This Date in Military History:

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ROCCO, LOUIS R.
Rank and organization: Warrant Officer (then Sergeant First Class), U.S. Army, Advisory Team 162, U.S. Military Assistance Command. Place and date: Northeast of Katum, Republic of Vietnam, 24 May 1970. Entered service at: Los Angeles, Calif. Born: 19 November 1938, Albuquerque, N. Mex. Citation: WO Rocco distinguished himself when he volunteered to accompany a medical evacuation team on an urgent mission to evacuate 8 critically wounded Army of the Republic of Vietnam personnel. As the helicopter approached the landing zone, it became the target for intense enemy automatic weapons fire. Disregarding his own safety, WO Rocco identified and placed accurate suppressive fire on the enemy positions as the aircraft descended toward the landing zone. Sustaining major damage from the enemy fire, the aircraft was forced to crash land, causing WO Rocco to sustain a fractured wrist and hip and a severely bruised back.

Ignoring his injuries, he extracted the survivors from the burning wreckage, sustaining burns to his own body. Despite intense enemy fire, WO Rocco carried each unconscious man across approximately 20 meters of exposed terrain to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam perimeter. On each trip, his severely burned hands and broken wrist caused excruciating pain, but the lives of the unconscious crash survivors were more important than his personal discomfort, and he continued his rescue efforts. Once inside the friendly position, WO Rocco helped administer first aid to his wounded comrades until his wounds and burns caused him to collapse and lose consciousness. His bravery under fire and intense devotion to duty were directly responsible for saving 3 of his fellow soldiers from certain death. His unparalleled bravery in the face of enemy fire, his complete disregard for his own pain and injuries, and his performance were far above and beyond the call of duty and were in keeping with the highest traditions of self-sacrifice and courage of the military service.

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25 May

1738 – A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners. Cresap’s War (also known as the Conojocular War—from the Conejohela Valley where it was located (mainly) along the south (right) bank) was a border conflict between Pennsylvania and Maryland, fought in the 1730s. Hostilities erupted in 1730 with a series of violent incidents prompted by disputes over property rights and law enforcement, and escalated through the first half of the decade, culminating in the deployment of military forces by Maryland in 1736 and by Pennsylvania in 1737. The armed phase of the conflict ended in May 1738 with the intervention of King George II, who compelled the negotiation of a cease-fire. A final settlement was not achieved until 1767 when the Mason–Dixon line was recognized as the permanent boundary between the two colonies.

1787 – Four years after the United States won its independence from England, 55 state delegates, including George Washington, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin, convene in Philadelphia to compose a new U.S. Constitution. The Articles of Confederation, ratified several months before the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781, provided for a loose confederation of U.S. states, which were sovereign in most of their affairs. On paper, Congress–the central authority–had the power to govern foreign affairs, conduct war, and regulate currency, but in practice these powers were sharply limited because Congress was given no authority to enforce its requests to the states for money or troops. By 1786, it was apparent that the Union would soon break up if the Articles of Confederation were not amended or replaced. Five states met in Annapolis, Maryland, to discuss the issue, and all the states were invited to send delegates to a new constitutional convention to be held in Philadelphia.

On May 25, 1787, delegates representing every state except Rhode Island convened at Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania State House for the Constitutional Convention. The building, which is now known as Independence Hall, had earlier seen the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the signing of the Articles of Confederation. The assembly immediately discarded the idea of amending the Articles of Confederation and set about drawing up a new scheme of government. Revolutionary War hero George Washington, a delegate from Virginia, was elected convention president. During three months of debate, the delegates devised a brilliant federal system characterized by an intricate system of checks and balances. The convention was divided over the issue of state representation in Congress, as more populated states sought proportional legislation, and smaller states wanted equal representation. The problem was resolved by the Connecticut Compromise, which proposed a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the lower house (House of Representatives) and equal representation of the states in the upper house (Senate). On September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States of America was signed by 38 of the 41 delegates present at the conclusion of the convention. As dictated by Article VII, the document would not become binding until it was ratified by nine of the 13 states.

Beginning on December 7, five states–Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut–ratified it in quick succession. However, other states, especially Massachusetts, opposed the document, as it failed to reserve undelegated powers to the states and lacked constitutional protection of basic political rights, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press. In February 1788, a compromise was reached under which Massachusetts and other states would agree to ratify the document with the assurance that amendments would be immediately proposed. The Constitution was thus narrowly ratified in Massachusetts, followed by Maryland and South Carolina. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document, and it was subsequently agreed that government under the U.S. Constitution would begin on March 4, 1789.

