath. The Yankees could see his deployment, though, so Jackson chose to attack that afternoon. He struck the Union left flank, but the Federals moved troops into place to stop the Rebel advance. At a critical juncture, Richard Garnett withdrew his Confederate brigade due to a shortage of ammunition, and this exposed another brigade to a Union attack.

The northern troops poured in, sending Jackson’s entire force in retreat. Jackson lost 80 killed, 375 wounded, and 263 missing or captured, while the Union lost 118 dead, 450 wounded, and 22 missing. Despite the defeat, the battle had positive results for the Confederates. Unnerved by the attack, President Lincoln ordered McClellan to leave an entire corps to defend Washington, thus drawing troops from McClellan’s Peninsular campaign. The battle was the opening of Jackson’s famous Shenandoah Valley campaign. Over the following three months, Jackson’s men marched hundreds of miles, won several major battles, and kept three separate Union forces occupied in the Shenandoah.

1865 – General Sherman and Cox’s troops reached Goldsboro, NC.

1867 – Congress passed a 2nd Reconstruction Act over President Johnson’s veto.

1882 – SECNAV Hunt issues General Order No. 292 creating Office of Naval Intelligence.

1889 – President Harrison opened Oklahoma for white colonization.

1901 – A group of U.S. Army soldier led by Brig. Gen. Frederick Funston captured Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the Philippine Insurrection of 1899.

1908 – American diplomat Durham Stevens is attacked by Korean assassins Jeon Myeong-un and Jang In-hwan, leading to his death in a hospital two days later.

1912 – Werner von Braun, rocket expert (I Aim at the Stars), was born in Wirsitz, Germany. He led the development of the V-2 rocket during World War II.

1917 – Launching of USS New Mexico, the first dreadnought class ship with turboelectric drive.

1919 – In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.

1920 – Britain denounced the U.S. because of their delay in joining the League of Nations.

1921 – Arthur G. Hamilton set a new parachute record, safely jumping 24,400 feet.

1922 – 1st airplane landed at the US Capitol in Washington DC.

1932 – The executive committee of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) ruled to exclude blacks from appearing at Constitution Hall.

1933 – The German Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act, which effectively granted Adolf Hitler dictatorial legislative powers, i.e. the power to rule by decree. Hitler seized power in early 1933.

1942 – During World War II, the U.S. government began moving Japanese-Americans from their West Coast homes to detention centers.

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1943 – Axis forces manage to hold the American advance near El Guettar. The German 10th Panzer Division suffers heavy losses attempting to exploit early successes. Montgomery decides to alter his main attack to the Tebaga Gap. He sends the 1st Armored Division (commanded by General Horrocks) to join the New Zealander Corps. This move is delayed by traffic control problems.

1944 – On Bougainville, Japanese forces attack American positions without making any progress. Heavy Japanese losses are reported.

1944 – US destroyers shell the Japanese seaplane base on Elouae in the St. Matthias Islands.

1945 – US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) conduct air raids on Okinawa. The American force includes 14 carriers organized in three groups. Japanese submarines make unsuccessful attacks on the American ships.

1945 – US 1st Army and the elements of US 3rd Army are extending their bridgeheads over the Rhine.

1945 – Throughout March there have been small attacks by both US 2nd and 4th Corps of US 5th Army in the area around the Pistoia-Bologna road and to the west.

1945 – On Luzon, San Fernando is taken by US 1st Corps with help from Filipino guerrillas.

1951 – Operation TOMAHAWK, the second airborne operation of the war and the largest in one day, involved 120 C-119s and C-46s, escorted by sixteen F-51s. The 314th TCG and the 437th TCW air transports flew from Taegu to Munsan-ni, an area behind enemy lines some twenty miles northwest of Seoul, and dropped the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team and two Ranger companies-more than 3,400 men and 220 tons of equipment and supplies.

Fifth Air Force fighters and light bombers had largely eliminated enemy opposition. UN forces advanced quickly to the Imjin River, capturing 127 communist prisoners. Some of the prisoners waved safe-conduct leaflets that FEAF aircraft had dropped during the airborne operation. Helicopters evacuated only sixty-eight injured personnel from the drop zone. One C-119, possibly hit by enemy bullets, caught fire and crashed on the way back.

1957 – US army sold its last homing pigeons.

1958 – First launching of simulated Polaris missile from submerged tactical launcher facility off CA.

1960 – Explorer 8 failed to reach Earth orbit.

1961 – One of the first American casualties in Southeast Asia, an intelligence-gathering plane en route from Laos to Saigon is shot down over the Plain of Jars in central Laos. The mission was flown in an attempt to determine the extent of the Soviet support being provided to the communist Pathet Lao guerrillas in Laos. The guerrillas had been waging a war against the Royal Lao government since 1959. In a television news conference, President John F. Kennedy warned of communist expansion in Laos and said that a cease-fire must precede the start of negotiations to establish a neutral and independent nation.

1965 – America’s first two-person space flight began as Gemini 3 blasted off from Cape Kennedy with astronauts Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young aboard. Gemini 3 completed 3 orbits in 4 hours., 53 minutes at an altitude of 224 km. Recovery was by helicopters from USS Intrepid (CVS-11).

1970 – US performed a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

1970 – From Peking, Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia issues a public call for arms to be used against the Lon Nol government in Phnom Penh and requests the establishment of the National United Front of Kampuchea (FUNK) to unite all opposition factions against Lon Nol. North Vietnam, the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong), and the communist Pathet Lao immediately pledged their support to the new organization. Earlier in March, Sihanouk had been overthrown in a bloodless coup led by Cambodian Gen. Lon Nol. Between 1970 and 1975, Lon Nol and his army, the Forces Armees Nationale Khmer (FANK), with U.S. support and military aid, fought the Khmer Rouge and Sihanouk’s supporters for control of Cambodia.

During the five years of bitter fighting, approximately 10 percent of Cambodia’s 7 million people died. 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 communists 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.

1972 – The U.S. called a halt to the peace talks on Vietnam being held in Paris.

1973 – US performed a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

1978 – US again performed nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

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1983 – In an address to the nation, President Ronald Reagan proposes that the United States embark on a program to develop antimissile technology that would make the country nearly impervious to attack by nuclear missiles. Reagan’s speech marked the beginning of what came to be known as the controversial Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Despite his vigorous anticommunist rhetoric, Reagan made nuclear arms control one of the keynotes of his administration. By 1983, however, talks with the Soviets were stalled over issues of what kinds of weapons should be controlled, what kind of control would be instituted, and how compliance with the controls would be assured. It was at this point that Reagan became enamored with an idea proposed by some of his military and scientific advisors, including Dr. Edward Teller, the “father of the hydrogen bomb.”

What they proposed was a massive program involving the use of antimissile satellites utilizing laser beams or other means to knock Soviet nuclear missiles out of the sky before they had a chance to impact the United States. Reagan therefore called upon the nation’s scientists to “turn their great talents” to this “vision of the future which offers hope.” He admitted that such a highly sophisticated program might “not be accomplished before the end of this century.” Reagan’s speech formed the basis for what came to be known as the Strategic Defense Initiative, though pundits immediately dubbed it the “Star Wars Initiative.” Some scientists indicated that even if the SDI were able to destroy 95 percent of Soviet missiles, the remaining five percent would be enough to destroy the entire planet.

Nevertheless, Congress began funding the program, which ran up a bill of over $30 billion by 1993 (with little to show for the effort). The Soviets were adamantly opposed to SDI, and a 1986 summit meeting between Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ended acrimoniously when Gorbachev demanded that talks on arms control were contingent on the United States dropping the SDI program. By December 1987, Gorbachev-desperately in need of a foreign policy achievement and eager to reduce his nation’s burdensome defense budget-dropped his resistance to the SDI program and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was signed. The Strategic Defense Initiative never really got off the ground–by the mid-1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and with costs skyrocketing, it was quietly shelved.

1985 – US performed yet another nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

1987 – US offered military protection to Kuwaiti ships in the Persian Gulf.

1988 – President Reagan announced he would visit the Soviet Union for the first time, from May 29 until June 2, for his fourth summit meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

1989 – Fawn Hall, former secretary to onetime National Security Council aide Oliver North, completed two days of testimony at North’s Iran-Contra trial.

1991 – Iraqi President Saddam Hussein shuffled his Cabinet, but kept in place his hard-line ministers of interior and defense to direct a crackdown on rebellion against his rule. A popular uprising had been prompted by Pres. Bush and 15 of 18 provinces were liberated, but no American help followed and Hussein’s forces crushed the intifada.

1992 – The president of the U.N. Security Council announced that Libya had offered to surrender two men suspected in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 to the Arab League. Libya reversed itself two days later; however, the suspects surrendered for trial seven years later. One was subsequently convicted, the other found innocent.

1994 – Twenty-three paratroopers were killed when a F-16 fighter jet and C-130 transport collided while landing at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina and the F-16 skidded into another transport on the ground.

1997 – In Belarus American diplomat Serge Alexandrov, first secretary at the US embassy in Minsk, was ordered to leave the country for participating in an anti-government march. The Foreign Ministry accused him of being a CIA agent.

1999 – The US Senate voted 58-41 to support US participation in a NATO bombing of Serbia.

1999 – NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana gave the formal go-ahead for airstrikes against Serbian targets following the failure of Kosovo peace talks.

1999 – Russia’s Prime Minister Primakov turned his plane home and cancelled talks in Washington following the NATO decision to bomb Serbia.

