This Date in Military History:

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1908 – Great White Fleet arrived in San Francisco.

1912 – The Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda began publishing. Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili took the name Stalin, meaning “man of steel,” about the time he helped found the Russian Communist newspaper Pravda. Stalin specialized in writing about national minorities in Russia and went on to become editor of Pravda.

1916 – U.S. marines invaded the Dominican Republic. The occupation began gradually. The first landing took place on May 5, 1916 when “two companies of marines landed from the U.S.S. Prairie at Santo Domingo.” Their goal was to offer protection to the U.S. Legation and the U.S. Consulate, and to occupy the Fort San Geronimo. Within hours, these companies were reinforced with “seven additional companies.” On May 6, forces from the U.S.S. Castine landed to offer protection to the Haitian Legation, a country under similar military occupation from the U.S. Two days after the first landing, constitutional President, Juan Isidro Jimenes resigned.

1920 – US Pres. Wilson made the Communist Labor Party illegal. The party moved to the underground in response to mass arrests and deportations conducted by the US Justice Department and its Bureau of Investigation, guided by Special Assistant to the Attorney General J. Edgar Hoover. These raids and the move to the underground virtually destroyed the organization, which only existed in skeletal form in the first half of 1920, although publication of its legal newspaper, The Toiler, was maintained. The CLP also published an “illegal” underground monthly paper called Communist Labor Party News and issued the final issue of Ludwig Lore’s theoretical magazine, The Class Struggle under its auspices.

1920 – Anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were arrested for murder.

1942 – Sales of sugar resumed in the United States under a rationing program.

1942 – Japanese forces enter China, via the Burma Road. General Stillwell, in command of the Chinese troops decides after intelligence on the true Japanese positions to withdraw his troops towards India, not China.

1942 – Japanese troops land on Corregidor. Fierce fighting by the remaining American troops under General Wainwright results, but the Japanese maintain a beach head.

1942 – Japanese Admiral Takagi’s carriers enter the Coral Sea. American Admiral Fletcher’s TF17 is there refueling, but the Japanese do not find it.

1942 – Imperial Headquarters orders the Japanese Navy to prepare for the invasion of Midway Island.

1944 – Hospital ship, USS Comfort is commissioned in San Pedro, CA; first ship to be manned jointly by Army and Navy personnel.

1945 – Ezra Pound, poet and author, was arrested by American Army soldiers in Italy for treason. He had served during the war as a pro-fascist and anti-Semitic spokesman for the Mussolini government.

1945 – In Lakeview, Oregon, Mrs. Elsie Mitchell and five neighborhood children are killed while attempting to drag a Japanese balloon out the woods. Unbeknownst to Mitchell and the children, the balloon was armed, and it exploded soon after they began tampering with it. They were the first and only known American civilians to be killed in the continental United States during World War II. The U.S. government eventually gave $5,000 in compensation to Mitchell’s husband, and $3,000 each to the families of Edward Engen, Sherman Shoemaker, Jay Gifford, and Richard and Ethel Patzke, the five slain children.

The explosive balloon found at Lakeview was a product of one of only a handful of Japanese attacks against the continental United States, which were conducted early in the war by Japanese submarines and later by high-altitude balloons carrying explosives or incendiaries. In comparison, three years earlier, on April 18, 1942, the first squadron of U.S. bombers dropped bombs on the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Kobe, and Nagoyo, surprising the Japanese military command, who believed their home islands to be out of reach of Allied air attacks.

When the war ended on August 14, 1945, some 160,000 tons of conventional explosives and two atomic bombs had been dropped on Japan by the United States. Approximately 500,000 Japanese civilians were killed as a result of these bombing attacks.

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1945 – On Okinawa, Japanese counterattacks continue with minor successes.

1945 – The War Department announces that about 400,000 troops will remain in Germany to form the US occupation force and 2,000,000 men will be discharged from the armed services, leaving 6,000,000 soldiers serving in the war against Japan.

1945 – German Army Group G surrenders to US forces after negotiations are concluded at Haar in Bavaria. In Denmark, fighting breaks out in Copenhagen but is brought to an end when British units arrive by air in the evening.

1948 – VF-17A becomes first carrier qualified jet squadron (USS Saipan).

1950 – Congress approved the Uniform Code of Military Justice for the “government of the armed forces of the United States.”

1953 – The battleship USS New Jersey, the cruiser USS Bremerton, and the destroyers USS Twining and Colohan destroyed troop shelters, caves, concrete ammunition bunkers and an observation post.

1955 – The US detonated a 29-kiloton nuclear device in Nevada. “Apple 2” was the 2nd of 40 tests of Operation Cue, meant to study the effects of a nuclear explosion on a typical American community.

1955 – The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) becomes a sovereign state when the United States, France, and Great Britain end their military occupation, which had begun in 1945. With this action, West Germany was given the right to rearm and become a full-fledged member of the western alliance against the Soviet Union. In 1945, the United States, Great Britain, and France had assumed the occupation of the western portion of Germany (as well as the western half of Berlin, situated in eastern Germany). The Soviet Union occupied eastern Germany, as well as the eastern half of Berlin. As Cold War animosities began to harden between the western powers and Russia, it became increasingly obvious that Germany would not be reunified. By the late-1940s, the United States acted to formalize the split and establish western Germany as an independent republic, and in May 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was formally announced. In 1954, West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the mutual defense alliance between the United States and several European nations. All that remained was for the Americans, British, and French to end their nearly 10-year occupation.

This was accomplished on May 5, 1955, when those nations issued a proclamation declaring an end to the military occupation of West Germany. Under the terms of an agreement reached earlier, West Germany would now be allowed to establish a military force of up to a half-million men and resume the manufacture of arms, though it was forbidden from producing any chemical or atomic weapons. The end of the Allied occupation of West Germany meant a full recognition of the republic as a member of the western alliance against the Soviet Union. While the Russians were less than thrilled by the prospect of a rearmed West Germany, they were nonetheless pleased that German reunification had officially become a dead issue. Shortly after the May 5 proclamation was issued, the Soviet Union formally recognized the Federal Republic of Germany. The two Germany’s remained separated until 1990, when they were formally reunited and once again became a single democratic country.

1961 – From Cape Canaveral, Florida, Navy Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. is launched into space aboard the Freedom 7 space capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to travel into space. The suborbital flight, which lasted 15 minutes and reached a height of 116 miles into the atmosphere, was a major triumph for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA was established in 1958 to keep U.S. space efforts abreast of recent Soviet achievements, such as the launching of the world’s first artificial satellite–Sputnik 1–in 1957. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the two superpowers raced to become the first country to put a man in space and return him to Earth.

On April 12, 1961, the Soviet space program won the race when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was launched into space, put in orbit around the planet, and safely returned to Earth. One month later, Shepard’s suborbital flight restored faith in the U.S. space program. NASA continued to trail the Soviets closely until the late 1960s and the successes of the Apollo lunar program. In July 1969, the Americans took a giant leap forward with Apollo 11, a three-stage spacecraft that took U.S. astronauts to the surface of the moon and returned them to Earth. On February 5, 1971, Alan Shepard, the first American in space, became the fifth astronaut to walk on the moon as part of the Apollo 14 lunar landing mission.

1964 – The US announces that it is freezing all assets of North Vietnam and baring any further financial and commercial transactions between the two countries.

1964 – A USAF transport plane crashes at Tan Hiep killing 10 servicemen.

1968 – The second large scale Communist offensive of the year begins with the simultaneous shelling of 119 cities and towns in the South. Heavy action continues for a week and Saigon is the intended target.

1968 – U.S. Air Force planes hit Nhi Ha, South Vietnam in support of attacking infantrymen.

1970 – In Cambodia, a U.S. force captures Snoul, 20 miles from the tip of the “Fishhook” area (across the border from South Vietnam, 70 miles from Saigon). A squadron of nearly 100 tanks from the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and jet planes virtually leveled the village that had been held by the North Vietnamese. No dead North Vietnamese soldiers were found, only the bodies of four Cambodian civilians. This action was part of the Cambodian “incursion” that had been launched by U.S. and South Vietnamese forces on April 29. In Washington, President Nixon met with congressional committees at the White House and gave the legislators a “firm commitment” that U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Cambodia in three to seven weeks. Nixon also pledged that he would not order U.S. troops to penetrate deeper than 21 miles into Cambodia without first seeking congressional approval. The last U.S. troops left Cambodia on June 30th.

1971 – There was a race riot in Brownsville section of Brooklyn, NYC.

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1972 – South Vietnamese troops from the 21st Division, trying to reach beleaguered An Loc in Binh Long Province via Highway 13, are again pushed back by the communists, who had overrun a supporting South Vietnamese firebase. The South Vietnamese division had been trying to break through to An Loc since mid-April, when the unit had been moved from its normal area of operations in the Mekong Delta and ordered to attack in order to relieve the surrounded city. The South Vietnamese soldiers fought desperately to reach the city, but suffered so many casualties in the process that another unit had to be sent to actually relieve the besieged city, which was accomplished on June 18. This action was part of the southernmost thrust of the three-pronged Nguyen Hue Offensive (later known as the “Easter Offensive”), a massive invasion launched by North Vietnamese forces on March 30 to strike the blow that would win them the war. 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 An Loc in the south, were Quang Tri in the north and Kontum in the Central Highlands. Initially, the South Vietnamese defenders in each case were almost overwhelmed, particularly in the northernmost provinces, where government forces abandoned their positions in Quang Tri and fled south in the face of the enemy onslaught. In Binh Long Province, the North Vietnamese forces had crossed into South Vietnam from Cambodia on April 5 to strike first at Loc Ninh. After taking Loc Ninh, the North Vietnamese forces then quickly encircled An Loc, the capital of Binh Long Province, which was only 65 miles from Saigon.

The North Vietnamese held An Loc under siege for almost three months while they made repeated attempts to take the city. The defenders suffered heavy casualties, including 2,300 dead or missing, but with the aid of U.S. advisers and American airpower, they managed to hold An Loc against vastly superior odds until the siege was lifted on June 18th. Fighting continued all over South Vietnam into the summer months, but eventually the South Vietnamese forces prevailed against the invaders and they retook Quang Tri in September. With the communist invasion blunted, President Nixon declared that the South Vietnamese victory proved the viability of his Vietnamization program, which he had instituted in 1969 to increase the combat capability of the South Vietnamese armed forces.

1979 – Voyager 1 passed the planet Jupiter.

1983 – In Beirut, Lebanon, a UH-1N helicopter carrying the commander of the American peace-keeping force, Colonel James Mead, was hit by machine gun fire. The six Marines aboard escaped injury. Colonel Mead and his crew had taken off in the helicopter to investigate artillery and rocket duels between rival Syrian-backed Druze Moslem militiamen and Christian Phalangists that endangered French members of the multinational force.

1987 – The televised congressional Iran-Contra hearings opened with former Air Force Maj. General Richard V. Secord as the lead-off witness.

1993 – Phase II, dubbed Operation Continue Hope, of the US intervention in Somalia begins, now under UN auspices.

1995 – As rescue workers ended their search for bodies in the Oklahoma City bombing.

1999 – Pres. Clinton visited US troops in Germany and conferred with senior NATO commanders. Clinton’s morale-boosting trip to Europe included a visit to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he met the three American soldiers just released by Yugoslavia.

1999 – The first 453 Kosovar refugees from camps in Macedonia arrived at the 31,000-acre Fort Dix, New Jersey. A total of up to 20,000 refugees were expected in operation Task Force Open Arms.

1999 – Two US crew members were killed when an Apache helicopter crashed in Albania during training. Chief Warrant Officer David A. Gibbs (38), of Massillon, Ohio, and Chief Warrant Officer Kevin L. Reichert (28), of Chetek, Wis., crashed in a mountainous region 50 miles from Task Force Hawk base.

1999 – NATO strategists were reported to have a plan to send 60,000 ground troops into Kosovo around July to take the province from retreating Serbs. Their original plan called for 28,000 soldiers to supervise an interim peace settlement.

2004 – Coalition forces raided buildings used by a militia loyal to a radical Shiite cleric in two southern cities and clashed with militiamen elsewhere in fighting that killed 15 Iraqis.

2004 – Nicaragua said its army had destroyed 333 surface-to-air missiles at the urging of the US and that the military planned to destroy another 333 SAM-7s in late July. More than 2,000 Russian-made SAM-7s, shoulder-fired missiles capable of taking down a plane, were left over from the 1980s Contra war.

2004 – The Coast Guard presented the Purple Heart to BM3 Joseph Ruggiero in Miami for injuries sustained in action against the enemy while defending the Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal in Iraq on 24 April 2004. Ruggiero’s shipmate, DC3 Nathan Bruckenthal, was killed in this same bombing and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. They were the first Coast Guard recipients of the Purple Heart since the Vietnam War.

2005 – An explosion outside the United Kingdom consulate in New York City occurs at 07:35 GMT. There were no injuries.

2006 – Porter Goss resigns as director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

2011 – Members of the multi-state coalition conducting the military campaign in Libya hold talks in Rome, Italy, and agree to set up a new fund to aid Libyan rebels, with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promising to use frozen assets of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

2014 – Veterans groups call for Shinseki’s resignation. American Legion National Commander Daniel Dillinger says the deaths reported by CNN appear to be part of a “pattern of scandals that has infected the entire system.”


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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

ASTEN, CHARLES
Rank and organization: Quarter Gunner, U.S. Navy. Born: 1834, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Accredited to: Illinois. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Signal, Red River, 5 May 1864. Proceeding up the Red River, the U.S.S. Signal engaged a large force of enemy field batteries and sharpshooters, returning their fire until the Federal ship was totally disabled, at which time the white flag was raised. Although on the sick list, Q.G. Asten courageously carried out his duties during the entire engagement.

BOODY, ROBERT
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 40th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Williamsburg, Va., 5 May 1862. At Chancellorsville, Va., 2 May 1863. Entered service at: Amesbury, Mass. Birth: Lemington, Maine. Date of issue: 8 July 1896. Citation: This soldier, at Williamsburg, Va., then a corporal, at great personal risk, voluntarily saved the lives of and brought from the battlefield 2 wounded comrades. A year later, at Chancellorsville, voluntarily, and at great personal risk, brought from the field of battle and saved the life of Capt. George B. Carse, Company C, 40th New York Volunteer Infantry.

BUCKLES, ABRAM J.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company E, 19th Indiana Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 5 May 1864. Entered service at: Muncie, Ind. Birth: Delaware County, Ind. Date of issue: 4 December 1893. Citation: Though suffering from an open wound, carried the regimental colors until again wounded.

BUTTS, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Gunner’s Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: Rome, N.Y. Accredited to: Ohio. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Signal, Red River, 5 May 1864. Proceeding up the Red River, the U.S.S. Signal engaged a large force of enemy field batteries and sharpshooters, returning their fire until the ship was totally disabled, at which time the white flag was raised. Although entered on the sick list, Butts courageously carried out his duties during the entire engagement.

CONBOY, MARTIN
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 37th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Williamsburg, Va., 5 May 1862. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: ——. Date of issue: 11 October 1892. Citation: Took command of the company in action, the captain having been wounded, the other commissioned officers being absent, and handled it with skill and bravery.

COYNE, JOHN N.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 70th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Williamsburg, Va., 5 May 1862. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Born: 14 November 1839, New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 18 April 1888. Citation: Capture of a flag after a severe hand-to-hand contest; was mentioned in orders for his gallantry.

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DILLON, MICHAEL A.
Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 2d New Hampshire Infantry. Place and date: At Williamsburg, Va., 5 May 1862. At Oak Grove, Va., 25 June 1862. Entered service at: Wilton, N.H. Birth: Chelmsford, Mass. Date of issue: 10 October 1889. Citation: Bravery in repulsing the enemy’s charge on a battery, at Williamsburg, Va. At Oak Grove, Va., crawled outside the lines and brought in important information.

EVANS, JAMES R.
Rank and organization: Private, Company H, 62d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 5 May 1864. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 25 February 1895. Citation: Went out in front of the line under a fierce fire and, in the face of the rapidly advancing enemy, rescued the regimental flag with which the color bearer had fallen.

FALLON, THOMAS T.
Rank and organization: Private, Company K, 37th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Williamsburg, Va., 5 May 1862. At Fair Oaks, Va., 30-31 May 1862. At Big Shanty, Ga., 14-15 June 1864. Entered service at: Freehold, N.J. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 13 February 1891. Citation: At Williamsburg, Va., assisted in driving rebel skirmishers to their main line. Participated in action, at Fair Oaks, Va., though excused from duty because of disability. In a charge with his company at Big Shanty, Ga., was the first man on the enemy’s works.

GRACE, PETER
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company G, 83d Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 5 May 1864. Entered service at: Berkshire, Mass. Birth: Berkshire, Mass. Date of issue: 27 December 1894. Citation: Singlehanded, rescued a comrade from 2 Confederate guards, knocking down one and compelling surrender of the other.

HAIGHT, JOHN H.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company G, 72d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Williamsburg, Va., 5 May 1862. At Bristol Station, Va., 27 August 1862. At Manassas, Va., 29-30 August 1862. Entered service at: Westfield, N.Y. Born: 1 July 1841, Westfield, N.Y. Date of issue: 8 June 1888. Citation: At Williamsburg, Va., voluntarily carried a severely wounded comrade off the field in the face of a large force of the enemy; in doing so was himself severely wounded and taken prisoner. Went into the fight at Bristol Station, Va., although severely disabled. At Manassas, volunteered to search the woods for the wounded.

HYLAND, JOHN
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1819, Ireland. Accredited to: Illinois. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as seaman on board the U.S.S. Signal which was attacked by field batteries and sharpshooters and destroyed in Red River, 5 May 1864. Proceeding up the Red River, the U.S.S. Signal engaged a large force of enemy field batteries and sharpshooters, returning their fire until the ship was totally disabled, at which time the white flag was raised. Although wounded, Hyland courageously went in full view of several hundred sharpshooters and let go the anchor, and again to slip the cable, when he was again wounded by the raking enemy fire.

Mc CORMlCK, MICHAEL
Rank and organization: Boatswain’s Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 1833, Ireland. Accredited to: Illinois. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as boatswain’s mate on board the U.S.S. Signal, Red River, 5 May 1864. Proceeding up the Red River, the U.S.S. Signal engaged a large force of enemy field batteries and sharpshooters, returning the fire until the ship was totally disabled, at which time the white flag was raised. Serving as gun captain and wounded early in the battle, McCormick bravely stood by his gun in the face of the enemy fire until ordered to withdraw.

MINDIL, GEORGE W.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company I, 61st Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Williamsburg, Va., 5 May 1862. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 25 October 1893. Citation: As aide_de_camp led the charge with a part of a regiment, pierced the enemy’s center, silenced some of his artillery, and, getting in his rear, caused him to abandon his position.

MORSE, CHARLES E.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company I, 62d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 5 May 1864. Entered service at: New York. Birth: France. Date of issue: 14 January 1890. Citation: Voluntarily rushed back into the enemy’s lines, took the colors from the color sergeant, who was mortally wounded, and, although himself wounded, carried them through the fight.