On September 25, 1789, the first Congress of the United States adopted 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution–the Bill of Rights–and sent them to the states for ratification. Ten of these amendments were ratified in 1791. In November 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Rhode Island, which opposed federal control of currency and was critical of compromise on the issue of slavery, resisted ratifying the Constitution until the U.S. government threatened to sever commercial relations with the state. On May 29, 1790, Rhode Island voted by two votes to ratify the document, and the last of the original 13 colonies joined the United States. Today the U.S. Constitution is the oldest written constitution in operation in the world.

1862 – Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson notches a victory on his brilliant campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. Jackson, with 17,000 troops under his command, was sent to the Shenandoah to relieve pressure on the Confederate troops near Richmond, who were facing the growing force of George McClellan on the James Peninsula. In early May, Jackson struck John C. Fremont’s force at McDowell, in western Virginia. After driving Fremont out of the area, Jackson turned his attention to an army under the command of Nathaniel Banks, situated at the north end of the Shenandoah Valley. With only 10,000 troops, Banks had the unenviable task of holding off the fast-moving Jackson.

On May 25th, Jackson found Banks outside of Winchester. He attacked the Union force but was initially repulsed. The Confederates then struck each Union flank, and this time the Yankee line broke. A confused retreat ensued through the town of Winchester, and even some residents fired on the departing Yankees. Banks fled the Shenandoah into Maryland, and Jackson continued his rampage. The Union lost 62 killed, 243 wounded, and over 1,700 captured or missing, while Jackson’s men lost 68 killed and 329 wounded. The numbers from Jackson’s 1862 valley campaign are stunning. His men marched 350 miles in a month; occupied 60,000 Yankee troops, preventing them from applying pressure on Richmond; won four battles against three armies; and inflicted twice as many casualties as they suffered. Jackson’s record cemented his reputation as one of the greatest generals of all time.

1863 – Federal authorities in Tennessee turned over former Ohio congressman Clement L. Vallandigham to the Confederates. President Abraham Lincoln had changed his sentence to banishment from the United States after his conviction of expressing alleged pro-Confederate sentiments.

1864 – Battle of New Hope Church, Georgia... Joseph E. Johnston tried to halt Sherman’s advance on Atlanta at the Hell Hole.

1864 – Boat crew from U.S.S. Mattabesett, Captain M. Smith, made an unsuccessful attempt to destroy C.S.S. Albemarle in the Roanoke River near Plymouth, North Carolina. After ascending the Middle River with two 100-pound torpedoes, Charles Baldwin, coal heaver, and John W. Lloyd, coxswain, swam across the Roanoke carrying a towline with which they hauled the torpedoes to the Plymouth shore. Baldwin planned to swim down to the ram and position a torpedo on either side of her bow. Across the river, Alexander Crawford, fireman, would then explode the weapons. However, Baldwin was discovered by a sentry when within a few yards of Albemarle and the daring mission had to be abandoned. John Lloyd cut the guidelines and swam back across the river to join John Laverty, fireman, who was guarding the far shore. They made their way to the dinghy in which they had rowed upriver and, with Benjamin Lloyd, coal heaver, who had acted as boat keeper, made their way back to the Mattabesett. On May 29th, Baldwin and Crawford, exhausted, returned to the ship.

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1865 – In Mobile, Alabama, 300 are killed when an ordnance depot explodes. The depot was a warehouse on Beauregard Street, where the troops had stacked some 200 tons of shells and powder. Some time in the afternoon of May 25th, a cloud of black smoke rose into the air and the ground began to rumble. Flames shot up into the sky and bursting shells were heard throughout the city. In the nearby Mobile River, two ships sank, and a man standing on a wharf was blown into the river. Several houses collapsed from the concussion.

1877 – Training of first class of Revenue Cutter cadets began on the school-ship Dobbin at Curtis Bay, Maryland, with nine cadets, three officers, one surgeon, six warrant officers and 17 crew members.

1898 – 1st US troop transport to Manila left San Francisco.

1942 – American submarines move into patrol positions as part of the countermeasures to the expected Japanese attack on Midway.