2000 – Vice Admiral Charles Moore, who oversees United States naval operations in the Persian Gulf, briefs the United Nations Sanctions Committee on the increased smuggling of Iraqi oil. Iraq is expected to earn in excess of $500 million from oil smuggling, and possibly up to double that amount, in the absence of strong action by Iran to prevent the use of its territorial waters by smugglers.

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2001 – Moscow expelled 4 US diplomats for “activities incompatible with their status.” Russia said it was expelling 50 U.S. diplomats in retaliation for the expulsion of 50 Russians by the U.S.

2002 – It was reported a the Air Force Academy had implicated 38 cadets in a drug scandal that began in December 2000.

2002 – Girls in Afghanistan celebrated their return to school for the first time in years.

2003 – US and allied Afghan forces clashed with militiamen loyal to a renegade warlord in a battle that left up to 10 rebels dead. A US Air Force helicopter on a mercy mission to help 2 injured Afghan children crashed in southeastern Afghanistan, killing all 6 people on board.

2003 – In the 5th day of Operation Iraqi Freedom US-led warplanes and helicopters attacked Republican Guard units defending Baghdad while ground troops advanced to within 50 miles of the Iraqi capital. Pres. Bush put a $75 billion price tag on a down payment for the war. The 507th Maintenance Company was ambushed after it made a wrong turn into Nasiriya; 11 soldiers were killed, seven were captured. US and Iraqi officials say that Iraqi troops have halted an advance by US forces up the Euphrates river, engaging them in battle near the city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad. Iraqi state television says that an official of Iraq’s ruling Baath party has been killed in the fighting.

2003 – President George Bush says that “massive amounts” of humanitarian aid are poised to move into Iraq in the next 36 hours.

2003 – A British Royal Air Force Tornado jet was shot down by a U.S. Patriot missile in the first reported incident of “friendly” fire in Iraq.

2004 – The US Coast Guard said it had seized over 14.5 tons of cocaine from 3 fishing boats off Mexico and Ecuador over the last 2 months.

2005 – The Lake Tharthar Raid, an Iraqi commando raid on a large insurgent training camp at Lake Tharthar, was begun. Lake Tharthar, which is next to the Sunni Anbar and Salahuddin provinces, was the largest guerrilla training camp that had been discovered in the war by then, according to Iraqi officials. The camp was shared by Ba’ath party loyalists and members of Al-Qaeda. Between 75 and 100 Iraqi commandos as well as 9 American Cavalry Scouts from 3/69 Armor Battalion/1BCT/3ID and one local national interpreter were involved in the raid. As they approached the camp and came to only about a 400 meters from the camp the commandos encountered heavy fire from around 100 insurgents. The Iraqi commandos called in support from the American military, which sent in troop reinforcements and attack helicopters. The battle lasted one hour.

The American air support killed 50 insurgents and the commandos killed another 34 during the battle. Many of those killed were reportedly Saudis and Syrians. The insurgents evacuated their positions about two hours into the battle. After entering the camp, Iraqi commandos found non-Iraqi passports, training publications, propaganda documents, weapons and ammunition. According to the papers found some of the insurgents were: Moroccans, Algerians, Sudanese, Saudi, Syrian and there was even one Egyptian. Iraqi forces also seized 30 boats at the camp which were used at the lake.

2006 – In western Baghdad, Iraq, US and British troops found and freed three hostages. The Swords of Righteousness Brigades had claimed responsibility.

2008 – Two Coast Guard helicopters worked with the F/V Alaska Warrior to save 42 of 47 crewmen from the sinking F/V Alaska Ranger in an Easter Sunday blizzard amidst 20-foot waves. There was flooding in aft steerage of Ranger and the doors would not close. The ship’s shell was rusty and flat-bottomed, built for Gulf of Mexico. It was located 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor in the Bering Sea. CGC Munro’s HH-65 Dolphin pulled five fishermen from the water, three of whom had to be cut free from the netting and ropes.

The HH-60 Jayhawk from St. Paul Station in the Pribiloff Islands lifted 15 sailors out of the sea and onto the sister ship, F/V Alaska Warrior. Warrior also saved 22 lives on its own. The crew of Munro received the Coast Guard Unit Commendation and aviators LT Brian J. McLaughlin, LT Timothy L. Schmitz, LT Steven M. Bonn, LT Greg S. Gedemer, Petty Officer 2nd Class O’Brien Hollow, Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert R. DeBolt and Petty Officer 2nd Class Alfred V. Musgrave received Air Medals.

2010 – Virgin Galactic’s Space Ship Two is shown on its maiden flight from the Mojave Air and Spaceport in Mojave, California, United States.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day

SPURLING, ANDREW B.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, 2d Maine Cavalry. Place and date: At Evergreen, Ala., 23 March 1865. Entered service at: Maine. Birth: Cranberry Isles, Maine. Date of issue: 10 September 1897. Citation: Advanced alone in the darkness beyond the picket line, came upon 3 of the enemy, fired upon them (his fire being returned), wounded 2, and captured the whole party.

CARTER, EDWARD A., JR.
Rank: Staff Sergeant. Citation: For extraordinary heroism in action on 23 March 1945, near Speyer, Germany. When the tank on which he was riding received heavy bazooka and small arms fire, Sergeant Carter voluntarily attempted to lead a three-man group across an open field. Within a short time, two of his men were killed and the third seriously wounded. Continuing on alone, he was wounded five times and finally forced to take cover.

As eight enemy riflemen attempted to capture him, Sergeant Carter killed six of them and captured the remaining two. He then crossed the field using as a shield his two prisoners from which he obtained valuable information concerning the disposition of enemy troops. Staff Sergeant Carter’s extraordinary heroism was an inspiration to the officers and men of the Seventh Army Infantry Company Number 1 (Provisional) and exemplify the highest traditions of the Armed Forces.

FITZMAURICE, MICHAEL JOHN
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Troop D, 2d Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division. Place and date: Khe Sanh, Republic of Vietnam, 23 March 1971. Entered service at: Jamestown, N. Dak. Born: 9 March 1950, Jamestown, N. Dak . Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Fitzmaurice, 3d Platoon, Troop D, distinguished himself at Khe Sanh. Sp4c. Fitzmaurice and 3 fellow soldiers were occupying a bunker when a company of North Vietnamese sappers infiltrated the area. At the onset of the attack Sp4c. Fitzmaurice observed 3 explosive charges which had been thrown into the bunker by the enemy.

Realizing the imminent danger to his comrades, and with complete disregard for his personal safety, he hurled 2 of the charges out of the bunker. He then threw his flak vest and himself over the remaining charge. By this courageous act he absorbed the blast and shielded his fellow-soldiers. Although suffering from serious multiple wounds and partial loss of sight, he charged out of the bunker, and engaged the enemy until his rifle was damaged by the blast of an enemy hand grenade. While in search of another weapon, Sp4c. Fitzmaurice encountered and overcame an enemy sapper in hand-to-hand combat. Having obtained another weapon, he returned to his original fighting position and inflicted additional casualties on the attacking enemy.

Although seriously wounded, Sp4c. Fitzmaurice refused to be medically evacuated, preferring to remain at his post. Sp4c. Fitzmaurice’s extraordinary heroism in action at the risk of his life contributed significantly to the successful defense of the position and resulted in saving the lives of a number of his fellow soldiers. These acts of heroism go above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflect great credit on Sp4c. Fitzmaurice and the U.S. Army.

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24 March


1663 – Charles II of England awarded lands known as Carolina in America to eight members of the nobility who assisted in his restoration.

1664 – A charter to colonize Rhode Island was granted to Roger Williams.

1688 – Governor Edmund Andros issues an order placing the militia of the New England colonies under his own direct control.

1755 – Rufus King, framer of the U.S. Constitution, was born.

1765 – Britain enacted the Quartering Act, requiring American colonists to provide temporary housing to 10,000 British soldiers in public and private buildings. It also required colonists to provide food for any British soldiers in the area. Each of the Quartering Acts was an amendment to the Mutiny Act and required annual renewal by Parliament. They were originally intended as a response to issues that arose during the French and Indian War and soon became a source of tension between the inhabitants of the Thirteen Colonies and the government in London, England. These tensions would later fuel the fire that led to the Revolutionary War.

1814 – Although US General James Wilkinson is acquitted by a court of inquiry for his conduct in the Montreal campaign, he is replaced by Major General Jacob Brown who, along with newly promoted Brigadier General Winfield Scott, is to head the military operations in the Niagara region.

1825 – The Mexican state of Tejas-Coahuilla officially declares itself open to US settlers.

1832 – As part of Jackson’s continuing effort to move Native American tribes, the Creeks sign a treaty to cede their territory east of the Mississippi to the US.

1855 – Manhattan, Kansas, was founded as New Boston, Kansas.

1864 – A closely coordinated Army-Navy expedition departed Beaufort, North Carolina, on board side-wheel steamer U.S.S. Britannia. Some 200 soldiers were commanded by Colonel James Jourdan, while about 50 sailors from U.S.S. Keystone State, Florida, and Cambridge were in charge of Commander Benjamin M. Dove. The aim of the expedition was the capture or destruction of two schooners used in blockade running at Swansboro, North Carolina, and the capture of a Confederate army group on the south end of Bogue Island Banks. Arriving off Bogue Inlet late at night, the expedition encountered high winds and heavy seas which prevented landing on the beach. Early on the morning of the 25th, a second attempt was made under similarly difficult conditions, but a party got through to Bear Creek where one of the schooners was burned. Bad weather persisted throughout the day and the expedition eventually returned to Beaufort on the 26th with its mission only partially completed.