MULHOLLAND, ST. CLAIR A.
Rank and organization: Major, 116th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Chancellorsville, Va., 4_5 May 1863. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Born: 1 April 1839, Ireland. Date of issue: 26 March 1895. Citation: In command of the picket line held the enemy in check all night to cover the retreat of the Army.

O’DONOGHUE, TIMOTHY
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy, Born: 1841, Rochester N.Y. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as boatswain’s mate on board the U.S.S. Signal, Red River, 5 May 1864. Proceeding up the Red River, the U.S.S. Signal engaged a large force of enemy field batteries and sharpshooters, returning the fire until the ship was totally disabled, at which time the white flag was raised. Serving as gun captain, and wounded early in the battle, O’Donoghue bravely stood by his gun in the face of enemy fire until ordered to withdraw.

OPEL, JOHN N.
Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 7th Indiana Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 5 May 1864. Entered service at: Decatur County, Ind. Birth: ——. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 50th Virginia Infantry (C.S.A.).

PATTERSON, JOHN H.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 11th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 5 May 1864. Entered service at: New York. Birth: New York. Date of issue: 23 July 1897. Citation: Under the heavy fire of the advancing enemy, picked up and carried several hundred yards to a place of safety a wounded officer of his regiment who was helpless and would otherwise have been burned in the forest.

RICH, CARLOS H.
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company K, 4th Vermont Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 5 May 1864. Entered service at: Northfield, Mass. Birth: Canada. Date of issue: 4 January 1895. Citation: Saved the life of an officer.

SWAP, JACOB E.
Rank and organization: Private, Company H, 83d Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 5 May 1864. Entered service at: Springs, Pa. Birth: Calnehoose, N.Y. Date of issue: 19 November 1897. Citation: Although assigned to other duty, he voluntarily joined his regiment in a charge and fought with it until severely wounded.

WILKES, PERRY
Rank and organization: Pilot, U.S. Navy. Entered service at: Indiana. Born: 6 June 1830, Indiana. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as pilot on board the U.S.S. Signal, Red River, 5 May 1864. Proceeding up the Red River, the U.S.S. Signal engaged a large force of enemy field batteries and sharpshooters, returning their fire until the ship was totally disabled, at which time the white flag was ordered raised. Acting as pilot throughout the battle, Wilkes stood by his wheel until it was disabled in his hands by a bursting enemy shell.

FICHTER, HERMANN
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Whetstone Mountains, Ariz., 5 May 1871. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 13 November 1871. Citation: Gallantry in action.

MILLER, DANIEL H.
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Whetstone Mountains, Ariz., 5 May 1871. Entered service at:——. Birth: Fairfield County, Ohio. Date of issue: 13 November 1871. Citation: Gallantry in action.

MOTT, JOHN
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Whetstone Mountains, Ariz., 5 May 1871. Entered service at:——. Birth: Scotland. Date of issue: 13 November 1871. Citation: Gallantry in action.

YOUNT, JOHN P.
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Whetstone Mountains, Ariz., 5 May 1871. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Putnam County, Ind. Date of issue: 13 November 1871. Citation: Gallantry in action with Indians.

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6 May

1856 – U.S. Army troops from Fort Tejon and Fort Miller prepared to ride out to protect Keyesville, California, from Yokut Indian attack.

1861 – Richmond, Virginia is declared the new capital of the Confederate States of America.

1861 – Confederate Congress passed act recognizing state of war with the United States and authorized the issuing of Letters of Marque to private vessels. President Davis issued instructions to private armed vessels, in which he defined operational limits, directed “strictest regard to the rights of neutral powers.” ordered privateers to proceed “With all … justice and humanity” toward Union vessels and crews, out-lined procedure for bringing in a prize, directed that all property on board neutral ships be exempt from seizure “unless it be contraband,” and defined contraband.

1861 – Arkansas and Tennessee becomes 9th & 10th states to secede from the United States.

1861 – Members of the 5th Louisiana Volunteer Infantry, take up garrison duties in this fort protecting the entrance to Pensacola Bay. In the early days of the Civil War, men in some southern units objected to being stationed outside of their home states (recall for most of the South the war was mostly over “state rights,” not slavery). Some of the men in this regiment questioned why they had to protect a part of Florida when areas of Louisiana remained vulnerable to Union Navy attack. However, it soon became apparent that if the Confederacy was to have any chance to survive as a separate nation it needed a unified army, regardless of state affiliation. The unit remained here until May 1862 when Union forces captured Pensacola Bay. The 5th Louisiana later joined the Army of Northern Virginia and fought at Antietam in September 1862 and in the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1864. A few members (“less than 80”) were among the men surrendered at Appomattox in April 1865.

1862 – Union forces occupy Williamsburg, Virginia, during the Peninsular campaign.

1863 – The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with the defeat of the Army of the Potomac by Confederate troops. The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. Itbegan April 30 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on May 3 in the vicinity of Fredericksburg. The campaign pitted Union Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s Army of the Potomac against an army less than half its size, Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Chancellorsville is known as Lee’s “perfect battle” because his risky decision to divide his army in the presence of a much larger enemy force resulted in a significant Confederate victory. The victory, a product of Lee’s audacity and Hooker’s timid decision making, was tempered by heavy casualties and the mortal wounding of Lt. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson to friendly fire, a loss that Lee likened to “losing my right arm.”

The Chancellorsville Campaign began with the crossing of the Rappahannock River by the Union army on the morning of April 27, 1863. Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. George Stoneman began a long distance raid against Lee’s supply lines at about the same time. This operation was completely ineffectual. Crossing the Rapidan River via Germanna and Ely’s Fords, the Federal infantry concentrated near Chancellorsville on April 30. Combined with the Union force facing Fredericksburg, Hooker planned a double envelopment, attacking Lee from both his front and rear. On May 1, Hooker advanced from Chancellorsville toward Lee, but the Confederate general split his army in the face of superior numbers, leaving a small force at Fredericksburg to deter Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick from advancing, while he attacked Hooker’s advance with about 4/5ths of his army. Despite the objections of his subordinates, Hooker withdrew his men to the defensive lines around Chancellorsville, ceding the initiative to Lee.

On May 2nd, Lee divided his army again, sending Stonewall Jackson’s entire corps on a flanking march that routed the Union XI Corps. While performing a personal reconnaissance in advance of his line, Jackson was wounded by fire from his own men, and Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart temporarily replaced him as corps commander. The fiercest fighting of the battle—and the second bloodiest day of the Civil War—occurred on May 3rd as Lee launched multiple attacks against the Union position at Chancellorsville, resulting in heavy losses on both sides. That same day, Sedgwick advanced across the Rappahannock River, defeated the small Confederate force at Marye’s Heights in the Second Battle of Fredericksburg and then moved to the west.

The Confederates fought a successful delaying action at the Battle of Salem Church and by May 4th had driven back Sedgwick’s men to Banks’s Ford, surrounding them on three sides. Sedgwick withdrew across the ford early on May 5th, and Hooker withdrew the remainder of his army across U.S. Ford the night of May 5–6th. The campaign ended on May 7th when Stoneman’s cavalry reached Union lines east of Richmond.

1864 – Union and Confederate troops continue their desperate struggle in the Wilderness, which was the opening battle in the biggest campaign of the war. General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Union forces, had joined George Meade’s Army of the Potomac to encounter Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the tangled Wilderness forest near Chancellorsville, the site of Lee’s brilliant victory the year before. The fighting was intense, and raging fires that consumed the dead and wounded magnified the horror of battle. But little was gained in the confused attacks by either side. On May 6, the second day of battle in the Wilderness, Grant sought to break the stalemate by sending Winfield Hancock’s corps against the Confederate right flank at the southern end of the battle line. The Federals were on the verge of breaking through the troops of James Longstreet when they stumbled in the dense undergrowth.

Lee entered the fray to rally the Confederate troops, but his devoted solders urged him away from the action. Later in the morning, Longstreet’s men attacked Hancock’s forces and seemed poised to turn the Union flank. But, like the Union troops earlier, they became disoriented as they drove Hancock’s troops back. In the confusion, Longstreet was wounded by his own men, just four miles from the spot where Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded by his own men the year before. The Confederate attack halted when Hancock’s men found refuge behind hastily constructed breastworks.

In the evening, Lee attacked the Union flank at the northern end of the battlefield and nearly turned the Federal line. Grant’s men, however, held their ground, leaving the exhausted armies in nearly the same positions as when the battle began. In two days, the Union lost 17,000 men to the Confederates’ 11,000. This was nearly one-fifth of each army. Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come. Grant pulled his men out of the Wilderness on May 7, but, unlike the commanders before him in the eastern theater, he did not go back. He moved further south towards Spotsylvania Court House and closer to Richmond. At Spotsylvania, the armies staged some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

1864 – General Sherman began to advance on Atlanta.

1864 – U.S.S. Dawn, Acting Lieutenant John W. Simmons, transported soldiers to capture a signal station at Wilson’s Wharf, Virginia. After landing the troops two miles above the station, Simmons proceeded to Sandy Point to cover the attack. When the soldiers were momentarily halted, a boat crew from Dawn spearheaded the successful assault.

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1864 – U.S.S. Eutaw, Osceola, Pequot, Shokokon, and General Putnam, side-wheelers of Rear Admiral Lee’s North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, supported the landing of troops at Bermuda Hundred, Virginia.

1877 – Chief Crazy Horse surrendered to U.S. troops in Nebraska. Crazy Horse had brought General Armstrong Custer to his end at The Battle of the Little Big Horn.

1916 – First ship-to-shore radio telephone voice conversation from USS New Hampshire off Virginia Capes to SECNAV Josephus Daniels in Washington, DC.

1935 – The Works Progress Administration (WPA), threw open its doors and given the monumental task of sending scores of unemployed Americans back to work. Perhaps the key program of the New Deal, President Franklin Roosevelt’s “alphabet soup” of government agencies aimed at alleviating the damage wrought by the Great Depression, the WPA handed Americans decent-paying jobs on a myriad of public works projects. It was a renamed and expanded effort of the Hoover administration, the Emergency Relief Administration, ERA, briefly renamed FERA (add Federal to the front) with it’s biggest difference being that the WPA was run directly by the Federal government, while ERA/FERA funded state and local programs. Workers employed via the agency constructed a head-spinning array of public structures, including parks, playgrounds, schools, post-offices and National Guard armories. And, through its creatively inclined arms (the Federal Art Project and Federal Theater Project), the WPA set painters, actors, musicians and writers to work on public arts projects that depicted the lives of America’s workers. All told, the WPA (which was renamed the Works Projects Administration in 1939) was responsible for employing 8.5 million Americans during its eight-year tenure.

Despite these considerable fruits, the WPA was an expensive program–the agency spent roughly $11 billion during its lifetime–which prompted attacks from more penurious voices in the nation. In addition, the WPA refused to allow job training–workers had to bring skills with them–and so WPA was closed to unskilled labor and did not lead to better job opportunities for those who could participate. Workers were limited to 30 hours a week, and wages were set by a regional prevailing wage standard. Corruption was common. Kentucky WPA workers were used in electioneering, enforced registration in the Democratic party, and diversion of pay to political campaigns. Similar cases were documented in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Illinois. By the summer of 1943, World War II had almost entirely usurped the efforts of America’s work force, and the WPA was permanently closed.

1935 – The first flight of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk. The Curtiss P-36 Hawk, also known as the Curtiss Hawk Model 75, was an American-designed and built fighter aircraft of the 1930s and 40s. A contemporary of both the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, it was one of the first of a new generation of combat aircraft—a sleek monoplane design making extensive use of metal in its construction and powered by a powerful radial engine. Perhaps best known as the predecessor of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, the P-36 saw little combat with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was nevertheless the fighter used most extensively and successfully by the French Armee de l’air during the Battle of France. The P-36 was also ordered by the governments of the Netherlands and Norway, but did not arrive in time to see action over either country, before both were occupied by Nazi Germany. The type was also manufactured under license in China, for the Republic of China Air Force, as well as in British India, for the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF). Axis and co-belligerent air forces also made significant use of captured P-36s.

Following the fall of France and Norway in 1940, several dozen P-36s were seized by Germany and transferred to Finland; these aircraft saw extensive action with the Ilmavoimat (Air Force) against the Soviet Air Forces. The P-36 was also used by Vichy French air forces in several minor conflicts; in one of these, the Franco-Thai War of 1940–41, P-36s were used by both sides. From mid-1940, some P-36s en route for France and the Netherlands were diverted to Allied air forces in other parts of the world. The Hawks ordered by the Netherlands were diverted to the Dutch East Indies and later saw action against Japanese forces. French orders were taken up by British Commonwealth air forces, and saw combat with both the South African Air Force (SAAF) against Italian forces in East Africa, and with the RAF over Burma. Within the Commonwealth, the type was usually referred to as the Curtiss Mohawk. With around 1,000 aircraft built by Curtiss itself, the P-36 was a major commercial success for the company. It also became the basis not only of the P-40, but two other, unsuccessful prototypes: the YP-37 and the XP-42 .

1937 – The airship Hindenburg, the largest dirigible ever built and the pride of Nazi Germany, bursts into flames upon touching its mooring mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 passengers and crewmembers. Frenchman Henri Giffard constructed the first successful airship in 1852. His hydrogen-filled blimp carried a three-horsepower steam engine that turned a large propeller and flew at a speed of six miles per hour. The rigid airship, often known as the “zeppelin” after the last name of its innovator, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, was developed by the Germans in the late 19th century. Unlike French airships, the German ships had a light framework of metal girders that protected a gas-filled interior. However, like Giffard’s airship, they were lifted by highly flammable hydrogen gas and vulnerable to explosion. Large enough to carry substantial numbers of passengers, one of the most famous rigid airships was the Graf Zeppelin, a dirigible that traveled around the world in 1929. In the 1930s, the Graf Zeppelin pioneered the first transatlantic air service, leading to the construction of the Hindenburg, a larger passenger airship.

On May 3, 1937, the Hindenburg left Frankfurt, Germany, for the first of 10 scheduled journey’s across the Atlantic to Lakehurst’s Navy Air Base. On its maiden voyage, the Hindenburg, stretching 804 feet from stern to bow, carried 36 passengers and crew of 61. While attempting to moor at Lakehurst, the airship suddenly burst into flames, probably after a spark ignited its hydrogen core. Rapidly falling 200 feet to the ground, the hull of the airship incinerated within seconds. Thirteen passengers, 21 crewmen, and 1 civilian member of the ground crew lost their lives, and most of the survivors suffered substantial injuries.

Radio announcer Herb Morrison, who came to Lakehurst to record a routine voice-over for an NBC newsreel, immortalized the Hindenberg disaster in a famous on-the-scene description in which he emotionally declared, “Oh, the humanity!” The recording of Morrison’s commentary was immediately flown to New York, where it was aired as part of America’s first coast-to-coast radio news broadcast. Lighter-than-air passenger travel rapidly fell out of favor after the Hindenberg disaster, and no rigid airships survived World War II.

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1941 – The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was one of the largest and heaviest fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single piston engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to eight tons, and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack roles could carry five-inch rockets or a significant bomb load of 2,500 pounds; it could carry more than half the payload of the B-17 bomber on long-range missions (although the B-17 had a far greater range). The P-47, based on the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine—the same engine used by two very successful U.S. Navy fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair—was to be very effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat and, when unleashed as a fighter-bomber, proved especially adept at ground attack in both the World War II European and Pacific Theaters.

The P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighters of World War II, and served with other Allied air forces, notably those of France, Britain, and Russia. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U.S. were equipped with the P-47. The armored cockpit was roomy inside, comfortable for the pilot, and offered good visibility. A modern-day U.S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, takes its name from the P-47.

1942 – U.S. Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright surrenders all U.S. troops in the Philippines to the Japanese. The island of Corregidor remained the last Allied stronghold in the Philippines after the Japanese victory at Bataan (from which General Wainwright had managed to flee, to Corregidor). Constant artillery shelling and aerial bombardment attacks ate away at the American and Filipino defenders. Although still managing to sink many Japanese barges as they approached the northern shores of the island, the Allied troops could hold the invader off no longer. General Wainwright, only recently promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and commander of the U.S. armed forces in the Philippines, offered to surrender Corregidor to Japanese General Homma, but Homma wanted the complete, unconditional capitulation of all American forces throughout the Philippines.

Wainwright had little choice given the odds against him and the poor physical condition of his troops (he had already lost 800 men). He surrendered at midnight. All 11,500 surviving Allied troops were evacuated to a prison stockade in Manila. General Wainwright remained a POW until 1945. As a sort of consolation for the massive defeat he suffered, he was present on the USS Missouri for the formal Japanese surrender ceremony on September 2, 1945. He would also be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman. Wainwright died in 1953-exactly eight years to the day of the Japanese surrender ceremony.

1942 – CAPT Milton Miles arrives in Chungking, China, to begin building an intelligence and guerilla training organization, Naval Group China.

1943 – In Tunisia, US forces advance on three axes toward Bizerta, Ferryville and Protville.

1944 – A Japanese troopship convoy is destroyed by the American submarine Gurnard.

1944 – The first flight of the Mitsubishi A7M fighter (designed to replace the Zero) takes place. Technical problems and Allied bombing raids prevent mass production.

1945 – The US 97th Division, part of US 5th Corps of the US 3rd Army, occupies Pilsen in Czechoslovakia. The US 12th Corps advances toward Prague but the army is ordered to halt the advance and allow Soviets to occupy the rest of the country as has been arranged.

1945 – On Luzon, elements of the US 25th Division, part of US 1st Corps, capture the Kembu plateau. On Mindanao, the US 24th and 31st Divisions overrun Japanese positions north of Davao, where the Japanese 35th Army (General Morozumi) is concentrated.

1945 – On Okinawa, the Japanese offensive loses momentum. Japanese forces have sustain losses of at least 5000 killed. Even while it has been going on, American forces have made gains near Machinto airfield and Maeda Ridge.

1945 – Axis Sally made her final propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.

1945 – The Coast Guard-manned frigate USS Moberly (PF-63), in concert with USS Atherton, sank the U-853 in the Atlantic off Block Island. There were no survivors.

1945 – Naval landing force evacuates 500 Marshallese from Jaluit Atoll, Marshall Islands.

1953 – Planes from the carriers Princeton and Valley Forge blasted a mining area northwest of Songjin, causing numerous secondary explosions and destroying buildings and a main transformer station. The heavy cruiser Saint Paul and the destroyer Nicholas fired on coastal supply routes and storage areas.

1955 – West Germany joined NATO.

1962 – In the first test of its kind, the submerged submarine USS Ethan Allen fired a Polaris missile armed with a nuclear warhead that detonated above the Pacific Ocean.

1962 – Pathet Lao broke cease fire and conquered Nam Tha, Laos.

1967 – Three US pilots shot down during a raid over Hanoi are paraded through the streets of that city. North Vietnam says the three pilots were based in Thailand.

1967 – Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker, in a report to President Johnson, describes an encouraging turnout in recent village council elections. He estimates that 77 percent of eligible voters in participating villages cast ballots.