1943 – The Trident Conference ends. Roosevelt and Churchill, and their staffs, reach compromises on all of the significant differences. Among the decisions taken is the target date for the invasion of western Europe (D-Day) — May 1, 1944. British General Morgan is appointed to prepare plans for the invasion. His is designated Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander (COSSAC).

1943 – There was a riot at Mobile, Al., shipyard over upgrading 12 black workers.

1944 – Patrols of the US 2nd Corps link up with forces of the US 6th Corps from Anzio near Latina (Pontine Marshes). In its advance, the US 6th Corps captures Cisterna and Cori. The German 10th Army is in danger of being cut off and Army Group C (Kesselring) sends its last reserve, the “Hermann Goring” Division, for reinforcement. The US 5th Army (Clark), however, now puts the weight of its forces into the capture of Rome. Meanwhile, the British 8th Army crosses the Melfa River in strength.

1944 – American forces advancing from Arare cross the Tirfoam River after engaging Japanese defenders.

1945 – The American armed forces Chiefs of Staff set November 1, 1945 as the start date for the invasion of Japan — Operation Olympic.

1945 – On Okinawa, the US 4th Marine Regiment eliminates the Japanese casemates and underground positions on Machishi Hill. The US 29th Regiment secures Naha.

1951 – Eighteen U.S. Marines and one U.S. Army infantryman captured during the Chosin/Changjin Reservoir campaign were returned to U.N. control.

1952 – ROK President Syngman Rhee declared martial law in Pusan and arrested members of the Korean National Assembly.

1952 – The USS Iowa made its heaviest attack to date against the industrial seaport of Chongjin.

1953 – The first atomic cannon was fired at Frenchman Flat, Nevada. Fired as part of Operation Upshot-Knothole and codenamed Shot GRABLE, a 280 mm (11 inch) shell with a gun-type fission warhead was fired 10,000 m (6.2 miles) and detonated 160 m (525 ft) above the ground with an estimated yield of 15 kilotons. This was the only nuclear artillery shell ever actually fired in the U.S. nuclear weapons test program. The shell was 1384 mm (4.5 ft) long and weighed 365 kg (805 lbs). It was fired from a special, very large artillery piece, nicknamed “Atomic Annie”, built by the Artillery Test Unit of Fort Sill, Oklahoma. About 3,200 soldiers and civilians were present. The warhead was designated the W9 nuclear warhead and 80 were produced in 1952 to 1953 for the T-124 shell. It was retired in 1957.

1961 – President Kennedy asked the nation to work toward putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

1961 – NASA civilian pilot Joseph A. Walker took the X-15 to 32,770 meters.

1962 – US performed an atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island.

1962 – A report of the International Control Commission (ICC) for Vietnam charges North Vietnam with subversion and aggression into South Vietnam. It also charges that the United States is violating the Geneva Agreements with its military buildup in South Vietnam, and accuses South Vietnam of violating the 1954 Geneva Accords by accepting US military aid and establishing ‘a factual military alliance’ with the US. The report is adopted by the Indian and Canadian members of the ICC but is opposed by the Polish member.

1967 – Fighting resumes in the southeastern section of the DMZ when two Marine battalions assault a North Vietnamese position on Hill 117, three miles west of the base at Conthien. They withdraw after blowing up enemy bunkers there on the 27th.

1968 – The Gateway Arch, part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, was dedicated.

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1968 – The communists launch their third major assault of the year on Saigon. The heaviest fighting occurred during the first three days of June, and again centered on Cholon, the Chinese section of Saigon, where U.S. and South Vietnamese forces used helicopters, fighter-bombers, and tanks to dislodge deeply entrenched Viet Cong infiltrators. A captured enemy directive, which the U.S. command made public on May 28, indicated that the Viet Cong saw the offensive as a means of influencing the Paris peace talks in their favor.

1969 – South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu assumes personal leadership of the National Social Democratic Front at its inaugural meeting in Saigon. Thieu said the establishment of this coalition party was “the first concrete step in unifying the political factions in South Vietnam for the coming political struggle with the communists,” and emphasized that the new party would not be “totalitarian or despotic.” The six major parties comprising the NSDF coalition were: the Greater Union Force, composed largely of militant Roman Catholic refugees from North Vietnam; the Social Humanist Party, successor to the Can Lao party, which had held power under the Ngo Dinh Diem regime; the Revolutionary Dai Viet, created to fight the French; the Social Democratic Party, a faction of the Hoa Hao religious sect; the United Vietnam Kuomintang, formed as an anti-French party; and the People’s Alliance for Social Revolution, a pro-government bloc formed in 1968.