1865 – President Lincoln visited General Grant at City Point, Virginia, arriving at this all important water-supported supply base at 9 p.m. on board the steamer River Queen. Accompanied by Mrs. Lincoln and his son Tad, he was escorted up the James River by U.S.S. Bat, Lieutenant Commander John S. Barnes.

1865 – U.S.S. Republic, Acting Ensign John W. Bennett, was dispatched up the Cape Fear River from Wilmington to check reports that detachments of General Wheeler’s cavalry were operating in the area. About six miles up the river a cavalry squad was driven away with gunfire. Bennett then landed a reconnoitering party. It was learned that the mounted Confederates had broken into small squads and were plundering the country the reconnaissance party also made contact with a rear guard detachment of General Sherman’s army en route to Fayetteville.

1883 – Long-distance telephone service was inaugurated between Chicago and New York.

1903 – George Dewey commissioned Admiral of the Navy with the date of rank, 2 March 1899. He was the only person to hold this rank.

1916 – German U-Boats sink the French vessel Sussex which is steaming through the English Channel. The ship is unarmed and three US citizens loose their lives. On 18 April this incident will lead Secretary of State Lansing to warn Germany that the US will break off diplomatic relations unless these attacks are discontinued.

1920 – The first Coast Guard air station was established at Morehead City, North Carolina. The station was closed on 1 July 1921 due to a lack of funding.

1923 – Edna Jo Hunter, expert on military families and prisoners of war, was born.

1932 – A New York radio station (WABC) broadcast a variety program from a moving train in Maryland.

1934 – President Roosevelt signed the Tydings-McDuffie Act granting future independence to the Philippines as a self-governing commonwealth.

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1938 – The U.S. asked that all powers help refugees fleeing from the Nazis.

1942 – American positions on Bataan and Corregidor are attacked by Japanese aircraft and artillery.

1944 – 76 Allied officers escaped Stalag Luft 3. In 1949 Paul Brickall authored “The Great Escape.” The story of Jackson Barrett Mahon (d.1999 at 78), an American fighter pilot, and the Allied POW escape from Stalag Luft III in Germany during WW II. The 1963 film “The Great Escape” starred Steve McQueen, was directed by John Sturges and was based on the true story.

1944 – On Bougainville, significant Japanese resistance ends. American forces do not attempt to clear the Japanese remnants from the island. Over the course of the past few weeks, Japanese casualties are estimated at 8000 while the US forces have suffered about 300 casualties.

1944 – The 22nd Marine Regiment captured Ebon and Namu Atolls in the Marshall Islands.

1945 – The US 9th Army begins to cross the Rhine a little to the south of the British and Canadians forces.

1945 – Generals Eisenhower, Montgomery and Bradley discussed advance in Germany.

1945 – US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) conduct air raids on Okinawa. The island is also bombarded by 5 battleships and 11 destroyers under the command of Admiral Lee. Japanese submarines make unsuccessful attacks on the American ships. Meanwhile, American scout planes sight a Japanese convoy south of Kyushu and subsequent attacks sink all 8 ships.

1947 – John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated a NYC East River site to the UN.

1951 – MacArthur threatened the Chinese with an extension of the Korean War if the proposed truce was not accepted.

1951 – ROK Army units crossed the 38th parallel.

1953 – The 2nd Infantry Division’s artillery units began to support the embattled 7th Infantry Division on Pork Chop Hill, firing 15,000 rounds in one week.

1958 – Elvis Presley is inducted into the army on this day in 1958. Although he had been drafted the previous December, the army granted him a deferral so he could finish shooting his film, King Creole.

1965 – NASA spacecraft Ranger 9, equipped to convert its signals into a form suitable for showing on domestic television, brings images of the Moon into ordinary homes before crash landing on it 10 miles (16 km) NE of crater Alphonsus.

1966 – Selective Service announced college deferments based on performance.

1967 – Viet Cong ambushed a truck convoy in South Vietnam, damaging 82 of the 121 trucks.

1975 – The North Vietnamese “Ho Chi Minh Campaign” begins. Despite the 1973 Paris Peace Accords cease fire, the fighting had continued between South Vietnamese forces and the North Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam. In December 1974, the North Vietnamese launched a major attack against the lightly defended province of Phuoc Long, located north of Saigon along the Cambodian border. They successfully overran the provincial capital at Phuoc Binh on January 6, 1975. President Richard Nixon had repeatedly promised South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu that the United States would come to the aid of South Vietnam if the North Vietnamese committed a major violation of the Peace Accords.

However, by the time the communists had taken Phuoc Long, Nixon had resigned from office and his successor, Gerald Ford, was unable to convince a hostile Congress to make good on Nixon’s promises to Saigon. The North Vietnamese, emboldened by the situation, launched Campaign 275 in March 1975 to take the provincial capital of Ban Me Thuot in the Central Highlands. The South Vietnamese defenders fought very poorly and were quickly overwhelmed by the North Vietnamese attackers. Once again, the United States did nothing. President Thieu, however, ordered his forces in the Highlands to withdraw to more defensible positions to the south.

What started out as a reasonably orderly withdrawal degenerated into a panic that spread throughout the South Vietnamese armed forces. They abandoned Pleiku and Kontum in the Highlands with very little fighting and the North Vietnamese pressed the attack from the west and north. In quick succession, Quang Tri, Hue, and Da Nang in the north fell to the communist onslaught. The North Vietnamese continued to attack south along the coast, defeating the South Vietnamese forces one at a time.

As the North Vietnamese forces closed on the approaches to Saigon, the Politburo in Hanoi issued an order to Gen. Van Tien Dung to launch the “Ho Chi Minh Campaign,” the final assault on Saigon itself. By April 27, the North Vietnamese had completely encircled Saigon and by April 30th, the North Vietnamese tanks broke through the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon and the Vietnam War came to an end.

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1977 – For the first time since severing diplomatic relations in 1961, Cuba and the United States enter into direct negotiations when the two nations discuss fishing rights. The talks marked a dramatic, but short-lived, change in relations between the two Cold War enemies. Fidel Castro had led Cuba farther away from the U.S. orbit and closer to the Soviet bloc since coming to power in 1959. Throughout the 1960s, the United States and Cuba maintained hostility toward one another. By the mid-1970s, the deteriorating state of U.S.-Latin America relations suggested that perhaps the time had come to ease tensions with Castro. Though the Cuban dictator was feared by many in Latin America, he was also a hero to many others for his success in remaining independent from the “colossus of the North”-the United States. When Carter took office in 1977, he indicated to Cuba that the United States was prepared to enter into direct diplomatic negotiations on a number of issues, including fishing rights.

On March 24, 1977, negotiators from the United States and Cuba met in New York City to discuss the fishing issue. It was the first time since 1961 that U.S. and Cuban officials had talked face to face on any issue. In the months that followed, other breakthroughs occurred. The two nations agreed to establish “interest sections” in the other’s country that would operate as de facto embassies pending the restoration of full diplomatic relations. Castro freed some political prisoners and Carter eased travel restrictions to Cuba. These were encouraging signs, but many factors worked together to prevent any progress toward normalized relations.

The strong and vocal Cuban-American community in the United States pressured congressmen and the president to back away from closer relations with Castro. Officials within Carter’s administration cautioned the president about appearing too “soft” with the communist dictator. When Carter suffered a series of diplomatic setbacks in 1979, such as the fall of the pro-American leaders of Nicaragua and Iran, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, he began to toughen his stance with Cuba. He criticized Cuba for its role in the Angolan civil war, and warned Castro about allowing Soviet troops into Cuba. Castro responded to these new attacks in a novel manner.

In early 1980 he encouraged tens of thousand of Cubans, some from jails and asylums, to immigrate to the United States. Over 100,000 Cubans flooded into the United States, causing some serious problems, particularly in south Florida. By the end of 1980, U.S.-Cuban relations were as acrimonious as ever.

1980 – ABC’s nightly Iran Hostage crisis program was renamed “Nightline.”

1982 – The US submarine Jacksonville collided with a Turkish freighter near Virginia.

1988 – Former national security aides Oliver L. North and John M. Poindexter and businessmen Richard V. Secord and Albert Hakim pleaded innocent to Iran-Contra charges. North and Poindexter were convicted, but had their convictions thrown out; Secord and Hakim received probation after each pleaded guilty to a single count under a plea bargain.

1991 – General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the American commander of Operation Desert Storm, told reporters in Saudi Arabia the United States was closer to establishing a permanent military headquarters on Arab soil.

1991 – In liberated Kuwait, banks reopened for the first time since Iraqi troops had shut them down the previous December.

1992 – The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off with seven astronauts on the first shuttle mission devoted to the environment.

1993 – Mahmoud Abouhalima, a cab driver implicated in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was flown back to the United States from Egypt. Abouhalima was later convicted of conspiracy and sentenced to life in prison.

1996 – U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid transfers to the Russian space station Mir from the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis for a planned five-month stay. Lucid was the first female U.S. astronaut to live in a space station. Lucid, a biochemist, shared Mir with Russian cosmonauts Yuri Onufriyenko and Yuri Usachev, conducting scientific experiments during her stay.

Beginning in August, her scheduled return to Earth was delayed more than six weeks because of last-minute repairs to the booster rockets of Atlantis and then by a hurricane. Finally, on September 26, 1996, she returned to Earth aboard Atlantis, touching down at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Her 188-day sojourn aboard Mir set a new space endurance record for an American and a world endurance record for a woman.

