This Date in Military History:

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1965 – The unmanned spacecraft Mariner 4 passes over Mars at an altitude of 6,000 feet and sends back to Earth the first close-up images of the red planet. Launched in November 1964, Mariner 4 carried a television camera and six other science instruments to study Mars and interplanetary space within the solar system. Reaching Mars on July 14, 1965, the spacecraft began sending back television images of the planet just after midnight on July 15. The pictures–nearly 22 in all–revealed a vast, barren wasteland of craters and rust-colored sand, dismissing 19th-century suspicions that an advanced civilization might exist on the planet. The canals that American astronomer Percival Lowell spied with his telescope in 1890 proved to be an optical illusion, but ancient natural waterways of some kind did seem to be evident in some regions of the planet. Once past Mars, Mariner 4 journeyed on to the far side of the sun before returning to the vicinity of Earth in 1967. Nearly out of power by then, communication with the spacecraft was terminated in December 1967.

1968 – Intel was founded. Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore had left Fairchild Semiconductor to form NM Electronics in Mountain View, Ca. In 1997 Tim Jackson published “Inside Intel: Andrew Grove and the Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Chip Company.” Grove joined Intel in this year and became its president in 1979. They bought the rights to the name Intel from Intelco fro $15,000.

1971 – In a surprise announcement, President Richard Nixon says that he will visit Beijing, China, before May 1972. The news, issued simultaneously in Beijing and the United States, stunned the world. Nixon reported that he was visiting in order “to seek normalization of relations between the two countries and to exchange views on questions of concern to both sides.” Privately, Nixon hoped that achieving a rapprochement with China, North Vietnam’s major benefactor, would convince Hanoi to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the Vietnam War. The announcement was preceded by an April 6 invitation for the U.S. Table Tennis team to visit China, and by Nixon’s end to the 20-year U.S. trade embargo against China. On July 22, the North Vietnamese announced that they viewed Nixon’s visit to China as a divisive attempt by the United States to drive a wedge between Hanoi and Beijing.

1972 – CGC Absecon was decommissioned and transferred to the South Vietnamese Navy. This was the last of the seven 311-foot Casco-class cutters to be transferred to the South Vietnamese. She was commissioned as the Tham Ngu Lao (HQ-15) on 15 July 1972. She was seized by the North Vietnamese when the South fell in 1975. The North Vietnamese gave her the hull number HQ-1 but did not apparently name her. She was refitted with two or possibly four SS-N-2 launchers.

1975 – Three American astronauts blasted off aboard an Apollo spaceship hours after two Soviet cosmonauts were launched aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for a mission that included a linkup of the two ships in orbit.

1987 – Former National Security Adviser John Poindexter testified at the Iran-Contra hearings that he had never told President Reagan about using Iranian arms sales money for the Contras in order to protect the president from possible political embarrassment.

1990 – Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev and visiting West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl held talks on the issue of a united Germany’s membership in NATO.

1993 – Authorities in Los Angeles announced eight arrests in connection with an alleged plot by white supremacists to ignite a race war by bombing a black church and killing prominent black Americans. Christopher Fisher, leader of the Fourth Reich Skinheads, was later sentenced to more than 8 years in federal prison while defendant Carl Daniel Boese was sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison; both had pleaded guilty to arson and conspiracy charges.

1998 – Direct flights between the US and Cuba resumed after 2 years. US authorities expanded a “security zone” to include most of the Florida coast to prevent anti-Castro protestors from entering Cuban waters.

1998 – Richard Butler, chief of UNSCOM, ordered Scott Ritter in mid-July to place a listening device in UNSCOM headquarters.

1998 – Iraq and Syria sign an agreement to build a second oil pipeline between the two countries. No information is available on the new line’s capacity or the route it will take; however, U.S. State Department spokesman James P. Rubin states that implementation of the agreement would be a violation of United Nations sanctions against Iraq.

1998 – The Pentagon ramped up its efforts to scuttle Lockheed Martin’s slated mega-merger with fellow defense giant Northrop Grumman. In particular, the administration announced plans to bring Lockheed to court on anti-trust charges. The Pentagon’s hardball play came a few months after it had first announced its opposition to the proposed $10.7 billion deal. During the intervening time, the government had attempted to work with both Lockheed and Northrop to make their union more palatable. But, despite Lockheed’s willingness to divest nearly $1 billion in assets, the Pentagon still felt that the merger would staunch competition in the defense industry. The government also feared that a Lockheed/Northrop union would clog up a disproportionate share of the industry’s electronic assets. While Lockheed disputed these charges, they nonetheless wilted at the thought of a court battle with the Pentagon: on July 16, Lockheed officials announced that they were scrapping the multi-billion dollar merger. But, even in the wake of this decision, Lockheed refused to cede the point to the government. Rather, company chief Vance Coffman downplayed the failed merger, stating that “continuing litigation” is not in the best interests of the company and its customers, shareholders, (and) employees.

2000 – Iran test-fired an upgraded version of its 800-mile range, Shabab-3 missile.

2002 – John Walker Lindh agreed to serve 20 years in prison for fighting in Afghanistan in a plea bargain with the government. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Oct 4.

2002 – A federal agency approved Navy plans for a sonar system to search out enemy submarines despite potential injury to whales and dolphins.

2002 – Osama bin Laden is alive and planning another attack on the United States, said an Arab journalist with close ties to the militant’s associates. This ‘new’ attack has not yet materialized.

2002 – A court in Pakistan sentenced British-born Islamic militant Sheikh Ahmed Omar Saeed to death for the kidnap and murder of U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl, drawing a threat of reprisals and calls for Muslims to respond. A Pakistani judge convicted four Islamic militants in the kidnap-slaying of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl.

2003 – Four US crew members were killed in a fiery crash of a Navy helicopter in Italy.

2004 – In Iraq attackers detonated a car bomb near police and government buildings in the western city of Haditha, killing 10 people. PM Alawi announced the formation of a new national security agency to fight the insurgency.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

MORRISON, JOHN G.
Rank and organization: Coxswain, U.S. Navy. Entered service at: Lansingburg, N.Y. Born: 3 November 1842, Ireland G.O. No.: 59, 22 June 1865. Citation: Serving as coxswain on board the U.S.S. Carondelet, Morrison was commended for meritorious conduct in general and especially for his heroic conduct and his inspiring example to the crew in the engagement with the rebel ram Arkansas, Yazoo River, 15 July 1862. When the Carondelet was badly cut up, several of her crew killed, many wounded and others almost suffocated from the effects of escaped steam, Morrison was the leader when boarders were called on deck, and the first to return to the guns and give the ram a broadside as she passed. His presence of mind in time of battle or trial is reported as always conspicuous and encouraging.

ROBINSON, THOMAS
Rank and organizarion: Captain of the Afterguard, U.S. Navy. Born: 17 May 1837, Norway. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 77, 1 August 1866. Citation: For heroic efforts to save from drowning Wellington Brocar, landsman, of the Tallapoosa, off New Orleans, 15 July 1866.

BUCHANAN, DAVID M.
Rank and organization: Apprentice, U.S. Navy. Born: 1862, Philadelphia, Pa. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 246, 22 July 1879. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Saratoga off Battery, New York Harbor, 15 July 1879. On the morning of this date, Robert Lee Robey, apprentice, fell overboard from the after part of the ship into the tide which was running strong ebb at the time and, not being an expert swimmer, was in danger of drowning. Instantly springing over the rail after him, Buchanan never hesitated for an instant to remove even a portion of his clothing. Both men were picked up by the ship’s boat following this act of heroism.

HAYDEN, JOHN
Rank and organization: Apprentice, U.S. Navy. Born: 1863, Washington, D.C. Accredited to: Washington, D.C. G.O. No.: 246, 22 July 1879. Citation: On board the U.S. Training Ship Saratoga. On the morning of 15 July 1879, while the Saratoga was anchored off the Battery, in New York Harbor, R. L. Robey, apprentice, fell overboard. As the tide was running strong ebb, the man, not being an expert swimmer, was in danger of drowning. David M. Buchanan, apprentice, instantly, without removing any of his clothing, jumped after him. Stripping himself, Hayden stood coolly watching the 2 in the water, and when he thought his services were required, made a dive from the rail and came up alongside them and rendered assistance until all 3 were picked up by a boat from the ship.

HAYS, GEORGE PRICE
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army 10th Field Artillery, 3d Division. Place and date: Near Greves Farm, France, 14-15 July 1918. Entered service at: Okarche, Oklahoma. Born: 27 September 1892, China. G.O. No.: 34, W.D., 1919. Citation: At the very outset of the unprecedented artillery bombardment by the enemy, his line of communication was destroyed beyond repair. Despite the hazard attached to the mission of runner, he immediately set out to establish contact with the neighboring post of command and further establish liaison with 2 French batteries, visiting their position so frequently that he was mainly responsible for the accurate fire therefrom. While thus engaged, 7 horses were shot under him and he was severely wounded. His activity under most severe fire was an important factor in checking the advance of the enemy.

*OTANI, KAZUO
Staff Sergeant Kazuo Otani distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 15 July 1944, near Pieve Di S. Luce, Italy. Advancing to attack a hill objective, Staff Sergeant Otani’s platoon became pinned down in a wheat field by concentrated fire from enemy machine gun and sniper positions. Realizing the danger confronting his platoon, Staff Sergeant Otani left his cover and shot and killed a sniper who was firing with deadly effect upon the platoon. Followed by a steady stream of machine gun bullets, Staff Sergeant Otani then dashed across the open wheat field toward the foot of a cliff, and directed his men to crawl to the cover of the cliff. When the movement of the platoon drew heavy enemy fire, he dashed along the cliff toward the left flank, exposing himself to enemy fire. By attracting the attention of the enemy, he enabled the men closest to the cliff to reach cover. Organizing these men to guard against possible enemy counterattack, Staff Sergeant Otani again made his way across the open field, shouting instructions to the stranded men while continuing to draw enemy fire. Reaching the rear of the platoon position, he took partial cover in a shallow ditch and directed covering fire for the men who had begun to move forward. At this point, one of his men became seriously wounded. Ordering his men to remain under cover, Staff Sergeant Otani crawled to the wounded soldier who was lying on open ground in full view of the enemy. Dragging the wounded soldier to a shallow ditch, Staff Sergeant Otani proceeded to render first aid treatment, but was mortally wounded by machine gun fire. Staff Sergeant Otani’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.

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16 July

1769 – Father Juñpero Serra, a Spanish Franciscan missionary, founds the first Catholic mission in California on the site of present-day San Diego. After Serra blessed his new outpost of Christianity in a high mass, the royal standard of Spain was unfurled over the mission, which he named San Diego de Alcala. Serra came to Spanish America in 1750 and served in the Sierra Gorda missions and then in south-central Mexico. A successful missionary, he was appointed a member of the second Spanish land expedition to Alta California in 1769. When the party reached San Diego, Serra remained with a few followers to found California’s first mission. The rest of the expedition continued on in search of Monterrey harbor, which had been previously used by Spanish sailors. Although the explorers failed in their aim, Serra succeeded in finding Monterrey in 1770, and there he founded his second mission–San Carlos Barromeo. Appointed president of the Alta California presidios, Serra eventually founded a total of nine missions, stretching from San Diego to present-day San Francisco. The Franciscan fathers built large communities around their missions, teaching Christianized Native Americans to farm and tend cattle, and directing their work. These agricultural communities enjoyed a considerable autonomy from first the Spanish colonial authorities and then the Mexican government, but with the coming of the Americans in the mid-19th century most were abandoned.

1779 – American troops under General Anthony Wayne captured Stony Point, N.Y., with a loss to the British of more than 600 killed or captured.

1790 – The District of Columbia was established as the seat of the United States government.

1798 – US Public Health Service formed and a US Marine Hospital was authorized.

1808 – Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, two of the few white men who had actually seen the mysterious territory of the Far West, help form a new company to exploit the region’s abundant fur-bearing animals. In September 1806, William Clark and Meriwether Lewis completed their epic journey to the Pacific Ocean, arriving back in St. Louis after more than two years in the western wilderness. Except for the difficult crossing of the Rocky Mountains, the expedition team had traveled by river. On the journey, they were overwhelmed by the abundance for beaver, otter, and other fur-bearing creatures they saw. The territory was ripe for fur trapping, they reported to President Thomas Jefferson. Both Lewis and Clark recognized that sizeable fortunes could be made in fur trapping, and they were not averse to using their exclusive knowledge to gain a share of the profits. Two years after their return, Lewis and Clark helped organize the St. Louis Missouri River Fur Company. Among their partners were the experienced fur traders and businessmen Manuel Lisa, Pierre Choteau, and Auguste Choteau. Lewis, whom Jefferson had already appointed to the governorship of Louisiana Territory, was presumably a silent partner, and for good reason. The new company planned to mix public and private interests in potentially unethical ways.

During their earlier voyage west, Lewis and Clark had convinced an Upper-Missouri River Mandan Indian named Big White to go east and meet President Jefferson. Lewis had promised Big White that the American government would later return him to his people. Now the St. Louis Missouri River Fur Company proposed to use public money to mount a private expedition to take Big White home in the spring of 1809. Once Big White was home safely, however, the expedition would continue on to begin fur trading on the Yellowstone River, where it would enjoy a monopoly guaranteed by Governor Lewis. In May 1809, the hybrid public-private expedition headed up the Missouri River. The men safely returned Big White to his home and inaugurated a fairly successful fur trading operation. Whatever questions there might have been about Governor Lewis’ conflicting interests in the company soon became moot: He either killed himself or was murdered on October 11, 1809, while traveling on the Natchez Trace in Tennessee. Clark continued to be involved with the company for several years, and no one ever raised questions about the ethics of his participation. Standards of behavior were often lax on the frontier, and it was not unusual for private and governmental interests to become confused. For all but the most critical observer, Clark’s actions would have been acceptable. The St. Louis Missouri River Fur Company the two men helped create endured until 1825 and was instrumental in furthering the exploration and settlement of the Far West.

1862 – David Glasgow Farragut, in recognition of his victory at New Orleans, promoted to Rear Admiral, the first officer to hold that rank in the history of the U.S. Navy. The measure passed by Congress which created the rank of Rear Admiral also revamped the existing rank structure to include Commodore and Lieutenant Commander and established the number of Rear Admirals at 9; Commodores, 18; Captains, 36; Commanders, 72; and the remainder through Ensign at 144 each. The act provided that ”The three senior rear admirals [Farragut, L. M. Goldsborough, and Du Pont] shall wear a square blue flag at the mainmast head; the next three at the foremast head, and all others at the mizzen.” Rear Admirals were to rank with Major Generals in the Army.

1863 – The draft riot enters its fourth day in New York City in response to the Enrollment Act, which was enacted on March 3, 1863. Although avoiding military service became much more difficult, wealthier citizens could still pay a commutation fee of $300 to stay at home. Irritation with the draft dovetailed with opposition to the Emancipation Proclamation of September 1862, which made abolition of slavery the central goal of the war for the Union. Particularly vocal in their opposition were the Democratic Irish, who felt the war was being forced upon them by Protestant Republicans and feared that emancipation of slaves would jeopardize their jobs. Their fears were confirmed when black laborers replaced striking Irish dock workers the month before the riots. Discontent simmered until the draft began among the Irish New Yorkers on July 11. Two days later, a mob burned the draft office, triggering nearly five days of violence. At first, the targets included local newspapers, wealthy homes, well-dressed men, and police officers, but the crowd’s attention soon turned to African Americans. Several blacks were lynched, and businesses employing blacks were burned. A black orphanage was also burned, but the children escaped. Not until July 17 was the violence contained by the arrival of Union troops, some fresh from the battlefield at Gettysburg. More than 1,000 died and property damage topped $2 million. The draft was temporarily suspended, and a revised conscription began in August. As a result of the riots and the delicate political balance in the city, relatively few New Yorkers were forced to serve in the Union army.

1912 – A Naval torpedo, launched from an airplane, was patented by Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske.

1915 – First Navy ships, battleships Ohio, Missouri, and Wisconsin transit Panama Canal.

1916 – Captain Raynal Bolling commanded the 1st Aero Squadron, New York National Guard, when it was mobilized during the Mexican Border Crisis. Using a variety of privately owned aircraft the 1st was the first flying unit organized in the Guard. Though the unit was not deployed to the border before being released from active duty in November 1916, a large number of its members, including Bolling, joined the Signal Corps Reserve (then controlling all Army aviation) prior to the U.S. entry into World War I. During the war Bolling, now a colonel, was a leading planner of American air strategy. For instance, he determined and got approved the use of British DeHaviland’s for observation and daylight bombing missions and British Bristol’s and French Spads as America’s lead fighters.

While riding in a staff car near the front at Amiens, France on March 26, 1918, he was surprised by advancing German troops. Bolling and his driver, coming under enemy fire, jumped into a ditch, where Bolling returned fire with his pistol (the only weapon either man had). He killed a German officer and almost immediately was killed himself by another officer. His had to be one of the few pistol fights to have occurred in World War I! Bolling was posthumously awarded the French Legion of Honor and the American Distinguished Service Medal for his bold leadership and far-reaching vision of the role air power would come to play on the battlefield.

1920 – Gen. Amos Fries was appointed 1st US army chemical warfare chief.

1927 – Augusto Sandino began a 5-year war against the US occupation of Nicaragua.

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1940 – Hitler issues his Directive 16. It begins, “I have decided to begin to prepare for, and if necessary to carry out, an invasion of England.” It goes on to explain the importance of the air battles for the achievement of this aim. At this stage in the planning the German army’s views are dominant. They wish the Channel crossing to take place on a wide front with landings all along the south coast of Britain. They envisage that the force to be employed will be at least 25 and perhaps 40 divisions. They hope that the crossing can be protected by the Luftwaffe and mines on its flanks.

1943 – The US 3rd Division attacks Agrigento and Porto Empedocle.

1943 – Roosevelt and Churchill issue a joint statement calling for an Italian surrender and the overthrow of Mussolini.

1944 – Forces of US 1st Army continue attacking near St. Lo, France

1945 – The United States conducts the first test of the atomic bomb at its research facility in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The terrifying new weapon would quickly become a focal point in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The official U.S. development of the atomic bomb began with the establishment of the Manhattan Project in August 1942. The project brought together scientists from the United States, Great Britain, and Canada to study the feasibility of building an atomic bomb capable of unimaginable destructive power. The project proceeded with no small degree of urgency, since the American government had been warned that Nazi Germany had also embarked on a program to develop an atomic weapon. By July 1945, a prototype weapon was ready for testing. Although Germany had surrendered months earlier, the war against Japan was still raging.

On July 16, the first atomic bomb was detonated in the desert near the Los Alamos research facility. Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, director of the project, watched the mushroom cloud rise into the Nevada sky. “Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds,” he uttered, reciting a passage from an ancient Hindu text. News of the successful test was relayed to President Harry S. Truman, who was meeting with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in Potsdam to discuss the postwar world. Observers at the meeting noted that the news “tremendously pepped up” the president, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill believed that Truman almost immediately adopted a more aggressive tone in dealing with Stalin. Truman and many other U.S. officials hoped that possession of the atomic bomb would be America’s trump card in dealing with the Soviets after the war. Use of the weapon against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 demonstrated the destructive force of the atomic bomb. The American atomic monopoly did not last long, though. By 1949, the Soviets had developed their own atomic bomb, marking the beginning of the nuclear arms race.

1945 – Cruiser Indianapolis left San Francisco with an atom bomb.

1945 – The American and British delegations to the Potsdam Conference arrive in Berlin, led by President Truman and Prime Minister Churchill, respectively.

1945 – A force of 500 B-29 Superfortress bombers strike targets on Honshu and Kyushu. In total, over 1500 American planes attack raid various objectives on the Japanese home islands during the day.

1946 – US court martial in Dachau condemned 46 SS to hang for the Malmedy, France massacre of disarmed GIs.

1946 – Pursuant to Executive Order 9083 and Reorganization Plan No. 3 the Bureau of Marine Inspection was abolished and became a permanent part of the Coast Guard.

1950 – U.S. Army Chaplain Herman G. Felhoelter became the first chaplain to earn an award for heroism and the first to lose his life in the Korean War. Voluntarily remaining behind with several critically wounded soldiers, he and his group was overwhelmed and killed by the communists. Chaplain Felhoelter was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

1953 – The last U.N. counteroffensive of the Korean War began.

1957 – Marine Maj. John Glenn set a transcontinental speed record when he flew a jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8 seconds.

1965 – Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara conducts a fact-finding mission in South Vietnam, and Henry Cabot Lodge arrives in Saigon to resume his post as ambassador. Lodge had previously held the ambassadorship, but resigned in 1964 to seek the Republican presidential nomination, which was eventually won by Barry Goldwater of Arizona. Lodge returned to Saigon again as ambassador from 1965 to 1967. While visiting Saigon, McNamara was informed by secret cable that President Lyndon B. Johnson had decided to give Gen. William Westmoreland the troops he had requested. The American commander had been asking for additional U.S. troops so that he could stabilize the military situation and “carry the war to the communists.” McNamara, believing that the United States should commit itself to preventing the fall of South Vietnam to communism, supported Westmoreland’s request. McNamara said at a press conference upon leaving Saigon: “There has been deterioration since I was last here, 15 months ago.”

1969 – At 9:32 a.m. EDT, Apollo 11, the first U.S. lunar landing mission, is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a historic journey to the surface of the moon. After traveling 240,000 miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19. The next day, at 1:46 p.m., the lunar module Eagle, manned by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, separated from the command module, where a third astronaut, Michael Collins, remained. Two hours later, the Eagle began its descent to the lunar surface, and at 4:18 p.m. the craft touched down on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong immediately radioed to Mission Control in Houston a famous message, “The Eagle has landed.” At 10:39 p.m., five hours ahead of the original schedule, Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar module.