1972 – US performed a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

1973 – Launch of Skylab 2 mission, which was first U.S. manned orbiting space station. It had an all Navy crew of CAPT Charles Conrad, Jr., USN. (commanding), CDR Joseph P. Kerwin, USN and CDR Paul J. Weitz, USN. During the 28 day mission of 404 orbits, the craft rendezvoused with Skylab to make repairs and conduct science experiments. Recovery by USS Ticonderoga (CVS-14).

1977 – US performed a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

1978 – A package bomb injured Terry Marker, a Northwestern Univ. security guard. It was later attributed to the Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski.

1990 – A congressional report cast doubts on the US Navy’s official finding that a troubled sailor probably had caused the blast that killed 47 servicemen aboard the battleship USS Iowa.

1995 – NATO warplanes struck Bosnian Serb headquarters. Serbs answered with swift defiance, storming UN weapons depots, attacking safe areas and taking peacekeepers as hostages.

1996 – President Clinton, honoring the men and women who died in military service, used his weekly radio address to defend America’s global military role, saying it “is making our people safer and the world more secure.”

1999 – The US government released a bipartisan congressional report that said China stole design secrets for nuclear warheads that included every weapon in the current US nuclear arsenal. The systematic espionage campaign was dated back to the 1970s. Stolen technology included data on an Army antitank weapon, fighter airplanes and all the elements needed to launch a major nuclear attack. President Clinton responded that his administration was already “moving aggressively to tighten security.”

1999 – NATO approved plans for 50,000 ground soldiers to move into Kosovo.

2004 – U.S. warplanes helped Afghan forces pound Taliban militants in the mountains of southern Afghanistan, killing some 20 suspected insurgents at a recently discovered camp.

2005 – Voyager 1, the most distant man-made object, has entered the helio-sheath and is on the cusp of leaving the Solar System and entering the interstellar medium.

2008 – NASA’s Phoenix lander lands in Green Valley region of Mars to search for environments suitable for water and microbial life.

2009 – North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device. Following the nuclear test, Pyongyang also conducted several missile tests building tensions in the international community.

2012 – The Dragon spacecraft became the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous with the International Space Station.


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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

BALDWIN, CHARLES
Rank and organization: Coal Heaver, U.S. Navy. Born: 30 June 1839, Delaware. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Wyalusing and participating in a plan to destroy the rebel ram Albermarle in Roanoke River, 25 May 1864. Volunteering for the hazardous mission, C.H. Baldwin participated in the transfer of 2 torpedoes across an island swamp. Weighted by a line which was used to transfer the torpedoes, he swam the river and, when challenged by a sentry, was forced to abandon the plan after erasing its detection and before it could be carried to completion. Escaping the fire of the muskets, C.H. Baldwin spent 2 days and nights of hazardous travel without food, and finally arrived, fatigued, at the mother ship.

CRAWFORD, ALEXANDER
Rank and organization: Fireman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1842, Pennsylvania. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864 Citation: On board the U.S.S. Wyalusing, Crawford volunteered 25 May 1864, in a night attempt to destroy the rebel ram Albemarle in the Roanoke River. Taking part in a plan to explode the rebel ram Albemarle, Crawford executed his part in the plan with perfection, but upon being discovered, was forced to abandon the plan and retire leaving no trace of the evidence. After spending two hazardous days and nights without food, he gained the safety of a friendly ship and was then transferred back to the Wyalusing. Though the plan failed his skill and courage in preventing detection were an example of unfailing devotion to duty.

LAFFERTY, JOHN
Rank and organization: Fireman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1842, New York, N.Y. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Wyalusing and participated in a plan to destroy the rebel ram Albemarle in Roanoke River, 25 May 1864. Volunteering for the hazardous mission, Lafferty participated in the transfer of two torpedoes across an island swamp and then served as sentry to keep guard of clothes and arms left by other members of the party. After being rejoined by others of the party who had been discovered before the plan could be completed, Lafferty succeeded in returning to the mother ship after spending 24 hours of discomfort in the rain and swamp.

LLOYD, BENJAMIN
Rank and organization: Coal Heaver, U.S. Navy. Born: 1839. England. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Wyalusing and participating in a plan to destroy the rebel ram Albemarle in Roanoke River, 25 May 1864. Volunteering for the hazardous mission, Lloyd participated in the transfer of two torpedoes across an island swamp. Serving as boatkeeper, he aided in rescuing others of the party who had been detected before the plan could be completed, but who escaped, leaving detection of the plan impossible. By his skill and courage, Lloyd succeeded in returning to the mother ship after spending 24 hours of discomfort in the rain and swamp.