1998 – The UN announced a pullout from Afghanistan after the governor of Kandahar slapped the face of a UN employee.

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1999 – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) commences air strikes against Yugoslavia with the bombing of Serbian military positions in the Former Yugoslav province of Kosovo. The NATO offensive came in response to a new wave of ethnic cleansing launched by Serbian forces against the Kosovar Albanians on March 20. The Kosovo region lay at the heart of the Serbian empire in the late Middle Ages but was lost to the Ottoman Turks in 1389 following Serbia’s defeat in the Battle of Kosovo. By the time Serbia regained control of Kosovo from Turkey in 1913, there were few Serbs left in a region that had come to be dominated by ethnic Albanians.

In 1918, Kosovo formally became a province of Serbia, and it continued as such after communist leader Josip Broz Tito established the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia in 1945, comprising the Balkan states of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, and Macedonia. However, Tito eventually gave in to Kosovar demands for greater autonomy, and after 1974 Kosovo existed as independent state in all but name. Serbs came to resent Kosovo’s autonomy, which allowed it to act against Serbian interests, and in 1987 Slobodan Milosevic was elected leader of Serbia’s Communist Party with a promise of restoring Serbian rule to Kosovo.

In 1989, Milosevic became president of Serbia and moved quickly to suppress Kosovo, stripping its autonomy and in 1990 sending troops to disband its government. Meanwhile, Serbian nationalism led to the dissolution of the Yugoslav federation in 1991, and in 1992 the Balkan crisis deteriorated into civil war. A new Yugoslav state, consisting only of Serbia and the small state of Montenegro, was created, and Kosovo began four years of nonviolent resistance to Serbian rule. The militant Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) emerged in 1996 and began attacking Serbian police in Kosovo. With arms obtained in Albania, the KLA stepped up its attacks in 1997, prompting a major offensive by Serbian troops against the rebel-held Drenica region in February-March 1998. Dozens of civilians were killed, and enlistment in the KLA increased dramatically.

In July, the KLA launched an offensive across Kosovo, seizing control of nearly half the province before being routed in a Serbian counteroffensive later that summer. The Serbian troops drove thousands of ethnic Albanians from their homes and were accused of massacring Kosovo civilians. In October, NATO threatened Serbia with air strikes, and Milosevic agreed to allow the return of tens of thousands of refugees. Fighting soon resumed, however, and talks between Kosovar Albanians and Serbs in Rambouillet, France, in February 1999 ended in failure. On March 18, further peace talks in Paris collapsed after the Serbian delegation refused to sign a deal calling for Kosovo autonomy and the deployment of NATO troops to enforce the agreement. Two days later, the Serbian army launched a new offensive in Kosovo.

On March 24, NATO air strikes began. In addition to Serbian military positions, the NATO air campaign targeted Serbian government buildings and the country’s infrastructure in an effort to destabilize the Milosevic regime. The bombing and continued Serbian offensives drove hundreds of thousands of Kosovar Albanians into neighboring Albania, Macedonia, and Montenegro. Many of these refugees were airlifted to safety in the United States and other NATO nations. On June 10, the NATO bombardment ended when Serbia agreed to a peace agreement calling for the withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosovo and their replacement by NATO peacekeeping troops. With the exception of two U.S. pilots killed in a training mission in Albania, no NATO personnel lost their lives in the 78-day operation. There were some mishaps, however, such as miscalculated bombings that led to the deaths of Kosovar Albanian refugees, KLA members, and Serbian civilians.

The most controversial incident was the May 7 bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, which killed three Chinese journalists and caused a diplomatic crisis in U.S.-Chinese relations. On June 12, NATO forces moved into Kosovo from Macedonia. The same day, Russian troops arrived in the Kosovo capital of Pristina and forced NATO into agreeing to a joint occupation. Despite the presence of peacekeeping troops, the returning Kosovar Albanians retaliated against Kosovo’s Serbian minority, forcing them to flee into Serbia. Under the NATO occupation, Kosovar autonomy was restored, but the province remained officially part of Serbia. Slobodan Milosevic was ousted from power by a popular revolution in Belgrade in October 2000. He was replaced by the popularly elected Vojislav Kostunica, a moderate Serbian nationalist who promised to reintegrate Serbia into Europe and the world after a decade of isolation.

1999 – Russia denounced the NATO attack on Serbia.

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2000 – The US agreed to double the amount of money Iraq was allowed to spend to repair its oil industry and lifted holds on over $100 million in equipment.

2000 – A US federal judge awarded former hostage Terry Anderson $341 million from Iran, holding Iranian agents responsible for Anderson’s nearly seven years of captivity in Lebanon.

2003 – In the 6th day of Operation Iraqi Freedom US forces began strikes against the Medina Division of the Republican Guard guarding Baghdad. Hussein appeared on Iraqi TV as coalition forces held over 3,000 prisoners. 10 Marines were killed in combat around Nasiriya.

2003 – After Coalition forces have pushed further into Iraq securing most of the southern oilfields over the weekend, Kuwaiti fire fighters are able to enter Iraq and are able to extinguish one of the wellhead fires. Iraq’s southern fields represent about 40% of the country’s output. Damage is assessed to be relatively minimal. Some pockets or Iraqi resistance in the southern oilfields remain, however. Furthermore, heavy Iraqi resistance in some parts of Iraq gives rise to market speculation that the war could last longer than initially thought.

2003 – Arab League foreign ministers adopted a resolution that called for the US and Britain to withdraw their troops from Iraq immediately and without conditions.

2003 – In Georgia Pres. Shevardnadze confirmed that the US was flying U-2 spy planes over the Pankisi Gorge area to help fight Chechen rebel infiltration.

2003 – Saddam Hussein appeared on Iraqi TV telling his nation that “victory is soon.”

2003 – Iraqi state television showed two men said to have been the U.S. crew of an Apache helicopter forced down during heavy fighting in central Iraq. Chief Warrant Officer David Williams and Chief Warrant Officer Ronald D. Young Junior spent three weeks in captivity before they were released along with five other POWs.

2004 – A NASA unpiloted X-43A jet, part of its Hyper-X program, reached a record speed of 5,200 mph, Mach 6.83, after a rocket boosted it to 3,500 mph. It used a new engine called a supersonic-combustion ramjet, or scramjet.

2004 – Insurgents bombed an oil well in northern Iraq, sparking a fire that raged for 24 hours before being extinguished.

2005 – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld announced the US will release $3.2 million in aid to Guatemala for its progress in overhauling a military once blamed for human rights abuses.

2005 – Canada denied a US deserter’s bid for asylum.

2011 – Lian Yang, a US citizen, pleads guilty to conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act by trying to sell radiation-hardened” military and aerospace technology to the People’s Republic of China.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

*PETERS, GEORGE J.
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company G, 507th Parachute Infantry, 17th Airborne Division. Place and date: Near Fluren, Germany, 24 March 1945. Entered service at: Cranston, R.I. Birth: Cranston, R.I. G.O. No.: 16, 8 February 1946. Citation: Pvt. Peters, a platoon radio operator with Company G, made a descent into Germany near Fluren, east of the Rhine. With 10 others, he landed in a field about 75 yards from a German machinegun supported by riflemen, and was immediately pinned down by heavy, direct fire. The position of the small unit seemed hopeless with men struggling to free themselves of their parachutes in a hail of bullets that cut them off from their nearby equipment bundles, when Pvt. Peters stood up without orders and began a l-man charge against the hostile emplacement armed only with a rifle and grenades.

His single-handed assault immediately drew the enemy fire away from his comrades. He had run halfway to his objective, pitting rifle fire against that of the machinegun, when he was struck and knocked to the ground by a burst. Heroically, he regained his feet and struggled onward. Once more he was torn by bullets, and this time he was unable to rise. With gallant devotion to his self-imposed mission, he crawled directly into the fire that had mortally wounded him until close enough to hurl grenades which knocked out the machinegun, killed 2 of its operators, and drove protecting riflemen from their positions into the safety of a woods. By his intrepidity and supreme sacrifice, Pvt. Peters saved the lives of many of his fellow soldiers and made it possible for them to reach their equipment, organize, and seize their first objective.

*BRYANT, WILLIAM MAUD
Rank and organization: Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army, Company A, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces. Place and date: Long Khanh Province, Republic of Vietnam, 24 March 1969. Entered service at: Detroit, Mich. Born: 16 February 1933, Cochran, Ga. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sfc. Bryant, assigned to Company A, distinguished himself while serving as commanding officer of Civilian Irregular Defense Group Company 321, 2d Battalion, 3d Mobile Strike Force Command, during combat operations. The battalion came under heavy fire and became surrounded by the elements of 3 enemy regiments. Sfc. Bryant displayed extraordinary heroism throughout the succeeding 34 hours of incessant attack as he moved throughout the company position heedless of the intense hostile fire while establishing and improving the defensive perimeter, directing fire during critical phases of the battle, distributing ammunition, assisting the wounded, and providing the leadership and inspirational example of courage to his men.