Seventeen minutes later, at 10:56 p.m., Armstrong spoke the following words to millions listening at home: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” A moment later, he stepped off the lunar module’s ladder, becoming the first human to walk on the surface of the moon. Aldrin joined him on the moon’s surface at 11:11 p.m., and together they took photographs of the terrain, planted a U.S. flag, ran a few simple scientific tests, and spoke with President Richard M. Nixon via Houston. By 1:11 a.m. on July 21, both astronauts were back in the lunar module, and the hatch was closed. The two men slept that night on the surface of the moon, and at 1:54 p.m. the Eagle began its ascent back to the command module. Among the items left on the surface of the moon was a plaque that read: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon–July 1969 A.D.–We came in peace for all mankind.” At 5:35 p.m., Armstrong and Aldrin successfully docked and rejoined Collins, and at 12:56 a.m. on July 22 Apollo 11 began its journey home, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:51 p.m. on July 24.

There would be five more successful lunar landing missions, and one unplanned lunar swing-by, Apollo 13. The last men to walk on the moon, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission, left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972. The Apollo program was a costly and labor intensive endeavor, involving an estimated 400,000 engineers, technicians, and scientists, and costing $24 billion (close to $100 billion in today’s dollars). The expense was justified by President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 mandate to beat the Soviets to the moon, and after the feat was accomplished, ongoing missions lost their viability.

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1973 – The Senate Armed Services Committee begins a probe into allegations that the U.S. Air Force made thousands of secret B-52 raids into Cambodia in 1969 and 1970 at a time when the United States recognized the neutrality of the Prince Norodom Sihanouk regime in Cambodia. The Pentagon acknowledged that President Richard Nixon and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird had authorized the raids against Cambodia, but Sihanouk denied the State Department claim that he had requested or authorized the bombing. Though it was established that the bombing records had been falsified, Laird and Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s National Security Advisor, denied any knowledge of the falsification. The Senate hearings eventually exposed the extent of the secrecy involved in the bombing campaign and seriously damaged the credibility of the Nixon administration.

1979 – Saddam Hussein succeeded Premier al-Bakr and became president of Iraq and chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC). He established a multilayered security system with 3-5 secret police units. He later put his son Qusai in charge of his 10,000 member Special Guards.

1979 – Jeffrey MacDonald stands trial in North Carolina for the murder of his wife and children nearly 10 years before. Captain MacDonald, an army doctor stationed at Fort Bragg, made an emergency call to military police in the early morning hours of February 17, 1970. Responding officers found Colette MacDonald and her two children, five-year-old Kimberly and two-year-old Kristen, dead from multiple stab wounds. The word “pig” had been written in blood on the wall. Jeffrey, who had a few stab wounds himself, told the officers that four hippies had attacked the family. With little evidence of disruption to the home, investigators doubted MacDonald’s story of struggling with the killers.

An Esquire magazine containing an article about the notorious Manson murders was on the floor in the living room where MacDonald claimed to have been attacked. Investigators theorized that the hippie story and writing on the wall were attempts to mimic that crime and diffuse suspicion. More important, the blood and fiber evidence did not seem to support MacDonald’s account of events. In a stroke of luck for detectives, each member of the MacDonald family had different and distinguishable blood types. Little of Jeffrey’s blood was found anywhere in the home except in the bathroom. In addition, his wounds were much less severe than those of his family; his wife and children had been stabbed at least 20 times each. Still, the initial forensic investigation was so bungled that the charges were eventually dropped later in 1970. Although MacDonald appeared on television complaining about his treatment, investigators stayed on the case. In 1974, a grand jury indicted him for murder, but due to various delays, the trial did not begin for another five years.

In 1979, MacDonald was convicted and given three life sentences. MacDonald, still vigorously insisting on his innocence, enlisted author Joe McGinnis to help exonerate him. McGinnis interviewed MacDonald and investigated the case on his own, but decided early on in the project that MacDonald was indeed guilty. The subsequent book, Fatal Vision, was a bestseller and it enraged MacDonald, who sued McGinnis for fraud. Refusing to give up, MacDonald got famed attorney Alan Dershowitz to seek a new trial based on claims that the prosecution had hidden exculpatory evidence. At the close of the 20th century, MacDonald was still in prison for the crimes.

1990 – Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl announced that Moscow had agreed to drop its objection to a united Germany’s membership in NATO.

1995 – William Barloon and David Daliberti, the two Americans who were imprisoned in Iraq for crossing the border from Kuwait four months earlier, were released.

1998 – The U.S. blocks the proposed August price formula for Iraqi crude oil over concerns that the Kirkuk grade is priced too low for the European market. It is the first time Iraq’s crude oil price formula has been questioned since the United Nations’ oil-for-food program began in 1996.

2002 – Greek police reported the capture of Alexandros Giotopoulos (58), the alleged head of the November 17 terror group. Police also reported confessions from other members to bombings and assassinations.

2003 – A 32-year-old Army sergeant accused of killing two officers in a grenade attack on fellow American troops in Kuwait in March will face a court-martial trial on murder charges that could bring the death penalty. Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, accepted a recommendation made by the investigating officer that Sgt. Hasan Akbar face a court-martial. Akbar was charged with two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of attempted murder stemming from the March 22 incident at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait in which he allegedly attacked fellow troops stationed there in the early days of the Iraq war.

2003 – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appointed a seven-member, independent panel of civilians to review allegations of sexual assault at the Air Force Academy. Tillie Fowler, a partner of the law firm Holland and Knight and a former Florida congresswoman, will chair the panel. Allegations of sexual assault at the Air Force Academy began to emerge publicly in March.

2003 – House passage of Project Bioshield to help prevent and inoculate for bio-terror attack.

2004 – Taliban attacked a convoy of U.S. and Afghan soldiers on patrol along a highway in southern Afghanistan on Friday, triggering a shootout that killed an Afghan and an insurgent, police said. No U.S. soldiers were hurt, said Ghulam Jilani, a deputy police chief. The Taliban fled the scene. The attack occurred on the Kandahar-Kabul highway near the Spin Aghbarqa area in Zabul province, 70 miles northeast of Kandahar.

2004 – About 2,100 Fort Campbell soldiers received orders to return to Iraq for another year of duty. Deployments to begin in the fall and continue through early spring. All the units involved — which include aviation and support elements of the 101st, along with a military police unit — spent time in Iraq during the division’s deployment as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

COSTELLO, JOHN
Rank and organization: Ordinary Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1850, Rouses Point, N.Y. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 214, 27 July 1876. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Hartford, Philadelphia, Pa., 16 July 1876. Showing gallantry, Costello rescued from drowning a landsman of that vessel.

FORBECK, ANDREW P.
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 29 August 18,9, New York. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 55, 19 July 1901. Citation: For distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy during the battle of Katbalogan, Samar, Philippine Islands, 16 July 1900.

STOLTENBERG, ANDREW V.
Rank and organization: Gunner’s Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy. Born: Boto, Norway. Accredited to: California. G.O. No.: 55, 29 July 1899. Citation: For distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy in battle at Katbalogan, Samar, Philippine Islands, 16 July 1900.

DAHLGREN, JOHN OLOF
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 14 September 1872, Kahliwar, Sweden. Accredited to: California. G.O. No.: 55, 19 July 1901. Citation: In the presence of the enemy during the battle of Peking, China, 20 June to 16 July 1900, Dahlgren distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.

*FISHER, HARRY
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 20 October 1874, McKeesport, Pa. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 55, 19 July 1901. Citation: Served in the presence of the enemy at the battle of Peking, China, 20 June to 16 July 1900. Assisting in the erection of barricades during the action, Fisher was killed by the heavy fire of the enemy.

HUNT, MARTIN
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 9 July 1873, County of Mayo, Ireland. Accredited to: Massachusetts. G.O. No.: 55, 19 July 1901. Citation: In the presence of the enemy during the battle of Peking, China, 20 June to 16 July 1900, Hunt distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.

WALKER, EDWARD ALEXANDER
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 2 October 1864, Huntley, Scotland. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 55, 19 July 1901. Citation: In the presence of the enemy during the battle of Peking, China, 20 June to 16 July 1900. Throughout this period, Walker distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.

YOUNG, FRANK ALBERT
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 22 June 1876, Milwaukee, Wis. Accredited to: Wisconsin. G.O. No.: 55, 19 July 1901. Citation: In the presence of the enemy during the battle of Pehng, China, 20 June to 16 July 1900. Throughout this period, Young distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.

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17 July

1801 – The U.S. fleet arrived in Tripoli after Pasha Yusuf Karamanli declared war for being refused tribute.

1821 – Spain ceded Florida to the United States.

1821 – Andrew Jackson became the governor of Florida.

1858 – U.S. sloop Niagara departs Queenstown, Ireland, to assist in laying first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable.

1861 – At Manassas, VA, Gen Beauregard requested reinforcements for his 22,000 men and Gen Johnston was ordered to Manassas.

1862 – In a big step toward emancipation, President Lincoln approves the Confiscation Act, which declares that any slaves whose owners were in rebellion against the government, would be freed when they came into contact with the Union army.

1862 – Congress passed an act which established that “every officer, seaman, or marine, disabled in the line of duty, shall be intitled to receive for life, or during his disability, a pension from the United States.” Gradations were set according to the nature and degree of disability, and monthly pay.
1862 – Twenty Marines from U.S.S. Potomac participated in an expedition up Pascagoula Rivet, Mississippi. Under First Lieutenant George W. Collier, the Marines, whose force was augmented by an equal number of sailors, acted with U.S.S. New London and Grey Cloud to capture or destroy a steamer and two schooners rumored to be loading with cotton, and to destroy telegraphic communications between Pascagoula and Mobile. The expedition succeeded in disrupting communications, but, pursuing the Confederate vessels upstream, it was engaged by cavalry and infantry troops and forced to turn back to care for the wounded.

1863 – U.S. ram Monarch, with troops embarked, participated in the reoccupation of Hickman, Kentucky, which had been taken by Confederate cavalry 2 days earlier. Brigadier General Alexander Asboth had high praise for the ram and her mobility: ”It would be in the best interests of the service to place the ram Monarch on the Mississippi between Island No. 10 and Columbus, where she could operate with my land forces appearing at any point threatened or attacked on this part of the river, so much exposed to rebel raids. Without the cooperation of a ram or gunboat it will be difficult for my very limited force to act with efficiency and the desired degree of success. . . .”

1863 – The combined attack on Fort Wagner, Charleston harbor, was renewed. Rear Admiral Dahlgren’s force consisted of U.S.S. Montauk, New Ironsides, Catskill, Nantucket, Weehauken, and Patapsco. The gunboats U.S.S. Paul Jones, Ottawa, Seneca, Chipewa, and Wissahickon provided long-range support with effect. The heavy fire from the ironclads commenced shortly after noon, the range closing as the tide permitted to 300 yards. The naval bombardment at this distance silenced the fort “so that for this day not a shot was fired afterwards at the vessels. . . .” At sunset Gillmore ordered his troops to attack the fort. “To this moment,” Dahlgren reported, an incessant and accurate fire had been maintained by the vessels, but now it was impossible [in the dim light to distinguish whether it took effect on friend or foe, and of necessity was suspended.” Deprived of naval gunfire support, the Union assault ashore was repulsed with heavy losses.

1864 – Confederate President Jefferson Davis replaces General Joseph Johnston with John Bell Hood as commander of the Army of Tennessee. Davis, impatient with Johnston’s defensive strategy in the Atlanta campaign, felt that Hood stood a better chance of saving Atlanta from the forces of Union General William T. Sherman. For nearly three months, Johnston and Sherman had maneuvered around the rugged corridor from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Although there was constant skirmishing, there were few major battles; Sherman kept trying to outflank Johnston, but his advances were blocked. Though this kept losses to a minimum, there was also a limit to how long Johnston could maintain this strategy as each move brought the armies closer to Atlanta. By July 17, 1864, Johnston was backed into the outskirts of Atlanta. Johnston felt his strategy was the only way to preserve the Army of Tennessee, but Davis felt that he had given up too much territory. In a telegram informing Johnston of his decision, Davis wrote, “”you failed to arrest the advance of the enemy to the vicinity of Atlanta, far in the interior of Georgia, and express no confidence that you can defeat or repel him, you are hereby relieved from command of the Army and Department of Tennessee, which you will immediately turn over to General Hood.” Davis selected Hood for his reputation as a fighting general, in contrast to Johnston’s cautious nature. Hood did what Davis wanted and quickly attacked Sherman at Peachtree Creek on July 20 but with disastrous results. Hood attacked two more times, losing both and destroying his army’s offensive capabilities.

1870 – A drunken brawl turns deadly when “Wild Bill” Hickok shoots two soldiers in self-defense, mortally wounding one of them. William Hickok had earned his reputation as a gunslinger a decade earlier after shooting three men in a gunfight in Nebraska. He parlayed his standing as a sure-shooting gunman into a haphazard career in law enforcement. In 1869, he was elected interim sheriff of Ellis County, Kansas. Hays City, the county seat, was a rough-and-tumble frontier town, and the citizens hoped Hickok could bring order to the chaos. Unfortunately, after Hickok had killed two men in the line of duty after just five weeks, they concluded that he was too wild for their tastes and they elected his deputy to replace him in November. Unemployed, Hickok passed his time gambling, drinking, and occasionally working as a hunting guide. He quickly became bored and was considering taking work at the nearby Fort Hays as an army scout. On this day in 1870, Hickok had been drinking hard at Drum’s Saloon in Hays City. Five soldiers from the 7th Cavalry stationed at Fort Hays were also at the bar. They were drunk and began to exchange words with the notoriously prickly “Wild Bill.” A brawl broke out, and the soldiers threw Hickok to the floor. One trooper tried to shoot Hickok, but the gun misfired. Hickok quickly pulled his own pistols and opened fire. He wounded one private in the knee and wrist, and another in the torso. The three remaining soldiers backed off, and Hickok exited the saloon and immediately left town. A clear case of self-defense, Hickok was cleared of any wrongdoing. Yet, one of the soldiers, Private John Kile, later died of his wound and Hickok’s chances of becoming an army scout evaporated. He spent the next six years working in law enforcement, gambling, and appearing in Wild West shows. He was murdered in a Deadwood, South Dakota, saloon in 1876.

1877 – Riots and violence erupted in several major American cities stemming from strikes against railroads in protest of wage cuts. Strikes started against the Baltimore & Ohio, and quickly spread west, with riots erupting in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago and St. Louis. Nine were killed when Federal troops were sent into Martinsburg, West Virginia. On July 21, 26 were killed and the Union Depot and machine shops were burned down.

1897 – The Steamer Portland arrived into Seattle from Alaska with 68 prospectors carrying more than a ton of gold. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer announced that men with gold from Alaska were landing. This unleashed the Klondike gold rush and tens of thousands headed for the Yukon. The Klondike gold rush gave America and Canada a psychological boost in getting the economy moving again after the terrible depression that followed the 1893 crash.

1898 – U.S. troops under General William R. Shafter took Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War.

1927 – First organized dive bombing attack in combat by Marine Corps pilots against Nicaraguan bandits who were surrounding U.S. Marine garrison at Ocotal, Nicaragua.

1936 – General Francisco Franco was flown from the Canary Island, where he served as military governor, to Spanish Morocco where he led a rebellion against the elected Popular Front. This began the Spanish civil war.

1940 – A new Cabinet headed by Prince Konoye is appointed. Matsuoka is the new Foreign Minister and will be very influential. The Cabinet also includes a number of supporters of a more aggressive policy. The most important is General Tojo who becomes Minister of War.

1940 – A new Cabinet headed by Prince Konoye is appointed. Matsuoka is the new Foreign Minister and will be very influential. The Cabinet also includes a number of supporters of a more aggressive policy. The most important is General Tojo who becomes Minister of War.

1943 – Americans conduct a large air raid on Bougainville. Shipping offshore and airfields between Buin and Faisi are targeted. One Japanese destroyer is sunk.

1943– Elements of the Australian 3rd and American 41st Divisions move toward Salamaua in a holding action against the Japanese.

1943 – US forces capture Agrigento and Porto Empedocle

1944 – Forces of US 1st Army penetrate into the town of St. Lo, France.

1944 – An explosion at Port Chicago, now the Concord Naval Weapons Station in Ca., killed 320 seamen when a pair of ammunition ships exploded. 10,000 tons of ammunition exploded. 202 of the victims were black enlisted men. The Navy court-martialed 50 black sailors for refusing to go back to work after the catastrophe. They were released from prison in 1946 with dishonorable discharges and reductions in rank. In 1999 President Bill Clinton issued a pardon to Freddie Meeks, one of the last living convicted African American sailors.

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1944 – The 31st Infantry Division, nicknamed “Dixie” because its Guard units came from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, lands here relieving the Regular Army’s 6th Infantry Division. The 31st engages in limited combat with the few remaining Japanese defenders. Mostly the division provided security for engineers, including their own 106th Engineer Battalion (MS), to build roads, bridges and dock facilities so the island can be used as a staging base for the attack on Morotai Island in September.

1945 – The final “Big Three” meeting between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain takes place towards the end of World War II. The decisions reached at the conference ostensibly settled many of the pressing issues between the three wartime allies, but the meeting was also marked by growing suspicion and tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. U.S. President Harry S. Truman, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met in the Berlin suburb of Potsdam to discuss issues relating to postwar Europe and plans to deal with the ongoing conflict with Japan. By the time the meeting began, U.S. and British suspicions concerning Soviet intentions in Europe were intensifying. Russian armies occupied most of Eastern Europe, including nearly half of Germany, and Stalin showed no inclination to remove his control of the region. Truman, who had only been president since Franklin D. Roosevelt died three months earlier, arrived at the meeting determined to be “tough” with Stalin. He was encouraged in this course of action by news that American scientists had just successfully tested the atomic bomb.

The conference soon bogged down on the issue of postwar Germany. The Soviets wanted a united but disarmed Germany, with each of the Allied powers determining the destiny of the defeated power. Truman and his advisors, fearing the spread of Soviet influence over all Germany–and, by extension, all of western Europe–fought for and achieved an agreement whereby each Allied power (including France) would administer a zone of occupation in Germany. Russian influence, therefore, would be limited to its own eastern zone. The United States also limited the amount of reparations Russia could take from Germany. Discussion of the continuing Soviet occupation of Poland floundered. When the conference ended on August 2, 1945, matters stood much where they had before the meeting. There would be no further wartime conferences. Four days after the conference concluded, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan; on August 9, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. World War II officially came to an end on August 14, 1945.

1945 – The first Anglo-American carrier air strike on the Tokyo area is conducted by the forces of the British Pacific Fleet (Admiral Sir Bernard Rawlings), designated Task Force 37, and the US 3rd Fleet (Admiral Halsey). During the night (July 17-18), the HMS King George V and 5 US battleships bombard Hitachi on Honshu. The Allied battleships fire some 2000 tons of shells on Hitachi in fifty minutes.

1952 – The U.S. 2nd Infantry Division’s 23rd Infantry Regiment sustained heavy casualties, including 39 killed and 84 missing in action, during the Battle for Old Baldy.

1953 – Lieutenant Guy P. “Lucky Pierre” Bordelon scored his fifth aerial victory and qualified as the only U.S. Navy ace of the Korean War and the only Korean War ace who did not fly an F-86 Sabre jet. Bordelon, detached to K-6 airfield from the carrier USS Princeton, flew an F4U-5N Corsair named “Annie Mo.” All his victories were the so-called “Bedcheck Charlies” engaged on nighttime harassment bombing missions.

1960 – Francis Gary Powers pleaded guilty to spying charges in a Moscow court after his U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union.

1966 – Ho Chi Minh ordered a partial mobilization of North Vietnam to defend against American airstrikes.

1967 – Race riots took place in Cairo, Illinois.

1968 – The Arab Socialist Baath Party staged a bloodless coup in Iraq and gained control as the Revolution Command Council. Abdul Rahman Arif, brother of Abdul Salam Arif (d.1966), was ousted in the Baathist coup and exiled to Istanbul. Ahmed Hasan-al-Bakr became president of Iraq after the July 17 coup. Saddam Hussein gained control over the military wing and internal security services and became recognized as the strongman of the regime. This became a national holiday until it was abolished in 2003.

1972 – South Vietnamese paratroopers fight their way to within 200 yards of the Citadel in Quang Tri City, which was described by reporters who accompanied the troops as a city of rubble and ash. Citizens emerging from neighborhoods retaken by the paratroopers joined the refugees, who had been streaming south toward Hue on Route 1 to get out of the way of continued fighting in Quang Tri. North Vietnamese troops had captured Quang Tri City on May 1 as part of their Nguyen Hue Offensive (later called the “Easter Offensive”), a massive invasion by North Vietnamese forces that had been launched on March 31. The attacking force included 14 infantry divisions and 26 separate regiments, with more than 120,000 troops and approximately 1,200 tanks and other armored vehicles. The main North Vietnamese objectives, in addition to Quang Tri in the north, were Kontum in the Central Highlands, and An Loc farther to the south.

Initially, the South Vietnamese defenders were almost overwhelmed, particularly in the northernmost provinces, where they abandoned their positions in Quang Tri. At Kontum and An Loc, the South Vietnamese were more successful in defending against the attacks, but only after weeks of bitter fighting. Although the defenders suffered heavy casualties, they managed to hold their own with the aid of American advisors and airpower. Fighting continued all over South Vietnam into the summer months. After months of heavy fighting, the South Vietnamese forces finally retook Quang Tri province entirely in September. With the communist invasion blunted, President Nixon declared that the South Vietnamese victory proved the viability of “Vietnamization,” a program that he had instituted in 1969 to increase the combat capability of the South Vietnamese armed forces so U.S. troops could be withdrawn.