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LLOYD, JOHN W.
Rank and organization: Coxswain, U.S. Navy. Born. 1831, New York, N.Y. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Wyalusing during an attempt to destroy the rebel ram Albemarle in Roanoke River, 25 May 1864, Lloyd participated in this daring plan by swimming the Roanoke River heavily weighted with a line which was used for hauling torpedoes across. Thwarted by discovery just before the completion of the plan, Lloyd cut the torpedo guiding line to prevent detection of the plan by the enemy and again swam the river, narrowly escaping enemy musket fire and regaining the ship in safety.

*ADAMS, WILLIAM E.
Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Army, A/227th Assault Helicopter Company, 52d Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade. Place and Date: Kontum Province, Republic of Vietnam, 25 May 1971. Entered Service at: Kansas City, Mo. Born: 16 June 1939, Casper, Wyo. Citation: Maj. Adams distinguished himself on 25 May 1971 while serving as a helicopter pilot in Kontum Province in the Republic of Vietnam. On that date, Maj. Adams volunteered to fly a lightly armed helicopter in an attempt to evacuate 3 seriously wounded soldiers from a small fire base which was under attack by a large enemy force. He made the decision with full knowledge that numerous antiaircraft weapons were positioned around the base and that the clear weather would afford the enemy gunners unobstructed view of all routes into the base. As he approached the base, the enemy gunners opened fire with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.

Undaunted by the fusillade, he continued his approach determined to accomplish the mission. Displaying tremendous courage under fire, he calmly directed the attacks of supporting gunships while maintaining absolute control of the helicopter he was flying. He landed the aircraft at the fire base despite the ever-increasing enemy fire and calmly waited until the wounded soldiers were placed on board. As his aircraft departed from the fire base, it was struck and seriously damaged by enemy anti-aircraft fire and began descending. Flying with exceptional skill, he immediately regained control of the crippled aircraft and attempted a controlled landing. Despite his valiant efforts, the helicopter exploded, overturned, and plummeted to earth amid the hail of enemy fire. Maj. Adams’ conspicuous gallantry, intrepidity, and humanitarian regard for his fellow man were in keeping with the most cherished traditions of the military service and reflected utmost credit on him and the U S. Army.

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26 May

Feast day of Saint Philip Neri, Patron Saint of the Special Forces: Although he refrained from becoming involved in political matters, St. Philip broke this rule in 1593 when he persuaded Pope Clement VIII to withdraw the excommunication and anathema laid on Henry IV of France, and the refusal to receive his ambassador, even though the king had formally renounced Calvinism. Neri saw that the pope’s attitude was more than likely to drive Henry to a relapse, and probably to rekindle the civil war in France, and directed Cardinal Caesar Baronius, then the pope’s confessor, to refuse the Pope absolution, and to resign his office of confessor, unless the Pope would withdraw the anathema. Clement yielded at once, though the whole college of cardinals had supported his policy; and Henry, who did not learn the facts until several years afterwards, testified lively gratitude for the timely and politic intervention. Neri continued in the government of the Oratory until his death.

1637 – During the Pequot War, an allied Puritan and Mohegan force under English Captain John Mason attacks a Pequot village in Connecticut, burning or massacring some 500 Indian women, men, and children. As the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay spread further into Connecticut, they came into increasing conflict with the Pequots, a war-like tribe centered on the Thames River in southeastern Connecticut. By the spring of 1637, 13 English colonists and traders had been killed by the Pequot, and Massachusetts Bay Governor John Endecott organized a large military force to punish the Indians. On April 23, 200 Pequot warriors responded defiantly to the colonial mobilization by attacking a Connecticut settlement, killing six men and three women and taking two girls away. On May 26, 1637, two hours before dawn, the Puritans and their Indian allies marched on the Pequot village at Mystic, slaughtering all but a handful of its inhabitants. On June 5, Captain Mason attacked another Pequot village, this one near present-day Stonington, and again the Indian inhabitants were defeated and massacred. On July 28, a third attack and massacre occurred near present-day Fairfield, and the Pequot War came to an end. Most of the surviving Pequot were sold into slavery, though a handful escaped to join other southern New England tribes.