When a helicopter drop of ammunition was made to re-supply the beleaguered force, Sfc. Bryant with complete disregard for his safety ran through the heavy enemy fire to retrieve the scattered ammunition boxes and distributed needed ammunition to his men. During a lull in the intense fighting, Sfc. Bryant led a patrol outside the perimeter to obtain information of the enemy. The patrol came under intense automatic weapons fire and was pinned down. Sfc. Bryant single-handedly repulsed 1 enemy attack on his small force and by his heroic action inspired his men to fight off other assaults. Seeing a wounded enemy soldier some distance from the patrol location, Sfc. Bryant crawled forward alone under heavy fire to retrieve the soldier for intelligence purposes. Finding that the enemy soldier had expired, Sfc. Bryant crawled back to his patrol and led his men back to the company position where he again took command of the defense.

As the siege continued, Sfc. Bryant organized and led a patrol in a daring attempt to break through the enemy encirclement. The patrol had advanced some 200 meters by heavy fighting when it was pinned down by the intense automatic weapons fire from heavily fortified bunkers and Sfc. Bryant was severely wounded. Despite his wounds he rallied his men, called for helicopter gunship support, and directed heavy suppressive fire upon the enemy positions. Following the last gunship attack, Sfc. Bryant fearlessly charged an enemy automatic weapons position, overrunning it, and single-handedly destroying its 3 defenders. Inspired by his heroic example, his men renewed their attack on the entrenched enemy. While regrouping his small force for the final assault against the enemy, Sfc. Bryant fell mortally wounded by an enemy rocket. Sfc. Bryant’s selfless concern for his comrades, at the cost of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

*COKER, RONALD L.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, Company M, 3d Battalion, 3d Marine Division (Rein), FMF. Place and date: Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam, 24 March 1969. Entered service at: Denver, Colo. Born: 9 August 1947, Alliance, Colo. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a rifleman with Company M in action against enemy forces. While serving as point man for the 2d Platoon, Pfc. Coker was leading his patrol when he encountered 5 enemy soldiers on a narrow jungle trail. Pfc. Coker’s squad aggressively pursued them to a cave. As the squad neared the cave, it came under intense hostile fire, seriously wounding 1 marine and forcing the others to take cover. Observing the wounded man lying exposed to continuous enemy fire, Pfc. Coker disregarded his safety and moved across the fire-swept terrain toward his companion. Although wounded by enemy small-arms fire, he continued to crawl across the hazardous area and skillfully threw a hand grenade into the enemy positions, suppressing the hostile fire sufficiently to enable him to reach the wounded man. As he began to drag his injured comrade toward safety, a grenade landed on the wounded marine.

Unhesitatingly, Pfc. Coker grasped it with both hands and turned away from his wounded companion, but before he could dispose of the grenade it exploded. Severely wounded, but undaunted, he refused to abandon his comrade. As he moved toward friendly lines, 2 more enemy grenades exploded near him, inflicting still further injuries. Concerned only for the safety of his comrade, Pfc. Coker, with supreme effort continued to crawl and pull the wounded marine with him. His heroic deeds inspired his fellow marines to such aggressive action that the enemy fire was suppressed sufficiently to enable others to reach him and carry him to a relatively safe area where he succumbed to his extensive wounds. Pfc. Coker’s indomitable courage, inspiring initiative and selfless devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

*SINGLETON, WALTER K.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, Company A, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Marine Division. Place and date: Gio Linh District, Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam, 24 March 1967. Entered service at: Memphis, Tenn. Born: 7 December 1944, Memphis, Tenn. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Singleton’s company was conducting combat operations when the lead platoon received intense small arms, automatic weapons, rocket, and mortar fire from a well entrenched enemy force. As the company fought its way forward, the extremely heavy enemy fire caused numerous friendly casualties. Sensing the need for early treatment of the wounded, Sgt. Singleton quickly moved from his relatively safe position in the rear of the foremost point of the advance and made numerous trips through the enemy killing zone to move the injured men out of the danger area.

Noting that a large part of the enemy fire was coming from a hedgerow, he seized a machinegun and assaulted the key enemy location, delivering devastating fire as he advanced. He forced his way through the hedgerow directly into the enemy strong point. Although he was mortally wounded, his fearless attack killed 8 of the enemy and drove the remainder from the hedgerow. Sgt. Singleton’s bold actions completely disorganized the enemy defense and saved the lives of many of his comrades. His daring initiative selfless devotion to duty and indomitable fighting spirit reflected great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps, and his performance upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

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25 March

MEDAL OF HONOR DAY
(see 1863)


1584 – Sir Walter Raleigh, English explorer, courtier, and writer, renewed Humphrey Gilbert’s patent to explore North America. He went on to settle the Virginia colony on Roanoke Island, naming it after the virgin queen.

1609 – Henry Hudson embarked on an exploration for Dutch East India Company.

1634 – The first colonists to Maryland arrive at St. Clement’s Island on Maryland’s western shore and found the settlement of St. Mary’s. In 1632, King Charles I of England granted a charter to George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, yielding him proprietary rights to a region east of the Potomac River in exchange for a share of the income derived from the land. The territory was named Maryland in honor of Henrietta Maria, the queen consort of Charles I. Before settlement began, George Calvert died and was succeeded by his son Cecilius, who sought to establish Maryland as a haven for Roman Catholics persecuted in England.

In March 1634, the first English settlers–a carefully selected group of Catholics and Protestants–arrived at St. Clement’s Island aboard the Ark and the Dove. Religious conflict was strong in ensuing years as the American Puritans, growing more numerous in Maryland and supported by Puritans in England, set out to revoke the religious freedoms guaranteed in the founding of the colony. In 1649, Maryland Governor William Stone responded by passing an act ensuring religious liberty and justice to all who believed in Jesus Christ.

In 1654, however, the so-called Toleration Act was repealed after Puritans seized control of the colony, leading to a brief civil war that ended with Lord Baltimore losing control of propriety rights over Maryland in March 1655. Although the Calverts later regained control of Maryland, anti-Catholic activity persisted until the 19th century, when many Catholic immigrants to America chose Baltimore as their home and helped enact laws to protect their free practice of religion.

1655 – Puritans jailed Governor Stone after a military victory over Catholic forces in the colony of Maryland.

1774 – English Parliament passed the Boston Port Bill.

1776 – The Continental Congress authorized a medal for General George Washington.

1785 – The Mount Vernon Conference begins. This was a three day meeting of delegates from Virginia and Maryland who discussed commercial issues related to their mutual water border at George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, Virginia. The ensuing report known as the Mount Vernon Compact, or the Compact of 1785 was ratified later by both state legislatures and became the earliest move of individual states toward closer union under the Articles of Confederation. The Mount Vernon Conference was followed by more states attending the Annapolis Convention at Mann’s Tavern the next year, with both events being precursors to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention that drafted the United States Constitution.

1804 – The Secretary of the Navy approved the first formal uniform of the Marine Corps.

1813 – The first U.S. flag flown in battle was on the frigate Essex in the Pacific. USS Essex takes Neryeda, first capture by U.S. Navy in Pacific. Early in 1813, the USS ESSEX, under the Command of Captain David Porter, USN, rounded Cape Horn and became the first Navy ship to carry the American flag into the Pacific Ocean. The ESSEX began operating in Pacific waters and captured a British commerce raider, several British merchantmen, and several large British whaling ships.

1843 – Seventeen Texans, who picked black beans from a jar otherwise filled with white beans, were executed by a Mexican firing squad. After months of raiding, captivity and escapes in Northern Mexico, Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna ordered the execution of one tenth of the 176 Texas freebooters of the Mier Expedition.

1856 – A.E. Burnside patented the Burnside carbine.

1862 – C.S.S. Pamlico, Lieutenant William G. Dozier, and C.S.S. Oregon, Acting Master Abraham L. Myers, engaged U.S.S. New London, Lieutenant Read, at Pass Christian, Mississippi. The rifled gun on board Pamlico jammed during the nearly two hour engagement, and the Confederate vessels broke off the action, neither side having been damaged in the test of the strength of Flag Officer Farragut’s gathering forces. Transports with General Butler and troops arrived at Ship Island which, until Pensacola was retaken, became the principal base for operations west of Key West. Flag Officer Farragut wrote: “I am now packed and ready for my departure to the mouth of the Mississippi River . . I spent last evening very pleasantly with General Butler. He does not appear to have any very difficult plan of operations, but simply to follow in my wake and hold what I can take. God grant that may be all that we attempt . . victory. If I die in the attempt, it will only be what every officer has to expect. He who dies in doing his duty to his country, and at peace with his God, has played out the drama of life to the best advantage.”

1863 – The first Army Medal of Honor is presented to PVT Jacob Parrott of the 33rd Ohio Infantry. Four others are so honored this day as well.

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1863 – Before daybreak, rams Switzerland and Lancaster got underway to run past Vicksburg to join Rear Admiral Farragut below with U.S.S. Hartford and Albatross. Colonel C. R. Ellet reported: ‘The wind was extremely unfavorable, and notwithstanding the caution with which the boats put Out into the middle of the stream, the puff of their escape pipes could be heard with fatal distinctness below. The flashing of the enemy’s signal lights from battery to battery as we neared the city showed me that concealment was useless.” Under full steam, the rams rounded the bend into a concentrated fire from the Confederate works. On board Switzerland, Colonel Ellet noted: ”Shot after shot struck my boat, tearing everything to pieces before them.” La,’caster, under Lieutenant Colonel John A. Ellet, followed, steaming steadily down river, “but,” the senior Ellet reported, “I could see the splinters fly from her at every discharge.”