1975 – As part of a mission aimed at developing space rescue capability, the U.S. spacecraft Apollo 18 and the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 19 rendezvous and dock in space. As the hatch was opened between the two vessels, commanders Thomas P. Safford and Aleksei Leonov shook hands and exchanged gifts in celebration of the first such meeting between the two Cold War adversaries in space. Back on Earth, United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim congratulated the two superpowers for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and praised their unprecedented spirit of cooperation and peace in planning and executing the mission. During the 44-hour Apollo-Soyuz embrace, the astronauts and cosmonauts conducted experiments, shared meals, and held a joint news conference. Apollo-Soyuz, which came almost three years after the sixth and last U.S. lunar landing, was the final Apollo program mission conducted by NASA. It was fitting that the Apollo program, which first visited the moon under the banner of “We came in peace for all mankind,” should end on a note of peace and international cooperation.

1987 – Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and rear Admiral John Poindexter began testifying to Congress at the “Iran-Contra” hearings.

1989 – The controversial B-2 Stealth bomber underwent its first test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California, two days after a technical problem forced a postponement.

1990 – In a speech, Saddam Hussein accuses certain Gulf States of harming Iraq by pushing down oil prices. He also accuses the United States of conspiring to lower oil prices, and threatens that “action will have to be taken to restore matters to their normal course.”

1992 – A historic accord for deep cuts in tanks and other non-nuclear arms in Europe went into effect, nearly two years after it was signed by NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

1994 – CGC Polar Sea departed from Victoria, British Columbia on operation Arctic Ocean Section 1994 and became the first U.S. surface vessel to reach the North Pole. She then transited the Arctic Ocean back to her homeport in Seattle, Washington.

1997 – The Columbia space shuttle and it crew of 7 returned after a 16-day mission. On the Mir space station, the 3-man crew struggled to stabilize a free-spin after a cable to a key computer system was mistakenly pulled.

2003 – President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair forcefully defended their decision to topple Saddam Hussein during a joint White House news conference. In a speech to the U.S. Congress, Blair said even if they were proven wrong about Iraq’s weapons capabilities, “We will have destroyed a threat that at its least is responsible for inhuman carnage and suffering.”

2003 – The US combat death toll in Iraq hit a milestone as the Pentagon acknowledged its casualties from hostile fire reached 147, the same number of troops who died at enemy hands in the first Gulf War. Gen. John Abizaid, head of central command, said loyalists are fighting an increasingly organized “guerrilla-type campaign.”

2014 – Syria’s Shaer gas field in the Homs Governorate was seized by the Islamic State. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 90 National Defence Force guards defending the field were killed, as were 21 ISIS fighters. The SOHR later put the death toll from the fighting and executions at 270 soldiers, militiamen and staff, and at least 40 ISIS fighters.

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[SHOOTER13]

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

CRUSE, THOMAS
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Big Dry Fork, Ariz., 17 July 1882. Entered service at: Owensboro, Ky. Birth: Owensboro, Ky. Date of issue: 12 July 1892. Citation: Gallantly charged hostile Indians, and with his carbine compelled a party of them to keep under cover of their breastworks, thus being enabled to recover a severely wounded soldier.

MORGAN, GEORGE H.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Big Dry Fork, Ariz., 17 July 1882. Entered service at: Minneapolis, Minn. Birth: Canada. Date of issue: 15 July 1892. Citation: Gallantly held his ground at a critical moment and fired upon the advancing enemy (hostile Indians) until he was disabled by a shot.

TAYLOR, CHARLES
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company D, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Big Dry Wash, Ariz., 17 July 1862. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Baltimore, Md. Date of issue: 16 December 1882. Citation: Gallantry in action.

WEST, FRANK
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Big Dry Wash, Ariz., 17 July 1882. Entered service at: Mohawk, N.Y. Birth: Mohawk, N.Y. Date of issue: 12 July 1892. Citation: Rallied his command and led it in the advance against the enemy’s fortifled position.

WAYBUR, DAVID C.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 3d Reconnaissance Troop, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Agrigento, Sicily, 17 July 1943. Entered service at: Piedmont, Calif. Birth: Oakland, Calif. G.O. No.: 69, 21 October 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action involving actual conflict with the enemy. Commander of a reconnaissance platoon, 1st Lt. Waybur volunteered to lead a 3-vehicle patrol into enemy-held territory to locate an isolated Ranger unit. Proceeding under cover of darkness, over roads known to be heavily mined, and strongly defended by road blocks and machinegun positions, the patrol’s progress was halted at a bridge which had been destroyed by enemy troops and was suddenly cut off from its supporting vehicles by 4 enemy tanks. Although hopelessly outnumbered and out-gunned, and himself and his men completely exposed, he quickly dispersed his vehicles and ordered his gunners to open fire with their .30 and .50 caliber machineguns. Then, with ammunition exhausted, 3 of his men hit and himself seriously wounded, he seized his .45 caliber Thompson submachinegun and standing in the bright moonlight directly in the line of fire, alone engaged the leading tank at 30 yards and succeeded in killing the crewmembers, causing the tank to run onto the bridge and crash into the stream bed. After dispatching 1 of the men for aid he rallied the rest to cover and withstood the continued fire of the tanks till the arrival of aid the following morning.

*PENDLETON, CHARLES F.
Rank and organization: Corporal. U.S. Army, Company D, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Choo Gung-Dong, Korea, 16 and 17 July 1953. Entered service at: Fort Worth, Tex. Born: 26 September 1931, Camden, Tenn. Citation: Cpl. Pendleton, a machine gunner with Company D, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. After consolidating and establishing a defensive perimeter on a key terrain feature, friendly elements were attacked by a large hostile force. Cpl. Pendleton delivered deadly accurate fire into the approaching troops, killing approximately 15 and disorganizing the remainder with grenades. Unable to protect the flanks because of the narrow confines of the trench, he removed the machine gun from the tripod and, exposed to enemy observation, positioned it on his knee to improve his firing vantage.

Observing a hostile infantryman jumping into the position, intent on throwing a grenade at his comrades, he whirled about and killed the attacker, then inflicted such heavy casualties on the enemy force that they retreated to regroup. After reorganizing, a second wave of hostile soldiers moved forward in an attempt to overrun the position and, later, when a hostile grenade landed nearby, Cpl. Pendleton quickly retrieved and hurled it back at the foe. Although he was burned by the hot shells ejecting from his weapon, and he was wounded by a grenade, he refused evacuation and continued to fire on the assaulting force. As enemy action increased in tempo, his machine gun was destroyed by a grenade but, undaunted, he grabbed a carbine and continued his heroic defense until mortally wounded by a mortar burst. Cpl. Pendleton’s unflinching courage, gallant self-sacrifice, and consummate devotion to duty reflect lasting glory upon himself and uphold the finest traditions of the military service.

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[SHOOTER13]

18 July

1775 – Continental Congress resolves that each colony provide armed vessels.

1779 – Commodore Abraham Whipple’s squadron captures 11 prizes in largest prize value of Revolutionary War.

1779 – Continental Marines attacked British forces in Maine.

1792 – American naval hero John Paul Jones died in Paris at age 45. His body was preserved in rum in case the American government wished him back. In 1905 his body was transported to the US and placed in a crypt in Annapolis.

1813 – U.S. Frigate President captures British Daphne, Eliza Swan, Alert and Lion.

1818 – The Revenue Cutter Active captured the pirate vessel India Libre in the Chesapeake Bay.

1861 – Union and Confederate troops skirmished at Blackburn’s Ford, Virginia, in a prelude to the Battle of Bull Run.

1863 – Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and 272 of his troops are killed in an assault on Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina. Shaw was commander of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, perhaps the most famous regiment of African-American troops during the war. Fort Wagner stood on Morris Island, guarding the approach to Charleston harbor. It was a massive earthwork, 600 feet wide and made from sand piled 30 feet high. The only approach to the fort was across a narrow stretch of beach bounded by the Atlantic on one side and a swampy marshland on the other. Union General Quincy Gillmore headed an operation in July 1863 to take the island and seal the approach to Charleston. Shaw and his 54th Massachusetts were chosen to lead the attack of July 18. Shaw was the scion of an abolitionist family and a veteran of the 1862 Shenandoah Valley and Antietam campaigns. The regiment included two sons of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and the grandson of author and poet Sojourner Truth. Union artillery battered Fort Wagner all day on July 18, but the barrage did little damage to the fort and its garrison. At 7:45 p.m., the attack commenced. Yankee troops had to march 1,200 yards down the beach to the stronghold, facing a hail of bullets from the Confederates. Shaw’s troops and other Union regiments penetrated the walls at two points but did not have sufficient numbers to take the fort. Over 1,500 Union troops fell or were captured to the Confederates’ 222. Despite the failure, the battle proved that African-American forces could not only hold their own but also excel in battle.

1863 – William Dorsey Pender (29), US Confederate Major General, died of injuries.

1864 – President Lincoln asked for 500,000 volunteers for military service.

1866 – Congress authorized Coast Guard officers to search vehicles and persons suspected of concealing contraband.

1877 – Inventor Thomas Edison recorded the human voice for the first time.

1914 – The U.S. Congress forms the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, giving official status to aircraft within the U.S. Army for the first time.

1918 – Various French British and US forces launch a counterattack against the German forces in the salient they hold between Soissons and Reims in Champagne. The fighting becomes known as the Second Battle of the Marne. The attack id led by three French armies, the Tenth under General Charles Mangin, the Sixth under General Jean Degoutte, and General Henri Berthelot’s Fifth. Support is offered by the French Ninth Army under General M.A.H. de Mitry. The main attack involves the French Tenth Army and its spearheaded by the US 1st and 2nd Divisions, which take 8,000 prisoners and 145 artillery pieces for the loss of 5,000 casualties. Elsewhere, General Hunter Liggett’s US I Corps fights alongside the French Sixth Army, which advances into the salient from the west along the Ourcq River. Three further US divisions for General Bullard’s III Corps are attached to the French Ninth Army which is driving into the salient from the south close to Chateau-Thierry. the German defenders begin to collapse under these converging attacks and Ludendorff has to contemplate an urgent withdrawal.

1920 – Naval aircraft sink ex-German cruiser Frankfurt in target practice.

1921 – John Glenn, Jr., first man to orbit the Earth, was born in Cambridge, Ohio.

1928 – Clarence Samuels assumed command of Coast Guard Patrol Boat AB-15 on 18 July 1928, thereby becoming the second African-American to command a Coast Guard vessel, the first being Michael Healy.

1936 – The Spanish Civil War begins as a revolt by right-wing Spanish military officers in Spanish Morocco and spreads to mainland Spain. From the Canary Islands, General Francisco Franco broadcasts a message calling for all army officers to join the uprising and overthrow Spain’s leftist Republican government. Within three days, the rebels captured Morocco, much of northern Spain, and several key cities in the south. The Republicans succeeded in putting down the uprising in other areas, including Madrid, Spain’s capital. The Republicans and the Nationalists, as the rebels were called, then proceeded to secure their respective territories by executing thousands of suspected political opponents. On March 28, 1939, the Republicans finally surrendered Madrid, bringing the Spanish Civil War to an end. Up to a million lives were lost in the conflict, the most devastating in Spanish history. Franco subsequently served as dictator of Spain until his death in 1975.

1939 – Edwin H. Armstrong (1890-1954), US radio engineer and US Army MAJ, started the 1st FM ( Frequency Modulation) radio station in Alpine, New Jersey.

1942 – The German Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe, the first jet-propelled aircraft to fly in combat, made its first flight. Walter Nowotny was a rising your star in the Luftwaffe, chosen by Hitler to be the point man to lead the new jet fighter under the tutelage of General of Fighters Adolf Galland who was assigned to prove the airplane in battle. The Axis hopes were dashed when Nowotny was attacked by American pilots during landing and crashed. Col. Edward R. “Buddy” Haydon was one of those American pilots.

1943 – An aircraft carrying the Commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Admiral Yamamoto, is shot down by P-38 Lighting fighters over Bougainville. Yamamoto is killed. This action is the result the interception of a coded Japanese message announcing a visit by Yamamoto. The Japanese fail to deduce that their codes are insecure.

1943 – German submarine shoots down K-47, the first and only U.S. airship lost during WW II.

1944 – Two Guard divisions, the 29th (DC, MD, VA) and the 35th (KS, MO, NE) both claim credit for the final capture of the vital crossroads city of St. Lo from the Nazis. According to the D-Day plan, St. Lo was supposed to be secured ten days after D-Day. But due to stubborn German resistance using each Norman hedgerow as a defensive fighting position, it took 42 days to take the city.

1944 – Tojo resigns his posts as prime minister and Chief of Staff of the Army. General Kuniaki Koiso and Admiral Yonai are chosen to form a new cabinet. General Umezu becomes the new Chief of Staff of the Army. These changes reflect the growing strength of Japanese statesmen seeking an end to the war.

1944 – The US 4th Corps attacks Leghorn on the west coast while other elements of US 5th Army reach the Arno River at Pontedera.

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1945 – The Potsdam Conference continues. Churchill, Truman and Stalin confer on politics and strategy, in a town near Berlin. The leaders met for their second plenary session in the Cecilienhof, an 18th century palace. President Truman informed Prime Minister Churchill that the atomic bomb test had been successful in a cryptic note, “Babies satisfactorily born.” American interest in Soviet participation in the war against Japan has been noticeably lessened.

1945 – Captured German mines explode accidentally, destroying an American Red Cross club in Italy and killing 36 people.

1945 – Aircraft from the American carrier Wasp attack Japanese positions on Wake Island.

1945 – The battleship Nagato, which has been reduced to service as a floating antiaircraft battery, is damaged by American planes at Yokosuka. Allied air and naval forces strike numerous other targets in the Tokyo area and encounter almost no opposition.

1945 – Some 200 B-24 and B-25 bombers of the US Far East Air Force, based in Okinawa, bomb Kiangwan airfield near Shanghai.

1947 – President Truman signed the Presidential Succession Act, which placed the Speaker of the House and the Senate President Pro Tempore next in the line of succession after the vice president.

1947 – President Harry S. Truman delegates responsibility for the civil administration of former Japanese mandated islands to the Secretary of the Navy.

1950 – The U.S. 1st Cavalry and 25th Infantry Divisions reached Korea from Japan. The British Royal Air Force 88 Flying Boat Squadron joined the U.N. forces on the peninsula. The 1st Cavalry Division’s unopposed landing at Pohang was the first planned amphibious operation of the war.

1950 – In the third such move in as many weeks, the Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended the Army authorized strength to be increased to 834,000. President Truman approved this request the following day.

1955 – 1st electric power generated from atomic energy was sold commercially.

1966 – Launch of Gemini 10 with LCDR John W. Young, USN as Command Pilot. Mission involved 43 orbits at an altitude of 412.2 nautical miles and lasted 2 days, 22 hours, and 46 minutes. Recovery was by HS-3 helicopter from USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7).

1968 – Intel is founded in Mountain View, California.

1971 – New Zealand and Australia announced they would pull their troops out of Vietnam.

1973 – Task Force 78, Mine Countermeasures Force, departs waters of North Vietnam after completing their minesweeping operations of 1,992 tow hours for the cost of $20,394,000.

1977 – Vietnam became a member of UN.

1987 – President Reagan used his weekly radio address to call on Congress to give more aid to the Nicaraguan Contras.

1990 – In a memorandum to the Arab League, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz accuses Kuwait of “attempting to weaken Iraq,” encroaching on Iraqi territory, draining oil from the Rumaila field which straddles the two countries’ border, and – along with the UAE – colluding to “flood the oil market” leading to the collapse of oil prices. The memorandum calls Kuwait’s actions “tantamount to military aggression.” Kuwait denies the charges.

1991– An Iraqi ballistic missile concealment is revealed. UNSCOM discovers and destroys undeclared decoy missiles and launch support equipment.

1998 – The United Nations formally approves an Iraqi aid distribution plan, a major step forward in the direction of allowing Iraq to sell oil under Security Council Resolution 986.

2000 – Chinese Pres. Jiang Zemin and Russia’s Pres. Putin denounced the US proposed missile defense program as a violation of the 1972 ABM treaty. They also vowed to strengthen a strategic partnership between their countries.

2002 – Accused September 11th conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui tried to plead guilty to charges that could have brought the death penalty, but a federal judge in Alexandria, Va., insisted he take time to think about it.

2002 – US Army Sec. Thomas White defended his sale of $12 million in Enron stock before the company went bust. Records showed that he had made 77 phone calls to Enron in the 10 months ending February 2002.

2003 – Eight Afghan soldiers were killed when their vehicle was blown apart by a remote controlled mine.

2004 – Militants killed Essam al-Dijaili, the head of Iraq’s military’s supply department, in a drive-by shooting as he walked into his house in Baghdad.

2004 – American jets hit a position in Fallujah used by foreign militants, demolishing a house and killing 14 insurgents.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

CUKELA, LOUIS (Navy Medal)
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, 66th Company, 5th Regiment. Born: 1 May 1888, Sebenes, Austria. Accredited to: Minnesota. (Also received Army Medal of Honor.) Citation: For extraordinary heroism while serving with the 66th Company, 5th Regiment, during action in the Forest de Retz, near Viller-Cottertes, France, 18 July 1918. Sgt. Cukela advanced alone against an enemy strong point that was holding up his line. Disregarding the warnings of his comrades, he crawled out from the flank in the face of heavy fire and worked his way to the rear of the enemy position. Rushing a machinegun emplacement, he killed or drove off the crew with his bayonet, bombed out the remaining part of the strong point with German handgrenades and captured 2 machineguns and 4 men.

*DILBOY, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company H, 103d Infantry, 26th Division. Place and date: Near Belleau, France, 18 July 1918. Entered service at: Keene, N.H. Birth: Greece. G.O. No.: 13, W.D., 1919. Citation: After his platoon had gained its objective along a railroad embankment, Pfc. Dilboy, accompanying his platoon leader to reconnoiter the ground beyond, was suddenly fired upon by an enemy machinegun from 100 yards. From a standing position on the railroad track, fully exposed to view, he opened fire at once, but failing to silence the gun, rushed forward with his bayonet fixed, through a wheat field toward the gun emplacement, falling within 25 yards of the gun with his right leg nearly severed above the knee and with several bullet holes in his body. With undaunted courage he continued to fire into the emplacement from a prone position, killing 2 of the enemy and dispersing the rest of the crew.

EDWARDS, DANIEL R.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company C, 3d Machine Gun Battalion, 1st Division. Place and date: Near Soissons, France, 18 July 1918. Entered service at: Bruceville, Tex. Born: 9 April 1897, Moorville, Tex. G.O. No.: 14, W.D., 1923. Citation: Reporting for duty from hospital where he had been for several weeks under treatment for numerous and serious wounds and although suffering intense pain from a shattered arm, he crawled alone into an enemy trench for the purpose of capturing or killing enemy soldiers known to be concealed therein. He killed 4 of the men and took the remaining 4 men prisoners; while conducting them to the rear one of the enemy was killed by a high explosive enemy shell which also completely shattered 1 of Pfc. Edwards’ legs, causing him to be immediately evacuated to the hospital. The bravery of Pfc. Edwards, now a tradition in his battalion because of his previous gallant acts, again caused the morale of his comrades to be raised to high pitch.

*KOCAK, MATEJ (Army Medal)
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, 66th Company, 5th Regiment, 2d Division. Place and date: Near Soissons, France, 18 July 1918. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Born: 31 December 1882, Gbely (Slovakia), Austria. G.O. No.: 34, W.D., 1919. (Also received Navy Medal of Honor.) Citation: When the advance of his battalion was checked by a hidden machinegun nest, he went forward alone, unprotected by covering fire from his own men, and worked in between the German positions in the face of fire from enemy covering detachments. Locating the machinegun nest, he rushed it and with his bayonet drove off the crew. Shortly after this he organized 25 French colonial soldiers who had become separated from their company and led them in attacking another machinegun nest, which was also put out of action.

*KOCAK, MATEJ (Navy Medal)
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 31 December 1882, Gbely (Slovakia), Austria. Accredited to: New York. ( Also received Army Medal of Honor. ) Citation: For extraordinary heroism while serving with the 66th Company, 5th Regiment, 2d Division, in action in the Viller-Cottertes section, south of Soissons, France, 18 July 1918. When a hidden machinegun nest halted the advance of his battalion, Sgt. Kocak went forward alone unprotected by covering fire and worked his way in between the German positions in the face of heavy enemy fire. Rushing the enemy position with his bayonet, he drove off the crew. Later the same day, Sgt. Kocak organized French colonial soldiers who had become separated from their company and led them in an attack on another machinegun nest which was also put out of action.

*EVANS, RODNEY J.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company D, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. Place and date: Tay Ninh Province, Republic of Vietnam, 18 July 1969. Entered service at: Montgomery, Ala. Born: 17 July 1948, Chelsea, Mass. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Evans distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism while serving as a squad leader in a reconnaissance sweep through heavy vegetation to reconnoiter a strong enemy position. As the force approached a well-defined trail, the platoon scout warned that the trail was booby-trapped. Sgt. Evans led his squad on a route parallel to the trail. The force had started to move forward when a nearby squad was hit by the blast of a concealed mine. Looking to his right Sgt. Evans saw a second enemy device. With complete disregard for his safety he shouted a warning to his men, dived to the ground and crawled toward the mine. Just as he reached it an enemy soldier detonated the explosive and Sgt. Evans absorbed the full impact with his body. His gallant and selfless action saved his comrades from probable death or injury and served as an inspiration to his entire unit. Sgt. Evans’ gallantry in action at the cost of his life were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Mc GINTY, JOHN J. III
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant (then S/Sgt.), U.S. Marine Corps, Company K, 3d Battalion, 4th Marines, 3d Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force. place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 18 July 1966. Entered service at: Laurel Bay, S.C. Born: 2 1 January 1940, Boston, Mass. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. 2d Lt. McGinty’s platoon, which was providing rear security to protect the withdrawal of the battalion from a position which had been under attack for 3 days, came under heavy small arms, automatic weapons and mortar fire from an estimated enemy regiment. With complete disregard for his safety, 2d Lt. McGinty charged through intense automatic weapons and mortar fire to their position. Finding 20 men wounded and the medical corpsman killed, he quickly reloaded ammunition magazines and weapons for the wounded men and directed their fire upon the enemy. Although he was painfully wounded as he moved to care for the disabled men, he continued to shout encouragement to his troops and to direct their fire so effectively that the attacking hordes were beaten off. When the enemy tried to out-flank his position, he killed 5 of them at point-blank range with his pistol. When they again seemed on the verge of overrunning the small force, he skillfully adjusted artillery and air strikes within 50 yards of his position. This destructive firepower routed the enemy, who left an estimated 500 bodies on the battlefield. 2d Lt. McGinty’s personal heroism, indomitable leadership, selfless devotion to duty, and bold fighting spirit inspired his men to resist the repeated attacks by a fanatical enemy, reflected great credit upon himself, and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service.