1736 – In northwestern Mississippi, British and Chickasaw Indians defeated a combined force of French soldiers and Chocktaw Indians at the Battle of Ackia, thus opening the region to English settlement.

1783 – A Great Jubilee Day held at North Stratford, Connecticut, celebrated end of fighting in American Revolution.

1790 – Territory South of River Ohio was created by Congress.

1805 – Lewis and Clark first saw the Rocky Mountains.

1819 – The first steam-propelled vessel to attempt a trans-Atlantic crossing, the 350-ton Savannah, departed from Savannah, Ga., May 26 and arrived in Liverpool, England, June 20th.

1830 – The Indian Removal Act is passed by the U.S. Congress; it is signed into law by President Andrew Jackson two days later. The law authorized the president to negotiate with Indian tribes in the Southern United States for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their ancestral homelands. The act enjoyed strong support from the non-native peoples of the South, who were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the Five Civilized Tribes. Christian missionaries, such as Jeremiah Evarts, protested against the law’s passage.

1853 – Major Jacob Zeilin (in charge of Marines) arrived with Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s squadron at Okinawa.

1859 – Captain James Simpson and his party, looking for the shortest route across Nevada, crossed the Hickison Summit into Big Smoky Valley. Their path was later followed by the Pony Express (1860) and the Overland Mail and Stage (1861).

1861 – Union forces blockaded New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama.

1864 – Anxious to create new free territories during the Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs an act establishing the Montana Territory. However, as Montana was on the unstable frontier, it did little to add to the integrity of the Union, and Sidney Edgerton, the territory’s first governor, fled after suffering through several months of Indian raids. Among those Indians known to have inhabited Montana in the 19th century were the Sioux, the Blackfoot, the Shoshone, the Arapaho, the Cheyenne, the Kutenai, and the Flathead. The vast area of what we now call Montana became a U.S. possession in 1803 under the terms of the Louisiana Purchase. Two years later, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark became the first known explorers of European origin to explore the region on their journey to the Pacific Ocean. Significant U.S. settlement did not begin in Montana until the 1850s, when the discovery of gold brought people to mining camps such as those at Bannack and Virginia City. In 1864, Montana was deemed worthy of territorial status and 25 years later entered the Union as the 41st state.

1864 – There was a skirmish along the Totopotomoy Creek, Virginia.

1864 – A joint Army-Navy expedition advanced up the Ashepoo and South Edisto Rivers, South Carolina, with the object of cutting the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. Union naval forces, under Lieutenant Commander Edward F. Stone, included converted ferryboat U.S.S. Commodore McDonough, and wooden steamers E.B. Hale, Dai Ching, and Vixen and a detachment of Marines. The Navy pushed up the South Edisto, while Army transports moved up the Ashepoo convoyed by Dai Ching. Stone landed the Marines and howitzers and on the morning of the 26th opened fire on Willstown, South Carolina. The naval commander, unable to make contact with General Birney to coordinate a further assault, withdrew next morning. Transport Boston ran aground in the Ashepoo and was destroyed to prevent her capture.

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1864 – The unsuccessful Red River campaign having drawn to a close, General Banks’ army on May 20th crossed the Atchafalaya River near Simmesport, Louisiana, protected by Rear Admiral Porter’s fleet. Porter, whose health was beginning to fail after many months of arduous duty on the western waters, arrived at his headquarters at Cairo, Illinois.

1865 – Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last general of the Confederate Army to surrender. Smith, who had become commander of the area in January 1863, was charged with keeping the Mississippi River open to the Southerners. Yet he was more interested in recapturing Arkansas and Missouri largely because of the influence of Arkansans in the Confederate Congress who helped to secure his appointment. Drawing sharp criticism for his failure to provide relief for Vicksburg in the summer of 1863, Smith later conducted the resistance to the failed Union Red River campaign of 1864.

When the Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee and Joseph Johnston surrendered in the spring of 1865, Smith continued to resist with his small army in Texas. He insisted that Lee and Johnston were prisoners of war and decried Confederate deserters of the cause. On May 26, General Simon Buckner, acting for Smith, met with Union officers in New Orleans to arrange the surrender of Smith’s force under terms similar to Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Smith reluctantly agreed, and officially laid down his arms at Galveston on June 2. Smith himself fled to Mexico, and then to Cuba, before returning to Virginia in November 1865 to sign an amnesty oath. He was the last surviving full Confederate general until his death in 1893.