Directly in front of the main Vicksburg batteries, a shell plunged into Switzerland’s boiler, stopping the engines. The pilots, who “stood their posts like men,” kept the ram in the river and she floated down, still under a hail of shot, to safety. The Lancaster, meanwhile, received a fatal shot which pierced her steam drum ” and enveloped the entire vessel in a terrible cloud of steam

About this time,” reported her commanding officer, ”a heavy plunging shot struck her in the frailest part of her stern, passing longitudinally through her and piercing the hull in the center near the bow, causing an enormous leak in the vessel.” She sank almost immediately. The planned joint attack on Warrenton was called off because of the extensive repairs required by the Switzerland.

1864 – U.S.S. Peosta, Acting Lieutenant Thomas E. Smith, and U.S.S. Paw Paw, Acting Lieutenant A. Frank O’Neil, engaged Confederate troops who had launched a heavy assault on Northern positions at Paducah, Kentucky. Under the wooden gunboats’ fire the Southerners were halted and finally forced to withdraw. The value of the force afloat was recognized by Brigadier General Mason Brayman, who later wrote of the action: “I wish to state during my short period of service here the Navy has borne a conspicuous part in all operations. The Peosta, Captain Smith, and Paw Paw, Captain O’Neil, joined Colonel Hicks at Paducah, and with gallantry equal to his own shelled the rebels out of the buildings from which their sharpshooters annoyed our troops.

A large number took shelter in heavy warehouses near the river and maintained a furious fire upon the gunboats, inflicting some injury, but they were promptly dislodged and the buildings destroyed. Fleet Captain Pennock, of the Mississippi Squadron, representing Admiral Porter in his absence, and Lieutenant Commander Shirk, of the Seventh Division, who had charge above Cairo and on the Tennessee, were prompt, vigilant, and courageous and cooperated in everything. That the river line was kept open, considering the inadequate force at my control, I regard as due in a great degree to the cooperation of the Navy.”

1865 – Battle of Bluff Spring, Florida.

1865 – Confederate General Robert E. Lee makes Fort Stedman his last attack of the war in a desperate attempt to break out of Petersburg, Virginia. The attack failed, and within a week Lee was evacuating his positions around Petersburg. For nine months, Petersburg was under siege by the Army of the Potomac and the overall Union commander, General Ulysses S. Grant. The two great armies had fought a bloody campaign in the spring of 1864, and then settled into trenches that eventually stretched for fifty miles around Petersburg and the Confederate capital of Richmond. Lee could not win this war of attrition, but his men held out through the winter of 1864 to 1865.

Now, Lee realized the growing Yankee army could overwhelm his diminishing force when the spring brought better weather for an assault. He ordered General John B. Gordon to find a weak point in the Federal defenses and attack. Gordon selected Fort Stedman, an earthen redoubt with a moat and nine-foot walls. Although imposing, Gordon believed it offered the greatest chance for success since it was located just 150 yards from the Confederate lines–the narrowest gap along the entire front.

At 4:00 a.m. on March 25, 11,000 Rebels hurled themselves at the Union lines. They overwhelmed the surprised Yankees in Fort Stedman and captured 1,000 yards of trenches. General Grant wired Rear Admiral Porter that General Lee’s soldiers had broken through the right of the Union’s line and that he thought they would strike toward the essential James River supply base at City Point a few miles from the breakthrough. “I would suggest putting one or two gunboats on the Appomattox up as high as the pontoon bridge,” he told the Admiral. Porter immediately ordered gunboats up the Appomattox River to guard the pontoon bridge “at all times. Simultaneously, U.S.S. Wilderness, Acting Master Henry Arey, was ordered up the Chickahominy River to communicate with General Sheridan, carry intelligence about any Con-federate activity along the river, and bring back dispatches from Sheridan for Grant.

Lee’s attack was his last bold gamble for great stakes. Never one to submit tamely to even the most formidable odds, he sought in the surprise assault to cripple Grant’s army so that the overwhelming spring attack the Federals were building up could not be launched. Lee hoped that then he could speed to North Carolina with part of his veterans, join General Johnston and crush Sherman while still holding the Richmond-Petersburg front. Had the attack gone as well in its later stages as it did in the first onslaught, he would have been within range of City Point, only some ten miles away. The wholesale destruction of the host of supply ships, mountains of stores, and vast arsenal would have ended Grant’s plant for seizing Richmond that spring.

After daylight, however, the Confederate momentum waned. Gordon’s men took up defensive positions, and Union reinforcements arrived to turn the tide. The Rebels were unable to hold the captured ground, and they were driven back to their original position. The Union lost 1,000 men killed, wounded, and captured, while the Lee lost probably three times that number, including 1,500 captured during the retreat. Already outnumbered, these loses were more than Lee’s army could bear. Lee wrote to Confederate President Jefferson Davis that it would be impossible to maintain the Petersburg line much longer. On March 29, Grant began his offensive, and Petersburg fell on April 3. Two weeks after the Battle of Fort Stedman, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

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1879 – Little Wolf, often called “the greatest of the fighting Cheyenne,” surrenders to his friend Lieutenant W. P. Clark. Little Wolf was the chief of the Bowstring Soldiers, an elite Cheyenne military society. From early youth, Little Wolf had demonstrated rare bravery and a brilliant understanding of battle tactics. First in conflicts with other Indians like the Kiowa and then in disputes with the U.S. Army, Little Wolf led or assisted in dozens of important Cheyenne victories. Historians believe Little Wolf was probably involved in the disastrous Fetterman Massacre of 1866, in which the Cheyenne cleverly lured a force of 80 American soldiers out of their Wyoming fort and wiped them out. After Cheyenne attacks had finally forced the U.S. military to abandon Fort Phil Kearney along the Bozeman Trail, Little Wolf is believed to have led the torching of the fort. He was also a leading participant in the greatest of the Plains Indian victories, the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.

As with many of the other Plains Indian warriors, Little Wolf was finally forced to make peace during the army’s major offensive following the massacre at Little Bighorn. In 1877, the government sent Little Wolf to a reservation in Indian Territory. Disgusted with the meager supplies and conditions on the reservation, in 1878 Little Wolf determined to leave the reservation and head north for the old Cheyenne territory in Wyoming and Montana. Chief Dull Knife and 300 of his followers went with him. Though Little Wolf and Dull Knife announced that their intentions were peaceful, settlers in the territory they passed through feared attack. The government dispatched cavalry forces that assaulted the Indians, but Little Wolf’s skillful defensive maneuvers kept Cheyenne casualties low. When the band neared Fort Robinson, Nebraska, Dull Knife and some of his followers stopped there. Little Wolf and the rest of the Cheyenne continued to march north to Montana.

In the spring of 1879, while still traveling north, Little Wolf and his followers were overtaken by a cavalry force under the leadership of Captain W.P. Clark, an old friend of Little Wolf’s. The confrontation might easily have turned violent, but with his force of warriors diminished and his people tired, Little Wolf was reluctant to fight the more powerful American army. Clark’s civilized and gracious treatment of Little Wolf helped convince the chief that further resistance was pointless, and he agreed to surrender. After returning to the reservation, Little Wolf briefly served as a scout for General Nelson A. Miles. However, during this time he disgraced himself among his people by killing one of his tribesmen. The formerly celebrated Cheyenne warrior lived out the rest of his life on the reservation but had no official influence among his own people.

1898 – Assist. SECNAV Theodore Roosevelt proposes Navy investigate military application of Samuel Langley’s flying machine, beginning naval aviation. Langley had been experimenting for over a decade with steam powered flying machines and was attempting to adapt a working steam model to an internal combustion powered design.

1901 – Cubans are beginning to fear annexation by the Americans.

1905 – Rebel battle flags that were captured during the war were returned to the South.

1915 – The Navy’s first underwater disaster occurred when the submarine F-4 exploded and sank off Honolulu Harbor. 21 lives were lost. F-4 was one of the first submarines assigned to the new naval facility at Pearl Harbor in the years prior to World War I. On March 25, 1915, the submarine vanished on routine patrol, and was later discovered a mile off Fort Armstrong, 300 feet underwater. No one had ever salvaged a vessel from such a depth before, and Navy attempts proved fruitless for several months. One diver was later awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing another diver at the crushing depths. Finally, using specially constructed pontoons, the submarine was raised on August 31, 1915 and towed to Pearl Harbor.

1928 – James A. Lovell Jr, USN, astronaut (Gemini 7, 12, Apollo 8, 13), was born in Cleveland, Ohio.

1936 – Britain, the U.S. and France signed a naval accord in London.

1940 – The U.S. agreed to give Britain and France access to all American warplanes.

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1942 – Rear Admiral John Wilcox commanding Task Force 39 with the battleship Washington, two cruiser and six destroyers sail for Scapa Flow to protect British home waters for the duration of Operation Ironclad — the British invasion of Vichy French controlled Madagascar. This is a reflection of the heavy Allied losses in capital ships to Japanese action in the Pacific.

1943 – By nightfall the US 1st Armored Division has nearly reached the Tebaga Gap. Von Arnim is worried about this attack and the threat from US troops at Makanssy, and therefore begins to pull his German and Italian infantry out of the Mareth Line.

1944 – On Manus, a final drive by US forces eliminates most of the remaining Japanese forces. On Los Negros, Japanese resistance has been reduced to scattered groups and isolated individuals.

1944 – Japanese patrols sight large American naval forces heading for Palau Island.

1945 – US 1st Army units, principally from US 3rd Corps, begin to break out of the Remagen bridgehead. The US 8th Corps (part of US 3rd Army) begins to cross the Rhine River near Boppard. To the south, Darmstadt is taken by US 12th Corps units who crossed at Nierstein. Other units have advanced farther east to the Main near Hanau and Aschaffenburg.