MODRZEJEWSKI, ROBERT J.
Rank and organization: Major (then Capt.), U.S. Marine Corps, Company K, 3d Battalion, 4th Marines, 3d Marine Division, FMF. place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 15 to 18 July 1966. Entered service at: Milwaukee, Wis. Born: 3 July 1934, Milwaukee, Wis. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On 15 July, during Operation HASTINGS, Company K was landed in an enemy-infested jungle area to establish a blocking position at a major enemy trail network. Shortly after landing, the company encountered a reinforced enemy platoon in a well-organized, defensive position. Maj. Modrzejewski led his men in the successful seizure of the enemy redoubt, which contained large quantities of ammunition and supplies. That evening, a numerically superior enemy force counterattacked in an effort to retake the vital supply area, thus setting the pattern of activity for the next 2 1/2 days. Although exposed to enemy fire, and despite his painful wounds, he crawled 200 meters to provide critically needed ammunition to an exposed element of his command and was constantly present wherever the fighting was heaviest, despite numerous casualties, a dwindling supply of ammunition and the knowledge that they were surrounded, he skillfully directed artillery fire to within a few meter* of his position and courageously inspired the efforts of his company in repelling the aggressive enemy attack. Again he called in air and artillery strikes at close range with devastating effect on the enemy, which together with the bold and determined fighting of the men of Company K, repulsed the fanatical attack of the larger North Vietnamese force. His unparalleled personal heroism and indomitable leadership inspired his men to a significant victory over the enemy force and reflected great credit upon himself, the Marine Corps, and the U.S. Naval Service.

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19 July

1779 – 300 Continental Marines attacked the British at Fort George, Penobscot Bay.

1812 – USS Constitution escapes from British squadron after 3 day chase off New Jersey.

1862 – Nathan Bedford Forrest made his 1st raid.

1862 – Naval court martial meeting in Richmond acquitted Flag Officer Tattnall with honor for ordering the destruction of C.S.S. Virginia on 11 May after the evacuation of Norfolk. The court found that “the only alternative was to abandon and burn the ship then and there, which in the judgment of the court, was deliberately and wisely done.

1863 – Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s raid on the North is dealt a serious blow when a large part of his force is captured as they try to escape across the Ohio River at Buffington Island, Ohio. Cut off from the south, Morgan fled north with the remnants of his command and was captured a week later at Salineville, Ohio. This was the last and most daring of Morgan’s four raids into Union-held territory. The main purpose of the raid was to take pressure off of Chattanooga, Tennessee, by drawing Union troops away from the army of General William Rosecrans. It began on July 2 at Burkesville, Kentucky, and continued into Indiana. Morgan departed with more than 2,400 troopers, but he split his force on two occasions, and suffered many casualties in skirmishes with Federal detachments. Morgan and his forces rode east into Ohio and feigned an advance toward a panicked Cincinnati, but bypassed the city and continued eastward to Pomeroy, Ohio. His men were worn down by the long days in the saddle, and the Yankee pursuit finally caught up at Buffington Island, just outside of Pomeroy. While Morgan made plans to cross the swollen Ohio River, Federal gunboats guarded the fords and Union cavalry attacked the Confederates. In a short time, Morgan lost 800 men, nearly all of who were captured. Morgan escaped with 400 of his men, and fled north in search of a more suitable place to cross the river—which they never found. Morgan surrendered on July 26th.

1863 – After seeking to intercept the troops of General Morgan for some 10 days and 500 miles, the gun-boat squadron under Lieutenant Commander Fitch engaged the Confederate raiders as they attempted to effect a crossing of the Ohio River at Buffington Island – U.S.S. Moose and steamer Alleghany Belle repeatedly frustrated the Southerners’ attempts to cross. Pressed from the rear by Union troops and subjected to heavy fire from the gunboats, Morgan’s soldiers made a scat-tered retreat into the hills, leaving their artillery on the beach. This audacious Southern thrust into the North was broken up. Some 3,000 Confederates were taken prisoner. Major General Ambrose E. Burnside heralded the “efficient services” of Fitch in achieving the “brilliant success of the engagement. “Too much praise,” he wrote Rear Admiral Porter, cannot be awarded the naval department at this place for the promptness and energy manifested in this movement. And Brigadier General Jacob D. Cox noted: “The activity and energy with which the squadron was used to prevent the enemy recrossing the Ohio, and to assist in his capture, was worthy of the highest praise.”

1867 – The US enacted reconstruction.

1886 – Atlanta, the first steel-hulled American cruiser armed with breechloading rifled guns, is commissioned.

1897 – LT Robert E. Peary departs on year long Arctic Expedition which makes many important discoveries, including one of largest meteorites, Cape York.

1917 – The Reichstag passes a peace resolution which backs the plans for an end to the war as proposed by US President Woodrow Wilson.

1918 – French and Americans advance on Soissons-Thierry line, taking Vierzy (north of Ourcq) and Neuilly St. Front (south of Ourcq).

1918 – U.S. armoured cruiser “San Diego” sunk off Fire Island, off New York, 6 lost.

1918 – Armored cruiser USS San Diego sunk off Fire Island, NY by a mine laid by German U-Boat U-156.

1940 – President Roosevelt signs the “Two-Ocean Navy Expansion Act.” This orders construction of 1,325,000 tons of warships and 15,000 naval planes. Including the existing ships, the fleet will comprise 35 battleships, 20 carriers and 88 cruisers.

1941 – The United States Atlantic Fleet forms TF-1 for the protection of the American forces on Iceland and support for convoys bound there. The carrier Wasp flies a cargo of P-40 fighters to the island. A naval buildup begins. The US Navy has instructions to provide escorts for ships of any nationality sailing to and from Iceland.

1942 – The final two U-boats left operating off of the American eastern seaboard are reassigned. They have had no successes due to improved convoy operations.

1943 – American forces advance quickly to the north and west. On the east coast, the British continue to be held. Montgomery alters the weight of his offensive further inland toward Gerbini, Agira and Leonforte.

1943 – The United States bombs railway yards in Rome in an attempt to break the will of the Italian people to resist-as Hitler lectures their leader, Benito Mussolini, on how to prosecute the war further. On July 16, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill appealed to the Italian civilian population to reject Mussolini and Hitler and “live for Italy and civilization.” As an “incentive,” American bombers raided the city, destroying its railways. Panic broke out among the Romans. Convinced by Mussolini that the Allies would never bomb the holy city, civilians poured into the Italian capital for safety. The bombing did more than shake their security in the city-it shook their confidence in their leader. The denizens of Rome were not alone in such disillusion. In a meeting in northern Italy, Hitler attempted to revive the flagging spirits of Il Duce, as well as point out his deficiencies as a leader. Afraid that Mussolini, having suffered successive military setbacks, would sue for a separate peace, leaving the Germans alone to battle it out with Allied forces along the Italian peninsula, Hitler decided to meet with his onetime role model to lecture him on the manly art of war. Mussolini remained uncharacteristically silent during the harangue, partly due to his own poor German (he would request a translated synopsis of the meeting later), partly due to his fear of Hitler’s response should he tell the truth-that Italy was beaten and could not continue to fight. Mussolini kept up the charade for his German allies: Italy would press on. But no one believed the brave front anymore. Just a day later, Hitler secretly ordered Field Marshal Erwin Rommel to take command of the occupied Greek Islands, better to “pounce on Italy” if and when Mussolini capitulated to the United States. But within a week, events would take a stunning turn.

1944 – Some 1,200 8th Air Force bombers bombed targets in SW Germany. Some 500 15th Air Force Liberators (Flying Fortresses) bombed the Munich vicinity.

1944 – Elements of the US 5th Army capture Leghorn.

1945 – The USAAF struck the cities of Choshi, Hitachi, Fukui and Okazaki with 600 B-29 Superfortress bombers dropping some 4000 tons of bombs. It is largest employment of the bomber type yet.

1945 – The American Far East Air Force bombs four Japanese air bases in the Shanghai area.

1945 – Congress ratifies the Bretton Woods monetary agreement.

1950 – The U.S. 24th Division began the defense of Taejon.

1953 – The communists communicated a willingness to conclude an armistice on the existing agreed terms.

1953 – Chinese Communist Forces overran Outposts Berlin and East Berlin. U.N. Command directed that no effort would be made to retake the lost ground.

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1953 – Air Force Captain Ronnie L. Moore and Lieutenant Colonel Vermont Garrison, both of the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, qualified as the ninth and 10th “double aces” of the Korean War, with 10 kills each. Garrison had also achieved ace status during World War II with seven kills in Europe.

1956 – Secretary of State John Foster Dulles announces that the United States is withdrawing its offer of financial aid to Egypt to help with the construction of the Aswan Dam on the Nile River. The action drove Egypt further toward an alliance with the Soviet Union and was a contributing factor to the Suez Crisis later in 1956. The Soviets rushed to Egypt’s aid, and the Aswan Dam was officially opened in 1964. Nasser, of course, was furious with the U.S. action. So, too, were the British, who believed that America’s withdrawal of aid had provided the opening for Soviet penetration of Egypt. In October 1956, British, French, and Israeli forces attacked Egypt, claiming that they were protecting the Suez Canal. The incident nearly provoked a U.S.-Soviet confrontation, but President Dwight D. Eisenhower coupled stern warnings against any Soviet military action with a refusal to support the British, French, and Israeli invasion. The invading forces withdrew from Egypt in early 1957. Nevertheless, the damage to U.S. relations with the Middle East was done and the area would remain a Cold War hotspot throughout the next 35 years.

1964 – On what the South Vietnamese call the “Day of Shame”–the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Accords that partitioned Vietnam–South Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Khanh, at a rally in Saigon, calls for an expansion of the war to North Vietnam. Ambassador Maxwell Taylor and other U.S. officials present declined comment on Khanh’s position, but it was known that the United States regarded this as breaking an agreement to consult with Washington before issuing such a call.

1969 – Apollo 11 and its astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins, went into orbit around the moon.

1972 – Washington and Hanoi announce that the private Paris peace talks have resumed. Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho conferred for over six hours and, by mutual agreement, neither side revealed details of the meetings. The talks had been suspended when the North Vietnamese had launched their Nguyen Hue Offensive earlier in the year. Though the peace talks resumed, heavy fighting continued in South Vietnam. A force of 8,000 to 10,000 South Vietnamese troops moved north toward the district capital at Hoi An in the communist-controlled Binh Dinh province. The troop movement marked the beginning of a counteroffensive in the coastal province to retake territory lost to the communists in the early days of the Nguyen Hue Offensive. Saigon’s forces succeeded in taking Hoi An two days later, but lost the western half of the city one week after that.

1974 – The House Judiciary Committee recommended that President Richard Nixon should stand trial in the Senate for any of the five impeachment charges against him.

1975 – The Apollo and Soyuz space capsules that were linked in orbit for two days separated.

1979 – The Nicaraguan capital of Managua fell to Sandinista guerrillas, two days after President Anastasio Somoza fled the country.

1980 – The Moscow Summer Olympics began, minus dozens of nations that were boycotting the games because of the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan.

1982 – David Dodge, president of the American University of Beirut, was kidnapped.

1983 – David Dodge, president of the American University of Beirut, was released.

1985 – Christa McAuliffe of New Hampshire was chosen to be the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the space shuttle. McAuliffe and six other crew members died (1/28/96) when the Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff.

1993 – President Clinton announced a compromise allowing homosexuals to serve in the military, but only if they refrained from all homosexual activity.

1993 – Two US MP’s are hit by sniper fire. US soldier WIA during RPG attack on compound.

1997 – Eleven armored carriers from NATO gathered in a show of force near the home of ousted Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, Bosnia’s No. 1 war crimes suspect.

1999 – In Iran the secret police alleged that student leader Manouchehr Mohammadi had confessed to serving US-based “spies and Zionists.”

2001 – Japanese prosecutors charged a U.S. airman with rape in an alleged attack on a woman in Okinawa. Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy Woodland was later convicted and sentenced to nearly three years in prison.

2001 – The first set of the newly authorized Helicopter Rescue Swimmer insignia, or ‘wings’, were presented to the senior rescue swimmer in the Coast Guard, Master Chief Aviation Survival Technician (AST) Keith Jensen, at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C.

2002 – US and British warplanes destroyed a military communications facility in southern Iraq.

2003 – In Spinboldak, Afghanistan, US forces, backed by helicopter gunships, killed up to 24 suspected Taliban insurgents after their convoy came under attack.

2004 – An Egyptian truck driver held hostage for two weeks by insurgents in Iraq was freed and taken to the Egyptian Embassy.

2004 – Iraq announced the appointment of 43 new ambassadors in its first move to re-engage with the world.

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[SHOOTER13]

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day

DODDS, EDWARD E.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 21st New York Cavalry. Place and date: At Ashbys Gap, Va., 19 July 1864. Entered service at: Rochester, N.Y. Birth: Canada. Date of issue: 11 June 1896. Citation: At great personal risk rescued his wounded captain and carried him from the field to a place of safety.

BYRNE, BERNARD A.
Rank and organization: Captain, 6th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Bobong, Negros, Philippine Islands, 19 July 1899. Entered service at: Washington, D.C. Birth: Newport Barracks, Va. Date of issue: 15 July 1902. Citation: Most distinguished gallantry in rallying his men on the bridge after the line had been broken and pushed back.

BALCH, JOHN HENRY
Rank and organization: Pharmacist’s Mate First Class, U.S. Navy. Place and date: Vierzy, France, and Somme-Py, France, 19 July and 5 October 1918. Entered service at: Kansas City, Mo. Born: 2 January 1896, Edgerton, Kans. Citation: For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, with the 6th Regiment, U.S. Marines, in action at Vierzy, on 19 July 1918. Balch unhesitatingly and fearlessly exposed himself to terrific machinegun and high-explosive fire to succor the wounded as they fell in the attack, leaving his dressing station voluntarily and keeping up the work all day and late into the night unceasingly for 16 hours. Also in the action at Somme-Py on 5 October 1918, he exhibited exceptional bravery in establishing an advanced dressing station under heavy shellfire.

BOONE, JOEL THOMPSON
Rank and organization: Lieutenant (Medical Corps), U.S. Navy. Place and date: Vicinity Vierzy, France, 19 July 1918. Entered service at: St. Clair, Pa. Born: 2 August 1889, St. Clair, Pa. Citation: For extraordinary heroism, conspicuous gallantry, and intrepidity while serving with the 6th Regiment, U.S. Marines, in actual conflict with the enemy. With absolute disregard for personal safety, ever conscious and mindful of the suffering fallen, Surg. Boone, leaving the shelter of a ravine, went forward onto the open field where there was no protection and despite the extreme enemy fire of all calibers, through a heavy mist of gas, applied dressings and first aid to wounded marines. This occurred southeast of Vierzy, near the cemetery, and on the road south from that town. When the dressings and supplies had been exhausted, he went through a heavy barrage of large-caliber shells, both high explosive and gas, to replenish these supplies, returning quickly with a sidecar load, and administered them in saving the lives of the wounded. A second trip, under the same conditions and for the same purpose, was made by Surg. Boone later that day.

PARKER, SAMUEL I.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company K, 28th Infantry, 1st Division. Place and date: Near Soissons, France, 18-19 July 1918. Entered service at: Monroe, N.C. Birth: Monroe, N.C. G.O. No.: 1, W.D. 1937. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. During the attack the 2d and 3d Battalions of the 28th Infantry were merged, and after several hours of severe fighting, successfully established a frontline position. In so doing, a gap was left between the right flank of the French 153d Division on their left and the left flank of the 28th Infantry, exposing the left flank to a terrific enfilade fire from several enemy machineguns located in a rock quarry on high ground. 2d Lt. Parker, observing this serious situation, ordered his depleted platoon to follow him in an attack upon the strong point. Meeting a disorganized group of French Colonials wandering leaderlessly about, he persuaded them to join his platoon. This consolidated group followed 2d Lt. Parker through direct enemy rifle and machinegun fire to the crest of the hill, and rushing forward, took the quarry by storm, capturing 6 machineguns and about 40 prisoners. The next day when the assault was continued, 2d Lt. Parker in command of the merged 2d and 3d Battalions was in support of the 1st Battalion. Although painfully wounded in the foot, he refused to be evacuated and continued to lead his command until the objective was reached. Seeing that the assault battalion was subjected to heavy enfilade fire due to a gap between it and the French on its left, 2d Lt. Parker led his battalion through this heavy fire up on the line to the left of the 1st Battalion and thereby closed the gap, remaining in command of his battalion until the newly established lines of the 28th Infantry were thoroughly consolidated. In supervising the consolidation of the new position, 2d Lt. Parker was compelled to crawl about on his hands and knees on account of his painful wound. His conspicuous gallantry and spirit of self-sacrifice were a source of great inspiration to the members of the entire command.

*CHRISTENSEN, DALE ELDON
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Troop E, 112th Cavalry Regiment. Place and date: Driniumor River, New Guinea, 16-19 July 1944. Entered service at: Gray, lowa. Birth: Cameron Township, lowa. G.O. No.: 36, 10 May 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty along the Driniumor River, New Guinea, from 16-19 July 1944. 2d Lt. Christensen repeatedly distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in the continuous heavy fighting which occurred in this area from 16-19 July. On 16 July, his platoon engaged in a savage fire fight in which much damage was caused by 1 enemy machinegun effectively placed. 2d Lt. Christensen ordered his men to remain under cover, crept forward under fire, and at a range of 15 yards put the gun out of action with hand grenades. Again, on 19 July, while attacking an enemy position strong in mortars and machineguns, his platoon was pinned to the ground by intense fire. Ordering his men to remain under cover, he crept forward alone to locate definitely the enemy automatic weapons and the best direction from which to attack. Although his rifle was struck by enemy fire and knocked from his hands he continued his reconnaissance, located 5 enemy machineguns, destroyed 1 with hand grenades, and rejoined his platoon. He then led his men to the point selected for launching the attack and, calling encouragement, led the charge. This assault was successful and the enemy was driven from the positions with a loss of 4 mortars and 10 machineguns and leaving many dead on the field. On 4 August 1944, near Afua, Dutch New Guinea, 2d Lt. Christensen was killed in action about 2 yards from his objective while leading his platoon in an attack on an enemy machinegun position. 2d Lt. Christensen’s leadership, intrepidity, and repeatedly demonstrated gallantry in action at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, exemplify the highest traditions of the U.S. Armed Forces.

*GERTSCH, JOHN G.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S.. Army, Company E, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. Place and date: A Shau Valley, Republic of Vietnam, 15 to 19 July 1969. Entered service at: Buffalo, N.Y. Born: 29 September 1944, Jersey City, N.J.: Citation: S/Sgt. Gertsch distinguished himself while serving as a platoon sergeant and platoon leader during combat operations in the A Shau Valley. During the initial phase of an operation to seize a strongly defended enemy position, S/Sgt. Gertsch’s platoon leader was seriously wounded and lay exposed to intense enemy fire. Forsaking his own safety, without hesitation S/Sgt. Gertsch rushed to aid his fallen leader and dragged him to a sheltered position. He then assumed command of the heavily engaged platoon and led his men in a fierce counterattack that forced the enemy to withdraw. Later, a small element of S/Sgt. Gertsch’s unit was reconnoitering when attacked again by the enemy. S/Sgt. Gertsch moved forward to his besieged element and immediately charged, firing as he advanced. His determined assault forced the enemy troops to withdraw in confusion and made possible the recovery of 2 wounded men who had been exposed to heavy enemy fire.

Sometime later his platoon came under attack by an enemy force employing automatic weapons, grenade, and rocket fire. S/Sgt. Gertsch was severely wounded during the onslaught but continued to command his platoon despite his painful wound. While moving under fire and encouraging his men he sighted an aidman treating a wounded officer from an adjacent unit. Realizing that both men were in imminent danger of being killed, he rushed forward and positioned himself between them and the enemy nearby. While the wounded officer was being moved to safety S/Sgt. Gertsch was mortally wounded by enemy fire. Without S/Sgt. Gertsch’s courage, ability to inspire others, and profound concern for the welfare of his men, the loss of life among his fellow soldiers would have been significantly greater. His conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism, and intrepidity at the cost of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit on him and the Armed Forces of his country.

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20 July


1846 – First visit of U.S. warships (USS Columbus and USS Vincennes) to Japan is unsuccessful in negotiating a treaty.

1861 – The New York Tribune compared Peace Democrats to the venomous Copperhead snake, which strikes without warning. During the American Civil War, Northerners who advocated restoration of the Union through a negotiated settlement with the South was referred to as Peace Democrats.

1861 – The Congress of the Confederate States began holding sessions in Richmond, Va.

1861 – In the first major battle of the Civil War [see June 10], Confederate forces repelled an attempt by the Union Army to turn their flank in Virginia. The battle becomes known by the Confederates as Manassas, while the Union called it Bull Run. It was fought on Judith Carter Henry’s farm.

1862 – A guerrilla campaign in GA (Porter’s & Poindexter’s) left US 580 and CS 2,866 casualties.