1868 – At the end of a historic two-month trial, the U.S. Senate narrowly fails to convict President Andrew Johnson of the impeachment charges levied against him by the House of Representatives three months earlier. The senators voted 35 guilty and 19 not guilty on the second article of impeachment, a charge related to his violation of the Tenure of Office Act in the previous year. Ten days earlier, the Senate had likewise failed to convict Johnson on another article of impeachment, the 11th, voting an identical 35 for conviction and 19 for acquittal.

Because both votes fell short–by one vote–of the two-thirds majority needed to convict Johnson, he was judged not guilty and remained in office. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Johnson, a U.S. senator from Tennessee, was the only senator from a seceding state who remained loyal to the Union. Johnson’s political career was built on his defense of the interests of poor white Southerners against the landed classes; of his decision to oppose secession, he said, “Damn the negroes; I am fighting those traitorous aristocrats, their masters.” For his loyalty, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him military governor of Tennessee in 1862, and in 1864 Johnson was elected vice president of the United States.

Sworn in as president after Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865, President Johnson enacted a lenient Reconstruction policy for the defeated South, including almost total amnesty to ex-Confederates, a program of rapid restoration of U.S.-state status for the seceded states, and the approval of new, local Southern governments, which were able to legislate “black codes” that preserved the system of slavery in all but name. The Republican-dominated Congress greatly opposed Johnson’s Reconstruction program and passed the “Radical Reconstruction” by repeatedly overriding the president’s vetoes. Under the Radical Reconstruction, local Southern governments gave way to federal military rule, and African American men in the South were granted the constitutional right to vote.

In March 1867, in order to weaken further Johnson’s authority, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act over his veto. The act prohibited the president from removing federal office holders, including cabinet members, who had been confirmed by the Senate, without the consent of the Senate. It was designed to shield members of Johnson’s cabinet, like Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who was appointed during the Lincoln administration and was a leading ally of the so-called Radical Republicans in Congress.

In the fall of 1867, Johnson attempted to test the constitutionality of the act by replacing Stanton with General Ulysses S. Grant. However, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to rule on the case, and Grant turned the office back to Stanton after the Senate passed a measure in protest of the dismissal. On February 21, 1868, Johnson decided to rid himself of Stanton once and for all and appointed General Lorenzo Thomas, an individual far less favorable to the Congress than Grant, as secretary of war. Stanton refused to yield, barricading himself in his office, and the House of Representatives, which had already discussed impeachment after Johnson’s first dismissal of Stanton, initiated formal impeachment proceedings against the president.

On February 24th, the House voted 11 impeachment articles against President Johnson. Nine of the articles cited his violations of the Tenure of Office Act; one cited his opposition to the Army Appropriations Act of 1867 (designed to deprive the president of his constitutional position as commander in chief of the U.S. Army); and one accused Johnson of bringing “into disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt, and reproach the Congress of the United States” through certain controversial speeches.

On March 13th, according to the rules set out in Section 3 of Article I of the U.S. Constitution, the impeachment trial of President Johnson began in the Senate. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase presided over the proceedings, which were described as theatrical. On May 16 and again on May 26, the Senate voted on the charges brought against President Johnson. Both times the vote was 35 for conviction and 19 for acquittal, with seven moderate Republicans joining 12 Democrats in voting against what was a weak case for impeachment. The vote fell just short of a two-thirds majority, and Johnson remained in office.

Nevertheless, he chose not to seek reelection on the Democratic ticket. In November, Ulysses S. Grant, who supported the Republicans’ Radical Reconstruction policies, was elected president of the United States. In 1875, after two failed bids, Johnson won reelection to Congress as a U.S. senator from Tennessee. He died less than four months after taking office, at the age of 66. Fifty-one years later, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Tenure of Office Act unconstitutional in its ruling in Myers v. United States.

1908 – At Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia, the first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made. The rights to the resource are quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.

1938 – House Committee on Un-American Activities began its work of searching for subversives in the United States.

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1940 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt makes known the dire straits of Belgian and French civilians suffering the fallout of the British-German battle to reach the northern coast of France, and appeals for support for the Red Cross. “Tonight, over the once peaceful roads of Belgium and France, millions are now moving, running from their homes to escape bombs and shells and machine gunning, without shelter, and almost wholly without food,” broadcast FDR. On May 26, the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk in France.