1945 – After 35 days of bitter fighting, the amphibious assault on the rocky fortress of Iwo Jima finally appeared over. On the night of 25 March, however, a 300-man Japanese force launched a vicious final counterattack in the vicinity of Airfield Number 2. Army pilots, Seabees and Marines of the 5th Pioneer Battalion and 28th Marines fought the fanatical Japanese force till morning but suffered heavy casualties –more than l00 killed and another 200 American wounded. Nearly all of the Japanese force was killed in the battle.

1945 – US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) conduct air raids on Okinawa. US TF52 (Admiral Dungin), with 17 escort carriers begin air raids on the same targets. Meanwhile, there is an American bombardment of the island of Kerama Retto, to the west of Okinawa, as well. Japanese submarines make unsuccessful attacks on the American ships. Japanese Kamikaze attacks begin, under the direction of Admiral Ugaki, with 26 planes scoring 8 hits including one on the American battleship Nevada.

1945 – American B-24 Liberator bombers of the US 5th Air Force destroy a hydroelectric power station on the island of Formosa (Taiwan).

1945 – Bombers of the US 8th Air Force bomb Hamburg with the nominal objective of striking the underground oil stores.

1948 – The first successful tornado forecast predicts that a tornado will strike Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. The 1948 Tinker Air Force Base tornadoes were two tornadoes which struck Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on March 20 and 25, 1948. The March 20 tornado was the costliest tornado in Oklahoma history at the time. Tinker’s meteorologists Major Ernest J. Fawbush and Captain Robert C. Miller investigated surface and upper-air weather data from this and past tornado outbreaks, hoping to be able to identify conditions which were favorable for tornadoes. By March 24, they had compiled several possible tornado indicators, and decided it would be difficult, but possible, to identify large tornado threat areas in the future.

On March 25, meteorologists at the base noticed the extreme similarity between the weather conditions of that day and March 20, and later in the day issued a “tornado forecast”, which was verified when a tornado struck the base that evening. Equipment which could be, had been moved to bomb-proof shelters, and base personnel had been moved to safer areas.This was the first official tornado forecast, as well as the first successful tornado forecast, in recorded history. Due to lives and costs saved, Fawbush and Miller continued their tornado forecasts, which verified at quite a high rate over the next three years. At first, they kept their forecasts secret.

In the spring and summer of 1949, they issued eighteen forecasts for tornadoes within a 100-square-mile (260 km2) ≈area, and all eighteen proved successful. In the subsequent years, while not explicitly using the word “tornado”, the Weather Bureau used the pair’s forecasts to predict “severe local storms”. The synoptic pattern which occurred on March 25 later became known as the “Miller type-B” pattern and is recognized as one of the most potent severe weather setups.

1952 – The U.S., Britain, and France rejected the Soviet proposal for an armed, reunified, neutral Germany.

1952 – Three hundred and seven U.N. fighter-bombers dropped 260 tons of bombs on the rail line between Chongju and Sinanju.

1953 – The USS Missouri fired on targets at Kojo, North Korea, the last time her guns fire until the Persian Gulf War of 1992.

1955 – E. Germany was granted full sovereignty by occupying power, USSR.

1958 – Elvis Presley’s active duty service began and lasted two years, until March 5, 1960.

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1960 – A guided missile, a Regulus I, was launched from a nuclear powered submarine, the USS Halibut, for the first time. Halibut is also the first submarine to be designed and built from the keel up to launch guided missiles.

1961 – Elvis Presley (26) performed live on the USS Arizona, a fund raiser for a memorial. Col. Parker, Presley’s manager, came up with the brilliant idea to have Elvis Presley give the benefit concert in the 4,000-seat Bloch Arena next to the entrance to Pearl Harbor.

1968 – After being told by Defense Secretary Clark Clifford that the Vietnam War is a “real loser,” President Johnson, still uncertain about his course of action, decides to convene a nine-man panel of retired presidential advisors. The group, which became known as the “Wise Men,” included the respected generals Omar Bradley and Matthew Ridgway, distinguished State Department figures like Dean Acheson and George Ball, and McGeorge Bundy, National Security advisor to both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. After two days of deliberation the group reached a consensus: they advised against any further troop increases and recommended that the administration seek a negotiated peace.

Although Johnson was initially furious at their conclusions, he quickly came to believe that they were right. On March 31, Johnson announced on television that he was restricting the bombing of North Vietnam to the area just north of the Demilitarized Zone. Additionally, he committed the United States to discuss peace at any time or place. Then Johnson announced that he would not pursue reelection for the presidency.

1968 – A Harris Poll reports that in the past six weeks “basic” support for the war among Americans declined from 74 percent to 54 percent. The poll also revealed that 60 percent of those questioned regarded the Tet Offensive as a defeat of U.S. objectives in Vietnam. Despite Gen. William Westmoreland’s assurances in late 1967 that the United States was making headway in the war, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong had launched a massive offensive during the Tet holiday that began in late January 1968. Although the communist forces were soundly defeated during this offensive, the scope and extent of the attacks won the communists a major psychological victory in the United States, where the events of Tet confirmed a growing disenchantment with the seemingly never-ending war for increasing numbers of Americans.

1975 – Hue was lost and Da Nang was endangered. The U.S. ordered a refugee airlift to remove those in danger.

1979 – The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch.

1980 – Three hostages are released by terrorists holding the Dominican embassy in Bogota, but U.S. Ambassador Diego Ascencio still among the captives.

1981 – The U.S. Embassy in San Salvador was damaged when gunmen attacked, firing rocket propelled grenades and machine guns.

1986 – President Ronald Reagan ordered emergency aid for the Honduran army. U.S. helicopters took Honduran troops to the Nicaraguan border.

1986 – Supreme Court ruled that the Air Force could ban wearing of yarmulkes.

1992 – Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi backed away from an offer to turn over two suspects in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 to the Arab League.

1994 – At the end of a largely unsuccessful 15-month mission, the last U.S. troops depart Somalia, leaving 20,000 U.N. troops behind to keep the peace and facilitate “nation building” in the divided country. In 1992, civil war, clan-based fighting, and the worst African drought of the century created famine conditions that threatened one-fourth of Somalia’s population with starvation. In August 1992, the United Nations began a peacekeeping mission to the country to ensure the distribution of food and medical aid. On December 4, with deteriorating security and U.N. troops unable to control Somalia’s warring factions, U.S. President George Bush ordered 25,000 U.S. troops into Somalia. Although he promised the troops involved that the humanitarian mission was not an open-ended commitment, “Operation Restore Hope” remained unresolved when Bill Clinton took over the presidency in January 1993. Like his predecessor, Clinton was anxious to bring the Americans home, and in May the mission was formally handed back to the United Nations.

By June, only 4,200 U.S. troops remained. However, on June 5, 24 Pakistani U.N. peacekeepers inspecting a weapons storage site were ambushed and massacred by soldiers under Somali warlord General Mohammed Aidid. U.S. and U.N. forces subsequently began an extensive search for the elusive strongman, and in August, 400 elite U.S. troops from Delta Force and the U.S. Rangers embarked on a mission to capture Aidid. Two months later, on October 3-4, 18 of these soldiers were killed and 84 wounded during a disastrous assault on Mogadishu’s Olympia Hotel in search of Aidid. The bloody battle, which lasted 17 hours, was the most violent U.S. combat firefight since Vietnam. Three days later, with Aidid still at large, President Clinton cut his losses and ordered a total U.S. withdrawal. On March 25, 1994, the last U.S. troops left Somalia.

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1995 – Two Americans who had strayed across the Kuwaiti border into Iraq were sentenced to eight years in prison. However, David Daliberti and William Barloon were released by Iraq the following July.

1996 – An 81-day standoff by the anti-government Freemen. A group of 18 people including 3 children, who call themselves the Freeman, shut themselves up on a 960 acre farm near Jordan, Montana. Many of them are wanted on state and federal charges that include writing bad checks and threatening a federal judge. Ongoing negotiations have proved fruitless and the FBI ordered in 3 armored vehicles and a helicopter.

1996 – China halted its 18-day intimidating naval exercises around Taiwan led by the new guided-missile destroyer Harbin.

1996 – France, Britain and the US signed a treaty to ban nuclear weapons from the South Pacific.

1997 – Former President George Bush, 73, parachuted from a plane over the Arizona desert.

1998 – Russia promised to support a comprehensive arms embargo against Yugoslavia, but did not support new sanctions urged by the US.

1999 – NATO forces struck Serbian air defenses and other sites for a second night as Serb forces stepped up their efforts to crush resistance in Kosovo. The village of Goden was burned by Serb forces and 174 residents were forced to leave. 20 men were kept back and presumed killed.

2003 – The US Navy brought in 2 specially trained bottle-nosed Atlantic dolphins to help ferret out mines in the approaches of the port of Umm Qasr.

2003 – In the 7th day of Operation Iraqi Freedom US aircraft dropped more than 2,000 precision-guided bombs on Iraq since the war’s start. The “smart” bombs were produced for a relatively cheap $20,000 each. Sandstorms slowed coalition movement and air missions. US officials reported 150-200 Iraqi soldiers were killed near Najaf. US Commander General Tommy Franks says US-led forces are making “rapid and in some cases dramatic” progress but has also met sporadic resistance. Franks also says that his forces have captured 3,000 prisoners.