1864 – General John Bell Hood’s Confederate force attack William T. Sherman’s troops outside of Atlanta, Georgia, but are repulsed with heavy losses. This was Hood’s first battle as head of the Army of Tennessee. Hood had assumed the command from Joseph Johnston just two days before when Confederate President Jefferson Davis replaced Johnston after Sherman backed Johnston into this key Southern city. For nearly three months, Sherman had pushed Johnston southward from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Johnston had blocked each of Sherman’s flanking maneuvers, but in doing so he lost territory. Davis finally lost patience with Johnston, and selected the more offensive-minded Hood to defeat Sherman. Hood wasted little time. He planned to strike the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by General George Thomas, as it crossed Peachtree Creek. The waterway was deep, and the Confederates destroyed all bridges on their retreat into the outskirts of Atlanta. Hood suspected that the Yankees were most vulnerable when only part of their force was across the creek so he planned a two-pronged assault to hold part of Thomas’ army at bay while the rest could be pinned against Peachtree Creek. It was a sound plan, but poor execution doomed the operation. Scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on July 20, the attack was delayed for three hours while Hood’s troops shifted into position. The overall assault lacked a general coordination, so units charged the Union positions piecemeal. Twenty thousand Rebels assaulted the same number of Yankees, but the delay proved costly. The Confederates achieved some success, but could not drive the Union troops back into Peachtree Creek. After three hours, Hood ordered a halt to the advance. Hood was not deterred. Two days later, he attacked Sherman’s forces again at the Battle of Atlanta.

1881 – Five years after General George A. Custer’s infamous defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn, Hunkpapa Teton Sioux leader Sitting Bull surrenders to the U.S. Army, which promises amnesty for him and his followers. Sitting Bull had been a major leader in the 1876 Sioux uprising that resulted in the death of Custer and 264 of his men at Little Bighorn. Pursued by the U.S. Army after the Indian victory, he escaped to Canada with his followers. Born in the Grand River Valley in what is now South Dakota, Sitting Bull gained early recognition in his Sioux tribe as a capable warrior and a man of vision. In 1864, he fought against the U.S. Army under General Alfred Sully at Killdeer Mountain and thereafter dedicated himself to leading Sioux resistance against white encroachment. He soon gained a following in not only his own tribe but in the Cheyenne and Arapaho Native American groups as well. In 1867, he was made principal chief of the entire Sioux nation.

In 1873, in what would serve as a preview of the Battle of Little Bighorn three years later, an Indian military coalition featuring the leadership of Sitting Bull skirmished briefly with Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. In 1876, Sitting Bull was not a strategic leader in the U.S. defeat at Little Bighorn, but his spiritual influence inspired Crazy Horse and the other victorious Indian military leaders. He subsequently fled to Canada, but in 1881, with his people starving, he returned to the United States and surrendered. He was held as a prisoner of war at Fort Randall in South Dakota territory for two years and then was permitted to live on Standing Rock Reservation straddling North and South Dakota territory. In 1885, he traveled for a season with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show and then returned to Standing Rock. In 1889, the spiritual proclamations of Sitting Bull influenced the rise of the “Ghost Dance,” an Indian religious movement that proclaimed that the whites would disappear and the dead Indians and buffalo would return. His support of the Ghost Dance movement had brought him into disfavor with government officials.

On December 15, 1890, Indian police burst into Sitting Bull’s house in the Grand River area of South Dakota and attempted to arrest him. There is confusion as to what happened next. By some accounts, Sitting Bull’s warriors shot the leader of the police, who immediately turned and gunned down Sitting Bull. In another account, the police were instructed by Major James McLaughlin, director of the Standing Rock Sioux Agency, to kill the chief at any sign of resistance. Whatever the case, Sitting Bull was fatally shot and died within hours. The Indian police hastily buried his body at Fort Yates within the Standing Rock Reservation. In 1953, his remains were moved into Mobridge, South Dakota, where a granite shaft marks his resting place.

1894 – 2000 federal troops were recalled from Chicago with the end of the Pullman strike. During the summer of 1894, the Pullman Palace Car Company was embroiled in what proved to be one of the most bitter strikes in American history. The strike was a direct response to company chief George Pullman and his hardball tactics, most notably his decision in the midst of the Depression of 1893 to preserve profits by slashing wages and hiking up workers’ rents. A band of frustrated employees implored Pullman to ease rents and restore wages; Pullman responded by firing three of the workers. In May, the workers fired back at their avaricious boss by calling a strike. Backed by the organizational muscle of Eugene Debs and the mighty American Railway Union (ARU), the workers touched off a round of sympathy strikes and boycotts that effectively crippled the Chicago-based company.

However, Pullman had has own network of powerful allies, including other rail honchos and a number government officials. In hopes of enlisting the aid of the federal military, Pullman and his cronies convinced the government that the strikes and boycotts were inhibiting the delivery of America’s mail. Though Pullman’s cars didn’t carry any mail, the scheme proved effective: in early July, the government banned the boycotts and swiftly shipped troops to Chicago. Fighting broke out shortly after the government forces hit the scene; by the time the militia left Chicago on July 20, the “war” between the troops and the strikers had left thirty-four men dead. But, the damage had already been done to the Pullman strikers: their ranks and clout had been depleted, and, when American Federation of Labor chief Samuel Gompers’ refusal to lend them any substantial support, the rail workers were forced to capitulate to management. In the wake of the settlement, many of the strikers were barred from working in the rail industry.

1917 – The US draft lottery in World War I went into operation.

1917 – An Executive Order extended the jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Service, which will become part of the Coast Guard, to the non-contiguous territory of the American Virgin Islands.

1942 – The first detachment of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), later known as WACs, began basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa.

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1942 – “The Herald-Tribune of July 20, 1942, carried the following story: A new Coast Guard regiment, made up of tough, hand-picked men, all heavily armed and with the headquarters company mounting machine guns in speedy jeep cars, has been organized for extra protection of the Port of New York, it was announced yesterday. Regimental offices of the commando-like outfit, led by Captain Francis V. Lowden, will be in the Barge Office at the Battery. There will be five battalion headquarters — one each in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island and New Jersey, and a floating one set up a harbor patrol craft. The new contingent for sabotage precaution will be known as the Port Security Regiment…. The selected men recruited for the Port Security Regiment are being trained in a variety of rough and rigorous combat tactics to fit them for meeting surprise actions. Captain Lowden, on leave from his post as Mayor of Roselle, N.J., has had twenty years of experience in organizing protective services for the port properties of Standard Oil of New Jersey.”

1942 – An Act of Congress (Public Law 671 – 77th Congress, Chapter 508, 2d Session) established the Legion of Merit and provided that the medal “shall have suitable appurtenances and devices and not more than four degrees, and which the President, under such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe, may award to (a) personnel of the Armed Forces of the United States and of the Government of the Commonwealth Philippines and (b) personnel of the armed forces of friendly foreign nations who, since the proclamation of an emergency by the President on 8 September 1939, shall have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services”. The medal was announced in War Department Bulletin No. 40 dated 5 August 1942. Executive Order 9260, dated 29 October 1942, by President Roosevelt, established the rules for the Legion of Merit and required the President’s approval for award. However, in 1943, at the request of General George C. Marshall, approval authority for U.S. personnel was delegated to the War Department. Executive Order 10600, dated 15 March 1955, by President Eisenhower, revised approval authority. Current provisions are contained in Title 10, United States Code 1121.

1943 – American troops reach Menfi in the south of Sicily.

1943 – Roosevelt directs that information about atomic research is to be shared with the British.

1943 – New American forces take over the front on New Georgia. New road construction alleviates the supply problem. Two Japanese destroyers are sunk during a supply mission.

1944 – US 15th Air Force attacked Friedrichshafen and Memmingen. Flying Fortresses of US 8th Air Force attacked Leipzig and Dessau.

1944 – US invaded Japanese occupied Guam. Japanese aircraft carrier Hijo was sunk by US air attack.

1944 – The bombardment of Tinian is expanded as army artillery based on Saipan becomes available, in addition to the air attacks and naval shelling.

1944 – Hitler cheats death as a bomb planted in a briefcase goes off, but fails to kill him. High German officials had made up their minds that Hitler must die. He was leading Germany in a suicidal war on two fronts, and assassination was the only way to stop him. A coup d’etat would follow, and a new government in Berlin would save Germany from complete destruction at the hands of the Allies. That was the plan. This was the reality: Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, chief of the army reserve, had been given the task of planting a bomb during a conference that was to be held at Berchtesgaden (but was later moved to Hitler’s headquarters at Rastenburg). Stauffenberg planted the explosive in a briefcase, which he placed under a table, then left quickly. Hitler was studying a map of the Eastern front as Colonel Heinz Brandt, trying to get a better look at the map, moved the briefcase out of place, farther away from where the Fuhrer was standing. At 12:42 p.m. the bomb went off. When the smoke cleared, Hitler was wounded, charred, and even suffered the temporary paralysis of one arm-but he was very much alive. (He was even well enough to keep an appointment with Benito Mussolini that very afternoon. He gave Il Duce a tour of the bomb site.) Four others present died from their wounds.

As the bomb went off, Stauffenberg was making his way to Berlin to carry out Operation Valkyrie, the overthrow of the central government. In Berlin, he and co-conspirator General Olbricht arrested the commander of the reserve army, General Fromm, and began issuing orders for the commandeering of various government buildings. And then the news came through from Herman Goering-Hitler was alive. Fromm, released from custody under the assumption he would nevertheless join the effort to throw Hitler out of office, turned on the conspirators. Stauffenberg and Olbricht were shot that same day. Once Hitler figured out the extent of the conspiracy (it reached all the way to occupied French), he began the systematic liquidation of his enemies. More than 7,000 Germans would be arrested (including evangelical pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer), and up to 5,000 would wind up dead-either executed or as suicides. Hitler, Himmler, and Goering took an even firmer grip on Germany and its war machine. Hitler became convinced that fate had spared him-“I regard this as a confirmation of the task imposed upon me by Providence”-and that “nothing is going to happen to me…. [T]he great cause which I serve will be brought through its present perils and…everything can be brought to a good end.”

1945 – The Potsdam Conference continues. Churchill, Truman and Stalin confer on politics and strategy, in a town near Berlin. Truman says that the Allies are making no territorial claims, wanting only peace, prosperity and “man’s greatest age.” Meanwhile, a flag which will fly over Tokyo when Japan is defeated was hoisted in Berlin today in the presence of President Truman.

1945 – Congress votes to increase the lending ceiling of the Export-Import Bank from $700 million to $3.5 billion. The United States Senate passes the Bretton Woods Bill by a vote of 61 to 16.

1945 – American forces land on Balut Island, at the entrance to Sarangani Bay of Mindanao. The small Japanese garrison is eliminated.

1945 – About 80 P-51 Mustang fighters, flying from Iwo Jima, strike targets in central Honshu.

1945 – For the second consecutive day, more than 200 Allied bombers, flying from Okinawa, attack Japanese airfields in the area of Shanghai.

1948 – William Forster, US Communist Party chairman, was arrested.

1948 – President Harry S. Truman institutes a military draft with a proclamation calling for nearly 10 million men to register for military service within the next two months. Truman’s action came during increasing Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union. Following World War II, the United States moved quickly to demobilize the vast military it had constructed during the conflict. During the war, more than 16 million men and women served in the U.S. military; when the war ended in August 1945, the American people demanded rapid demobilization. By 1948, less than 550,000 men remained in the U.S. Army. This rapid decline in the size of America’s military concerned U.S. government officials, who believed that a confrontation with the Soviet Union was imminent. During the years following World War II, relations between the Russians and Americans deteriorated rapidly.

In 1947, the president issued the Truman Doctrine, which provided aid to Greece and Turkey to oppose communist subversion. In that same year, Secretary of State George C. Marshall warned that Western Europe was on the brink of political and economic chaos that would leave it defenseless against communist aggression; the following year, Congress approved billions of dollars in financial assistance to the beleaguered nations. In June 1948, the Soviets cut all land traffic into the U.S.-British-French zones of occupation in West Berlin. The United States responded with the Berlin Airlift, in which tons of food and supplies were flown in to sustain the population of the besieged city. In light of these events, many Americans believed that actual combat with the Soviet Union was not far away.

In response to this threat, President Truman announced on July 20, 1948, that the United States was re-instituting the draft and issued a proclamation requiring nearly 10 million men to register for military service in the next two months. Truman’s action in July 1948 marked the first peacetime draft in the history of the United States, thereby underlining the urgency of his administration’s concern about a possible military confrontation with the Soviet Union. It also brought home to the American people in concrete terms the possibility that the Cold War could, at any moment, become an actual war. In 1950, possibility turned to reality when the United States entered the Korean War, and the size of America’s armed forces once again increased dramatically.

1950 – The U.S. 24th Infantry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division was bloodied in an ill-fated counterattack at Yechon.

1953 – U.S. Air Force Major Stephen L. Bettinger qualified as the 40th and last ace of the Korean War. Because he was shot down during this engagement and subsequently captured, he was not officially credited with his fifth victory until after his repatriation.

1956 – The deadline set at Geneva in 1954 for nationwide elections passes. Diem’s intransigence convinces many dissidents that the struggle to demand the implementation of the Geneva Agreements is futile. Although Diem’s harsh security measures have efficiently decimated the Vietminh, disorganized and uncoordinated insurgency begins in the South.

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1960 – In first launch of Polaris missile, USS George Washington (SSBN 598) successfully fires 2 operational Polaris missiles while submerged off Florida.

1964 – Four Navy divers enter Project SEALAB I capsule moored 192 feet on the ocean floor off Bermuda for 11 day experiment.

1964 – Viet Cong forces overrun Cai Be, the capital of Dinh Tuong Province, killing 11 South Vietnamese militiamen, 10 women, and 30 children. On July 31, South Vietnam charged that the enemy troops involved in the attack were North Vietnamese Army regulars and that Chinese communist advisors led the attack. This claim was never verified, but it is likely that North Vietnamese regulars participated in the action. This incident and numerous intelligence reports indicated that North Vietnamese regular troops were moving down the Ho Chi Minh Trail in great numbers to join the fighting in South Vietnam. This marked a major change in the tempo and scope of the war in South Vietnam and resulted in President Lyndon B. Johnson committing U.S. combat troops. North Vietnamese forces and U.S. troops clashed for the first time in November 1965, when units from the newly arrived 1st Cavalry Division engaged several North Vietnamese regiments in the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in the Central Highlands.

1969 – At 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, speaks these words to more than a billion people listening at home: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” A moment later, he stepped off the lunar landing module Eagle and became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon. The American effort to send astronauts to the moon has its origins in a famous appeal President John F. Kennedy made to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: “I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” At the time, the United States was still trailing the Soviet Union in space developments, and Cold War-era America welcomed Kennedy’s bold proposal. In 1966, after five years of work by an international team of scientists and engineers, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted the first unmanned Apollo mission, testing the structural integrity of the proposed launch vehicle and spacecraft combination. Then, on January 27, 1967, tragedy struck at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, when a fire broke out during a manned launch-pad test of the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn rocket. Three astronauts were killed in the fire. Despite the setback, NASA and its thousands of employees forged ahead, and in October 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, orbited Earth and successfully tested many of the sophisticated systems needed to conduct a moon journey and landing. In December of the same year, Apollo 8 took three astronauts to the dark side of the moon and back, and in March 1969 Apollo 9 tested the lunar module for the first time while in Earth orbit. Then in May, the three astronauts of Apollo 10 took the first complete Apollo spacecraft around the moon in a dry run for the scheduled July landing mission. At 9:32 a.m. on July 16, with the world watching, Apollo 11 took off from Kennedy Space Center with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins aboard. Armstrong, a 38-year-old civilian research pilot, was the commander of the mission. After traveling 240,000 miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19.

The next day, at 1:46 p.m., the lunar module Eagle, manned by Armstrong and Aldrin, separated from the command module, where Collins remained. Two hours later, the Eagle began its descent to the lunar surface, and at 4:18 p.m. the craft touched down on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong immediately radioed to Mission Control in Houston, Texas, a famous message: “The Eagle has landed.” At 10:39 p.m., five hours ahead of the original schedule, Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar module. As he made his way down the lunar module’s ladder, a television camera attached to the craft recorded his progress and beamed the signal back to Earth, where hundreds of millions watched in great anticipation. At 10:56 p.m., Armstrong spoke his famous quote, which he later contended was slightly garbled by his microphone and meant to be “that’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” He then planted his left foot on the gray, powdery surface, took a cautious step forward, and humanity had walked on the moon. “Buzz” Aldrin joined him on the moon’s surface at 11:11 p.m., and together they took photographs of the terrain, planted a U.S. flag, ran a few simple scientific tests, and spoke with President Richard M. Nixon via Houston. By 1:11 a.m. on July 21, both astronauts were back in the lunar module and the hatch was closed. The two men slept that night on the surface of the moon, and at 1:54 p.m. the Eagle began its ascent back to the command module.

Among the items left on the surface of the moon was a plaque that read: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon–July 1969 A.D–We came in peace for all mankind.” At 5:35 p.m., Armstrong and Aldrin successfully docked and rejoined Collins, and at 12:56 a.m. on July 22 Apollo 11 began its journey home, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:51 p.m. on July 24. There would be five more successful lunar landing missions, and one unplanned lunar swing-by, Apollo 13. The last men to walk on the moon, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission, left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972. The Apollo program was a costly and labor intensive endeavor, involving an estimated 400,000 engineers, technicians, and scientists, and costing $24 billion (close to $100 billion in today’s dollars). The expense was justified by Kennedy’s 1961 mandate to beat the Soviets to the moon, and after the feat was accomplished ongoing missions lost their viability.

1969 – Members of Rhode Island’s 107th Signal Company continue to perform ‘routine’ but necessary upgrades on equipment to assure a smooth flow of communications in support of Headquarters, II Field Force. The unit, in country since October 1968, actually had elements serving in three serving different locations in Vietnam. The main body was stationed at Long Binh while a platoon was based at Can Tho, 80 miles southwest of Saigon to support the IV Corps (Mekong Delta) area and a second platoon was situated at Tay Ninh (50 miles northwest of Saigon) to support the 199th Infantry Brigade. Among their tasks was the maintenance of teletype relays between different headquarters in country and the operation of a 200-line dial central office on wheels to provide commercial-quality phone service. This latter equipment allowed the unit to deploy with a mobile force and within an hour have its commo links up on line. While the unit had no men killed in action, Sergeant Ernest Perry of Warwick, RI, died of malaria. The 107th returned home in October 1969 and was reorganized in the Rhode Island Guard. However, it was disbanded in the 1990s and its lineage is now lost. It is the only National Guard unit (Army or Air) carrying Vietnam campaign credit not still in the force today.

1969 – A top-secret study, commissioned by presidential assistant Henry Kissinger, is completed by the office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Code-named Duck Hook, the study proposed measures for military escalation against North Vietnam. The military options included a massive bombing of Hanoi, Haiphong, and other key areas of North Vietnam; a ground invasion of North Vietnam; the mining of harbors and rivers; and a bombing campaign designed to sever the main railroad links to China. A total of 29 major targets in North Vietnam were pinpointed for destruction in a series of air attacks planned to last four days and to be renewed until Hanoi capitulated. This plan represented a drastic escalation of the war and was never ordered by President Richard Nixon. However, Nixon did order certain elements of the proposal, such as the intensified bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong and the mining of North Vietnamese harbors, in response to the 1972 North Vietnamese Easter Offensive.

1976 – Last US troops left Thailand.

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1976 – On the seventh anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, the Viking 1 lander, an unmanned U.S. planetary probe, becomes the first spacecraft to successfully land on the surface of Mars. Viking 1 was launched on August 20, 1975, and arrived at Mars on June 19, 1976. The first month of its orbit was devoted to imaging the surface to find appropriate landing sites. On July 20, 1976, the Viking 1 lander separated from the orbiter, touched down on the Chryse Planitia region of Mars, and sent back the first close-up photographs of the rust-colored Martian surface. In September 1976, Viking 2–launched only three weeks after Viking 1–entered into orbit around Mars, where it assisted Viking 1 in imaging the surface and also sent down a lander. During the dual Viking missions, the two orbiters imaged the entire surface of Mars at a resolution of 150 to 300 meters, and the two landers sent back more than 1,400 images of the planet’s surface.

1987 – The UN Security Council voted unanimously to approve a U.S.-sponsored resolution demanding an end to the Persian Gulf war between Iraq and Iran, a move supported by Iraq and dismissed by Iran.

1988 – Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini accepted a truce with Iraq, even though he said the decision was like drinking poison.

1989 – President Bush called for a long-range space program to build an orbiting space station, establish a base on the moon and send a manned mission to the planet Mars.

1990 – A federal appeals court set aside Oliver North’s Iran-Contra convictions, reversing one outright.

1999 – After 38 years at the bottom of the Atlantic, astronaut Gus Grissom’s “Liberty Bell Seven” Mercury capsule was lifted to the surface.

2002 – In Greece police arrested two more alleged November 17 terrorists, Iraklis Kostaris and Costas Karatsolis, both 36-year-old real estate agents. One was believed to be a hit man in four assassinations including those of a U.S. Air Force sergeant and a British brigadier.

2003 – American generals said a new Iraqi civil defense force would be created over the next 45 days with some 7,000 militia members. Gen. John Abizaid, the top commander of coalition forces in Iraq, predicted that resistance to U.S. forces in Iraq would grow in coming months as progress was made in creating a new government to replace the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein.

2003 – Operation Warrior Sweep involved a deployment of about 1,000 soldiers of the Afghan National Army, together with U.S.-led coalition troops, in the Zormat Valley region and the 3,260 meter-high peaks of the Ayubkhel Valley in the southern Paktia province in Afghanistan. The operation was in response to intelligence reports that some Taliban and al-Qaeda operatives were active in the area. It marked the first major combat operation for the Afghan troops. The Operation was completed in mid-September. By July 29, soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division were transported in by CH-47 Chinook helicopters to assist in the Operation. The coalition forces uncovered dozens of grenades, C-4 plastic explosives, a crate of dynamite, more than 20 rocket propelled grenade rounds, a box of anti-aircraft rounds and hundreds of 7.62 mm and handgun rounds.