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1969 – A US helicopter crashes 75 miles north of Saigon killing 34 and injuring 35 in what is believed to be the worst helicopter accident of the war. To this date, 2,595 helicopters have been lost.

1970 – More than 100 universities across the US shut down as thousands of students join a nationwide campus protest. Governor Ronald Reagan closes down the entire California university and college system until 11 May, involving more than 280,000 students on 28 campuses. A National Student Association spokesman reports that more than 300 campuses are boycotting classes.

1970 – Three new fronts are opened in Cambodia bringing to nearly 50,000 the number of allied troops there. One US spearhead, by troops of the 25th Infantry Division, moves across the border from Tayninh Province between the Fishhook and Parrot’s Beak areas. The US First Cavalry Division (Airmobile) is airlifted into the jungles 23 miles west of Phocbinh, South Vietnam, northeast of the Fishhook.

1972 – The remnants of South Vietnam’s 5th Division at An Loc continue to receive daily artillery battering from the communist forces surrounding the city as reinforcements fight their way from the south up Highway 13. The South Vietnamese had been under heavy attack since the North Vietnamese had launched their Nguyen Hue Offensive on March 30. The communists had mounted a massive invasion of South Vietnam with 14 infantry divisions and 26 separate regiments, more than 120,000 troops and approximately 1,200 tanks and other armored vehicles. The main North Vietnamese objectives, in addition to An Loc in the south, were Quang Tri in the north, and Kontum in the Central Highlands.

In Binh Long Province, the North Vietnamese forces had crossed into South Vietnam from Cambodia on April 5th to strike first at Loc Ninh. After taking Loc Ninh, the North Vietnamese forces then quickly encircled An Loc, the capital of Binh Long Province, which was only 65 miles from Saigon. The North Vietnamese held An Loc under siege for almost three months while they made repeated attempts to take the city, bombarding it around the clock. The defenders suffered heavy casualties, including 2,300 dead or missing, but with the aid of U.S. advisers and American airpower, they managed to hold out against vastly superior odds until the siege was lifted on June 18th.

Fighting continued all over South Vietnam into the summer months, but eventually the South Vietnamese forces prevailed against the invaders and they retook Quang Tri in September. With the communist invasion blunted, President Nixon declared that the South Vietnamese victory proved the viability of his Vietnamization program, which he had instituted in 1969 to increase the combat capability of the South Vietnamese armed forces.

1968 – Astronaut Neil Armstrong was nearly killed in a lunar module trainer accident.

1981 – A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Ying Lin’s design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.

1981 – US expelled all Libyan diplomats.

1990 – Freed American hostage Frank Reed said at a news conference in Arlington, Va., that he had been savagely beaten by his captors in Lebanon after two unsuccessful escape attempts.

1993 – The space shuttle “Columbia” landed safely in California after a 10-day mission.

1993 – The Bosnian Serb parliament, for the third time, rejected a U.N. peace plan for Bosnia-Herzegovina. The president of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, ordered a blockade of all supplies, except food and medicine, to the Bosnian Serbs.

1994 – The last HH-3F Pelican helicopter in Coast Guard service was retired. This ended the Coast Guard’s “amphibious era,” as no aviation asset left in service was capable of making water landings.

1995 – In London, thousands of World War II veterans celebrated the 50th anniversary of VE Day.

1996 – The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.

1997 – Sergeant Delmar Simpson received a 25 year sentence for raping 6 female trainees at the Aberdeen, Md., Proving Ground Army base.

1999 – Russia joined NATO to back a framework for ending the conflict in Kosovo that included an international security presence to enforce peace.

1999 – Electricity was restored in Belgrade as NATO air strikes continued in Yugoslavia. A main railroad bridge was destroyed near the Romanian border and oil depots in Nis were hit.

2002 – Two mailbox pipe bombs were found in Colorado and another one in Nebraska.

2002 – In Afghanistan the CIA fired a missile from a Predator in an attempt to kill Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, head of Hezb-e-Islami, and his top aides outside Kabul.

2004 – Pres. Bush told King Abdullah II of Jordan that he was sorry for the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by US guards.

2004 – An audio recording attributed to Osama bin Laden offered rewards in gold for the killing of top U.S. and U.N. officials in Iraq or of the citizens of any nation fighting there.

2004 – U.S. soldiers backed by tanks and armored fighting vehicles seized control of the governor’s office from Shiite militiamen in the city of Najaf.

2011 – The United States Coast Guard closes a section of the Mississippi River near Caruthersville, Missouri due to heavy flooding.

2014 – Despite the clamor for Shinseki’s ouster, White House spokesman Jay Carney says Obama “remains confident in Secretary Shinseki’s ability to lead the department and take appropriate action.” Shinseki tells the Wall Street Journal he will not resign.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

BINGHAM, HENRY H.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company G, 140th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 6 May 1864. Entered service at: Cannonsburg, Pa. Born: 4 December 1841, Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 31 August 1893. Citation: Rallied and led into action a portion of the troops who had given way under the fierce assaults of the enemy.

BROWN, HENRI LE FEVRE
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 72d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 6 May 1864. Entered service at: Ellicott, N.Y. Birth: Jamestown, N.Y. Date of issue: 23 June 1896. Citation: Voluntarily and under a heavy fire from the enemy, 3 times crossed the field of battle with a load of ammunition in a blanket on his back, thus supplying the Federal forces, whose ammunition had nearly all been expended, and enabling them to hold their position until reinforcement arrived, when the enemy were driven from their position.

BURK, THOMAS
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company H, 97th New York Infantry. Place and date. At Wilderness, Va., 6 May 1864. Entered service at: Harrisburgh, Lewis County, N.Y. Born: 1842, Lewis County, N.Y. Date of Issue: 24 August 1896. Citation: At the risk of his own life went back while the rebels were still firing and, finding Col. Wheelock unable to move, alone and unaided, carried him off the field of battle.

COHN, ABRAHAM
Rank and organization: Sergeant Major, 6th New Hampshire Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 6 May 1864; At the mine, Petersburg, Va., 30 July 1864. Entered service at: Campton, N.H. Birth: Guttentag, Silesia, Prussia. Date of issue: 24 August 1865. Citation: During Battle of the Wilderness rallied and formed, under heavy fire, disorganized and fleeing troops of different regiments. At Petersburg, Va., 30 July 1864, bravely and coolly carried orders to the advanced line under severe fire.

DE LACEY, PATRICK
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company A, 143d Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 6 May 1864. Entered service at: Scranton, Pa. Born: 25 November 1834, Carbondale, Lackawanna County, Pa. Date of issue: 24 April 1894. Citation: Running ahead of the line, under a concentrated fire, he shot the color bearer of a Confederate regiment on the works, thus contributing to the success of the attack.

DRAKE, JAMES M.
Rank and organization: 2d Lieutenant, Company D, 9th New Jersey Infantry. Place and date: At Bermuda Hundred, Va., 6 May 1864. Entered service at: Elizabeth, N.J. Birth: Union County, N.J. Date of issue: 3 March 1873. Citation: Commanded the skirmish line in the advance and held his position all day and during the night.

ENGLISH, EDMUND
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company C, 2d New Jersey Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 6 May 1864. Entered service at: Newark, N.J. Born: 16 November 1841, Ireland. Date of issue: 13 February 1891. Citation: During a rout and while under orders to retreat seized the colors, rallied the men, and drove the enemy back.

HILL, HENRY
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company C, 50th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 6 May 1864. Entered service at: —–. Birth: Schuylkill County, Pa. Date of issue: 23 September 1897. Citation: This soldier, with one companion, would not retire when his regiment fell back in confusion after an unsuccessful charge, but instead advanced and continued firing upon the enemy until the regiment re-formed and regained its position.

KARPELES, LEOPOLD
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company E, 57th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 6 May 1864. Entered service at: Springfield, Mass. Birth: Hungary. Date of issue: 30 April 1870. Citation: While color bearer, rallied the retreating troops and induced them to check the enemy’s advance.

KEMP, JOSEPH
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company D, 5th Michigan Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 6 May 1864. Entered service at: Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Birth: Lima, Ohio. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 31st North Carolina (C.S.A.) in a personal encounter.

ROUGHT, STEPHEN
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company A, 141st Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 6 May 1864. Entered service at: Crampton, Pa. Birth: Bradford County, Pa. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 13th North Carolina Infantry (C.S.A.).

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THOMPSON, WILLIAM P.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company G, 20th Indiana Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 6 May 1864. Entered service at: Tippecanoe County, Ind. Birth: Brooklyn, N.Y. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 55th Virginia Infantry (C.S.A.).

TRACY, BENJAMIN F.
Rank and organization: Colonel, 109th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 6 May 1864. Entered service at: Owego, N.Y. Born: 26 April 1830, Owego, N.Y. Date of issue: 21 June 1895. Citation: Seized the colors and led the regiment when other regiments had retired and then reformed his line and held it.

YOUNG, JAMES M.
Rank and organization: Private, Company B, 72d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness. Va., 6 May 1864. Entered service at Chautauqua County, N.Y. Birth: Chautauqua County, N.Y. Date of issue: 2 April 1898. Citation: With 2 companions, voluntarily went forward in the forest to reconnoiter the enemy’s position, was fired upon and one of his companions disabled. Pvt. Young took the wounded man upon his back and, under fire, carried him within the Union lines.

HOOVER, SAMUEL
Rank and organization: Bugler, Company A, 1st U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Santa Maria Mountains, Ariz., 6 May 1873. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Dauphin County, Pa. Date of issue: 12 August 1875. Citation: Gallantry in action, also services as trailer in May 1872.

MACLAY, WILLIAM P.
Rank and organization: Private, Company A, 43d Infantry, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Hilongas, Leyte, Philippine Islands, 6 May 1900. Entered service at: Altoona, Pa. Birth: Spruce Creek, Pa. Date of issue: 11 March 1902. Citation: Charged an occupied bastion, saving the life of an officer in a hand-to-hand combat and destroying the enemy.

THORDSEN, WILLIAM GEORGE
Rank and organization: Coxswain, U.S. Navy. Born: 2 April 1879, Fredericstadt, Germany. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 6, 15 August 1900. Citation. For heroism and gallantry under fire of the enemy at Hilongas, Philippine Islands, 6 May 1900.

*HOWE, JAMES D.
Rank and organization: Lance Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, Company I, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. Place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 6 May 1970. Entered service at: Fort Jackson, S.C. Born: 17 December 1948, Six Mile, Pickens, S.C. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a rifleman with Company I, during operations against enemy forces. In the early morning hours L/Cpl. Howe and 2 other marines were occupying a defensive position in a sandy beach area fronted by bamboo thickets. Enemy sappers suddenly launched a grenade attack against the position, utilizing the cover of darkness to carry out their assault.

Following the initial explosions of the grenades, L/Cpl. Howe and his 2 comrades moved to a more advantageous position in order to return suppressive fire. When an enemy grenade landed in their midst, L/Cpl. Howe immediately shouted a warning and then threw himself upon the deadly missile, thereby protecting the lives of the fellow marines. His heroic and selfless action was in keeping with the finest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the U.S. Naval Service. He valiantly gave his life in the service of his country.

PATTERSON, ROBERT MARTIN
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Troop B, 2d Squadron. 17th Cavalry. Place and date: Near La Chu, Republic of Vietnam, 6 May 1968. Entered service at: Raleigh, N.C. Born: 16 April 1948, Durham, N.C. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Patterson (then Sp4c.) distinguished himself while serving as a fire team leader of the 3d Platoon, Troop B, during an assault against a North Vietnamese Army battalion which was entrenched in a heavily fortified position. When the leading squad of the 3d Platoon was pinned down by heavy interlocking automatic weapon and rocket propelled grenade fire from 2 enemy bunkers, Sgt. Patterson and the 2 other members of his assault team moved forward under a hail of enemy fire to destroy the bunkers with grenade and machinegun fire.

Observing that his comrades were being fired on from a third enemy bunker covered by enemy gunners in l-man spider holes, Sgt. Patterson, with complete disregard for his safety and ignoring the warning of his comrades that he was moving into a bunker complex, assaulted and destroyed the position. Although exposed to intensive small arm and grenade fire from the bunkers and their mutually supporting emplacements. Sgt. Patterson continued his assault upon the bunkers which were impeding the advance of his unit. Sgt. Patterson single-handedly destroyed by rifle and grenade fire 5 enemy bunkers, killed 8 enemy soldiers and captured 7 weapons. His dauntless courage and heroism inspired his platoon to resume the attack and to penetrate the enemy defensive position. Sgt. Patterson’s action at the risk of his life has reflected great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

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7 May

1718 – The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. La Nouvelle-Orléans (New Orleans) was founded by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Monsieur de Bienville, on land inhabited by the Chitimacha. It was named for Philippe d’Orléans, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of the Kingdom of France at the time. His title came from the French city of Orléans. The French colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire in the Treaty of Paris (1763). During the American Revolutionary War, New Orleans was an important port for smuggling aid to the rebels, transporting military equipment and supplies up the Mississippi River. Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez successfully launched a southern campaign against the British from the city in 1779. New Orleans (Spanish: Nueva Orleans) remained under Spanish control until 1801, when it reverted briefly to French oversight. Nearly all of the surviving 18th-century architecture of the Vieux Carré (French Quarter) dates from the Spanish period, the most notable exception being the Old Ursuline Convent. Napoleon sold Louisiana (New France) to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Thereafter, the city grew rapidly with influxes of Americans, French, Creoles, and Africans. Later immigrants were Irish, Germans, and Italians. Major commodity crops of sugar and cotton were cultivated with slave labor on large plantations outside the city.

1763 – Pontiac’s Rebellion begins when a confederacy of Native American warriors under Ottawa chief Pontiac attacks the British force at Detroit. After failing to take the fort in their initial assault, Pontiac’s forces, made up of Ottawas and reinforced by Wyandots, Ojibwas, and Potawatamis, initiated a siege that would stretch into months. As the French and Indian Wars came to an end in the early 1760s, Native Americans living in former French territory found the new British authorities to be far less conciliatory than their predecessors. In 1762, Pontiac enlisted support from practically every Indian tribe from Lake Superior to the lower Mississippi for a joint campaign to expel the British from the formerly French lands. According to Pontiac’s plan, each tribe would seize the nearest fort and then join forces to wipe out the undefended settlements. In April, Pontiac convened a war council on the banks of the Ecorse River near Detroit. It was decided that Pontiac and his warriors would gain access to the British fort at Detroit under the pretense of negotiating a peace treaty, giving them an opportunity to seize forcibly the arsenal there.

However, British Major Henry Gladwin learned of the plot, and the British were ready when Pontiac arrived in early May, and Pontiac was forced to begin a siege. At the same time, his allies in Pennsylvania began a siege of Fort Pitt, while other sympathetic tribes, such as the Delaware, the Shawnees, and the Seneca, prepared to move against various British forts and outposts in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. On July 31st, a British relief expedition attacked Pontiac’s camp but suffered heavy losses and were repelled in the Battle of Bloody Run.

Nevertheless, they had succeeded in providing the fort at Detroit with reinforcements and supplies, which allowed it to hold out against the Indians into the fall. The major forts at Pitt and Niagara likewise held on, but the united tribes captured eight other fortified posts. At these forts, the garrisons were wiped out, relief expeditions were repulsed, and nearby frontier settlements were destroyed. In the spring of 1764, two British armies were sent out, one into Pennsylvania and Ohio under Colonel Bouquet, and the other to the Great Lakes under Colonel John Bradstreet. Bouquet’s campaign met with success, and the Delaware along with the Shawnees
were forced to sue for peace, breaking Pontiac’s alliance.

Failing to persuade tribes in the West to join his rebellion, and lacking the hoped-for support from the French, Pontiac finally signed a treaty with the British in 1766. In 1769, he was murdered by a Peoria Indian while visiting Illinois. His death led to bitter warfare among the tribes, and the Peorias were nearly wiped out.

1769 – Revolution was in the air on this day in 1769, as George Washington launched a legislative salvo at Great Britain’s fiscal and judicial attempts to maintain its control over the American colonies. With his sights set on the British policy of “taxation without representation,” Washington brought a package of non-importation resolutions before the Virginia House of Burgesses. The resolutions, drafted by George Madison largely in response to England’s passage of the Townshend Act in 1767, also decried parliament’s plan to send American criminals to England for trial.

Though Virginia’s Royal Governor promptly fired back by disbanding the House of Burgesses, the revolutionaries were undeterred: during a makeshift meeting held at the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia’s delegates gave their support the non-importation resolutions. As a result, Virginia sealed off a good chunk of its trade with England pending the repeal of the Townshend Acts. This proved to be a contagious maneuver, as the other American colonies spent the summer adopting their own non-importation resolutions.

1779 – Continental Navy sloop Providence captures British brig Diligent off Cape Charles.

1792 – Captain Robert Gray discovered Gray’s Harbor in Washington state.

1800 – Congress divided the Northwest Territory into two parts. The western part became the Indiana Territory and the eastern sections remained the Northwest Territory.

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1862 – At the Battle of Eltham’s Landing in Virginia, Confederate troops struck Union troops in the Shenandoah Valley.

1862 – U.S.S. Wachusett, Commander W. Smith, U.S.S. Chocura, and Sebago escorted Army transports up the York River, supported the landing at West Point, Virginia, and countered a Confederate attack with accurate gunfire. U.S.S. Currituck, Acting Master William F. Shankland, sent on a reconnaissance of the Pamunkey River by Smith on the 6th, captured American Coaster and Planter the next day. Shankland reported that some twenty schooners had been sunk and two gunboats burned by the Confederates above West Point.

1864 – Following two days of intense fighting in the Wilderness forest, the Army of the Potomac, under the command of Union General Ulysses S. Grant, moves south. Grant’s forces had clashed with Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in a pitched and confused two-day battle in which neither side gained a clear victory. Nonetheless, Lee could claim an advantage, since he inflicted more casualties and held off the Yankees, despite the fact that he was outnumbered. When Lee halted Grant’s advance, Grant proved that he was different than previous commanders of the Army of the Potomac by refusing to fall back. Many of his veteran soldiers expected to retreat back across the Rapidan River, but the order came down through the ranks to move the army south. The blue troops had just suffered terrible losses, and the move lifted their spirits. “We marched free. The men began to sing,” recalled one Yankee. In some ways, warfare would never be the same. Grant had promised President Abraham Lincoln that there would be no turning back on this campaign. He would aggressively pursue Lee without allowing the Confederates time to retool. But the cost was high: Weeks of fighting resulted in staggering casualties before the two armies dug in around Petersburg by the middle of June.

1864 – Steamers U.S.S. Sunflower, Acting Master Edward Van Sice, and Honduras, Acting Master John H. Platt, and sailing bark J. L. Davis, Acting Master William Fales, supported the capture of Tampa, Florida, in a combined operation. The Union ships carried the soldiers to Tampa and provided a naval landing party which joined in the assault. Van Sice reported of the engagement: “At 7 A.M. the place was taken possession of, capturing some 40 prisoners, the naval force capturing about one-half, which were turned over to the Army, and a few minutes after 7 the Stars and Stripes were hoisted in the town by the Navy.” The warships also captured blockade running sloop Neptune on 6 May with cargo of cotton.