2003 – Six satellite jamming devices, which Iraq was using to try to thwart American precision guided weapons, were destroyed in the last 2 nights.

2003 – Some 150-500 Iraqi fighters were killed in fighting east of Najaf.

2003 – A light plane carrying 3 Americans crashed in southern Colombia while searching for 3 other Americans captured by rebels last month.

2004 – The United States used its veto power to quash a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel for killing Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin in a missile strike.

2005 – Washington announced it would sell F-16 fighters to Pakistan.

2013 – The United States agrees to hand over Bagram Jail, its main detention facility in Afghanistan, to the country’s government.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

CARTER, JOSEPH F.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company D, 3d Maryland Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Stedman, Va., 25 March 1865. Entered service at: Baltimore, Md. Birth: Baltimore, Md. Date of issue: 9 July 1891. Citation: Captured the colors of the 51st Virginia Infantry (C.S.A.). During the battle he was captured and escaped bringing a number of prisoners with him.

CHAMBERS, JOSEPH B.
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 100th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 25 March 1865. Entered service at: East Brook, Pa. Birth: Beaver County, Pa. Date of issue: 27 July 1871. Citation: Capture of colors of 1st Virginia Infantry (C.S.A.).

DEANE, JOHN M.
Rank and organization: Major, 29th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Stedman, Va., 25 March 1865. Entered service at: ——. Born: 8 January 1840, Freetown, Mass. Date of issue: 8 March 1895. Citation: This officer, observing an abandoned gun within Fort Haskell, called for volunteers, and under a heavy fire, worked the gun until the enemy’s advancing line was routed.

GAYLORD, LEVI B.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company A, 29th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Stedman, Va., 25 March 1865. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Boston, Mass. Date of issue: 22 June 1896. Citation: Voluntarily assisted in working an abandoned gun, while exposed to heavy fire, until the enemy’s advancing line was routed by a charge on its left flank.

HOUGHTON, CHARLES H.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company L, 14th New York Artillery. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 30 July 1864; 25 March 1865. Entered service at: Ogdensburg, N.Y. Born: 30 April 1842, Macomb, St. Lawrence County, N.Y. Date of issue: 5 April 1898. Citation: In the Union assault at the Crater (30 July 1864), and in the Confederate assault repelled at Fort Haskell, displayed most conspicuous gallantry and repeatedly exposed himself voluntarily to great danger, was 3 times wounded, and suffered loss of a leg.

HOWE, WILLIAM H.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company K, 29th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Stedman, Va., 25 March 1865. Entered service at:——. Birth: Haverhill, Mass. Date of issue: 8 March 1895. Citation: Served an abandoned gun under heavy fire.

LITTLEFIELD, GEORGE H.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company G, 1st Maine Veteran Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Fisher, Va., 25 March 1865. Entered service at: Skowhegan, Maine. Birth: Skowhegan, Maine. Date of issue: 22 June 1885. Citation: The color sergeant having been wounded, this soldier picked up the flag and bore it to the front, to the great encouragement of the charging column.

McDONALD, GEORGE E.
Rank and organization: Private, Company L, 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery. Place and date: At Fort Stedman, Va., 25 March 1865. Entered service at: Warwick, R.I. Birth: Warwick, R.I. Date of issue: 21 July 1865. Citation: Capture of flag.

MURPHY, JAMES T.
Rank and organization: Private, Company L, 1st Connecticut Artillery. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 25 March 1865. Entered service at: New Haven, Conn. Birth: Canada. Date of issue: 29 October 1886. Citation: A piece of artillery having been silenced by the enemy, this soldier voluntarily ass1sted in working the piece, conducting himself throughout the engagement in a gallant and fearless manner.

OLIVER, CHARLES
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company M, 100th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 25 March 1865. Entered service at: Allegheny County, Pa. Birth: Allegheny County, Pa. Date of issue. 3 July 1865. Citation: Capture of flag of 31st Georgia Infantry (C.S.A.).

PINKHAM, CHARLES H.
Rank and organization: Sergeant Major, 57th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Stedman, Va., 25 March 1865. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Grafton, Mass. Date of issue: 15 April 1895. Citation: Captured the flag of the 57th North Carolina Infantry (C.S.A.) and saved his own colors by tearing them from the staff while the enemy was in the camp.

THOMPKINS, GEORGE W.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company F, 124th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 25 March 1865. Entered service at: Esport Jervis, N.Y. Birth: Orange County, N.Y. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Capture of flag of 49th Alabama Infantry (C.S.A.) from an officer who, with colors in hand, was rallying his men.

BISHOP, DANIEL
Rank and organization. Sergeant, Company A, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Turret Mountain, Ariz., 25 March 1873. Entered service at:——. Birth: Monroe County, Ohio. Date of issue: 12 April 1875. Citation: Gallantry in engagements.

HILL, JAMES M.
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company A, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Turret Mountain, Ariz., 25 March 1873. Entered service at:——. Birth: Washington County, Pa. Date of issue: 12 August 1875. Citation: Gallantry in action.

SHIELS, GEORGE F.
Rank and organization: Surgeon, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Tuliahan River, Philippine Islands, 25 March 1899. Entered service at: California. Birth: California. Date of issue: 22 November 1906. Citation: Voluntarily exposed himself to the fire of the enemy and went with 4 men to the relief of 2 native Filipinos Iying wounded about 150 yards in front of the lines and personally carried one of them to a place of safety.

*DOANE, STEPHEN HOLDEN
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. Place and date: Hau Nghia Province, Republic of Vietnam, 25 March 1969. Entered service at: Albany, N.Y. Born: 13 October 1947, Beverely, Mass. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. First Lt. Doane was serving as a platoon leader when his company, engaged in a tactical operation, abruptly contacted an enemy force concealed in protected bunkers and trenches. Three of the leading soldiers were pinned down by enemy crossfire. One was seriously wounded.

After efforts of one platoon to rescue these men had failed, it became obvious that only a small group could successfully move close enough to destroy the enemy position and rescue or relieve the trapped soldiers, 1st Lt. Doane, although fully aware of the danger of such an action, crawled to the nearest enemy bunker and silenced it. He was wounded but continued to advance to a second enemy bunker. As he prepared to throw a grenade, he was again wounded. Undaunted, he deliberately pulled the pin on the grenade and lunged with it into the enemy bunker, destroying this final obstacle. 1st Lt. Doane’s supreme act enabled his company to rescue the trapped men without further casualties. The extraordinary courage and selflessness displayed by this officer were an inspiration to his men and are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army .

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26 March

1701 – The English Board of Trade advises the king to create royal colonies of all of the American charter colonies.

1753 – Benjamin Thompson (d.1814), Count Rumford, English physicist and diplomat, was born. He was a Tory spy in the American Revolution and discovered that heat equaled motion, which led to the 2nd law of thermodynamics.

1790 – US Congress passed a Naturalization Act. It required a 2-year residency.

1804 – Congress ordered the removal of Indians east of the Mississippi to Louisiana.

1804 – The Louisiana Purchase was divided into the Territory of Orleans and the District of Louisiana.

1864 – General James B. McPherson assumes command of the Union Army of the Tennessee after William T. Sherman is elevated to commander of the Division of the Mississippi, the overall leader in the West. McPherson was born in Ohio in 1828. He graduated first in his class from West Point in 1853. He joined the engineering corps as a second lieutenant, and he spent the prewar years in New York City and Alcatraz Island in California. When the war began, McPherson was transferred to the East and promoted to captain. He was disappointed when he was assigned to command the forts of Boston Harbor, as the young officer yearned for combat. McPherson contacted General Henry Halleck, commander of the Department of the Missouri and a former acquaintance in California. Halleck summoned him to St. Louis, where McPherson helped set up recruiting stations and inspecting defenses in the state.

McPherson was transferred to General Ulysses S. Grant’s command on February 1, 1862, just as Grant was launching an expedition against Forts Henry and Donelson in Tennessee. McPherson’s work in analyzing the defenses of Fort Donelson earned him the respect of Grant, and McPherson’s star rose rapidly after the Battle of Shiloh. McPherson fought with distinction, and he was promoted to colonel. Two weeks later, he became a brigadier general.

After his actions at the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi, in October 1862, McPherson was again promoted, this time to major general. In December, he capped an amazing year by taking command of the XVII Corps in Grant’s Army of the Tennessee. McPherson served as corps commander throughout 1863, ably leading his men at Vicksburg and Chattanooga. Grant’s promotion to general-in-chief of all Union forces created a chain reaction of promotions. Grant left for Washington and Sherman assumed command in the West while McPherson inherited the Army of the Tennessee. This force was not an independent command, as it was one of three armies under Sherman’s command during the Atlanta campaign of 1864. When the campaign reached Atlanta in July 1864 after three hard months of fighting, McPherson was charged with attacking Confederate forces on the northeast side of Atlanta.

At the Battle of Peachtree Creek on July 22, McPherson was directing operations when he and his staff emerged from a grove of trees directly in front of the Confederate line. They were ordered to surrender but McPherson turned his horse and attempted to escape. He was mortally wounded, becoming the highest-ranking Union general killed in the war.

1865 – A detachment of sailors led by Acting Ensign Peyton H. Randolph of U.S.S. Benton joined troops under the command of Brigadier General B.G. Farrar. They lead a combined expedition to Trinity, Louisiana, where they captured a small number of Confederate soldiers as well as horses, arms and stores.

1910 – The United States forbade immigration to criminals, anarchists, paupers and the sick.

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