Neither Taliban nor al-Qaeda guerrillas were encountered. U.S.-led coalition forces cleared illegal checkpoints from a number of key roads, including the main road leading from Gardez to Khost. The Afghan Army secured the road leading to Zormat. When U.S. forces arrived in the village of Atel Mohammed, residents hid their Qur’ans and other religious items. They feared that U.S. soldiers would kill them if they discovered they were Muslim. U.S. soldiers explained to the villagers that this was not the case. Toward the conclusion of the Operation in mid-September, forces from the United States, Italy, Romania and Afghanistan discovered several secret caves and caches containing more than 20,000 pieces of ordnance.

2003 – The sons of Saddam Husseing, Uday and Qusay, are killed in an engaement with US forces in Baghdad.

2004 – In Afghanistan US forces killed one militant and captured 5 others including a brother of Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

2004 – A Filipino truck driver held hostage in Iraq for nearly two weeks was freed, a day after his nation withdrew its final peacekeepers from Iraq.

2004 – A bomb attack on an Iraqi minibus killed four civilians and injured two others near Baqouba.

2004 – In Saudi Arabia the head of slain American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr., who was kidnapped and decapitated by militants last month, was found by security forces during a raid that targeted the hideout of the Saudi al-Qaida chief. Two militants were killed.

2007 – The Deployable Operations Group (DOG) was commissioned at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., under the command of RADM Thomas F. Atkins.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

BUCKLEY, DENIS
Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 136th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Peach Tree Creek, Ga., 20 July 1864. Entered service at: Avon, N.Y. Birth: Canada. Date of issue: 7 April 1865. Citation: Capture of flag of 31st Mississippi (C.S.A.).

CROSIER, WILLIAM H. H.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company G, 149th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Peach Tree Creek, Ga., 20 July 1864. Entered service at: Skaneateles, N.Y. Birth: Skaneateles, N.Y. Date of issue: 12 January 1892. Citation: Severely wounded and ambushed by the enemy, he stripped the colors from the staff and brought them back into the line.

HAPEMAN, DOUGLAS
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, 104th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Peach Tree Creek, Ga., 20 July 1864. Entered service at: Ottawa, Ill. Born: 15 January 1839, Ephratah, Fulton County, N.Y. Date of issue: 5 April 1898. Citation: With conspicuous coolness and bravery rallied his men under a severe attack, re-formed the broken ranks, and repulsed the attack.

SHANES, JOHN
Rank and organization: Private, Company K, 14th West Virginia Infantry. Place and date: At Carters Farm, Va., 20 July 1864. Entered service at:——. Birth: Monomgalis County, W.Va. Date of issue: 31 January 1896. Citation: Charged upon a Confederate fieldpiece in advance of his comrades and by his individual exertions silenced the piece.

WILLIAMS, WILLIAM H.
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 82d Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Peach Tree Creek, Ga., 20 July 1864. Entered service at: Miami County, Ohio. Birth: Hancock County, Ohio. Date of issue: 19 June 1894. Citation: Voluntarily went beyond the lines to observe the enemy; also aided a wounded comrade.

KEEFER, PHILIP B.
Rank and organization: Coppersmith, U.S. Navy. Born: 4 September 1875, Washington, D.C. Accredited to: District of Columbia. G.O. No.: 501, 14 December 1898. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Iowa off Santiago de Cuba, 20 July 1898. Following the blow-out of a manhole gasket of that vessel which caused the fireroom to be filled with live steam and the floor plates to be covered with boiling water, Keefer showed courageous and zealous conduct in hauling fires from 2 furnaces of boiler B.

PENN, ROBERT
Rank and organization: Fireman First Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 10 October 1872, City Point, Va. Accredited to: Virginia. G.O. No.: 501, 14 December 1898. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Iowa off Santiago de Cuba, 20 July 1898. Performing his duty at the risk of serious scalding at the time of the blowing out of the manhole gasket on board the vessel, Penn hauled the fire while standing on a board thrown across a coal bucket 1 foot above the boiling water which was still blowing from the boiler.

*COLLIER, GILBERT G.
Rank and organization: Sergeant (then Cpl.), U.S. Army, Company F, 223d Infantry Regiment, 40th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Tutayon, Korea, 19-20 July 1953. Entered service at: Tichnor Ark. Born: 30 December 1930, Hunter, Ark. G.O. No.: 3, 12 January 1955. Citation: Sgt. Collier, a member of Company F, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. Sgt. Collier was pointman and assistant leader of a combat patrol committed to make contact with the enemy. As the patrol moved forward through the darkness, he and his commanding officer slipped and fell from a steep, 60-foot cliff and were injured. Incapacitated by a badly sprained ankle which prevented immediate movement, the officer ordered the patrol to return to the safety of friendly lines. Although suffering from a painful back injury, Sgt. Collier elected to remain with his leader, and before daylight they managed to crawl back up and over the mountainous terrain to the opposite valley where they concealed themselves in the brush until nightfall, then edged toward their company positions. Shortly after leaving the daylight retreat they were ambushed and, in the ensuing fire fight, Sgt. Collier killed 2 hostile soldiers, received painful wounds, and was separated from his companion. Then, ammunition expended, he closed in hand-to-hand combat with 4 attacking hostile infantrymen, killing, wounding, and routing the foe with his bayonet. He was mortally wounded during this action, but made a valiant attempt to reach and assist his leader in a desperate effort to save his comrade’s life without regard for his own personal safety. Sgt. Collier’s unflinching courage, consummate devotion to duty, and gallant self-sacrifice reflect lasting glory upon himself and uphold the noble traditions of the military service.

*LIBBY, GEORGE D.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company C, 3d Engineer Combat Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Taejon, Korea, 20 July 1950. Entered service at: Waterbury, Conn. Birth: Bridgton, Maine. G.O. No.: 62, 2 August 1951. Citation: Sgt. Libby distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action. While breaking through an enemy encirclement, the vehicle in which he was riding approached an enemy roadblock and encountered devastating fire which disabled the truck, killing or wounding all the passengers except Sgt. Libby. Taking cover in a ditch Sgt. Libby engaged the enemy and despite the heavy fire crossed the road twice to administer aid to his wounded comrades. He then hailed a passing M-5 artillery tractor and helped the wounded aboard. The enemy directed intense small-arms fire at the driver, and Sgt. Libby, realizing that no one else could operate the vehicle, placed himself between the driver and the enemy thereby shielding him while he returned the fire. During this action he received several wounds in the arms and body. Continuing through the town the tractor made frequent stops and Sgt. Libby helped more wounded aboard. Refusing first aid, he continued to shield the driver and return the fire of the enemy when another roadblock was encountered. Sgt. Libby received additional wounds but held his position until he lost consciousness. Sgt. Libby’s sustained, heroic actions enabled his comrades to reach friendly lines. His dauntless courage and gallant self-sacrifice reflect the highest credit upon himself and uphold the esteemed traditions of the U.S. Army.

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21 July

1667 – The Peace of Breda ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War and ceded Dutch New Amsterdam to the English. The South American country of Surinam, formerly Dutch Guiana, including the nutmeg island of Run was ceded by England to the Dutch in exchange.

1669 – John Locke’s Constitution of English colony Carolina was approved.

1823 – After pirate attack, LT David G. Farragut leads landing party to destroy pirate stronghold in Cuba.

1861 – The first major engagement of the main armies in the Civil War takes place along a muddy creek known as “Bull Run.” The entire Confederate Army was composed of volunteer militia although some of its officers had served in the federal army before the war. While the Union Army had some Regular soldiers in it, most of its ranks also contained volunteer militia. Neither army was well trained and in the regiments of both were found a variety of uniforms in blue and gray, causing confusion on the battlefield. The battle was a Confederate victory, made notable by the determined defense of General Thomas Jackson and his Virginia troops, hereafter known to history as the “Stonewall Brigade.” When the Union army marched out of Washington, DC, it soon engaged the Confederate army assembled near the railroad junction at Manassas Court House, in Northern Virginia. This marked the first major land combat of the war. Both armies had units dressed in blue and gray, causing confusion among units all day. As Union forces started pressing hard against the Confederate left flank, the 4th Alabama Volunteer Infantry was dispatched to plug a gap while other southern forces formed a defensive line behind them. The 4th held its ground for more than an hour, repulsing four assaults by Union troops. Finally the rebels regrouped and went on the attack, winning the battle and sending the Union army reeling back into Washington, DC. The 4th Alabama fought in every major engagement in the Eastern Theater of the war, surrendering less than 100 men at Appomattox in April 1865.

1861 – U.S.S. Albatross, Commander Prentiss, engaged C.S.S. Beaufort, Lieutenant R. C. Duvall, in Oregon In¬let, North Carolina. Albatross, heavier gunned, forced Beau fort to withdraw.

1862 – U.S. steamers Clara Dolsen and Rob Roy and tug Restless under Commander Alexander M. Pennock, with troops embarked, arrived from Cairo to protect Evansville, Indiana, at the request of Governor Morton. Troops were landed and retook Henderson, Kentucky, from Confederate guerrillas, several boats were burned, and the Ohio was patrolled against attack from the Kentucky side of the river. Major General John Love wrote to Commander Pennock expressing the “gratitude with which the citizens of Indiana and of this locality will regard the prompt cooperation of yourself and your officers in this emergency, which threatened their security.” The mobility which naval control of the river gave to Union forces neutralized repeated Confederate attempts to re-establish positions in the border states.

1877 – In mid-July of 1877, the Baltimore and Ohio railroad strike turned bloody: the Maryland militia opened fire on the rail workers, leaving nine strikers dead and touching off a round of riots that engulfed Baltimore. The effects of the Baltimore and Ohio incident surged across the East Coast and, on this day in 1877, workers in rail-heavy Pittsburgh hit the picket line to stage a sympathy strike. Coming but a day after the outbreak of fighting in Maryland, the Pittsburgh strike was all but bound to degenerate into violence. And, when the state militia entered the scene, Pittsburgh was primed to go up in flames. The workers greeted the troops with a volley of stones; the militia responded with a round gun fire and Pittsburgh’s sympathy strike soon turned into an all out war. During the ensuing battle ignited, fires ravaged the surrounding area and forced the militia to beat a temporary retreat. But, after a night of a fighting that cost local rail companies some $10 million, the troops regained a modicum of control over the city. While the brutish events in Pittsburgh were repeated in Chicago later that month, the bloodshed did little to aid the Baltimore and Ohio strikers: indeed, the rail workers ultimately signed an agreement that did little to ameliorate their conditions.

1898 – Spain ceded Guam to US.

1918 – The residents and coastguardsmen of Orleans, Massachusetts, were amazed to see the German U-boat, U-156, firing at an American tug and four barges just off shore.

1921 – Gen. Billy Mitchell flew off with a payload of makeshift aerial bombs and sank the former German battle ship Ostfriesland off Hampton Roads, Virginia; the 1st time a battleship was ever sunk by an airplane.

1930 – The Veterans Administration is established to replace the troubled Veterans Bureau and two other agencies involved in veterans’ care.

1941 – Roosevelt asks Congress to extend the draft period from one year to 30 months and to make similar increases in the terms of service for the National Guard. There is considerable debate on the proposal.

1941 – France accepted Japan’s demand for military control of Indochina.

1941 – Himmler ordered the building of the Majdanek concentration camp. The camp was built in eastern Poland as a principal site to exterminate Jews. It contained 7 gas chambers.

1942 – President Roosevelt appointments Admiral Leahy as his personal Chief of Staff.

1943 – The Allied advances continue. The British capture Gerbini, the Canadians take Leonforte and the Americans occupy Corleone and Castelvetrano.

1943 – A small American force lands on Vella Lavella to determine whether significant forces can be landed there, by-passing the Japanese stronghold of Kolombangara. On New Georgia, Griswald plans an new offensive.

1944 – Troops of the US 3rd Amphibious Corps (Geiger) land on Guam. The 3rd Marine Division (Turnage) establishes a beachhead at Asan, west of Agana. The 1st Marine Division (Shephard) comes ashore at Agat. Eventually, 54,900 American troops are deployed. There is only moderate Japanese resistance on the beaches. Task Force 53 (Admiral Connolly) provides naval support with 6 battleships and 5 escort carriers. Three groups from Task Force 58 attack Japanese positions with carrier aircraft. The Japanese garrison numbers 19,000. The defense is based on the forces of the 29th Infantry Division (Takashima). General Obata, commanding the Japanese 31st Army, is present on the island. Participating vessels included the Coast Guard tender CGC Tupelo and the Coast Guard-manned Navy warships included Cor Caroli, Aquarius, Centaurus, Sterope, Arthur Middleton, LST-24, LST-70, LST-71 and LST-207.

1944 – Japanese forces launch further attacks over the Driniumor River, near Aitape. American forces hold the offensive.

1944 – The French Expeditionary Corps (part of US 5th Army) is withdrawn from the line. It is being redeployed as part of the preparation for the Allied invasion of southern France.

1944 – German General Von Kluge warned Hitler of the impending collapse of front in Normandy.

1945 – The Potsdam Conference continues. Churchill, Truman and Stalin confer on politics and strategy, in a town near Berlin. Although very little information about the progress of the Big Three Conference is being made public, it is reported that much has been done. The leaders have spent an average of almost 3 hours together since their first meeting on Tuesday and there are also frequent and lengthy meetings between the foreign affairs ministers (Eden, Byrnes and Molotov), committees and subcommittees of experts. In a private meeting Truman and Churchill agree to drop the atomic bomb on Japan if it fails to surrender unconditionally. Meanwhile, Allied representatives select Nuremberg as the location of the trial of the main Nazi war leaders.

1945 – American radio broadcasts call on Japan to surrender or face destruction.

1946 – In first U.S. test of adaptability of jet aircraft to shipboard operations, XFD-1 Phantom makes landings and takeoffs without catapults from Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1949 – The US Senate ratified the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) 82-13.

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1950 – Major General William F. Dean was reported missing in action as his 24th Infantry Division fought its way out of Taejon. During that action, he set the example by single-handedly attacking a T-34 tank with a grenade and directing the fire of others from an exposed position. As his division withdrew, he remained with the rearguard, rounding up stragglers and aiding the wounded. It was learned later that he had been captured about 35 miles south of Taejon on Aug. 25. Since the communists kept his capture a secret, he was presumed dead. In early 1951, President Truman presented the Medal of Honor to his wife in a White House ceremony. He was the only general officer and, at 51, the oldest man to receive the Medal of Honor during the Korean War.

1955 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower presents his “Open Skies” plan at the 1955 Geneva summit meeting with representatives of France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. The plan, though never accepted, laid the foundation for President Ronald Reagan’s later policy of “trust, but verify” in relation to arms agreements with the Soviet Union. Eisenhower met with Prime Minister Anthony Eden of Great Britain, Premier Edgar Faure of France, and Premier Nikolai Bulganin of the Soviet Union (acting for Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev) in Geneva in July 1955. The agenda for the summit included discussions on the future of Germany and arms control. As it became clear that no consensus could be reached on the issue of possible German reunification or the precise configuration of an arms control agreement, Eisenhower dramatically unveiled what came to be known as his “Open Skies” proposal. It called for the United States and the Soviet Union to exchange maps indicating the exact location of every military installation in their respective nations. With these maps in hand, each nation would then be allowed to conduct aerial surveillance of the installations in order to assure that the other nations were in compliance with any arms control agreements that might be reached.

While the French and British expressed interest in the idea, the Soviets rejected any plan that would leave their nation subject to surveillance by a Western power. Khrushchev declared that Eisenhower’s “Open Skies” was nothing more than an “espionage plot.” Indeed, “Open Skies” was much less than an “espionage plot.” Eisenhower himself was later quoted as saying that he knew the Soviets would never accept the plan, but thought that their rejection of the idea would make the Russians look like they were the major impediment to an arms control agreement. For the Soviets, the idea of U.S. planes conducting surveillance of their military bases was unthinkable. They did not want it known that the Soviet Union was far behind the United States in terms of its military capabilities. The United States soon found that out anyway–just a few months after the Soviet rejection of “Open Skies,” the Eisenhower administration approved the use of high-altitude spy planes (the famous U-2s) for spying on the Soviet Union. Thirty years later, President Reagan would use much the same rhetoric in his arms control dealings with the Soviet Union. Arms control, he declared, could only be effective if compliance with such agreements could be verified. “Trust, But Verify,” became Reagan’s standard phrase.

1955 – First sub powered by liquid metal cooled reactor launched – Seawolf.

1961 – Capt. Virgil “Gus” Grissom became the second American to rocket into a suborbital pattern around the Earth, flying on the Mercury 4 Liberty Bell 7. The Mercury capsule sank in the Atlantic, 302 miles from Cape Canaveral and Grissom was rescued by helicopter. The space capsule was recovered in 1999.

1965 – With Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara back from a visit to Vietnam, President Lyndon B. Johnson begins a weeklong series of conferences with his civilian and military advisers on Vietnam. He also met with private citizens that he trusted during this period. Johnson appeared to be considering all the options with an open mind, but it was clear that he was leaning toward providing more combat troops to bolster the faltering South Vietnamese government. Johnson was faced with a rapidly deteriorating situation in Vietnam. The Viet Cong had increased the level of combat and there were indications that Hanoi was sending troops to fight in South Vietnam. It was apparent that the South Vietnamese were in danger of being overwhelmed. Johnson had sent Marines and paratroopers to protect American installations, but he was becoming convinced that more had to be done to stop the communists or they would soon overwhelm South Vietnam. While some advisers, such as Undersecretary of State George Ball, recommended a negotiated settlement, McNamara urged the president to “expand promptly and substantially” the U.S. military presence in South Vietnam. Johnson, not wanting to “lose” Vietnam to the communists, ultimately accepted McNamara’s recommendation. On July 22, he authorized a total of 44 U.S. battalions for commitment in South Vietnam, a decision that led to a massive escalation of the war. There were less than ten U.S. Army and Marine battalions in South Vietnam at this time. Eventually there would be more than 540,000 U.S. troops in South Vietnam.

1966 – Gemini X returned to Earth.

1974 – US House Judiciary approved 2 Articles of Impeachment against President Richard M. Nixon.

1980 – Draft registration began in the United States for 19- and 20-year-old men.

1987 – Navy escorts first Earnest Will Convoy in the Persian Gulf.

1989 – The State Department confirmed an ABC News report that Felix S. Bloch, a veteran U.S. diplomat, was being investigated as a possible Soviet spy. Bloch was never charged with espionage, but was fired from his job in 1990.

1993 – A GI is WIA in a rocket attack. Return fire from a Cobra kills one Somali gunman.

1997 – The U.S.S. Constitution, aka Old Ironsides,, which defended the United States during the War of 1812, set sail with 216 crew members under its own power for first time in 116 years, leaving its temporary anchorage at Marblehead, Mass., for a one-hour voyage marking its 200th anniversary. The actual anniversary was the following October. It was built in 1797 and was never defeated in 42 battles. Prior to this launch her Navy crew received training in sailing a square rigger aboard the Coast Guard’s Eagle. The Coast Guard then enforced security and safety zones around the Navy frigate during her brief voyage around the harbor. More than 800 Coast Guard personnel, 10 cutters, three helicopters and 81 small boats were involved in the operation.

1998 – The Pentagon said it found no evidence to support allegations in a CNN report that U.S. troops had used nerve gas against American defectors in Laos.

1998 – Astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, died in Monterey, Calif., at age 74.

2000 – Special Counsel John C. Danforth concluded “with 100 percent certainty” that the federal government was innocent of wrongdoing in the siege that killed 80 members of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, in 1993.

2000 – It was reported that computers at Los Alamos simulated a nuclear blast in 3 dimensions for the 1st time.

2003 – About 1,000 soldiers of Afghanistan’s new national army launched their first major operation, sweeping for insurgents in the east of the country.

2003 – In Liberia mortar shells hit the heavily fortified U.S. Embassy in the Monrovia, injuring at least three people. Fighting in the Liberian capital of Monrovia left over 600 dead.

2003 – The Saudi government announced that police arrested 16 al-Qaida-linked terror suspects over the last 4 days and used tractors to dig up an underground arsenal: 20 tons of bomb-making chemicals, detonators, rocket-propelled grenades and rifles.

2004 – In Afghanistan 10 militant fighters were killed and 5 wounded and captured when they attacked a US-led force near Kandahar.

2004 – Insurgents in Iraq said they have kidnapped 6 more foreign hostages, 3 Indians, 2 Kenyans and an Egyptian. They threatened to behead one every 72 hours unless their employer shuts down operations in Iraq.

2013 – ISIS organised a mass break-out of its members being held in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison. Over 500 prisoners escaped, including senior commanders of the group. ISIS issued an online statement claiming responsibility for the prison break, describing the operation as involving 12 car bombs, numerous suicide bombers and mortar and rocket fire. It was the culmination of a one-year campaign called “destroying the walls”, which was launched on 21 July 2012 by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi; the aim was to replenish the group’s ranks with comrades released from the prison.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day

AMES, ADELBERT
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 5th U.S. Artillery. Place and date: At Bull Run, Va., 21 July 1861. Entered service at: Rockland, Maine. Birth: East Thomaston, Maine. Date of issue: 22 June 1894. Citation: remained upon the field in command of a section of Griffin’s Battery, directing its fire after being severely wounded and refusing to leave the field until too weak to sit upon the caisson where he had been placed by men of his command.

COOKE, WALTER H.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company K, 4th Pennsylvania Infantry Militia. Place and date. At Bull Run, Va., 21 July 1861. Entered service at:——. Birth: Norristown, Pa. Date of issue: 19 May 1887. Citation: Voluntarily served as an aide on the staff of Col. David Hunter and participated in the battle, his term of service having expired on the previous day.