1873 – US Marines attacked Panama.

1877 – Indian chief Sitting Bull entered Canada with a trail of Indians after the Battle of Little Big Horn.

1915 – British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland. Within 20 minutes, the vessel sank into the Celtic Sea. Of 1,959 passengers and crew, 1,198 people were drowned, including 128 Americans. The attack aroused considerable indignation in the United States, but Germany defended the action, noting that it had issued warnings of its intent to attack all ships, neutral or otherwise, that entered the war zone around Britain. When World War I erupted in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson pledged neutrality for the United States, a position that the vast majority of Americans favored. Britain, however, was one of America’s closest trading partners, and tension soon arose between the United States and Germany over the latter’s attempted quarantine of the British isles. Several U.S. ships traveling to Britain were damaged or sunk by German mines, and in February 1915 Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare in the waters around Britain.

In early May 1915, several New York newspapers published a warning by the German embassy in Washington that Americans traveling on British or Allied ships in war zones did so at their own risk. The announcement was placed on the same page as an advertisement of the imminent sailing of the Lusitania liner from New York back to Liverpool. The sinking of merchant ships off the south coast of Ireland prompted the British Admiralty to warn the Lusitania to avoid the area or take simple evasive action, such as zigzagging to confuse U-boats plotting the vessel’s course. The captain of the Lusitania ignored these recommendations, and at 2:12 p.m. on May 7th the 32,000-ton ship was hit by an exploding torpedo on its starboard side. The torpedo blast was followed by a larger explosion, probably of the ship’s boilers, and the ship sunk in 20 minutes. It was revealed that the Lusitania was carrying about 173 tons of war munitions for Britain, which the Germans cited as further justification for the attack. The United States eventually sent three notes to Berlin protesting the action, and Germany apologized and pledged to end unrestricted submarine warfare.

In November, however, a U-boat sunk an Italian liner without warning, killing 272 people, including 27 Americans. Public opinion in the United States began to turn irrevocably against Germany. On January 31, 1917, Germany, determined to win its war of attrition against the Allies, announced that it would resume unrestricted warfare in war-zone waters. Three days later, the United States broke diplomatic relations with Germany, and just hours after that the American liner Housatonic was sunk by a German U-boat. On February 22nd, Congress passed a $250 million arms appropriations bill intended to make the United States ready for war. In late March, Germany sunk four more U.S. merchant ships, and on April 2nd President Wilson appeared before Congress and called for a declaration of war against Germany. On April 4th, the Senate voted to declare war against Germany, and two days later the House of Representatives endorsed the declaration. With that, America entered World War I.

1934 – USS Constitution completes tour of principal U.S. ports.

1939 – Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.

1940 – There is a major debate in the House of Commons on the conduct of the war and especially of the Norwegian campaign. At the vote Chamberlain’s government has a majority of 281-200 but when compared to former support this is not sufficient to allow the government to continue to claim to be representative. Neville Chamberlain resigns. In fact the errors of the Norwegian campaign have been at least as much Churchill’s as any others. However, in a wider sense the responsibility is Chamberlain’s for failing to establish a coherent decision-making structure to see that plans were properly coordinated and that subordinates worked sensibly and efficiently.

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1940 – FDR orders Pacific Fleet to remain in Hawaiian waters indefinitely.

1942 – Battle of the Coral Sea: American Admiral Fletcher sends Task Force 44 to attack Japanese troop transports bound for Port Moresby. The Japanese retaliate with attacks from land based aircraft. The Japanese also sight the American tanker Neosho and the Sims, they send aircraft after the ships and the Neosho is sunk. The Americans find Japanese Admiral Goto’s close support force and they proceed to sink the carrier Shoho. Meanwhile, Japanese Admiral Takagi sends planes out in an attempt to find the American fleet. Twenty-one of the Japanese planes are lost without engaging the enemy, including a small group which attempt to land on the American aircraft carrier Yorktown. The Japanese troop transports return to Rabaul to await the outcome of the battle.

1942 – General Wainwright broadcasts the news of the American surrender at Corregidor from Japanese custody. He invites the remainder of the American forces in the Philippines to surrender. Despite the American surrender, the opposition faced by Japanese forces has been effective in disrupting their plans. General Homma was allocated 50 days to take the Philippines, the actual conquest took five months. The continuing resistance of the Filipino forces has prevented the release of his troops for other campaigns.

1943 – Tunis and Bizerta are both captured in the afternoon by British and American forces, respectively. The Axis defenses can no longer contain the Allied pressure.

1943 – Americans lay mines in the waters around New Georgia to prevent Japanese supplies reaching the island.

1944 – The US 15th Air Force and British Bomber Command attack railway yards in Bucharest during the day and night, leaving the city in flames.

1944 – The US 8th Air Force conducts a massive raid on Berlin with 1500 aircraft.

1944 – The US 9th Air Force attacks the railway yards at Mezieres-Charleville with Marauders and P-38 Lightning aircraft.

1944 – Elements of the US 46th Division occupy Cape Hopkins Airfield in the Bismarck Archipelago. There is no Japanese resistance encountered.

1945 – At 0141, General Alfred Jodl, signs the unconditional surrender of all German forces, East and West, at Reims, in northwestern France. At first, General Jodl hoped to limit the terms of German surrender to only those forces still fighting the Western Allies. But General Dwight Eisenhower demanded complete surrender of all German forces, those fighting in the East as well as in the West. If this demand was not met, Eisenhower was prepared to seal off the Western front, preventing Germans from fleeing to the West in order to surrender, thereby leaving them in the hands of the enveloping Soviet forces. Jodl radioed Grand Admiral Karl Donitz, Hitler’s successor, with the terms. Donitz ordered him to sign.

So with Russian General Ivan Susloparov and French General Francois Sevez signing as witnesses, and General Walter Bedell Smith, Ike’s chief of staff, signing for the Allied Expeditionary Force, Germany was-at least on paper-defeated. Fighting would still go on in the East for almost another day. But the war in the West was over. Since General Susloparov did not have explicit permission from Soviet Premier Stalin to sign the surrender papers, even as a witness, he was quickly hustled back East-into the hands of the Soviet secret police, never to be heard from again. Alfred Jodl, who was wounded in the assassination attempt on Hitler on July 20, 1944, would be found guilty of war crimes (which included the shooting of hostages) at Nuremberg and hanged on October 16, 1946-then granted a pardon, posthumously, in 1953, after a German appeals court found Jodl not guilty of breaking international law.

1945 – On Luzon, the US 43rd Division advances about 5 miles toward Ipo. American troops attacking towards a ridge near Guagua are repulsed by Japanese defenders.

1945 – On Okinawa, the US 7th Division completes the elimination of Japanese units that infiltrated into the Tanabaru area. Fruitless attacks on the Japanese held Shuri Line continue.

1947 – General MacArthur approved the Japanese constitution.

1951 – The Air Force’s 3rd Air Rescue Squadron recovered its 50th behind-the-lines downed airman.

1952 – Communist prisoners rioting at Koje-do held the U.N. commander, Brigadier General Francis T. Dodd, hostage until May 11. At Panmunjom both sides announced a stalemate over the prisoner of war issue.

1952 – The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey W.A. Dummer.

1953 – Communist negotiators at Panmunjom presented an eight-point proposal regarding the repatriation of POWs, including the establishment of a Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission.

1954 – US, Great Britain and France rejected Russian membership in NATO.

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1954 – In northwest Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces decisively defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu, a French stronghold besieged by the Vietnamese communists for 57 days. The Viet Minh victory at Dien Bien Phu signaled the end of French colonial influence in Indochina and cleared the way for the division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel at the conference of Geneva.

On September 2, 1945, hours after the Japanese signed their unconditional surrender in World War II, communist leader Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam, hoping to prevent the French from reclaiming their former colonial possession. In 1946, he hesitantly accepted a French proposal that allowed Vietnam to exist as an autonomous state within the French Union, but fighting broke out when the French tried to reestablish colonial rule.

Beginning in 1949, the Viet Minh fought an increasingly effective guerrilla war against France with military and economic assistance from newly Communist China. France received military aid from the United States. In November 1953, the French, weary of jungle warfare, occupied Dien Bien Phu, a small mountain outpost on the Vietnamese border near Laos. Although the Vietnamese rapidly cut off all roads to the fort, the French were confident that they could be supplied by air. The fort was also out in the open, and the French believed that their superior artillery would keep the position safe.

In 1954, the Viet Minh army, under General Vo Nguyen Giap, moved against Dien Bien Phu and in March encircled it with 40,000 Communist troops and heavy artillery. The first Viet Minh assault against the 13,000 entrenched French troops came on March 12th, and despite massive air support, the French held only two square miles by late April.

On May 7th, after 57 days of siege, the French positions collapsed. Although the defeat brought an end to French colonial efforts in Indochina, the United States soon stepped up to fill the vacuum, increasing military aid to South Vietnam and sending the first U.S. military advisers to the country in 1959.

1960– Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his nation is holding American U-2 pilot Gary Powers.

1963 – The United States launched the Telstar II communications satellite. It made the first public transatlantic broadcast.

1965 – 6,000 Marines of the 4th marine Division are sent to Chu Lai, a sandy pine barren along the coast 55 miles south of Danang to build a second jet air base. Chu Lai will sport a new type of field, the Short Airfield for Tactical Support (SATS) — a 4,000 foot long airstrip of aluminum matting with arrestor wires like an aircraft carrier. Initially all planes will take off via jet assist, but a catapult will be installed two years later. By 1 June, A-4 Skyhawks and MAG-12ss will be using the field.

1975 – President Ford issues a proclamation designating this a the last day of the ‘Vietnam Era’ for military personnel to qualify for wartime benefits.

1975 – The Viet Cong celebrated the takeover of Ho Chi Minh City — formerly Saigon.

1979 – During a city-wide strike by tugboat operators and longshoremen in New York City that began on 1 April 1979, Mayor Ed Koch of New York asked for federal assistance. The Secretary of Transportation, Brock Adams, at the behest of President Jimmy Carter, ordered the Commandant, ADM John B. Hayes, to direct the commanding officer of the Third Coast Guard District, VADM Robert I. Price, “to cooperate with Mayor Koch in the movement of sanitation barges within the harbor.”

Beginning on 7 May 1979, the cutters Sauk, Manitou and Red Beech began moving 16 garbage scows from a Staten Island landfill site to refuse pick-up points in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. Although the Group received an anonymous bomb threat that proved to be a hoax, the towing effort was carried out without incident. These three cutters were relieved of “garbage duty” in June by the cutters Snohomish and Chinook.

1984 – Federal District Judge Jack B. Weinstein announces a $180 million out-of-court settlement against seven chemical manufacturers of the defoliant Agent Orange in a class-action suit brought by 15,000 Vietnam veterans. At least 40,000 veterans are involved in various suits against these companies, with potential claimants in the hundreds of thousands.

1992 – Astronaut and Coast Guard CDR Bruce Melnick made his second space flight when he served as a Mission Specialist aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on her maiden flight, Space Shuttle Mission STS-49, which flew from 7 to 16 May 1992. During this mission, astronauts rescued and repaired the Intelsat VI satellite. Melnick, by this point, had logged more than 300 hours in space.

1992 – A 203-year-old proposed constitutional amendment barring Congress from giving itself a midterm pay raise received enough votes for ratification as Michigan became the 38th state to approve it.

1996 – The first international war crimes proceeding since Nuremberg opened at The Hague in the Netherlands, with a Serbian police officer, Dusan Tadic, facing trial on murder-torture charges. A year later, he was convicted of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

1997 – The Army accused its top enlisted man, Army Sergeant Major Gene McKinney, of sexual misconduct. At his court-martial, McKinney was acquitted of sexual misconduct, but found guilty of obstruction of justice.

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1999 – NATO bombs hit a residential area in Nis and at least 15 people were killed and 60 wounded. NATO bombs hit the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and 3 people were killed and [20] 21 injured. An outdated map was blamed for the embassy bombing. The British Observer later reported that NATO bombed the Embassy because it was being used to transmit Yugoslav military communications. British, NATO and US officials denied the story. In 2000 the US CIA fired one officer and reprimanded 6 others for the bombing. President Clinton called the attack a “tragic mistake.”

2002 – Lucas John Helder (21) of Pine Island, Minn., was arrested following a car chase near Lovelock, Nevada, and charged for the recent series of mailbox pipe bombs. Helder said he was trying to make a “smiley face” pattern on the map of his bombings.

2003 – President Bush ordered U.S. sanctions against Iraq lifted, allowing U.S. humanitarian aid and remittances to flow into Iraq.

2004 – Donald Rumsfeld, US Defense Secretary, testified before Congress for 6 hours and apologized for Iraqi prisoner abuse by US soldiers.

2004 – The CGC James Rankin set the historic “Francis Scott Key” buoy off of Fort McHenry, Maryland, near the Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. The buoy marks the spot where the British warship on which Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner, was held aboard during the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the Royal Navy during the War of 1812. Each year the buoy is set in the spring, marking the historic location of the event, and is then removed in the fall.

2004 – American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamic militants. The act is recorded on videotape and released on the Internet.

2007 – A group of six radical Islamist men, allegedly plotting to stage an attack on the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey, United States, were arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). They were subsequently charged with planning an attack against U.S. soldiers. The alleged aim of the six men was said to be to “kill as many soldiers as possible”. Five of the men arrested, according to news reports, intended to attack the Fort Dix military base and kill as many servicemen as they could. The sixth man arrested, Abdullahu, has been charged with aiding and abetting in the possession of firearms by the Duka brothers.

The group revealed to the FBI informant (a conversation which was recorded) that the five other men intended to “hit a heavy concentration of soldiers […] You hit four, five or six Humvees and light the whole place [up] and retreat completely without any losses”. The men attempted to purchase weapons from an FBI informant, including AK-47s, M16s, M60s, rocket propelled grenades, rockets, semi-automatic Sig Sauer 9 mm handguns, Smith & Wesson 9 mm, C-4 plastic explosive, and nitroglycerin. The informant told them that the weapons would come from an underground military dealer from Baltimore, Maryland who had recently returned from Egypt.

2009 – The private military company Xe (formerly Blackwater Worldwide) ends its operations in Baghdad, Iraq.

2009 – Somali pirates hijack the Netherlands’ MV Marathon and attack the U.S. Navy cargo ship USNS Lewis and Clark which took evasive action to prevent a successful attack. Suspected pirates then fired small arms weapons from approximately two nautical miles toward Lewis and Clark, which fell one nautical mile short of the ship’s stern. Lewis and Clark continued to increase speed and the skiffs ceased their pursuit of the U.S. ship.


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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

HERRON, FRANCIS J.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, 9th lowa Infantry. Place and date: At Pea Ridge, Ark., 7 May 1862. Entered service at: Pittsburgh, Pa. Born: 17 February 1837, Pittsburgh, Pa. Date of issue 26 September 1893. Citation: Was foremost in leading his men, rallying them to repeated acts of daring, until himself disabled and taken prisoner.

LOWER, CYRUS B.
Rank and organization: Private, Company K, 13th Pennsylvania Reserves. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., 7 May 1864. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Lawrence County, Pa. Date of issue. 20 July 1887. Citation: Gallant services and soldierly qualities in voluntarily rejoining his command after having been wounded.

GARLAND, HARRY
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company L, 2d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Muddy Creek, Mont., 7 May 1877; at Camas Meadows, Idaho, 29 August 1877. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Boston, Mass. Date of issue: 28 February 1878. Citation: Gallantry in action with hostile Sioux, at Little Muddy Creek, Mont.; having been wounded in the hip so as to be unable to stand, at Camas Meadows, Idaho, he still continued to direct the men under his charge until the enemy withdrew.

JONES, WILLIAM H.
Rank and organization: Farrier, Company L, 2d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Muddy Creek, Mont., 7 May 1877- at Camas Meadows, Idaho, 20 August 1877. Entered service at: Louisville, Ky. Birth. Davidson County, N.C. Date of issue: 28 February 1878. Citation: Gallantry in the attack against hostile Sioux Indians on May 7, 1877 at Muddy Creek, Mont., and in the engagement with Nez Perces Indians at Camas Meadows, Idaho, on 20 August 1877 in which he sustained a painful knee wound.

JORDAN, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company K, 9th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Fort Tularosa, N. Mex., 14 May 1880; at Carrizo Canyon, N. Mex., 12 August 1881. Entered service at: Nashville, Tenn. Birth: Williamson County, Tenn. Date of issue: 7 May 1890. Citation: While commanding a detachment of 25 men at Fort Tularosa, N. Mex., repulsed a force of more than 100 Indians. At Carrizo Canyon, N . Mex., while commanding the right of a detachment of 19 men, on 12 August 1881, he stubbornly held his ground in an extremely exposed position and gallantly forced back a much superior number of the enemy, preventing them from surrounding the command.

LEONARD, WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Private, Company L, 2d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Muddy Creek, Mont., 7 May 1877. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Ypsilanti, Mich. Date of issue: 8 August 1877. Citation: Bravery in action.

PHILLIPS, SAMUEL D.
Rank and organization: Private, Company H, 2d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Muddy Creek, Mont., 7 May 1877. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Butler County, Ohio. Date of issue: 8 August 1877. Citation: Gallantry in action.

WILKENS, HENRY
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company L, 2d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Muddy Creek, Mont., 7 May 1877; at Camas Meadows, Idaho, 20 August 1877. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 28 February 1878. Citation: Bravery in actions with Indians.

OSEPINS, CHRISTIAN
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1858, Holland. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 326, 18 October 1884. Citation: For jumping overboard from the U.S. Tug Fortune, 7 May 1882, at Hampton Roads, Va., and rescuing from drowning James Walters, gunner’s mate.

ROUNING, JOHANNES
Rank and organization: Ordinary Seaman. U.S. Navy. Biography not available. G.O. No.: 326, 18 October 1884. Citation: For jumping overboard from the U.S. Tug Fortune, 7 May 1882, at Hampton Roads, Va., and rescuing from drowning James Walters, gunner’s mate.

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*FARDY, JOHN PETER
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S Marine Corps. Born: 8 August 1922, Chicago, Ill. Accredited to: Illinois. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a squad leader, serving with Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Islands, 7 May 1945. When his squad was suddenly assailed by extremely heavy small arms fire from the front during a determined advance against strongly fortified, fiercely defended Japanese positions, Cpl. Fardy temporarily deployed his men along a nearby drainage ditch. Shortly thereafter, an enemy grenade fell among the marines in the ditch.

Instantly throwing himself upon the deadly missile, Cpl. Fardy absorbed the exploding blast in his own body, thereby protecting his comrades from certain and perhaps fatal injuries. Concerned solely for the welfare of his men, he willingly relinquished his own hope of survival that his fellow marines might live to carry on the fight against a fanatic enemy. A stouthearted leader and indomitable fighter, Cpl. Fardy, by his prompt decision and resolute spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of certain death, had rendered valiant service, and his conduct throughout reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

*HANSEN, DALE MERLIN
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 13 December 1922, Wisner, Nebr. Accredited to: Nebraska. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company E, 2d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 7 May 1945. Cool and courageous in combat, Pvt. Hansen unhesitatingly took the initiative during a critical stage of the action and, armed with a rocket launcher, crawled to an exposed position where he attacked and destroyed a strategically located hostile pillbox. With his weapon subsequently destroyed by enemy fire, he seized a rifle and continued his 1-man assault.

Reaching the crest of a ridge, he leaped across, opened fire on 6 Japanese and killed 4 before his rifle jammed. Attacked by the remaining 2 Japanese, he beat them off with the butt of his rifle and then climbed back to cover. Promptly returning with another weapon and supply of grenades, he fearlessly advanced, destroyed a strong mortar position and annihilated 8 more of the enemy. In the forefront of battle throughout this bitterly waged engagement, Pvt. Hansen, by his indomitable determination, bold tactics and complete disregard of all personal danger, contributed essentially to the success of his company’s mission and to the ultimate capture of this fiercely defended outpost of the Japanese Empire. His great personal valor in the face of extreme peril reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service.

*PETERSON, OSCAR VERNER
Rank and organization: Chief Watertender, U.S. Navy. Born: 27 August 1899, Prentice, Wis. Accredited to: Wisconsin. Citation: For extraordinary courage and conspicuous heroism above and beyond the call of duty while in charge of a repair party during an attack on the U .S .S. Neosho by enemy Japanese aerial forces on 7 May 1942. Lacking assistance because of injuries to the other members of his repair party and severely wounded himself, Peterson, with no concern for his own life, closed the bulkhead stop valves and in so doing received additional burns which resulted in his death. His spirit of self-sacrifice and loyalty, characteristic of a fine seaman, was in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.

*SCHWAB, ALBERT EARNEST
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Born: 17 July 1920, Washington, D.C. Entered service at: Tulsa, Okla. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a flamethrower operator in action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa Shima in the Rykuyu Islands, 7 May 1945. Quick to take action when his company was pinned down in a valley and suffered resultant heavy casualties under blanketing machinegun fire emanating from a high ridge to the front, Pfc. Schwab, unable to flank the enemy emplacement because of steep cliffs on either side, advanced up the face of the ridge in bold defiance of the intense barrage and, skillfully directing the fire of his flamethrower, quickly demolished the hostile gun position, thereby enabling his company to occupy the ridge.

Suddenly a second enemy machinegun opened fire, killing and wounding several marines with its initial bursts. Estimating with split-second decision the tactical difficulties confronting his comrades, Pfc. Schwab elected to continue his l-man assault despite a diminished supply of fuel for his flamethrower. Cool and indomitable, he moved forward in the face of a direct concentration of hostile fire, relentlessly closed the enemy position and attacked. Although severely wounded by a final vicious blast from the enemy weapon, Pfc. Schwab had succeeded in destroying 2 highly strategic Japanese gun positions during a critical stage of the operation and, by his dauntless, single-handed efforts, had materially furthered the advance of his company. His aggressive initiative, outstanding valor and professional skill throughout the bitter conflict sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

WAINWRIGHT, JONATHAN M.
Rank and organization: General, Commanding U.S. Army Forces in the Philippines. Place and date: Philippine Islands, 12 March to 7 May 1942. Entered service at: Skaneateles, N.Y. Birth: Walla Walla, Wash. G.O. No.: 80, 19 September 1945. Citation: Distinguished himself by intrepid and determined leadership against greatly superior enemy forces. At the repeated risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in his position, he frequented the firing line of his troops where his presence provided the example and incentive that helped make the gallant efforts of these men possible. The final stand on beleaguered Corregidor, for which he was in an important measure personally responsible, commanded the admiration of the Nation’s allies. It reflected the high morale of American arms in the face of overwhelming odds. His courage and resolution were a vitally needed inspiration to the then sorely pressed freedom-loving peoples of the world.

KAYS, KENNETH MICHAEL
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. place and date: Thua Thien province, Republic of Vietnam, 7 May 1970. Entered service at: Fairfield, Ill. Born: 22 September 1949, Mount Vernon, Ill. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Pfc. (then Pvt.) Kays distinguished himself while serving as a medical aidman with Company D, 1st Battalion, 101st Airborne Division near Fire Support Base Maureen. A heavily armed force of enemy sappers and infantrymen assaulted Company D’s night defensive position, wounding and killing a number of its members. Disregarding the intense enemy fire and ground assault, Pfc. Kays began moving toward the perimeter to assist his fallen comrades. In doing so he became the target of concentrated enemy fire and explosive charges, 1 of which severed the lower portion of his left leg.

After applying a tourniquet to his leg, Pfc. Kays moved to the fire-swept perimeter, administered medical aid to 1 of the wounded, and helped move him to an area of relative safety. Despite his severe wound and excruciating pain, Pfc. Kays returned to the perimeter in search of other wounded men. He treated another wounded comrade, and, using his own body as a shield against enemy bullets and fragments, moved him to safety. Although weakened from a great loss of blood, Pfc. Kays resumed his heroic lifesaving efforts by moving beyond the company’s perimeter into enemy held territory to treat a wounded American lying there. Only after his fellow wounded soldiers had been treated and evacuated did Pfc. Kays allow his own wounds to be treated. These courageous acts by Pfc. Kays resulted in the saving of numerous lives and inspired others in his company to repel the enemy. Pfc. Kays’ heroism at the risk of his life are in keeping with the highest traditions of the service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

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[SHOOTER13]

8 May

1541 – South of present-day Memphis, Tennessee, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, one of the first European explorers to ever do so. After building flatboats, de Soto and his 400 ragged troops crossed the great river under the cover of night, in order to avoid the armed Native Americans who patrolled the river daily in war canoes. From there the conquistadors headed into present-day Arkansas, continuing their fruitless two-year-old search for gold and silver in the American wilderness. Born in the last years of the 15th century, de Soto first came to the New World in 1514.

By then, the Spanish had established bases in the Caribbean and on the coasts of the American mainland. A fine horseman and a daring adventurer, de Soto explored Central America and accumulated considerable wealth through the Indian slave trade. In 1532, he joined Francisco Pizarro in the conquest of Peru. Pizarro, de Soto, and 167 other Spaniards succeeding in conquering the Inca empire, and de Soto became a rich man. He returned to Spain in 1536 but soon grew restless and jealous of Pizarro and Hernando Cortýs, whose fame as conquistadors overshadowed his own. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V responded by making de Soto governor of Cuba with a right to conquer Florida, and thus the North American mainland.

In late May 1539, de Soto landed on the west coast of Florida with 600 troops, servants, and staff, 200 horses, and a pack of bloodhounds. From there, the army set about subduing the natives, seizing any valuables they stumbled upon, and preparing the region for eventual Spanish colonization. Traveling through Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, across the Appalachians, and back to Alabama, de Soto failed to find the gold and silver he desired, but he did seize a valuable collection of pearls at Cofitachequi, in present-day Georgia. Decisive conquest eluded the Spaniards, as what would become the United States lacked the large, centralized civilizations of Mexico and Peru. As was the method of Spanish conquest elsewhere in the Americas, de Soto ill-treated and enslaved the natives he encountered. For the most part, the Indian warriors they met were intimidated by the Spanish horsemen and kept their distance. In October 1540, however, the tables were turned when a confederation of Indians attacked the Spaniards at the fortified Indian town of Mabila, near present-day Mobile, Alabama. All the Indians were killed along with 20 of de Soto’s men. Several hundred Spaniards were wounded. In addition, the Indian conscripts they had come to depend on to bear their supplies fled with the baggage.

De Soto could have marched south to reconvene with his ships along the Gulf Coast, but instead he ordered his expedition northwest in search of America’s elusive riches. In May 1541, the army reached and crossed the Mississippi River, probably the first Europeans ever to do so. From there, they traveled through present-day Arkansas and Louisiana, still with few material gains to show for their efforts. Turning back to the Mississippi, de Soto died of a fever on its banks on May 21, 1542. In order that Indians would not learn of his death, and thus disprove de Soto’s claims of divinity, his men buried his body in the Mississippi River. The Spaniards, now under the command of Luis de Moscoso, traveled west again, crossing into north Texas before returning to the Mississippi. With nearly half of the original expedition dead, the Spaniards built rafts and traveled down the river to the sea, and then made their way down the Texas coast to New Spain, finally reaching Veracruz, Mexico, in late 1543.

1639 – William Coddington founded Newport, Rhode Island.

1725 – John Lovewell, US Indian fighter, died in battle.

1792 – US established a military draft.

1792 – British Captain George Vancouver sighted and named Mt. Rainier, Washington.

1808 – Marine Barracks, Charleston was established under Lt Pinckney and 22 Marines.

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1846 – Before the United States formally declared war on Mexico, General Zachary Taylor defeats a superior Mexican force in the Battle of Palo Alto north of the Rio Grande River. The drift toward war with Mexico had begun a year earlier when the U.S. annexed the Republic of Texas as a new state. Ten years before, the Mexicans had fought an unsuccessful war with Texans to keep them from breaking away to become an independent nation. Since then, they had refused to recognize the independence of Texas or the Rio Grande River as an international boundary. In January 1946, fearing the Mexicans would respond to U.S. annexation by asserting control over disputed territory in southwestern Texas, President James K. Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to move a force into Texas to defend the Rio Grande border. After a last-minute effort to settle the dispute diplomatically failed, Taylor was ordered to take his forces up to the disputed borderline at the Rio Grande. The Mexican General Mariano Arista viewed this as a hostile invasion of Mexican territory, and on April 25, 1846, he took his soldiers across the river and attacked.

Congress declared war on May 13 and authorized a draft to build up the U.S. Army. Taylor, however, was in no position to await formal declaration of a war that he was already fighting. In the weeks following the initial skirmish along the Rio Grande, Taylor engaged the Mexican army in two battles. On May 8, near Palo Alto, and the next day at Resaca de la Palma, Taylor led his 200 soldiers to victories against much larger Mexican forces. Poor training and inferior armaments undermined the Mexican army’s troop advantage. Mexican gunpowder, for example, was of such poor quality that artillery barrages often sent cannonballs bouncing lazily across the battlefield, and the American soldiers merely had to step out of the way to avoid them. Following his victories at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Taylor crossed the Rio Grande and took the war into Mexican territory.

During the next 10 months, he won four battles and gained control over the three northeastern Mexican states. The following year, the focus of the war shifted elsewhere, and Taylor’s role diminished. Other generals continued the fight, which finally ended with General Winfield Scott’s occupation of Mexico City in September of 1847. Zachary Taylor emerged from the war a national hero. Americans admiringly referred to him as “Old Rough and Ready” and erroneously believed his military victories suggested he would be a good political leader. Elected president in 1848, he proved to be an unskilled politician who tended to see complex problems in overly simplistic ways. In July 1850, Taylor returned from a public ceremony and complained that he felt ill. Suffering from a recurring attack of cholera, he died several days later.

1861 – Richmond, Virginia was named the capital of the Confederacy.

1862 – General ‘Stonewall’ Jackson repulsed the Federals at the Battle of McDowell, in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

1862 – U.S.S. Monitor, Dacotah, Naugatuck, Seminole, and Susquehanna by direction of the President”-shelled Confederate batteries at Sewell’s Point, Virginia, as Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough reported, ”mainly with the view of ascertaining the practicability of landing a body of troops thereabouts” to move on Norfolk. Whatever rumors President Lincoln had received about Confederates abandoning Norfolk were now confirmed; a tug deserted from Norfolk and brought news that the evacuation was well underway and that C.S.S. Virginia, with her accompanying small gunboats, planned to proceed up the James or York River. It was planned that when Virginia came out, as she had on the 7th, the Union fleet would retire with U.S.S. Monitor in the rear hoping to draw the powerful but under-engined warship into deep water where she might be rammed by high speed steamers. The bombardment uncovered reduced but considerable strength at Sewell’s Point. Virginia came out but not far enough to be rammed.

1862 – Landing party from U.S.S. Iroquois, Commander James S. Palmer, seized arsenal and took possession of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

1863 – Union Mortar Flotilla under Commander Charles H. B. Caldwell, supported by U.S.S. Richmond Captain Alden, opened the bombardment of the Confederate works at Port Hudson, Louisiana.

1864 – Yankee troops arrive at Spotsylvania Court House to find the Rebels already there. After the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-6), Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Potomac marched south in the drive to take Richmond. Grant hoped to control the strategic crossroads at Spotsylvania Court House, so he could draw Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia into open ground. Spotsylvania was important for a number of reasons. The crossroads were situated between the Wilderness and Hanover Junction, where the two railroads that supplied Lee’s army met. The area also lay past Lee’s left flank, so if Grant beat him there he would not only have a head start toward Richmond, but also the clearest path. Lee would then be forced to attack Grant or race him to Richmond along poor roads.

Unbeknownst to Grant, Lee had received reports of Union cavalry movements to the south of the Wilderness battle lines. On the evening of May 7th, Lee ordered James Longstreet’s corps, which were under the direction of Richard Anderson after Longstreet had been shot the previous day, to march at night to Spotsylvania. Anderson’s men marched the 11 miles entirely in the dark, and won the race to the crossroads, where they took refuge behind hastily constructed breastworks and waited. Now it would be up to Grant to force the Confederates from their position. The stage was set for one of the bloodiest engagements of the war.

1864 – The Atlanta Campaign saw severe fighting at Rocky Face Ridge.

1884 – Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (1945-1953), was born near Lamar, Mo. A history buff, President Harry Truman penned this description of Franklin Pierce, the 14th president, “Pierce was the best looking President the White House ever had—but as President he ranks with Buchanan and Calvin Coolidge.” “If there is one basic element in our Constitution, it is civilian control of the military.” He decided to drop the bomb that ended World War II and sent troops to Korea to halt communist aggression.

1904 – U.S. Marines landed in Tangier to protect the Belgian legation.

1911 – Navy ordered its first airplane, Curtiss A-1, Birthday of Naval Aviation.

1919 – First Lieutenant Elmer F. Stone, USCG, piloting the Navy’s flying boat NC-4 in the first successful trans-Atlantic flight, took off from the Naval Air Station at Rockaway, New York, at 1000 hours on 8 May, 1919, together with the NC-1 and NC-3. Although the NC-1 and NC-3 did not complete the journey, the NC-4 successfully crossed the Atlantic and landed in Lisbon, Portugal on 27 May 1919. Stone was decorated that same day by the Portuguese government with the Order of the Tower and Sword.

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1942 – Both the Japanese and the American fleets become aware of each others positions due to aerial reconnaissance. In the battle that follows, the USS Lexington is badly damaged and abandoned. (She will later be sunk by an American destroyer) The USS Yorktown is also hit. On the Japanese side, the Shokaku is seriously damaged. Of major importance is the loss of trained pilots on the Japanese side, as they take severe aerial losses. The battle is noteworthy for several reasons. The Japanese are forced to abandon their attack on Port Moresby, the first real stumbling block in their expansion. It is also the first time that a naval battle has taken place without visual contact between the main combatants. The damage done to the ships was achieved by aircraft launched from carriers and not by naval guns.

1943 – Three Japanese destroyers are sunk by the American mines surrounding New Georgia Island.

1944 – The US Senate extends the term of Lend-Lease aid to June 1945.

1944 – General Eisenhower selects June 5th as D-Day for the Normandy invasion. This is eventually put off till June 6th due to bad weather in the English Channel.

1945 – Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms: In Prague, Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably more; in Copenhagen and Oslo; at Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern Latvia; on the Channel Island of Sark–the German surrender was realized in a final cease-fire. More surrender documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany. The main concern of many German soldiers was to elude the grasp of Soviet forces, to keep from being taken prisoner.

About 1 million Germans attempted a mass exodus to the West when the fighting in Czechoslovakia ended, but were stopped by the Russians and taken captive. The Russians took approximately 2 million prisoners in the period just before and after the German surrender. Meanwhile, more than 13,000 British POWs were released and sent back to Great Britain. Pockets of German-Soviet confrontation would continue into the next day. On May 9, the Soviets would lose 600 more soldiers in Silesia before the Germans finally surrendered. Consequently, V-E Day was not celebrated until the ninth in Moscow, with a radio broadcast salute from Stalin himself: “The age-long struggle of the Slav nations…has ended in victory. Your courage has defeated the Nazis. The war is over.”

1945 – On Luzon, the US 145th Infantry Regiment captures the ridge near Guagua, southeast of Mount Pacawagan and blocks a track along the Mariquina river. On Mindanao, units of the US 24th Division establish a bridgehead over the Talomo river, north of Mintal. The US 31st Division clears the Colgan woods, reaching the Maramag airfield. American units land on Samar. On Negros, American forces in the south continue to progress against strong Japanese resistance.

1945 – On Okinawa, torrential rain restricts military operations. The US 1st Marine Division eliminates several Japanese held cave positions on Nan Hill, with explosives.

1950– US Secretary of State Dean Atcheson announces that an agreement has been reached with France for US arms assistance to the French Associated States of Indochina. This is the beginning of a long commitment.

1950 – Chiang Kai-shek asked US for weapons.

1951 – North Korea charged the U.N. Command with the use of germ warfare.

1952 – Allied fighter-bombers staged the largest raid of the war on North Korea.

1954 – Members of the nine delegations assemble in Geneva and start negotiations for ending the war in Vietnam as part of a larger settlement of Indochina problems. The French are publicly opposed to any solution that involves a partition of Vietnam but behind the scenes they are considering this as a compromise. For the French and the West, partition would at least salvage half of the country. The Chinese indicate a willingness to support partition, for they have no desire to continue a war that might spill over into China and they have their own motives for wanting to keep the Vietnamese from becoming too strong. Negotiations will drag on for six weeks as the French reject the demands made by the Vietminh’s chief delegate, Pham Van Dong.

1957 – During a visit to the United States by Diem from 5 to 19 May, Eisenhower calls him the ‘miracle man’ of Asia and reaffirms support for his regime. The Vietminh see a powerful America replacing a weak France as the major outside force in Indochina. After Diem’s visit, 6,000 hardcore guerrillas, exhausted after eight years of war with the French and underground since 1954, begin a program of harassment, sabotage, and assassination.

1958 – President Eisenhower ordered National Guard out of Little Rock as Ernest Green became the first black to graduate from an Arkansas public school.

1963 – 20,000 Buddhists in Hue, celebrating the traditional birthday of Guatama Siddhartha Buddah, are fired upon by the order of Catholic deputy province chief Major Dang Xi, who chose to enforce an old French decree forbidding Buddhists from flying their multicolored flag. Seven children and one woman are among the nine killed, and about 20 are wounded. Diem blames the incident on the Vietcong and refuses Buddhist demands that the officials responsible be punished. Major Xi and two others will eventually be dismissed, but it will be too little, too late.