HARTRANFT, JOHN F.
Rank and organization: Colonel, 4th Pennsylvania Militia. Place and date: At Bull Run, Va., 21 July 1861. Entered service at: Norristown, Pa. Born: 16 December 1830, New Hanover Township, Montgomery County, Pa. Date of issue: 26 August 1886. Citation: Voluntarily served as an aide and participated in the battle after expiration of his term of service, distinguishing himself in rallying several regiments which had been thrown into confusion.

KNOWLES, ABIATHER J.
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 2d Maine Infantry. Place and date: At Bull Run, Va., 21 July 1861, Entered service at: ——. Born: 15 March 1830, LaGrange, Maine. Date of issue: 27 December 1894. Citation: Removed dead and wounded under heavy fire.

McGOUGH, OWEN
Rank and organization: Corporal, Battery D, 5th U.S. Artillery. Place and date: At Bull Run, Va., 21 July 1861. Entered service at:——. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 28 August 1897. Citation: Through his personal exertions under a heavy fire, one of the guns of his battery was brought off the field; all the other guns were lost.

MERRITT, JOHN G.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company K, 1st Minnesota Infantry. Place and date: At Bull Run, Va., 21 July 1861. Entered service at: ——. Birth: New York. Date of issue: 1 April 1880. Citation: Gallantry in action; was wounded while capturing flag in advance of his regiment.

MURPHY, CHARLES J.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant and Quartermaster, 38th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Bull Run, Va., 21 July 1861. Entered service at:——. Birth: England. Date of issue: 5 April 1898. Citation: Took a rifle and voluntarily fought with his regiment in the ranks; when the regiment was forced back, voluntarily remained on the field caring for the wounded, and was there taken prisoner.

TRUELL, EDWIN M.
Rank and organization: Private, Company E, 12th Wisconsin Infantry. Place and date: Near Atlanta, Ga., 21 July 1864. Entered service at: Mauston, Wis. Birth: Lowell, Mass. Date of issue: 11 March 1870. Citation: Although severely wounded in a charge, he remained with the regiment until again severely wounded, losing his leg.

WHEELER, HENRY W.
Rank and organization: Private, Company A, 2d Maine Infantry. Place and date: At Bull Run, Va., 21 July 1861. Entered service at: Bangor, Maine. Born: 1842, Fort Smith, Ark. Date of issue: 5 April 1898. Citation: Voluntarily accompanied his commanding officer and assisted in removing the dead and wounded from the field under a heavy fire of artillery and musketry.

WILLCOX, ORLANDO B.
Rank and organization: Colonel, 1st Michigan Infantry. Place and date: At Bull Run, Va., 21 July 1861. Entered service at: Detroit, Mich. Birth: Detroit, Mich. Date of issue: 2 March 1895. Citation: Led repeated charges until wounded and taken prisoner.

WITHINGTON, WILLIAM H.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company B, 1st Michigan Infantry. Place and date: At Bull Run, Va., 21 July 1861._ Entered service at: Jackson, Mich. Born: 1 February 1835, Dorchester, Mass. Date of issue: 7 January 1895. Citation: Remained on the field under heavy fire to succor his superior officer.

BOERS, EDWARD WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 10 March 1884, Cincinnati, Ohio. Accredited to: Kentucky. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Bennington, 21 July 1905. Following the explosion of a boiler of that vessel, Boers displayed extraordinary heroism in the resulting action.

BROCK, GEORGE F.
Rank and organization: Carpenter’s Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 18 October 1872, Cleveland, Ohio. Accredited to: California. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Bennington for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.

CLAUSEY, JOHN J.
Rank and organization: Chief Gunner’s Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 16 May 1875, San Francisco, Calif. Accredited to: California. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Bennington for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.

CRONAN, WILLIE
Rank and organization: Boatswain’s Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 23 October 1883, Chicago, Ill. Accredited to: Illinois. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Bennington, for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.

DAVIS, RAYMOND E.
Rank and organization: Quartermaster Third Class U.S. Navy. Place and date: On board the U.S.S. Bennington, 21 July i905. Entered service at: Puget Sound, Wash. Born: 19 September 1885, Mankato, Minn. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Bennington, for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.

FREDERICKSEN, EMIL
Rank and organization: Watertender, U.S. Navy. (Biography not available.) G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Benington, for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.

GRBITCH, RADE
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 24 December 1870, Austria. Accredited to: Illinois. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Bennington, for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.

HILL, FRANK E.
Rank and organization: Ship’s Cook First Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 31 July 1880, La Grange, Ind. Accredited to: Indiana. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Bennington, for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.

NELSON, OSCAR FREDERICK
Rank and organization: Machinist’s Mate First Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 5 November 1881, Minneapolis, Minn. Accredited to: Minnesota. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Bennington, for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.

SCHMIDT, OTTO DILLER
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 10 August 1884, Blair, Nebr. Accredited to: Nebraska. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: While serving on board the U.S.S. Bennington for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.

SHACKLETTE, WILLIAM SIDNEY
Rank and organization: Hospital Steward, U.S. Navy. Born: 17 May 1880, Delaplane, Va. Accredited to: Virginia. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: For extraordinary heroism while serving on the U.S.S. Bennington at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.

DEAN, WILLIAM F.
Rank and organization: Major General, U.S. Army, commanding general, 24th Infantry Division. Place and date: Taejon, Korea, 20 and 21 July 1950. Entered service at: California. Born: 1 August 1899, Carlyle, Ill. G.O. No.: 7, 16 February 1951. Citation: Maj. Gen. Dean distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the repeated risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. In command of a unit suddenly relieved from occupation duties in Japan and as yet untried in combat, faced with a ruthless and determined enemy, highly trained and overwhelmingly superior in numbers, he felt it his duty to take action which to a man of his military experience and knowledge was clearly apt to result in his death. He personally and alone attacked an enemy tank while armed only with a hand grenade. He also directed the fire of his tanks from an exposed position with neither cover nor concealment while under observed artillery and small-arm fire.

When the town of Taejon was finally overrun he refused to insure his own safety by leaving with the leading elements but remained behind organizing his retreating forces, directing stragglers, and was last seen assisting the wounded to a place of safety. These actions indicate that Maj. Gen. Dean felt it necessary to sustain the courage and resolution of his troops by examples of excessive gallantry committed always at the threatened portions of his frontlines. The magnificent response of his unit to this willing and cheerful sacrifice, made with full knowledge of its certain cost, is history. The success of this phase of the campaign is in large measure due to Maj. Gen. Dean’s heroic leadership, courageous and loyal devotion to his men, and his complete disregard for personal safety.

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22 July

1587 – A second English colony of 114-150 people under John White, financed by Sir Walter Raleigh, was established on Roanoke Island off North Carolina. The colony included 17 women and 9 children. Croatoan Indians informed them that Roanoke Indians had killed the men from the previous expedition. A three-year draught, the worst in 800 years, peaked during this time.

1620 – The Pilgrims set out from Holland destined for the New World. The Speedwell sailed to England from the Netherlands with members of the English Separatist congregation that had been living in Leiden, Holland. Joining the larger Mayflower at Southampton, the two ships set sail together in August, but the Speedwell soon proved unseaworthy and was abandoned at Plymouth, England. The entire company then crowded aboard the Mayflower, setting sail for North America on September 16, 1620.

1796 – Cleveland was founded by Gen. Moses Cleveland. Moses Cleveland came to where the city of Cleveland now sits and surveyed the land. After three months he returned to Connecticut. The city bears his name.

1802 – Frigate Constellation defeats 9 Corsair gunboats off Tripoli.

1814 – Five Indian tribes in Ohio made peace with the United States and declared war on Britain.

1823 – Marines attack Pirates near Cape Cruz, Cuba.

1862 – U.S.S. Essex, Commander W. D. Porter, and ram Queen of the West, Lieutenant Colonel Ellet, attacked C.S.S. Arkansas, Commander I. N. Brown, at anchor with a disabled engine at Vicksburg. Although many of his officers and crew were ashore sick and wounded after the action of 15 July, Commander Brown fought his ship gallantly. After attempting to ram, the Essex became closely engaged in cannon fire with Arkansas. Breaking off the engagement, Essex steamed through a bail of shell Past the shore batteries and joined Rear Admiral Farragut’s fleet which had remained below Vicksburg after passing the city on 15 July. Queen of the West rammed Arkansas but with little effect. She rejoined Flag Officer Davis’ fleet in a shattered condition. The day after repelling the attack by Essex and Queen of the West, Commander Brown defiantly steamed Arkansas up and down the river under the Vicksburg batteries. A member of Arkansas’s crew, Dabney M. Scales, described the action in a vivid letter to his father: “At 4 o’clock on the morning of the 22nd, I was awakened by the call to quarters. Hurrying to our stations, with not even a full complement of men for 3 guns; our soldiers having left just the night before; we discovered the enemy coming right down upon us. . . . We did not have men enough to heave the anchor up and get underway, before the enemy got to us, even if we had had steam ready. So we had to lay in to the bank, and couldn’t meet him on anything like equal terms. . . . The Essex came first, firing on us with her three bow guns. We replied with our two bow guns as long as they could be brought to bear, which was not a very long time, as our vessel being stationary, the enemy soon came too much on our broadside for these guns, and their crews Lad to be shifted to the broadside guns. In the meantime, the Essex ranged up alongside us, and at the distance of 20 feet poured in a broads. which crashed against our sides like nothing that I ever heard be-fore. . . . We were so close that our men were burnt by the powder of the enemy’s guns. . . All this time the Ram [Queen of the West] was not idle, but came close down on the heels of his con-sort. . . . We welcomed him as warmly as we could with our scanty crew. Just before he got to us, we managed by the helm and with the aid of the starboard propellor, to turn our bow out-stream a little, which prevented him from getting a fair lick at us. As it was, he glanced round our side and ran aground just astern of us.” Meanwhile, the Confederate Secretary of War in a general order praised Arkansas’s feats of the week before: “Lieutenant Brown, and the officers and crew of the Confederate steamer Arkansas, by their heroic attack upon the Federal fleet before Vicksburg equaled the highest recorded examples of courage and skill. They proved that the Navy, when it regains its proper element, will be one of the chief bulwarks of national defense and that it is entitled to a high place in the confidence and affection of the country.

1864 – Confederate General John Bell Hood continues to try to drive General William T. Sherman from the outskirts of Atlanta when he attacks the Yankees on Bald Hill. The attack failed, and Sherman tightened his hold on Atlanta. Confederate President Jefferson Davis had appointed Hood commander of the Army of Tennessee just four days before the engagement at Atlanta. Davis had been frustrated with the defensive campaign of the previous commander, Joseph Johnston, so he appointed Hood to drive Sherman back North. Hood attacked Peachtree Creek on July 20, but he could not break the Federals. Two days later, Hood tried again at Bald Hill. The Union force under Sherman consisted of three armies: James McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee, John Schofield’s Army of the Ohio, and George Thomas’ Army of the Cumberland. Thomas’ force pressed on Atlanta from the north, at Peachtree Creek, while McPherson swung to Atlanta’s eastern fringe to cut the Georgia Railroad, which ran to Decatur. Hood struck at McPherson on July 22, but several problems blunted the Confederate attack. The broken, rugged terrain made coordination difficult, and the attack, which had been planned for dawn, did not begin until after noon. Most important, and unbeknownst to Hood, McPherson extended his line east. The Confederates had assembled along a line—which they thought was behind the Union flank—but was now directly in front of fortified Federal soldiers. Hood’s men briefly breached the Union line, but could not hold the position. The day ended without a significant change in the position of the two armies. For the second time in three days, Hood failed to break the Union hold on Atlanta. His already-outnumbered army fared poorly. He lost more than 5,000 men, while the Union suffered 3,700 casualties. Among them was General McPherson, who had been killed while scouting the lines during the battle. He was one of the most respected and promising commanders in the Union army.

1864 – Lieutenant Charles S. Cotton and Acting Ensign John L. Hall led a landing party from U.S.S. Oneida on a daring expedition that resulted in the capture of a Confederate cavalry patrol near Fort Morgan, Mobile Bay. The sailors rowed in from Oneida under cover of’ darkness, and lay in wait for a nightly Southern patrol which had been under observation for some time. Surprise was complete, and Hall marched a detachment four miles further inland to destroy the patrol’s camp site. Lieutenant Cotton reported: “The results of the expedition were captured, 1 lieutenant and 4 privates of the Seventh Alabama Cavalry, arms and ammunition; 5 horses, with their equipments complete, and all the camp equipage and stores.

1881 – The first volume of “The War of the Rebellion,” a compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, was published.

1905 – Body of John Paul Jones moved to Annapolis, MD for reburial.

1916 – In San Francisco, a bomb at a Preparedness Day parade on Market Street kills 10 people and wounds 40. The bomb was hidden in a suitcase. The parade was organized by the city’s Chamber of Commerce in support of America’s possible entrance into World War I. San Francisco was suffering through severe labor strife at the time, and many suspected that anti-war labor radicals were responsible for the terrorist attack. Labor leader Tom Mooney, his wife Rena, his assistant Warren K. Billings, and two others were soon charged by District Attorney Charles Fickert with the bombing. The case attracted international interest because all evidence, with the exception of a handful of questionable witness accounts, seemed to point unquestionably to their innocence. Even after confessions of perjured testimony were made in the courtroom, the trial continued, and in 1917 Mooney and Billings were convicted of first-degree murder, with Billings sentenced to life imprisonment and Mooney sentenced to hang. The other three defendants were acquitted. Responding to international outrage at the conviction, President Woodrow Wilson set up a “mediation commission” to investigate the case, and no clear evidence of their guilt was found. In 1918, Mooney’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. During the next two decades, many groups and individuals petitioned California to grant the two men a new trial. By 1939, when evidence of perjury and false testimony at the trial had become overwhelming, newly elected Governor Culbert Olson pardoned Mooney and commuted Billing’s sentence to time served. Billings was not officially pardoned until 1961.

1919 – Two companies of Quantico Marines helped civil authorities restore order after race riots in Washington, DC.

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1942 – President Roosevelt agrees that the second front in Europe, code-named Operation Sledgehammer, will not be possible this year. He instructs his staff in London to agree to “another place for US troops to fight in 1942.” The plan to invade North Africa, renamed Operation Torch is adopted. The design of Operation Torch was to secure all of North Africa for the Allies.

1943 – The American Seventh Army forces led by Gen. George S. Patton captured Palermo, Sicily. Gen Patton moved his troops across Sicily through August.

1943 – US naval forces (2 battleships and 4 cruisers as well as lighter units) bombard Japanese held Kiska Island.

1944 – During the summer, representatives from forty-four nations gathered at a resort hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to hash out the global finances for the remaining half of the twentieth century. Cast against the backdrop of World War II, the three-week conference was a striking display of the United States’ swelling political and fiscal might. For one, the U.S. used Bretton Woods as a stage to promote the dollar as the standard currency for international transactions. Though some European leaders initially blanched at the idea, American officials stood their ground and the dollar eventually won the day. But, the United States’ victories at Bretton Woods didn’t end there: by the time the conference closed on July 22, the delegates had voted to create both the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), institutions which, in the minds of some historians, sealed America’s role as the leader of the post-war economic order. Though U.S. leaders positioned the World Bank and IMF as “financial institutions” shorn of political entanglements, both bodies bore the traces of American influence. The brainchild of American officials, the IMF was charged with stabilizing exchange rates and enforcing the dollar-centric currency standard. Likewise, the World Bank, which was devised to dole out international loans, received good chunks of its fiscal resources from the United States.

1944 – On Guam, marines of US 3rd Amphibious Corps attempt to link up their two beachheads with converging attacks. The American forces each advance about one mile against heavy Japanese resistance.

1945 – The American Far East Air Force attack Japanese air bases and shipping in the Shanghai area with 300 planes (including the new Douglas A-26 Invader light bomber). The Japanese news agency later reports that the Shanghai area was bombed by about 100 bombers and fighters and claims the Japanese shot down 4 planes and damaged 7 others.

1945 – US Task Force 92 bombards Paramushiro in the Kurile Islands. During the night (July 22-23), 9 American destroyers penetrate Tokyo Bay under the cover of a storm and attack a Japanese convoy. Other Allied task forces are being resupplied in the largest resupply at sea operation of the war.

1945 – The Japanese government announces that it is open to peace negotiations but not to threats.

1950 – After 17 days of continuous combat, the U.S. 24th Infantry Division had been driven back 100 miles, suffered more than 30 percent casualties, and had more than 2,400 men missing in action.

1950– The Department of the Army asked reserve officers to volunteer for active duty.

1953 – Major John H. Glenn, future astronaut and U.S. senator, claimed his third MiG kill in the last aerial victory of the Korean War by a Marine pilot.

1953 – First Lieutenant Sam P. Young, 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, was credited with the final MiG kill of the Korean War.

1953 – U.S. ships laid down heavy barrage to support UN troops in Korea.

1954 – Governor Gordon Persons declares martial law in Russell County after a key witness in an upcoming grand jury inquiry is murdered to prevent his testimony about local corruption and vote fraud. About 150 Alabama Guardsmen, under command of the Major General Walter Hanna, commander of the 31st Infantry Division, started moving into the city and surrounding areas to ‘clean up’ what had been referred to as the “most wicked city in the United States.” Phenix City had been known for years as a den of gambling, bootleg liquor and prostitutes all aided by corrupt cops and others in leadership positions. Located just across the state line from Fort Benning, GA, the city thrived on the ‘soldier trade’. After several failed attempts to clean up the situation, the killing was the last straw. Hanna and his men replaced the sheriff and deputies, while all the local judges were replaced by ones sent by the governor from outside areas. All the gambling equipment (slot machines, roulette tables, etc.) was destroyed, the girls run out of the county and the corrupt officials jailed, fined or otherwise prevented from acting. The mission ended in January 1955, nearly six months after it started. A determined general backed by at least 300 Guardsmen on duty at some point, finally succeeded in cleaning up the ‘wicked city’ once and for all.

1960 – Cuba nationalized all US owned sugar factories.

1964 – Four Navy Divers (LCDR Robert Thompson, MC; Gunners Mate First Class Lester Anderson, Chief Quartermaster Robert A. Barth, and Chief Hospital Corpsman Sanders Manning) submerge in Sealab I for 10 days at a depth of 192 feet, 39 miles off Hamilton, Bermuda. They surfaced on 31 July 1964.

1966 – B-52 bombers hit the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Vietnam for the first time.

1967 – Gen. Maxwell Taylor, former U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam and now a consultant to President Lyndon B. Johnson, and presidential adviser Clark Clifford tour South Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea to sound out opinion on the possibility of another summit conference on the situation in Vietnam. Reportedly, they were also seeking additional troops for the war. On their return to Washington, Taylor and Clifford reported no major disagreements on any aspect of the war among the national leaders with whom they had spoken during the trip. Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and Korea eventually sent combat troops to South Vietnam to fight alongside the Americans and South Vietnamese.

1975 – The House of Representatives joined the Senate in voting to restore the American citizenship of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

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1987 – In a dramatic turnaround, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev indicates that he is willing to negotiate a ban on intermediate-range nuclear missiles without conditions. Gorbachev’s decision paved the way for the groundbreaking Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with the United States. Since coming to power in 1985, Gorbachev had made it clear that he sought a less contentious relationship with the United States. His American counterpart, President Ronald Reagan, was a staunch anticommunist and initially harbored deep suspicions about Gorbachev’s sincerity. After meeting with Gorbachev in November 1985, however, Reagan came to believe that progress might be made on a number of issues, including arms control. In subsequent summit meetings, the two leaders focused on the so-called intermediate-range nuclear missiles that both nations had massed in Europe and around the world.

In late 1986, it appeared that the two nations were close to an agreement that would eliminate the weapons from Europe. Negotiations stumbled, however, when Gorbachev demanded that the elimination of the missiles be accompanied by U.S. abandonment of its development of the strategic defense initiative (the “Star Wars” plan). The talks broke down while Reagan and Gorbachev traded accusations of bad faith.

On July 22, 1987, Gorbachev dramatically announced that he was ready to discuss the elimination of intermediate-range missiles on a worldwide basis, with no conditions. By dropping his objection to the strategic defense initiative (which was one of Reagan’s pet projects), Gorbachev cleared the way for negotiations, and he and Reagan agreed to meet again. Gorbachev’s change of mind was the result of a number of factors. His own nation was suffering from serious economic problems and Gorbachev desperately wanted to cut Russia’s military spending.

In addition, the growing “no-nukes” movement in Europe was interfering with his ability to conduct diplomatic relations with France, Great Britain, and other western European nations. Finally, Gorbachev seemed to have a sincere personal trust in and friendship with Ronald Reagan, and this feeling was apparently reciprocal. In December 1987, during a summit in Washington, the two men signed off on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons.

1987 – The United States began its policy of escorting re-flagged Kuwaiti tankers up and down the Persian Gulf to protect them from possible attack by Iran.

1988 – Some 500 US scientists pledged to boycott Pentagon germ-warfare research.

1998 – Iran conducted a successful Shahab 3 missile test with a medium-range of 800 miles.

2001 – Pres. Bush and Pres. Putin agreed to link discussions of US plans for a missile defense system with the prospect of large cuts in their nuclear arsenals.

2003 – Months after her prisoner-of-war ordeal, Pvt. 1st Class Jessica Lynch returned home to a hero’s welcome in Elizabeth, W.Va.

2003 – The two sons of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Qusay Saddam Husayn (the Ace of Clubs in the deck of 52 playing cards featuring Iraq’s “most wanted”) and Uday Saddam Husayn (the Ace of Hearts) are trapped in a house and killed in a fire-fight with American troops from the 101st Airborne Division. Supporting this action were two OH-58 Kiowa helicopters from Company D, 1st Battalion, 159th Aviation from the Mississippi Army Guard which flew top cover to be sure no one escaped from the building.