Buddhists comprise 70 percent of the Vietnamese population and Catholics, less than 10, but Diem and is family are Catholic, and in the armed services, the police, the civil service, universities and trade unions, Buddhists have all been pushed out of key positions and replaced by Catholics, who Diem views as more reliable. Buddhist protests begin to crystalize growing resentment against the Diem regime. Thich Tri Quang, a politically sophisticated monk of North Vietnamese origin twice arrested by the French on suspicion of Vietminh connections, stirs up the people against Diem and informs the US officials in Saigon, whom he holds responsible due to US support of Diem, that they must make Diem reform or get rid of him. Ambassador Nolting urges Diem to conciliate, but Diem refuses.

1967 – Boxer Muhammad Ali was indicted for refusing induction in U.S. Army.

1970 – More than 250 State Department and foreign aid employees sign a letter to Secretary of State Rogers criticizing US military involvement in Cambodia.

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1970 – The Hard Hat Riot took place in Lower Manhattan. The riot started about noon when about 200 construction workers mobilized by the New York State AFL-CIO attacked about 1,000 high school and college students and others protesting the Kent State shootings, the American invasion of Cambodia and the Vietnam War near the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street. The riot, which spread to New York City Hall, lasted little more than two hours. More than 70 people were injured, including four policemen. Six people were arrested.

1971 – In Washington, DC, the Reverent Carl McIntire leads some 15,000 demonstrators carrying US flags and Bibles in support of military victory in Vietnam. members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and of New York Ironworkers Local 361 (the ‘hardhat movement’) also participate.

1972 – President Richard Nixon announces that he has ordered the mining of major North Vietnamese ports, as well as other measures, to prevent the flow of arms and material to the communist forces that had invaded South Vietnam in March. Nixon said that foreign ships in North Vietnamese ports would have three days to leave before the mines were activated; U.S. Navy ships would then search or seize ships, and Allied forces would bomb rail lines from China and take whatever other measures were necessary to stem the flow of material. Nixon warned that these actions would stop only when all U.S. prisoners of war were returned and an internationally supervised cease-fire was initiated. If these conditions were met, the United States would “stop all acts of force throughout Indochina and proceed with the complete withdrawal of all forces within four months.” Nixon’s action was in response to the North Vietnamese Nguyen Hue Offensive.

On March 30th, the North Vietnamese had initiated a massive invasion of South Vietnam. Committing almost their entire army to the offensive, the North Vietnamese launched a three-pronged attack. In the initial attack, four North Vietnamese divisions attacked directly across the Demilitarized Zone into Quang Tri province. Following that assault, the North Vietnamese launched two more major attacks: at An Loc in Binh Long Province, 60 miles north of Saigon; and at Kontum in the Central Highlands. With the three attacks, the North Vietnamese committed 500 tanks and 150,000 regular troops (as well as thousands of Viet Cong) supported by heavy rocket and artillery fire. The North Vietnamese, enjoying much success on the battlefield, did not respond to Nixon’s demands.

The announcement that North Vietnamese harbors would be mined led to a wave of antiwar demonstrations at home, which resulted in violent clashes with police and 1,800 arrests on college campuses and in cities from Boston to San Jose, California. Police used wooden bullets and tear gas in Berkeley; three police officers were shot in Madison, Wisconsin; and 715 National Guardsmen were activated to quell violence in Minneapolis.

1973 – On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, armed members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) surrender to federal authorities, ending their 71-day siege of Wounded Knee, site of the infamous massacre of 300 Sioux by the U.S. 7th Cavalry in 1890. AIM was founded in 1968 by Russell Means, Dennis Banks, and other Native-American leaders as a militant political and civil rights organization. From November 1969 to June 1971, AIM members occupied Alcatraz Island off San Francisco, saying they had rights to it under a treaty provision granting them unused federal land. In November 1972, AIM members briefly occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C., to protest programs controlling reservation development. Their actions were acclaimed by many Native Americans, but on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Oglala Sioux Tribal President Dick Wilson had banned all AIM activities. AIM considered his government corrupt and dictatorial, and planned the occupation of Wounded Knee as a means of forcing a federal investigation of his administration. By taking Wounded Knee, The AIM leaders also hoped to force an investigation of other reservations, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and broken Indian treaties. In addition to its historical significance, Wounded Knee was one of the poorest communities in the United States and shared with the other Pine Ridge settlements some of the country’s lowest rates of life expectancy.

On February 27, 1973, some 200 AIM-led Sioux seized control of Wounded Knee, taking 11 allies of Dick Wilson hostage as local authorities and federal agents descended on the reservation. The next day, AIM members traded gunfire with the federal marshals surrounding the settlement and fired on automobiles and low-flying planes that dared come within rifle range. Russell Means began negotiations for the release of the hostages, demanding that the U.S. Senate launch an investigation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pine Ridge, and all Sioux reservations in South Dakota, and that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hold hearings on the scores of Indian treaties broken by the U.S. government.

The Wounded Knee occupation lasted for a total of 71 days, during which time two Sioux men were shot to death by federal agents. One federal agent was paralyzed after being shot. On May 8, the AIM leaders and their supporters surrendered after White House officials promised to investigate their complaints. Russell Means and Dennis Banks were arrested, but on September 16, 1973, the charges against them were dismissed by a federal judge because of the U.S. government’s unlawful handling of witnesses and evidence. Violence continued on the Pine Ridge Reservation throughout the rest of the 1970s, with several more AIM members and supporters losing their lives in confrontations with the U.S. government.

In 1975, two FBI agents and a Native-American man were killed in a massive shoot-out between federal agents and AIM members and local residents. In a controversial trial, AIM member Leonard Peltier was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. With many of its leaders in prison, AIM disbanded in 1978. Local AIM groups continued to function, however, and in 1981 one group occupied part of the Black Hills in South Dakota. The U.S. government took no steps to honor broken Indian treaties, but in the courts some tribes won major settlements from federal and state governments in cases involving tribal land claims. Russell Means continued to advocate Native-American rights at Pine Ridge and elsewhere and in 1988 was a presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party.

1979 – Radio Shack released TRS DOS 2.3.

1980 – The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that smallpox had been eradicated.

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1984 – Claiming that its athletes will not be safe from protests and possible physical attacks, the Soviet Union announces that it will not compete in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Despite the Soviet statement, it was obvious that the boycott was a response to the decision of the United States to boycott the 1980 games that were held in Moscow. Just months before the 1984 Olympic games were to begin in Los Angeles, the Soviet government issued a statement claiming, “It is known from the very first days of preparations for the present Olympics the American administration has sought to set course at using the Games for its political aims. Chauvinistic sentiments and anti-Soviet hysteria are being whipped up in this country.” Russian officials went on to claim that protests against the Soviet athletes were likely to break out in Los Angeles and that they doubted whether American officials would try to contain such outbursts.

The administration of President Ronald Reagan responded to these charges by declaring that the Soviet boycott was “a blatant political decision for which there was no real justification.” In the days following the Soviet announcement, 13 other communist nations issued similar statements and refused to attend the games. The Soviets, who had been stung by the U.S. refusal to attend the 1980 games in Moscow because of the Russian intervention in Afghanistan in 1979, were turning the tables by boycotting the 1984 games in America. The diplomatic impact of the action was quite small. The impact on the games themselves, however, was immense. Without competition from the Soviet Union, East Germany, and other communist nations, the United States swept to an Olympic record of 83 gold medals.

1985 – The largest cocaine seizure by the Coast Guard (to date) was made when Coast Guard units seized the Goza Now with 1,909 pounds of cocaine. The unlit speedboat, or “go-fast,” named Goza Now, was first located by the CGC Cape Shoalwater as the go-fast raced towards Miami. An AIRSTA Miami helicopter was dispatched to investigate and then began chasing her as she neared Miami Beach. As they approached the shoreline, the three-man crew of the go-fast jumped overboard and escaped but a TACLET seized the abandoned Goza Now and her illicit cargo. District 7 got a “Bravo Zulu” from Attorney General Edwin Meese.

1987 – Coast Guard units, including the CGC Ocracoke, make the largest seizure of cocaine by the Coast Guard (to date). They located 3,771 pounds (1.9 tons) aboard the La Toto off the northwest coast of St. Croix.

1989 – Former President Carter, a leader of an international team observing Panama’s elections, declared that the armed forces were defrauding the opposition of victory.

1990 – One crewman was killed, 18 others injured in a fire aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Conyngham in the Atlantic, about 100 miles southeast of Norfolk, Va.

1991 – General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of American forces in the Persian Gulf War, received a hero’s welcome as he addressed Congress.

1993 – The Muslim-led government of Bosnia-Herzegovina and rebel Bosnian Serbs signed an agreement for a nationwide cease-fire.

1999 – The Citadel, South Carolina’s formerly all-male military school, graduated its first female cadet, Nancy Ruth Mace.

1999 – US warplanes bombed northern Iraq as Iraqi TV reported 3 people were killed when 18 bombs fell on civilian and military positions.

1999 – In China protestors attacked US diplomatic mission in demonstrations against the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. Many of the demonstrations were organized by the government-controlled Beijing Students Assoc. NATO expressed regret for a mistaken attack on the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, but pledged to pursue the bombing campaign.

2000 – In Puerto Rico the US Navy resumed practice bombing on Vieques Island with dummy bombs.

2001 – China rejected a US plan to repair EP-3 the spy plane and fly it away. China protested the resumption of U.S. surveillance flights off its coast and said it would refuse to let the United States fly out a crippled Navy spy plane.

2002 – FBI Director Robert Mueller told a Senate committee an FBI memo from Phoenix warning that several Arabs were suspiciously training at a U.S. aviation school wouldn’t have led officials to the Sept. 11 hijackers even if they’d followed up the warning with more vigor.

2002 – US Sec. of State Rumsfeld said the Pentagon would kill the $11 billion Crusader artillery system.

2002 – Abdullah Al Mujahir, also known as Jose Padilla, was arrested as he flew from Pakistan into Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Padilla was alleged to be al-Qaida connected and suspected of plotting to build and detonate a radioactive ”dirty” bomb in an attack in the United States. A public announcement of his arrest was delayed until June 10th.

2003 – The US Senate unanimously endorsed adding to NATO seven former communist nations: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

2003 – A federal grand jury indicted Katrina Leung on charges that she’d illegally taken, copied and kept secret documents obtained from an FBI agent.

2004 – Gunmen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rampaged through Basra and Amarah, attacking British patrols and government buildings. Witnesses in Basra reported 9 militiamen killed in the fighting. One child was killed when his house was struck by a projectile. Attackers in Habhab set off a bomb outside the house of a police official killing three members of his family and wounding three others. A pipeline was bombed and slowed the flow of export oil by as much as 25%.

2005 – The Battle of Al Qaim (code-named Operation Matador) was a military offensive conducted by the United States Marine Corps, against insurgent positions in Iraq’s northwestern Anbar province, which ran from 8 May 2005 to 19 May 2005. It was focused on eliminating insurgents and foreign fighters in a region known as a smuggling route and a sanctuary for foreign fighters. Task Force 3/2 and elements of Task Force 3/25 (3rd Battalion/2nd Marines, 3rd Battalion/25th Marines, 4th Assault Amphibian Bn, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Bn,B Co 4th Combat Engineer Bn, 2nd Platoon A Co 1st Tank Bn, and a detachment of H-1’s from HMLA 269 ) conducted a sweep of an insurgent-held area near the Syrian border.

814th Engineer Company (MRB) led the initial offensive; breaching the river obstacle with a ribbon float bridge while conducting concurrent rafting. It lasted eleven days, during which the U.S. troops killed more than 125 suspected insurgents and captured 39 others. The Marines captured and/or destroyed many weapon caches and suffered 9 killed in action and 40 wounded in action. Notable among these casualties was a squad from 1st Platoon, Lima Company 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines which had all of its members killed or wounded, mostly while embarked in an AAV that was struck by an IED.

2007 – U.S. police arrest six Islamic men from the Republic of Macedonia and the Middle East based on a tip from a Mount Laurel, NJ resident who discovered their plot to attack Fort Dix, New Jersey, and “kill as many soldiers as possible.”

2008 – Russia expels two United States military attachés following earlier expulsion of two Russian diplomats from the United States.

2012 – A CIA double agent was involved in a foiled bomb plot by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to blow up an U.S.-bound flight, according to government officials.

2014 – The House Veterans Affairs Committee votes to subpoena Shinseki and others in relation to the Phoenix VA scandal.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

GALLOWAY, GEORGE N.
Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 95th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Alsops Farm, Va., 8 May 1864. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 24 October 1895. Citation: Voluntarily held an important position under heavy fire.

McKAY, CHARLES W.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 154th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Dug Gap, Ga., 8 May 1864. Entered service at: Allegheny, Cattaraugus County, N.Y. Birth: Mansfield, N.Y. Date of issue: 13 April 1894. Citation: Voluntarily risked his life in rescuing under the fire of the enemy a wounded comrade who was Iying between the lines.

MOREY, DELANO
Rank and organization: Private, Company B, 82d Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At McDowell, Va., 8 May 1862. Entered service at: Hardin County, Ohio. Birth: Licking County, Ohio. Date of issue: 14 August 1893. Citation: After the charge of the command had been repulsed, he rushed forward alone with an empty gun and captured two of the enemy’s sharpshooters.

NUTTING, LEE
Rank and organization: Captain, Company C., 61st New York Infantry. Place and date: At Todds Tavern, Va., 8 May 1864. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Orange County, N.Y. Date of issue: 21 August 1893. Citation: Led the regiment in charge at a critical moment under a murderous fire until he fell desperately wounded.

PHELPS, CHARLES E.
Rank and organization: Colonel, 7th Maryland Infantry. Place and date: At Laurel Hill, Va., 8 May 1864. Entered service at: Baltimore, Md. Born: 1 May 1833, Guilford, Vt. Date of issue: 30 March 1898. Citation: Rode to the head of the assaulting column, then much broken by severe losses and faltering under the close fire of artillery, placed himself conspicuously in front of the troops, and gallantly rallied and led them to within a few feet of the enemy’s works, where he was severely wounded and captured.

ROBERTSON, ROBERT S.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, Company K, 93d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Corbins Bridge, Va., 8 May 1864. Entered service at: Argyle, N.Y. Birth: Argyle, N.Y. Date of issue: 2 August 1897. Citation: While acting as aide_de_camp to a general officer, seeing a regiment break to the rear, he seized its colors, rode with them to the front in the face of the advancing enemy, and rallied the retreating regiment.

ROBINSON, JOHN C.
Rank and organization: Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Laurel Hill, Va., 8 May 1864. Entered service at: Binghamton, N.Y. Birth: Binghamton, N.Y. Date of issue: 28 March 1894. Citation: Placed himself at the head of the leading brigade in a charge upon the enemy’s breastworks; was severely wounded.

WELCH, STEPHEN
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 154th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Dug Gap, Ga., 8 May 1864. Entered service at: Allegany, Cattaraugus County, N.Y. Birth: Groton, N.Y. Date of issue: 13 April 1894. Citation: Risked his life in rescuing a wounded comrade under fire of the enemy.

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HALL, WILLIAM E.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, Junior Grade, U.S. Naval Reserve. Place and date: Coral Sea, 7 and 8 May 1942. Entered service at: Utah. Born: 31 October 1913, Storrs, Utah. Citation: For extreme courage and conspicuous heroism in combat above and beyond the call of duty as pilot of a scouting plane in action against enemy Japanese forces in the Coral Sea on 7 and 8 May 1942. In a resolute and determined attack on 7 May, Lt. (j.g.) Hall dived his plane at an enemy Japanese aircraft carrier, contributing materially to the destruction of that vessel. On 8 May, facing heavy and fierce fighter opposition, he again displayed extraordinary skill as an airman and the aggressive spirit of a fighter in repeated and effectively executed counterattacks against a superior number of enemy planes in which 3 enemy aircraft were destroyed. Though seriously wounded in this engagement, Lt. (j.g.) Hall, maintaining the fearless and indomitable tactics pursued throughout these actions, succeeded in landing his plane safe.

*KROTIAK, ANTHONY L.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company I, 148th Infantry, 37th Infantry Division. Place and date: Balete Pass, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 8 May 1945. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born: 15 August 1915, Chicago, Ill. G.O. No.: 18, 13 February 1946. Citation: He was an acting squad leader, directing his men in consolidating a newly won position on Hill B when the enemy concentrated small arms fire and grenades upon him and 4 others, driving them to cover in an abandoned Japanese trench. A grenade thrown from above landed in the center of the group. Instantly pushing his comrades aside and jamming the grenade into the earth with his rifle butt, he threw himself over it, making a shield of his body to protect the other men. The grenade exploded under him, and he died a few minutes later. By his extraordinary heroism in deliberately giving his life to save those of his comrades, Pfc. Krotiak set an inspiring example of utter devotion and self-sacrifice which reflects the highest traditions of the military service.

*POWERS, JOHN JAMES
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, U.S. Navy. Born: 13 July 1912, New York City, N.Y. Accredited to: New York. Other Navy award: Air Medal with 1 gold star. Citation: For distinguished and conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, while pilot of an airplane of Bombing Squadron 5, Lt. Powers participated, with his squadron, in 5 engagements with Japanese forces in the Coral Sea area and adjacent waters during the period 4 to 8 May 1942.

Three attacks were made on enemy objectives at or near Tulagi on 4 May. In these attacks he scored a direct hit which instantly demolished a large enemy gunboat or destroyer and is credited with 2 close misses, 1 of which severely damaged a large aircraft tender, the other damaging a 20,000-ton transport. He fearlessly strafed a gunboat, firing all his ammunition into it amid intense antiaircraft fire. This gunboat was then observed to be leaving a heavy oil slick in its wake and later was seen beached on a nearby island. On 7 May, an attack was launched against an enemy airplane carrier and other units of the enemy’s invasion force. He fearlessly led his attack section of 3 Douglas Dauntless dive bombers, to attack the carrier.

On this occasion he dived in the face of heavy antiaircraft fire, to an altitude well below the safety altitude, at the risk of his life and almost certain damage to his own plane, in order that he might positively obtain a hit in a vital part of the ship, which would insure her complete destruction. This bomb hit was noted by many pilots and observers to cause a tremendous explosion engulfing the ship in a mass of flame, smoke, and debris. The ship sank soon after. That evening, in his capacity as Squadron Gunnery Officer, Lt. Powers gave a lecture to the squadron on point-of-aim and diving technique.

During this discourse he advocated low release point in order to insure greater accuracy; yet he stressed the danger not only from enemy fire and the resultant low pull-out, but from own bomb blast and bomb fragments. Thus his low-dive bombing attacks were deliberate and premeditated, since he well knew and realized the dangers of such tactics, but went far beyond the call of duty in order to further the cause which he knew to be right.

The next morning, 8 May, as the pilots of the attack group left the ready room to man planes, his indomitable spirit and leadership were well expressed in his own words, “Remember the folks back home are counting on us. I am going to get a hit if I have to lay it on their flight deck.” He led his section of dive bombers down to the target from an altitude of 18,000 feet, through a wall of bursting antiaircraft shells and into the face of enemy fighter planes.

Again, completely disregarding the safety altitude and without fear or concern for his safety, Lt. Powers courageously pressed home his attack, almost to the very deck of an enemy carrier and did not release his bomb until he was sure of a direct hit. He was last seen attempting recovery from his dive at the extremely low altitude of 200 feet, and amid a terrific barrage of shell and bomb fragments, smoke, flame and debris from the stricken vessel.

*RICKETTS, MILTON ERNEST
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, U.S. Navy. Born: 5 August 1913, Baltimore, Md. Appointed from: Maryland. Citation: For extraordinary and distinguished gallantry above and beyond the call of duty as Officer-in-Charge of the Engineering Repair Party of the U.S.S. Yorktown in action against enemy Japanese forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea on 8 May 1942. During the severe bombarding of the Yorktown by enemy Japanese forces, an aerial bomb passed through and exploded directly beneath the compartment in which Lt. Ricketts’ battle station was located, killing, wounding or stunning all of his men and mortally wounding him. Despite his ebbing strength, Lt. Ricketts promptly opened the valve of a near-by fireplug, partially led out the fire hose and directed a heavy stream of water into the fire before dropping dead beside the hose. His courageous action, which undoubtedly prevented the rapid spread of fire to serious proportions, and his unflinching devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

*KEITH, MIGUEL
Rank and organization: Lance Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, Combined Action platoon 1-3-2, 111 Marine Amphibious Force. place and date: Quang Ngai province, Republic of Vietnam, 8 May 1970. Entered service at: Omaha, Nebr. Born: 2 June 1951, San Antonio, Tex. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machine gunner with Combined Action platoon 1-3-2. During the early morning L/Cpl. Keith was seriously wounded when his platoon was subjected to a heavy ground attack by a greatly outnumbering enemy force. Despite his painful wounds, he ran across the fire-swept terrain to check the security of vital defensive positions and then, while completely exposed to view, proceeded to deliver a hail of devastating machine gun fire against the enemy. Determined to stop 5 of the enemy soldiers approaching the command post, he rushed forward, firing as he advanced. He succeeded in disposing of 3 of the attackers and in dispersing the remaining two.

At this point, a grenade detonated near L/Cpl. Keith, knocking him to the ground and inflicting further severe wounds. Fighting pain and weakness from loss of blood, he again braved the concentrated hostile fire to charge an estimated 25 enemy soldiers who were massing to attack. The vigor of his assault and his well-placed fire eliminated 4 of the enemy soldiers while the remainder fled for cover. During this valiant effort, he was mortally wounded by an enemy soldier. By his courageous and inspiring performance in the face of almost overwhelming odds, L/Cpl. Keith contributed in large measure to the success of his platoon in routing a numerically superior enemy force, and upheld the finest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the U.S. Naval Service.

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9 May

1754 – The first American newspaper political cartoon was published. The illustration in Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette showed a snake cut into sections, each part representing an American colony; the caption read, “Join or die.”

1763 – The Siege of Fort Detroit begins during Pontiac’s War against British forces. The siege was an ultimately unsuccessful attempt by North American Indians to capture Fort Detroit during Pontiac’s Rebellion. The siege was led primarily by Pontiac, an Odawa chief and military leader. On April 27, 1763, Pontiac had spoken at a council on the shores of the Ecorse River, at what is now known as Council Point Park in Lincoln Park, Michigan, about 10 miles (15 km) southwest of Detroit. Using the teachings of Neolin to inspire his listeners, Pontiac convinced a number of Ottawas, Ojibwas, Potawatomis, and Hurons to join him in an attempt to seize Fort Detroit and drive out the British.

On May 7th, Pontiac entered the fort with about 300 men, armed with weapons hidden under blankets, determined to take the fort by surprise. However, the British commander Henry Gladwin had apparently been informed of Pontiac’s plan, and the garrison of about 120 men was armed and ready. Pontiac withdrew and, two days later, laid siege to the fort. A number of British soldiers and civilians in the area outside the fort were captured or killed; one of the soldiers was ritually cannibalized, as was the custom in some Great Lakes Indian cultures. The violence was directed only at the British: French colonists were left alone. Eventually more than 900 Indian warriors from a half-dozen tribes joined the siege. Late in July, 260 British reinforcements under the command of Captain James Dalyell arrived at Fort Detroit.

On July 31, 1763, about 250 men attempted to make a surprise attack on Pontiac’s encampment. Pontiac was ready and waiting with over 400 warriors, and defeated the British at the Battle of Bloody Run. However, the situation at the fort remained a stalemate, and Pontiac’s influence among his followers began to wane. Groups of Indians began to abandon the siege, some of them making peace with the British before departing. On October 31, 1763, finally convinced that the French in Illinois would not come to his aid, Pontiac lifted the siege and traveled south to the Maumee River, where he continued his efforts to rally resistance against the British.

1813 – U.S. troops under William Henry Harrison rescued Fort Meigs from British and Canadian troops.

1846 – US forced Mexico back to Rio Grande in the Battle of Resaca de la Palma.

1846 – Gen. Mariano Arista crossed the Rio Grande and killed a number of US soldiers in a surprise attack. Mexico believed that France and Britain would support it in a war against the United States.

1862 – Battle of Ft. Pickens, FL (Pensacola), evacuated by CSA.

1862 – Battle of Farmington, Missouri.

1862 – U.S.S. Constitution Lieutenant G. W. Rodgers, and U.S. steamer Baltic Lieutenant C.R.P. Rodgers, arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, with officers and midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy. The Naval Academy remained there for the duration of the war.

1862 – USRC Miami landed President Abraham Lincoln on Confederate-held soil the day before the fall of Norfolk. President Lincoln himself, after talking to pilots and studying charts, reconnoitered to the east-ward of Sewell’s Point and found a suitably unfortified landing site near Willoughby Point. The troops embarked in transports that night. The next morning they landed near the site selected by the President. The latter, still afloat, from his “command ship” Miami ordered U.S.S. Monitor to reconnoiter Sewell’s Point to learn if the batteries were still manned. When he found the works abandoned, President Lincoln ordered Major General Wool’s troops to march on Norfolk, where they arrived late on the afternoon of the 10th.

1863 – Captain Case, commanding U.S.S. Iroquois, reported that the Confederates were mounting guns on the northern faces of Fort Fisher at Wilmington. ”They appear, he wrote Rear Admiral S. P. Lee, ”to be large caliber.” This defensive strengthening of the Southern position was in keeping with the view voiced by Lieutenant John Taylor Wood, CSN, in a 14 February 1863, letter to President Davis concerning the defenses of Wilmington: ”The batteries covering the water approaches, as far as I am able to judge, are well placed and admirably constructed. But the great want, the absolute necessity of the place if it is to be held against naval attack, is heavy guns, larger caliber.” So well did the Confederates do their job that Fort Fisher successfully dominated Cape Fear until the massive amphibious operation in January 1865.

1864 – Union General John Sedgwick was shot and killed by a confederate sharpshooter during fighting at Spotsylvania, Virginia. His last words before getting hit were “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.”

1864 – Union troops secure a crucial pass during the Atlanta campaign. In the spring and summer of 1864, Union General William T. Sherman and Confederate General Joseph Johnston conducted a slow and methodical campaign to seize control of Atlanta. Pushing southeast from Chattanooga toward Atlanta, Sherman continually tried to flank Johnston, but Johnston countered each move. On May 3, 1864, two of Sherman’s corps moved against Confederate defenses at Dalton, while another Yankee force under James McPherson swung wide to the south and west of Dalton in an attempt to approach Johnston from the rear. It was along this path that McPherson captured Snake Creek Gap, a crucial opening in a long elevation called Rocky Face Ridge. On one hand, seizure of the strategic pass was a brilliant Union victory. Rocky Face Ridge was a key geographic feature for Johnston and his army. It was a barrier against Sherman’s army that could neutralize the superior numbers of Federal troops.

When the Yankees captured the gap, Johnston had to pull his men much further south where the terrain did not offer such advantages. But securing Snake Creek Gap was also a missed opportunity for the Union. McPherson had a chance to cut directly into the Confederate rear but encountered what he judged to be strong Rebel defenses at Resaca. Union troops reached the Western and Atlantic Railroad, Johnston’s supply line, but they did not have adequate numbers to hold the railroad, and did not have enough time to cut the line.

McPherson halted his advance on Resaca and fell back to the mouth of Snake Creek Gap, causing Sherman to complain for years later that McPherson was timid and had lost the chance to route the Confederates. The campaign would eventually be successful, but the failure to secure or destroy the Confederate supply line prolonged the campaign, possibly by months.

1864 – Battle of Cloyd’s Mountain and Swift Creek, VA ( Drewry’s Bluff, Fort Darling ).

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1913 – The 17th amendment to the Constitution, providing for the election of US senators by popular vote rather than selection by state legislatures, was ratified.

1916 – President Woodrow Wilson mobilizes the National Guard of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to patrol their borders with Mexico as Brigadier General John J. Pershing led an Army expedition into northern Mexico to try to capture or kill the bandit leader Pancho Villa and his group. In March, Villa and his men raided the town of Columbus, NM, killing a number of soldiers and civilians before slipping back across the border. Soon these Guardsmen would be joined by Guard units coming from all the states to a total 158,000 men. While their main mission was to secure the border the Army used this partial mobilization to train the Guard in large unit formations almost impossible to conduct in normal peacetime exercises for just a few days. This training paid great dividends when America committed its Guardsmen to combat in France after our entry in World War I.

1926 – Americans Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett made the first flight over the North Pole. Two teams of aviators competed to be the first to fly over the North Pole. American Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd and pilot Floyd Bennett claimed victory when they circled the North Pole. On May 11, in spite of his disappointment, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen launched the dirigible Norge on its planned flight, not merely over the pole, but all the way across the Arctic to Alaska. As depicted in a painting by aviation artist Don Connolly, Byrd and Bennett in Josephine Ford briefly accompanied Norge in a gesture of goodwill. Amundsen reached Alaska on May 14, but even today experts suspect that faulty navigation caused Byrd to miss the North Pole. Later archivists determined that Byrd was probably 150 miles short of the pole. His tri-motor Fokker monoplane named Josephine Ford probably came within 2.25 degrees of the pole.

1941 – The German submarine U-110 was captured at sea by the Royal Navy, revealing considerable Enigma material. Enigma was the German machine used to encrypt messages during World War II.

1942 – USS Icarus, CG, sank the U-352 off Charleston and took 33 prisoners, the first German prisoners taken in combat by any US force in World War II.

1942 – 64 Spitfires are successfully delivered to Malta by naval forces including the USS Wasp and the HMS Eagle. This time, the planes are quickly refueled and rearmed and there is no destruction on the ground as with the previous delivery. The USS Wasp returns to service in the United States after this operation.

1944 – Japanese forces skirmish with American forces on the beachheads around Hollandia.

1944 – Allied air forces begin large scale raids on airbases in France as part of the preparation for the D-Day invasion.

1945 – U.S. officials announced that the midnight entertainment curfew was being lifted immediately.

1945 – Herman Goering, commander in chief of the Luftwaffe, president of the Reichstag, head of the Gestapo, prime minister of Prussia, and Hitler’s designated successor is taken prisoner by the U.S. Seventh Army in Bavaria. Goering was an early member of the Nazi Party and was wounded in the failed Munich Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. That wound would have long-term effects; Goering became increasingly addicted to painkillers. Not long after Hitler’s accession to power, Goering was instrumental in creating concentration camps for political enemies. Ostentatious and self-indulgent, he changed his uniform five times a day and was notorious for flaunting his decorations, jewelry, and stolen artwork. It was Goering who ordered the purging of German Jews from the economy following the Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938, initiating an “Aryanization” policy that confiscated Jewish property and businesses.

Goering’s failure to win the Battle of Britain and prevent the Allied bombing of Germany led to his loss of stature within the Party, aggravated by the low esteem with which he was always held by fellow officers because of his egocentrism and position as Hitler’s right-hand man. As the war progressed, he dropped into depressions and battled drug addiction. When Goering fell into U.S. hands after Germany’s surrender, he had in his possession a rich stash of pills. He was tried at Nuremberg and charged with various crimes against humanity. Despite a vigorous attempt at self acquittal, he was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, but before he could be executed, he committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide tablet he had hidden from his guards.

1945 – On Luzon, forces of the US 145th Infantry Regiment, an element of US 11th Corps, captures Mount Binicayan and patrols into the Guagua area. On Mindanao, the US 24th Division continues to defend its bridgehead over the Talomo river against Japanese counterattacks but fails to build a bridge. The US 31st Division breaks off its attacks in the Colgan woods to allow air and artillery strikes on the Japanese positions.

1945 – On Okinawa, the US 1st Marine Division captures Height 60 after eliminating Japanese positions on Nan Hill. The US 77th Division continues attacks on Japanese strong points north of Shuri. The Kochi Crest area has been secured by American forces.

1951 – Three hundred and twelve Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy planes hit Sinuiju Airfield in one of the largest air raids of the war.

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1955 – Ten years after the Nazis were defeated in World War II, West Germany formally joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a mutual defense group aimed at containing Soviet expansion in Europe. This action marked the final step of West Germany’s integration into the Western European defense system. Germany had been a divided nation since 1945. The Americans, British, and French held zones of occupation in Western Germany and West Berlin; the Soviets controlled Eastern Germany and East Berlin. Although publicly both the Americans and the Soviets proclaimed their desire for a reunited and independent Germany, it quickly became apparent that each of these Cold War opponents would only accept a reunified Germany that served their own nation’s specific interests. In 1949, the Americans, British, and French combined their zones of occupation in West Germany to establish a new nation, the Federal Republic of Germany. The Soviets responded by setting up the German Democratic Republic in East Germany.

On May 5, 1955, the American, French, and British forces formally ended their military occupation of West Germany, which became an independent country. Four days later, West Germany was made a member of NATO. For U.S. policymakers, this was an essential step in the defense of Western Europe. Despite the reluctance of some European nations, such as France, to see a rearmed Germany–even as an ally–the United States believed that remilitarizing West Germany was absolutely vital in terms of setting up a defensive perimeter to contain any possible Soviet attempts at expansion. The Soviet response was immediate.

On May 14, 1955, the Soviet Union established the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance between Russia and its Eastern European satellites-including East Germany. The entrance of West Germany into NATO was the final step in integrating that nation into the defense system of Western Europe. It was also the final nail in the coffin as far as any possibility of a reunited Germany in the near future. For the next 35 years, East and West Germany came to symbolize the animosities of the Cold War. In 1990, Germany was finally reunified; the new German state remained a member of NATO.

1962 – A laser beam was successfully bounced off the Moon for the first time.

1964 – An insurgent is captured trying to place an explosive charge under a Saigon bridge over which Secretary McNamara’s car is to pass on 12 May.

1968 – President Thieu declares that even if the US should negotiate an end to the war, his government will never recognize the National Liberation Front.

1968 – The US Army announces that the 101st Airborne Division will be converted into an airmobile division, and that each of the five other divisions in Vietnam will be reinforced by separate reconnaissance squadrons.

1969 – William Beecher, military correspondent for the new York Times, publishes a one-page dispatch from Washington, ‘Raids in Cambodia by US Unprotested,’ which accurately describes the first of recent B-52 raids in Cambodia. Within hours, Henry Kissinger, presidential assistant for national security affairs, contacts J. Edgar hoover, the director of the FBI, asking him to find the government sources of Beecher’s article. During the next two years, Alexander Haig, a key Kissinger assistant, will transmit the names of national Security Council staff members and reporters who are to have their telephones wiretapped by the FBI.

1970 – Thirty US gunboats join a flotilla of 110 South Vietnamese craft in a thrust up the Mekong River in an attempt to neutralize enemy sanctuaries along a 45 mile stretch of river between the South Vietnamese border and Phnompenh. The US vessels will move no further then Neak Long, in compliance with the US policy of limiting US penetration of Cambodia to 21.7 miles.

1972 – US Senate Democrats, reacting to the President’s May 8 address, pass a resolution “disapproving of the escalation of the war in Vietnam” and includes a cutoff of war funds.

1974 – The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon, voting to impeach him on three counts on July 30. The impeachment was the result of the scandal involving the bungled burglary of the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate apartment complex in Washington, D.C., on June 23, 1972. Eventually, it was learned that there was a criminal cover-up that went all the way to the White House. Nixon, facing the impeachment proceedings, resigned the presidency on August 8, 1974.

His resignation had a major impact on the situation in Vietnam. Nixon had convinced South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu to consent to the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords by personally promising (on more than 30 occasions) that the United States would re-enter the conflict if the North Vietnamese violated the peace agreement. However, when Nixon resigned, his successor, Gerald R. Ford, was not able to keep Nixon’s promises. Ford could not, despite Thieu’s desperate pleas for help, get Congress to appropriate significant funds to help the South Vietnamese. Having lost its sole source of aid and support, South Vietnam fell to the North Vietnamese in April 1975.

1991 – President Bush met at the White House with UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, who relayed Iraq’s rejection of a US-backed proposal for a UN civilian force in northern Iraq.

1993 – The White House said President Clinton had directed Secretary of State Warren M. Christopher to contact U.S. allies to discuss how they could ensure Serbia’s promise to cut supplies to the Bosnian Serbs.

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1996 – In dramatic video testimony to a hushed courtroom in Little Rock, Ark., President Clinton insisted he had nothing to do with a $300,000 loan at the heart of the criminal case against his former Whitewater partners.

1997 – Twenty-two years and 10 days after the fall of Saigon, former Florida Representative Douglas “Pete” Peterson becomes the first ambassador to Vietnam since Graham Martin was airlifted out of the country by helicopter in late April 1975. Peterson himself served as a U.S. Air Force captain during the Vietnam War and was held as a prisoner of war for six and a half years after his bomber was shot down near Hanoi in 1966.

Thirty-one years later, Peterson returned to Hanoi on a different mission, presenting his credentials to Communist authorities in the Vietnamese capital on May 9, 1997. Normalization with America’s old enemy began in early 1994, when U.S. President Bill Clinton announced the lifting of the 19-year-old trade embargo against Vietnam, citing the cooperation of Vietnam’s Communist government in helping the United States locate the 2,238 Americans still listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War.

Despite the lifting of the embargo, high tariffs remained on Vietnamese exports pending the country’s qualification as a “most favored nation,” a U.S. trade-status designation that Vietnam could earn after broadening its program of free-market reforms. In July 1995, the Clinton administration established full diplomatic relations with Vietnam. In making the decision, Clinton was advised by Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, an ex-navy pilot who spent five years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi. Brushing aside criticism of Clinton’s decision by some Republicans, McCain asserted that it was time for America to normalize relations with its old enemy.

In 1996, Clinton terminated the combat zone designation for Vietnam and nominated Democratic Congressman Pete Peterson as the first U.S. ambassador to Vietnam. Confirmed by Congress in the next year, Ambassador Peterson began his mission to Vietnam on May 9, 1997. In November 2000, Clinton became the first president to visit Vietnam since Richard Nixon’s 1969 trip to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

1999 – NATO struck artillery and mortar positions along with armored vehicles and Serbian troops in Kosovo.