After an initial ground assault against the building resulted in three American soldiers being wounded, the 101st called for air support. So the two Guard copters worked the house over with 2.75-inch rockets, Mark 19 grenades, AT-4 rockets and .50 caliber machine gun fire. Still fire came back from the defenders until finally the infantry killed everyone inside with 10 TOW missiles.

Sheik Nawaf al-Zaydan Muhhamad informed US troops of their presence in his home and became $30 million richer.

2004 – The 567-page 9/11 Commission Report was made public.

2004 – The USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier collided with a dhow in the Arabian Gulf while running night flights in support of U.S. operations in Iraq. The crew of the small boat was missing.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions taken This Day

FORCE, MANNING F.
Rank and organization: Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Atlanta, Ga., 22 July 1864. Entered service at: Cincinnati, Ohio. Born: Washington, D.C. 17 December 1824. Date of issue: 31 March 1892. Citation: Charged upon the enemy’s works, and after their capture defended his position against assaults of the enemy until he was severely wounded.

HANEY, MILTON L.
Rank and organization: Chaplain, 55th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Atlanta, Ga., 22 July 1864. Entered service at: Bushnell, Ill. Birth: Ohio. Date of issue: 3 November 1896. Citation: Voluntarily carried a musket in the ranks of his regiment and rendered heroic service in retaking the Federal works which had been captured by the enemy.

SANCRAINTE, CHARLES F.
Rank and organization: Private, Company B, 15th Michigan Infantry. Place and date: At Atlanta, Ga., 22 July 1864. Entered service at: Monroe, Mich. Born: 1840, Monroe, Mich. Date of issue: 25 July 1892. Citation: Voluntarily scaled the enemy’s breastworks and signaled to his commanding officer in charge; also in single combat captured the colors of the 5th Texas Regiment (C.S.A.).

SPRAGUE, JOHN W.
Rank and organization: Colonel, 63d Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Decatur, Ga., 22 July 1862. Entered service at: Sandusky, Ohio Born: 4 April 1817, White Creek, N.Y. Date of issue: 18 January 1894. Citation: With a small command defeated an overwhelming force of the enemy and saved the trains of the corps.

*LOBAUGH, DONALD R.
Rank and organization: Private, U .S. Army, 127th Infantry, 32d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Afua, New Guinea, 22 July 1944. Entered service at: Freeport, Pa. Birth: Freeport, Pa. G.O. No.: 31, 17 April 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty near Afua, New Guinea, on 22 July 1944. While Pvt. Lobaugh’s company was withdrawing from its position on 21 July, the enemy attacked and cut off approximately 1 platoon of our troops. The platoon immediately occupied, organized, and defended a position, which it held throughout the night. Early on 22 July, an attempt was made to effect its withdrawal, but during the preparation therefor, the enemy emplaced a machinegun, protected by the fire of rifles and automatic weapons, which blocked the only route over which the platoon could move. Knowing that it was the key to the enemy position, Pfc. Lobaugh volunteered to attempt to destroy this weapon, even though in order to reach it he would be forced to work his way about 30 yards over ground devoid of cover. When part way across this open space he threw a hand grenade, but exposed himself in the act and was wounded. Heedless of his wound, he boldly rushed the emplacement, firing as he advanced. The enemy concentrated their fire on him, and he was struck repeatedly, but he continued his attack and killed 2 more before he was himself slain. Pfc. Lobaugh’s heroic actions inspired his comrades to press the attack, and to drive the enemy from the position with heavy losses. His fighting determination and intrepidity in battle exemplify the highest traditions of the U.S. Armed Forces.

*MASON, LEONARD FOSTER
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 2 February 1920, Middleborough, Ky. Accredited to: Ohio. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as an automatic rifleman serving with the 2d Battalion, 3d Marines, 3d Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on the Asan-Adelup Beachhead, Guam, Marianas Islands on 22 July 1944. Suddenly taken under fire by 2 enemy machineguns not more than 15 yards away while clearing out hostile positions holding up the advance of his platoon through a narrow gully, Pfc. Mason, alone and entirely on his own initiative, climbed out of the gully and moved parallel to it toward the rear of the enemy position. Although fired upon immediately by hostile riflemen from a higher position and wounded repeatedly in the arm and shoulder, Pfc. Mason grimly pressed forward and had just reached his objective when hit again by a burst of enemy machinegun fire, causing a critical wound to which he later succumbed. With valiant disregard for his own peril, he persevered, clearing out the hostile position, killing 5 Japanese, wounding another and then rejoining his platoon to report the results of his action before consenting to be evacuated. His exceptionally heroic act in the face of almost certain death enabled his platoon to accomplish its mission and reflects the highest credit upon Pfc. Mason and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

SKAGGS, LUTHER, JR.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 3d Battalion, 3d Marines, 3d Marine Division. Place and date: Asan-Adelup beachhead, Guam, Marianas Islands, 21 -22 July 1944. Entered service at: Kentucky. Born: 3 March 1923, Henderson, Ky. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as squad leader with a mortar section of a rifle company in the 3d Battalion, 3d Marines, 3d Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on the Asan-Adelup beachhead, Guam, Marianas Islands, 21 -22 July 1944. When the section leader became a casualty under a heavy mortar barrage shortly after landing, Pfc. Skaggs promptly assumed command and led the section through intense fire for a distance of 200 yards to a position from which to deliver effective coverage of the assault on a strategic cliff. Valiantly defending this vital position against strong enemy counterattacks during the night, Pfc. Skaggs was critically wounded when a Japanese grenade lodged in his foxhole and exploded, shattering the lower part of one leg. Quick to act, he applied an improvised tourniquet and, while propped up in his foxhole, gallantly returned the enemy’s fire with his rifle and handgrenades for a period of 8 hours, later crawling unassisted to the rear to continue the fight until the Japanese had been annihilated. Uncomplaining and calm throughout this critical period, Pfc. Skaggs served as a heroic example of courage and fortitude to other wounded men and, by his courageous leadership and inspiring devotion to duty, upheld the high traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

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23 July

1637 – King Charles of England handed over the American colony of Massachusetts to Sir Fernando Gorges, one of the founders of the Council of New England.

1664 – 4 British ships arrived in Boston to drive the Dutch out of NY.

1836 – A band of Seminole Indians attacked and burned the Cape Florida lighthouse.

1851 – Sioux Indians and US signed the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux.

1862 – General Henry W. Halleck assumes the role of general-in-chief of all Union forces in an effort to better coordinate the overall Union war effort, which is floundering. A native of New York, Halleck graduated from West Point in 1839. He showed such promise that he was allowed the rare privilege of teaching while still a student at the academy. He served during the Mexican-American War, became involved in California politics, and was a railroad president before the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1861, Halleck was appointed major general. Placed in charge of the Department of the Missouri, his work brought quick results. He quickly organized the forces in Missouri into effective units and kept Missouri in the Union. Halleck’s duties were soon expanded, and the department was renamed the Department of the Mississippi. He showed great strategic vision in planning campaigns from his St. Louis headquarters, but was less successful when he took to the field—as he did during the Corinth campaign, in which the Confederates escaped his much larger Yankee force. Lincoln recognized Halleck’s abilities and brought him to Washington as general-in-chief. Under his direction, Union successes continued in the west, but Halleck was unable to orchestrate any progress in Virginia or to enact an overall strategic vision to defeat the Confederates. He bickered with various commanders of the Army of the Potomac, such as George B. McClellan, Ambrose Burnside, Joseph Hooker, and George Meade. His abrasive personality did not endear him to the press or his subordinates.

In 1864, President Lincoln moved Halleck to a higher position as chief of staff for the army while appointing General Ulysses S. Grant general-in-chief, but this was really in recognition of the fact that Halleck failed to effectively direct the armies. Freed from the burden of strategic planning, Halleck’s new role allowed him to utilize his bureaucratic talents. Nicknamed “Old Brains” for his organizational efficiency, Halleck effectively supplied Grant’s campaign against Robert E. Lee in 1864. Halleck remained in the army until his death in 1872. Despite his shortcomings as a strategic planner, his organizational skills contributed significantly to the Union victory.

1863 – Bill Anderson and his Confederate Bushwackers gutted the railway station at Renick, Missouri.

1864 – Army transport B.M. Runyan, with some 500 military and civilian passengers on board, sank in the Mississippi River near Skipwith’s Landing, Mississippi, after hitting a snag. U.S.S. Prairie Bird, Acting Master Thomas Burns, rescued 350 survivors and salvaged part of the cargo. Rescue and humanitarian operations have been a continuing naval mission throughout our history.

1865 – William Booth founded the Salvation Army.

1868 – The 14th Amendment was ratified, granting citizenship to African Americans. It gave freed slaves full citizenship and equal protection under the laws, however it did not spell out the extent of integration with white America.

1885 – Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Union forces at the end of the Civil War and the 18th president of the United States, died in Mount McGregor, N.Y., at age 63. He had just completed the final revisions to his memoirs, which were published as a 2 volume set by Mark Twain. His tomb was placed in the largest mausoleum in the US on a bluff over the Hudson River.

1914 – Austria-Hungary delivers an ultimatum to Serbia after several meetings with German’s Kaiser Wilhelm II and his advisors, who back Austria-Hungary’s actions. The demands of the ultimatum would, if agreed, destroy Serbia as an independent state. Austria-Hungary demands a reply within 48 hours.

1940 – German bombers began the “Blitz,” the all-night air raids on London.

1940 – The British Purchasing Mission in the United States reaches agreement that it will be allowed to buy up 40 percent of the United States’ production of aircraft.

1942 – US Secretary of State Hull urges the formation of an international peace keeping organization by the United Nations after the war.

1943 – Americans occupy Trapani and Marsala. On the north coast, US forces reach Termini Imerese.

1944 – Elements of the US 4th Corps (part of US 5th Army) penetrate the outskirts of Pisa but are only able to occupy the area south of the Arno River.

1944 – On Guam, American marines on the northern beachhead reach Point Adelup. On the southern beachhead, the marines cross the neck of the Orote Peninsula, thereby cutting off the main Japanese airfield on the island.

1944 – Elements of the 3dMarDiv completed the occupation of Cabras Island, Tinian, Marianas.

1945 – Marshal Philippe Petain, the former head of state of Vichy France, is put on trial at the Palais de Justice in Paris. The trail is suspended twice, during the day, because of disorder. Paul Reynaud, the former president of the council of ministers, accused Petain of plotting to betray France in 1940. Petain, who is 89, was a hero of France during the Great War, but collaborated with Nazi Germany during the Second World War. He challenged the competence of the court to try him.

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1947 – Congress approved Public Law 219 which provided for the integration of the personnel of the former Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation into the regular military organization of the Coast Guard. This was effected during Fiscal Year 1948, “and the Service thus had a single unified organization to carry forward the correlated duty which prior to 1939 were divided among three different Federal agencies the Coast Guard, Lighthouse Service, and Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation.”

1947 – First Navy all jet squadron (VF-17A) receives its first aircraft (FH).

1948 – USS Putnum (DD-757) evacuates U.N. team from Haifa, Israel and becomes first U.S. Navy ship to fly the U.N. flag.

1950 – USS Boxer sets record crossing of Pacific to bring aircraft, troops, and supplies to Korea at start of the Conflict.

1950 – Units from the 2d Marine Division prepared to move from Camp Lejeune, N.C., to Camp Pendleton, Calif., to join the 1st Marine Division.

1951 – General Henri-Philippe Petain, French national hero of World War I, who was convicted of collaboration with the German occupiers of his country during World War II and sentenced to life in prison, dies. When Paris was finally liberated by General Charles de Gaulle in 1944, Petain fled to Germany. He was brought back after the war to stand trial for his double-dealing ways. He was sentenced to death, which was then commuted to life in solitary confinement. He died at 95 in a prison fortress. Ironically, the man responsible for saving his life was De Gaulle. He and Petain had fought in the same unit in World War I. Petain’s bravery during that world war had not been forgotten.

1956 – The Bell X-2 rocket plane set a world aircraft speed record of 3,050 kph.

1958 – USS Nautilus (SSN-571) departs Pearl Harbor for first submerged transit of North Pole.

1959 – Vice President Richard M. Nixon flew to Moscow to open the US Trade and Cultural Fair in Sokolniki Park, organized as a goodwill gesture by the USSR.

1965 – President Lyndon B. Johnson, in the course of discussions about what to do concerning the deteriorating situation in Vietnam, is told by some that he should give the American public all the facts, ask for an increase in taxes, mobilize the reserves, and declare a state of national emergency in the United States. Johnson rejected this approach, and informed his staff that he wanted any decisions implemented in a “low-key manner” in order to avoid an abrupt challenge to the communists, and to avoid undue concern and excitement in Congress and in domestic public opinion. During these discussions, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara urged the president to “expand promptly and substantially” the U.S. military presence in South Vietnam. Johnson, not wanting to “lose” Vietnam to the communists, ultimately accepted McNamara’s recommendation and authorized a total of 44 U.S. battalions in South Vietnam, which led to a massive escalation of the war.

1962 – Avoiding a Cold War showdown, the United States and the Soviet Union sign an agreement guaranteeing a free and neutral Laos. While the agreement ended the “official” roles of both nations in the Laotian civil war, covert assistance from both Russia and the United States continued to exacerbate the conflict in Laos for the next decade. Laos had been a French colony since 1893. During the 1930s and World War II, an independence movement began to grow in the small nation, as did a communist movement known as the Pathet Lao. After France granted Laos conditional independence in 1949, the Pathet Lao began a civil war against the pro-French Laotian government. In 1954, after the devastating defeat of French troops at the hands of Vietnamese independence forces at the battle of Dien Bien Phu, an international conference attempted to deal with the situations in Southeast Asia. The 1954 Laos decision stated that the Pathet Lao would be confined to two remote provinces of Laos, and that national elections would be held in two years to settle all political questions. In fact, the conference did nothing to stop the civil war in Laos.

The Pathet Lao, largely funded and armed with Russian money and weapons funneled through communist North Vietnam, continued its attacks. In response, the U.S. became heavily involved in providing covert assistance to the Laotian government. Despite the U.S. assistance, the communist Pathet Lao appeared on its way to victory by 1961. President John F. Kennedy issued a thinly veiled threat of direct U.S. intervention in Laos if the Soviet Union did not cease its assistance to the communist revolutionaries. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, perhaps realizing that the stakes were becoming much too high in a nation of only peripheral interest to Russia, agreed to a cease-fire in April 1961. At a conference in Geneva in July 1962, the United States and Russia agreed to mutually guarantee a free and neutral Laos. The 1962 agreement also accomplished very little. American intelligence sources indicated that North Vietnam continued to funnel large amounts of Soviet aid into Laos. In response, the United States began a “secret war,” using the CIA to arm and train an anticommunist force in Laos. In a matter of months, more than 30,000 Laotians, mostly from remote hill tribes, were being used to carry out guerrilla operations against the Pathet Lao. The U.S. operation was unsuccessful, however. In 1975, shortly after victory of communist North Vietnam over South Vietnam, the Pathet Lao took control in Laos, where a communist government continues to be in power to this day.

1967 – In the early morning hours of July 23, 1967, one of the worst riots in U.S. history breaks out on 12th Street in the heart of Detroit’s predominantly African American inner city. By the time it was quelled four days later by 7,000 National Guard and U.S. Army troops, 43 people were dead, 342 injured, and nearly 1,400 buildings had been burned. By the summer of 1967, the predominantly African American neighborhood of Virginia Park was ready to explode. Some 60,000 poor people were crammed into the neighborhood’s 460 acres, living in squalor in divided and sub-divided apartments. The Detroit Police Department, which had only about 50 African Americans at the time, was viewed as a white occupying army. The only other whites seen in the neighborhood commuted from the suburbs to run their stores on 12th Street. At night, 12th Street was a center of Detroit inner-city nightlife, both legal and illegal. At the corner of 12th and Clairmount, William Scott operated an illegal after-hours club on weekends out of the office of the United Community League for Civic Action, a civil rights group.

The police vice squad often raided establishments like this on 12th Street, and at 3:35 a.m. on Sunday morning, July 23, they moved against Scott’s club. That night, the establishment was hosting a party for several veterans, including two servicemen recently returned from Vietnam, and the bar’s patrons were reluctant to leave. Out in the street, a crowd began to gather as police waited for paddy wagons to take the 85 patrons away. Tensions between area blacks and police were high at the time, partly because of a rumor (later proved to be untrue) that police had shot and killed a black prostitute two days before. Then a rumor began to circulate that the vice squad had beaten one of the women being arrested. An hour passed before the last prisoner was taken away, and by then about 200 onlookers lined the street. A bottle crashed into the street. The remaining police ignored it, but then more bottles were thrown, including one through the window of a patrol car. The police fled as a riot erupted. Within an hour, thousands of people had spilled out onto the street. Looting began on 12th Street, and some whites arrived to join in. Around 6:30 a.m., the first fire broke out, and soon much of the street was set ablaze.

By midmorning, every policeman and fireman in Detroit was called to duty. On 12th Street, 600,000 officers fought to control a mob of 3,000. Firemen were attacked as they tried to battle the flames. Detroit Mayor Jerome P. Cavanaugh asked Michigan Governor George Romney to send in the state police, but these 300 more officers could not keep the riot from spreading to a 100-block area around Virginia Park. The National Guard was called in shortly after but didn’t arrive until evening. By the end of the day, more than 1,000 were arrested, but still the riot kept growing. Five people were dead. On Monday, 16 people were killed, most by police or guardsmen. Snipers fired at firemen, and fire hoses were cut. Governor Romney asked President Lyndon Johnson to send in U.S. troops. Nearly 2,000 army paratroopers arrived on Tuesday and began patrolling the street in tanks and armored carriers. Ten more people died that day, and 12 more on Wednesday.

On Thursday, July 27, order was finally restored. More than 7,000 people were arrested during the four days of rioting. A total of 43 were killed. Some 1,700 stores were looted and nearly 1,400 buildings burned, causing $50 million in property damage. Some 5,000 people were left homeless. The so-called 12th Street Riot was the worst U.S. riot in 100 years, occurring during a period of numerous riots in America. A report by the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, appointed by President Johnson, identified more than 150 riots or major disorders between 1965 and 1968. In 1967 alone, 83 people were killed and 1,800 were injured–the majority of them African Americans–and property valued at more than $100 million was damaged, looted, or destroyed.

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1973 – Pres Nixon refused to release Watergate tapes of conversations in the White House relevant to the Watergate investigation.

1973 – Eddie Rickenbacker, World War I flying ace, died in Zurich, Switzerland at the age of 82. Known as a race-car driver before World War I, he became America’s premier flying ace during the war and returned home to a hero’s welcome. Declining offers from the aviation industry and even Hollywood, Rickenbacker decided to lend his name to a car company, although he played a negligible role in the company’s management and eventually resigned his position there. Without his high-flying name behind the product, Rickenbacker Motors crashed and burned. Later he and several associates bought Eastern Airlines in 1938 and guided it to become one of the most profitable airlines in the postwar era.

1977 – A jury in Washington, D.C., convicted 12 Hanafi Muslims of charges stemming from the hostage siege at three buildings the previous March.

1988 – Iran accused Iraq of pushing deep into Iranian territory and using chemical weapons. At Halabja an Iraqi chemical attack killed thousands and in 1999 was still causing genetic damage and deaths.

1990 – Unconfirmed reports indicate that as many as 30,000 Iraqi troops have been moved to the border with Kuwait.

1993 – Sarah Deal becomes first female Marine selected for naval aviation training.

1993 – Army Chief of Staff authorizes 10th Mountain Division soldiers to wear the combat patch, shoulder sleeve insignia-former wartime service and overseas service bar for service in Somalia.

1994 – Space shuttle Columbia returned to Earth after a 15-day mission which included experiments on the effects of weightlessness on aquatic animals.

1997 – The US and Venezuela signed an agreement to allow authorities of both countries to board boats of each others flags if suspected of carrying drugs.

1997 – In Serbia Slobodan Milosevic was sworn in as president of Yugoslavia and crowds reacted by throwing shoes at his motorcade, symbolizing the young people who have left Serbia due to his regime.

1998 – It was reported that Congress made the Air Force buy more C-130 transport aircraft against its wishes. Since 1978 only 5 of 256 C-130s sent to the Air National Guard and Air Reserve were requested by the Air Force. The planes were built in Georgia.

1998 – In response to U.S. opposition to the August pricing plan for Iraqi crude oil, Iraq offers the United Nations a revised pricing mechanism for Iraq’s August oil exports. The revised pricing formula adjusts the price of Kirkuk and Basrah Light for the European, U.S. and Asian markets.

1999 – The 3-day Woodstock ’99 music festival began at the decommissioned Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, NY, with some 225,000 people. The $35-38 million production ended in chaos with hundreds of concertgoers burning fires, looting and vandalizing.

1999 – In Colombia a US anti-narcotics reconnaissance airplane crashed with 5 US Army personnel and 2 Colombians.

1999 – Russia ended a 4-month boycott on contacts with NATO.

2001 – The US Pentagon shut down public access to its web sites due to a computer worm called the Code Red worm. It defaced web sites with the words “Hacked by Chinese.”

2003 – A new audiotape, purported to be of toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, was broadcast by an Arab satellite station. It called on former soldiers to rise up against the American occupation.

2003 – Iran acknowledged that it was holding senior al Qaeda figures, but would not identify them.

2004 – President Bush froze the assets of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, his family and top aides and accused them of undermining the country’s transition to democracy.

2004 – Gunmen in Mosul attacked a retired Iraqi general as he headed to a mosque to pray, killing him and another man. Maj. Gen. Salim Majeed Blesh (58) had worked for the former U.S. occupation government.

2004 – Iraqi insurgents in Baghdad kidnapped Muhammad Mamdouh Qutb, a 3rd ranking official of the Egyptian Embassy.


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