1999 – China announced that it was breaking off diplomatic contacts with Washington on human rights and arms control along with contacts on weapons proliferation and int’l. security due to the bombing of its embassy in Belgrade. Furious Chinese demonstrators hurled rocks and debris into the U.S. Embassy in a second day of protests against NATO’s bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia.

2001 – China sought U.S. understanding for its refusal to allow a damaged U.S. Navy spy plane to fly home, saying public sentiment would be outraged if the aircraft flew again over Chinese territory.

2003 – The US and its allies asked the UN Security Council to legitimize their occupation of Iraq and sought permission to use revenue from the world’s second-largest oil reserves to rebuild the war-battered country.

2003 – In northern Iraq 3 U.S. soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed into the Tigris River.

2004 – In Chad 2 days of fighting broke out as the army battled Islamic militants near a remote village on the country’s western border with Niger, killing 43 “terrorists” of a group suspected of links with al-Qaida. Chad’s defense minister said hundreds of Arab militiamen from Sudan had raided a village inside Chad, setting off gun battles with the army that killed dozens of fighters.

2004 – U.S. and British troops clashed with forces of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr for a second day. 4 Iraqis were killed in an explosion in a Baghdad market. Militants loyal to al-Sadr took over Sadr City.

2005 – Iran admits to having converted thirty-seven tons of raw uranium into a gas, a key step in uranium enrichment.

2014 – The scheduling scandal widens as a Cheyenne, Wyoming, VA employee is placed on administrative leave after an email surfaces in which the employee discusses “gaming the system a bit” to manipulate waiting times. The suspension comes a day after a scheduling clerk in San Antonio admitted to “cooking the books” to shorten apparent waiting times. Three days later, two employees in Durham, North Carolina, are placed on leave over similar allegations.


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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

COUGHLIN, JOHN
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, 10th New Hampshire Infantry. Place and date: At Swifts Creek, Va., 9 May 1864. Entered service at: Manchester, N.H. Birth: Vermont. Date •S issue: 31 August 1893. Citation: During a sudden night attack upon Burnham’s Brigade, resulting in much confusion, this officer, without waiting for orders, led his regiment forward and interposed a line of battle between the advancing enemy and Hunt’s Battery, repulsing the attack and saving the guns.

FERRIER, DANIEL T.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company K, 2d Indiana Cavalry. Place and date: At Varnells Station, Ga., 9 May 1864. Entered service at: Delphi, Ind. Birth:——. Date of issue: 30 March 1898. Citation: While his regiment was retreating, voluntarily gave up his horse to his brigade commander who had been unhorsed and was in danger of capture, thereby enabling him to rejoin and rally the disorganized troops. Sgt. Ferrier himself was captured and confined in Confederate prisons, from which he escaped and, after great hardship, rejoined the Union lines.

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10 May

1497 – Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci left for his 1st voyage to New World.

1730 – George Ross, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born.

1773 – George III gives royal assent to the Tea Act of 773, taxing all tea in the colonies. The principal, overt, objective of the act was to reduce the massive surplus of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help the struggling company survive. A related objective was to undercut the price of illegal tea, smuggled into Britain’s North American colonies. This was supposed to convince the colonists to purchase Company tea on which the Townshend duties were paid, thus implicitly agreeing to accept Parliament’s right of taxation.

The Act granted the Company the right to directly ship its tea to North America and the right to the duty-free export of tea from Britain, although the tax imposed by the Townshend Acts and collected in the colonies remained in force. Colonists in the Thirteen Colonies recognized the implications of the Act’s provisions, and a coalition of merchants, smugglers, and artisans similar to that which had opposed the Stamp Act 1765 mobilized opposition to delivery and distribution of the tea. The company’s authorized consignees were harassed, and in many colonies successful efforts were made to prevent the tea from being landed.

In Boston, this resistance culminated in the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773, when colonists (some disguised as Native Americans) boarded tea ships anchored in the harbor and dumped their tea cargo overboard. Parliamentary reaction to this event included passage of the Coercive Acts, designed to punish Massachusetts for its resistance, and the appointment of General Thomas Gage as royal governor of Massachusetts. These actions further raised tensions that broke out into the American War of Independence in April 1775. Parliament passed the Taxation of Colonies Act 1778, which repealed a number of taxes (including the tea tax that underlay this act) as one of a number of conciliatory proposals presented to the Second Continental Congress by the Carlisle Peace Commission. The commission’s proposals were rejected. The Act effectively became a “dead letter”, but was not formally removed from the books until passage of the Statute Law Revision Act 1861.

1775 – The Second Continental Congress convened in Pennsylvania and at the suggestion of John Adams, named George Washington as supreme commander. The Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the summer of 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. It succeeded the First Continental Congress, which met between September 5, 1774 and October 26, 1774, also in Philadelphia. The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

By raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties, the Congress acted as the de facto national government of what became the United States. When it came together it was, in effect, a reconvening of the First Continental Congress. Many of the same 56 delegates who attended the first meeting were in attendance at the second, and the delegates appointed the same president (Peyton Randolph) and secretary (Charles Thomson). Notable new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and John Hancock of Massachusetts.

Within two weeks, Randolph was summoned back to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses; he was replaced in the Virginia delegation by Thomas Jefferson, who arrived several weeks later. Henry Middleton was elected as president to replace Randolph, but he declined. Hancock was elected president on May 24. Delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies were present when the Second Continental Congress convened. Georgia had not participated in the First Continental Congress and did not initially send delegates to the Second Continental Congress.

1775 – The men defending the garrison of Ticonderoga were surprised in their beds. Fort Ticonderoga lay on the shores of Lake Champlain. Called Fort Carillon by the French, it was renamed Ticonderoga by the British after it was captured in 1759. The fort was positioned to cut the colonies in half, and two Americans, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, were determined to capture the fort. Allen was approached by Connecticut citizens to lead his men known as the Green Mountain men to take the fort. Meanwhile Benedict Arnold had himself been appointed to the same task by the Massachusetts committee of safety. The two men argued over command, but this did not deter them from attacking the fort. On May 11th, all the men who could fit were loaded in boats and set off for the fort.

On arriving, Allen called out to Lieutenant Joceyln Feltham, “Come out of there you dammed old rat!” When Feltham asked on whose authority, Allen stated: ”In the name of Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress.” The fort, with its heavy artillery, fell without a shot being fired. The small British garrison had not heard of the outbreak of war at Lexington and Concord on April 19th. The joint colonial militia force commanded by Allen and Benedict Arnold of Connecticut found more than 40 pieces of artillery inside the fort. These will be moved in a winter convoy to the American siege lines around Boston, compelling the British to evacuate the city.

1797 – The 1st American Navy ship, the “United States,” was launched.

1800 – USS Constitution captures the Letter of Marque Sandwich.

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1801 – The North African state of Tripoli declared war on the United States in a dispute over safe passage of merchant vessels through the Mediterranean. Tripoli declared war on the U.S. for refusing to pay tribute. On Jefferson’s inauguration as president in 1801, Yusuf Karamanli, the Pasha (or Bashaw) of Tripoli, had demanded $225,000 from the new administration. (In 1800, Federal revenues totaled a little over $10 million.) Putting his long-held beliefs into practice, Jefferson refused the demand.

1823 – The 1st steamboat to navigate the Mississippi River arrived at Ft. Snelling (between St. Paul and Minneapolis).

1845 – During a celebrated round-the-world tour in 1844-46, the Constitution dropped anchor in the bay outside of Tourane, Cochin China (Da Nang, Vietnam). While there, an imprisoned French missionary requested the assistance of the ship’s captain, “Mad Jack” Percival. The Americans attempted to negotiate with the Cochin Chinese, to no avail. Frustrated, they set sail from Cochin and continued on their course on May 26 without further word about or from the missionary, who was eventually retrieved by his own countrymen.

1861 – The border state of Missouri was an integral part of the violent tug-of-war over the secession issue. The thriving port city of St. Louis, although divided on the issue of secession, had a large population of German immigrants who were opposed to slavery and to secession. In spite of the state’s official decision for neutrality, strong secessionist sentiments still existed. Governor Claiborne Jackson, a vehement supporter of secession, personally corresponded with Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and both awaited a turn of events in Missouri that would prove more favorable to the Confederacy. In May 1861, Postmaster Montgomery Blair learned of a secessionist plot to seize the Union depot at the St. Louis Armory, where large numbers of weapons and ammunition were allegedly stored.

On May 10th, 3,000 Union soldiers under the command of Capt. Nathaniel Lyon marched to the armory at the state militia barracks at Camp Jackson. Included were a large number of German immigrants serving in a unit known as the Home Guards. Missouri pro-secessionist militiamen, led by Gen. D.M. Frost, peacefully surrendered to Lyon, but trouble began when they refused to take a loyalty oath. To humiliate the Missouri militiamen, Lyon paraded them through the streets between two columns of Home Guards. Bystanders, hostile toward the Germans, cursed and spat at them. Soon rocks were thrown, and someone in the crowd opened fire on the Home Guards.

The soldiers were ordered to fire back into the crowd. The mob retaliated by tearing up paving blocks and throwing them at the troops. Gunfire from both sides was so heavy that by nightfall 90 civilians had been hit, 28 of whom were dead or dying. Lyon dismissed the guardsmen in an effort to stop the fighting, but mobs roamed throughout the night, burning buildings. The next day, seven more citizens were killed by the Home Guards, who had been called out again to restore order. The idea of Missouri remaining neutral was now out of the question.

1862 – Confederate River Defense Fleet C.S.S. General Bragg, General Sumter, General Sterling Price, General Earl Van Dorn, General M. Jeff Thompson, General Lovell, General Beauregard, and Little Rebel–made a spirited attack on Union gunboats and mortar flotilla at Plum Point Bend, Tennessee. The Confederate fleet, Captain James E. Montgomery, attacked Mortar Boat No. 16, stationed just above Fort Pillow and engaged in bombarding the works. U.S.S. Cincinnati, Commander Stembel, coming to the mortar boat’s defense, was rammed by Bragg and sank on a bar in eleven feet of water. Van Dorn rammed U.S.S. Mound City, Commander Kilty, forcing her to run aground to avoid sinking. The draft of the Confederate vessels would not permit them to press the attack into the shoal water in which the Union squadron steamed, and, having sustained various but minor injuries, Montgomery withdrew under the guns of Fort Pillow. Cincinnati and Mound City were quickly repaired and returned to service.

1862 – Norfolk Navy Yard set afire before being evacuated by Confederate forces in a general withdrawal up the peninsula to defend Richmond. Union troops under Major General Wool crossed Hampton Roads from Fort Monroe, landed at Ocean View, and captured Norfolk.

1862 – Pensacola reoccupied by Union Army and Navy forces. Military installations in the area, including the Navy Yard, Forts Barrancas and McRee, C.S.S. Fulton, and an ironclad building on the Escambia River, were destroyed by the Confederates the preceding day before withdrawing.

1863 – The South loses one of its boldest and most colorful generals on this day. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson died of pneumonia a week after losing his arm when his own troops accidentally fired on him during the Battle of Chancellorsville. In the first two years of the war, Jackson terrorized Union commanders and led his army corps on bold and daring marches. He was the perfect complement to Robert E. Lee. A native Virginian, Jackson grew up in poverty in Clarksburg, in the mountains of what is now West Virginia. Orphaned at an early age, Jackson was raised by relatives and became a shy, lonely young man. He had only a rudimentary education but secured an appointment to West Point after another young man from the same congressional district turned his appointment down. Despite poor preparation, Jackson worked hard and graduated 17th in a class of 59 cadets. Upon graduating, Jackson served as an artillery officer during the Mexican War, seeing action at Vera Cruz and Chapultepec.

He earned three brevets for bravery in just six months and then left the service in 1850 to teach at Virginia Military Institute. He was known as a difficult and eccentric classroom instructor, prone to strange and impromptu gestures in class. He was also a devout Presbyterian who refused to even talk of secular matters on the Sabbath. In 1859, he led a group of VMI cadets to serve as gallows guards for the hanging of John Brown. When war broke out in 1861, Jackson became a brigadier general in command of five regiments raised in the Shenandoah Valley. At the Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, Jackson earned distinction by leading the attack that secured an advantage for the Confederates. Confederate General Bernard Bee, trying to inspire his troops, exclaimed “there stands Jackson like a stone wall,” and provided one of the most enduring monikers in history.

By 1862, Jackson was recognized as one of the most effective commanders in the Confederate army. Leading his force on one of the most brilliant campaigns in military history during the summer of 1862, Jackson marched around the Shenandoah Valley and held off three Union armies while providing relief for Confederates pinned down on the James Peninsula by George McClellan’s army. He later rejoined the Army of Northern Virginia for the Seven Days battles, and his leadership was brilliant at Second Bull Run in August 1862. He soon became Lee’s most trusted corps commander. The Battle of Chancellorsville was Lee’s and Jackson’s shining moment. Despite the fact that they faced an army twice the size of theirs, Lee daringly split his force and sent Jackson around the Union flank—a move that resulted in perhaps the Army of the Potomac’s most stunning defeat of the war.

When nightfall halted the attack, Jackson rode forward to reconnoiter the territory for another assault. But as he and his aides rode back to the lines, a group of Rebels opened fire. Jackson was hit three times, and a Southern bullet shattered his left arm. His arm had to be amputated the next day. Soon, pneumonia set in, and Jackson quickly began to fade. He died, as he had wished, on the Sabbath, May 10, 1863, with these last words: “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.”

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1864 – Colonel Emory Upton leads a 10-regiment “Attack-in-depth” assault against the Confederate works at The Battle of Spotsylvania, which, though ultimately unsuccessful, would provide the idea for the massive assault against the Bloody Angle on May 12. Upton is slightly wounded but is immediately promoted to Brigadier general. The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania (or the 19th century spelling Spottsylvania), was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the bloody but inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness, Grant’s army disengaged from Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army and moved to the southeast, attempting to lure Lee into battle under more favorable conditions. Elements of Lee’s army beat the Union army to the critical crossroads of Spotsylvania Court House and began entrenching. Fighting occurred on and off from May 8 through May 21, 1864, as Grant tried various schemes to break the Confederate line. In the end, the battle was tactically inconclusive, but with almost 32,000 casualties on both sides, it was the costliest battle of the campaign.

On May 8th, Union Maj. Gens. Gouverneur K. Warren and John Sedgwick had unsuccessfully attempted to dislodge the Confederates under Maj. Gen. Richard H. Anderson from Laurel Hill, a position that was blocking them from Spotsylvania Court House. On May 10, Grant ordered Upton’s attacks across the Confederate line of earthworks, which by now extended over 4 miles (6.5 km), including a prominent salient known as the Mule Shoe. Although the Union troops failed again at Laurel Hill, an innovative assault attempt by Col. Upton against the Mule Shoe showed promise. Grant used Upton’s assault technique on a much larger scale on May 12 when he ordered the 15,000 men of Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock’s corps to assault the Mule Shoe. Hancock was initially successful, but the Confederate leadership rallied and repulsed his incursion. Attacks by Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright on the western edge of the Mule Shoe, which became known as the “Bloody Angle”, involved almost 24 hours of desperate hand-to-hand fighting, some of the most intense of the Civil War.

Supporting attacks by Warren and by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside were unsuccessful. Grant repositioned his lines in another attempt to engage Lee under more favorable conditions and launched a final attack by Hancock on May 18th, which made no progress. A reconnaissance in force by Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell at Harris farm on May 19 was a costly and pointless failure. On May 21st, Grant disengaged from the Confederate Army and started southeast on another maneuver to turn Lee’s right flank, as the Overland Campaign continued toward the Battle of North Anna.

1864 – U.S.S. Mound City, Acting Lieutenant Amos R. Langthorne, and U.S.S. Carondelet, Lieutenant Commander John G. Mitchell, grounded near where work was proceeding on the wing dams across the Red River rapids above Alexandria. Next day, as the Red River slowly continued to rise behind the two wing dams, ironclads Mound City, Carondelet, and U.S.S. Pittsburg, Acting Lieutenant William R. Hoel, were finally hauled across the upper falls above the obstructions by throngs of straining soldiers. As the troops looked on in tense anticipation, the gunboats, all hatches battened down, successfully lurched through the gap between the dams to safety. Rear Admiral Porter later reported to Secretary Welles: “The passage of these vessels was a beautiful sight, only to be realized when seen.” U.S.S. Ozark, Louisville, and Chillicothe, ironclads which had crossed the upper falls, were preparing to follow the next day.

1865 – Jefferson Davis, president of the fallen Confederate government, is captured with his wife and entourage near Irwinville, Georgia, by a detachment of Union General James H. Wilson’s cavalry. On April 2, 1865, with the Confederate defeat at Petersburg, Virginia imminent, General Robert E. Lee informed President Davis that he could no longer protect Richmond and advised the Confederate government to evacuate its capital. Davis and his cabinet fled to Danville, Virginia, and with Robert E. Lee’s surrender on April 9th, deep into the South. Lee’s surrender of his massive Army of Northern Virginia effectively ended the Civil War, and during the next few weeks the remaining Confederate armies surrendered one by one. Davis was devastated by the fall of the Confederacy. Refusing to admit defeat, he hoped to flee to a sympathetic foreign nation such as Britain or France, and was weighing the merits of forming a government in exile when he was arrested by a detachment of the 4th Michigan Cavalry.

A certain amount of controversy surrounds his capture, as Davis was wearing his wife’s black shawl when the Union troops cornered him. The Northern press ridiculed him as a coward, alleging that he had disguised himself as a woman in an ill-fated attempt to escape. However, Davis, and especially his wife, Varina, maintained that he was ill and that Varina had lent him her shawl to keep his health up during their difficult journey. Imprisoned for two years at Fort Monroe, Virginia, Davis was indicted for treason, but was never tried–the federal government feared that Davis would be able prove to a jury that the Southern secession of 1860 to 1861 was legal. Varina worked determinedly to secure his freedom, and in May 1867 Jefferson Davis was released on bail, with several wealthy Northerners helping him pay for his freedom. After a number of unsuccessful business ventures, he retired to Beauvoir, his home near Biloxi, Mississippi, and began writing his two-volume memoir The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (1881). He died in 1889 and was buried at New Orleans; four years later, his body was moved to its permanent resting spot in Richmond, Virginia.

1865 – In Kentucky, Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill, who lingers until his death on June 6th.

1869 – In a remote corner of Utah, the presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads meet and drive a ceremonial last spike into a rail line that connects their railroads and makes transcontinental railroad service possible for the first time in U.S. history. Although travelers would have to take a roundabout journey to cross the country on this railroad system, the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah, forever closed a chapter of U.S. history. No longer would western-bound travelers need to take the long and dangerous journey by wagon train, and the west would surely lose some its wild charm with the new connection to the civilized east.

As early as 1852, Congress considered the construction of a transcontinental railroad, but the question became enmeshed in the regional politics of the time. In 1866, starting in Omaha and Sacramento, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads began working toward each other across a northern route, with land grants offered by the government as an incentive for their work. In their eagerness for land, the two lines built right past each other, and the final meeting place had to be renegotiated. On May 10, 1869, the two lines finally met at Promontory Point, Utah.

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