Ships arrived at Calais to remove the Force before German troops occupied the area, and it was hoped that 45,000 British soldiers could be shipped back to Britain within two days. The German air force, though, had other plans. Determined to prevent the evacuation, the Luftwaffe initiated a bombing campaign in Dunkirk and the surrounding area. British, Polish, and Canadian fighter pilots succeeded in fending off the German attack in the air, allowing finally for a delayed, but successful, evacuation nine days later. But the cost to civilians was great, as thousands of refugees fled for their lives to evade the fallout of the battle.

1941 – A British Catalina aircraft, piloted by a US Navy officer, finds Bismark only 700 miles from Brest and it is clear that the aircraft of the Ark Royal (of Force H) offer the best chance of slowing the German ship so that she can be caught. The first strike launched by the Ark Royal finds and attacks the British cruiser Sheffield by mistake owing to bad weather. The attack fails because of defects in the magnetic exploders of the torpedoes, so simple contact types are substituted for a second strike. The 15 Swordfish find the correct target and score two hits. One hit wrecks the German battleship’s steering and practically brings her to a halt. During the night Bismark is further harried by torpedo and gunfire attacks by five British destroyers. It is unclear whether they score any torpedo hits.

1942 – Japanese Admiral Nagumo’s 1st Carrier Fleet sails for Midway. His task force contains the carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu with two battleships, cruisers and destroyers as escort.

1942 – US Task Force 16, with the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Hornet, returns to Pearl Harbor. The Japanese believe that these ships are still active in the South Pacific.

1944 – USS England sinks fifth Japanese submarine in one week.

1944 – Allied advances continue despite German resistance. The British 10th Corps (McCreery) captures Roccasecca; the Canadian 1st Corps takes San Giovanni and reaches the Liri River; the US 2nd Corps reaches Priverno. The US 6th Corps, at Anzio, progresses toward Lanuvio; US 3rd Division takes Artena, but German defenses prevent it from advancing to Valmontone. The US 1st Armored Division proves too weak to mount a rapid drive towards Velletri.

1944 – German submarine U-541 stops the Portuguese liner Serpa Pinto, carrying Jewish refugees to Canada. Two American citizens are removed and 385 others are ordered into the lifeboats. Nine hours later, after the submarine has contacted its base, the passengers are allowed back on board the ship. Three die in the evacuation process, including a 16 month old baby.

1944 – An American destroyer force bombards Mili Island.

1945 – On Okinawa, American bombers and artillery attack Japanese troops withdrawing from the Shuri Line. Soldiers of California’s 184th Infantry, assigned to the Regular Army’s 7th Infantry Division, succeed in reducing several Japanese strong points as American forces drive deeper into the island’s defenses. The 184th was one of 18 Guard infantry regiments separated from it peacetime parent division, in this case the 40th Infantry Division, by the restructuring of all infantry divisions into smaller organizations in 1942.

1945 – Some 464 American B-29 Superfortress bombers fire-bombed Tokyo with about 4000 tons of incendiares. Parts of the imperial palace were damaged as was the nearby business district of Marunouchi, which was the targeted area. A total of 26 of the Marianas-based bombers were lost.

1945 – The Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) is transferred from Rheims to Frankfurt-am-Main.

1946 – A patent was filed in U.S. for the H-bomb.

1948 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 80-557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force. The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded membership that includes people from all backgrounds, lifestyles, and occupations. It performs three congressionally assigned key missions: emergency services, which includes search and rescue (by air and ground) and disaster relief operations; aerospace education for youth and the general public; and cadet programs for teenage youth. In addition, CAP has recently been tasked with homeland security and courier service missions. CAP also performs non-auxiliary missions for various governmental and private agencies, such as local law enforcement and the American Red Cross. The program is established as an organization by Title 10 of the United States Code and its purposes defined by Title 36.

Membership in the organization consists of cadets ranging from 12 to just under 21 years of age, and senior members 18 years of age and up. These two groups each have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of pursuits; the cadet program contributes to the development of the former group with a structured syllabus and an organization based upon United States Air Force ranks and pay grades, while the older members serve as instructors, supervisors, and operators. All members wear uniforms while performing their duties. Nationwide, CAP is a major operator of single-engine general aviation aircraft, used in the execution of its various missions, including orientation flights for cadets and the provision of significant emergency services capabilities.

Because of these extensive flying opportunities, many CAP members become licensed pilots. The hierarchical and military auxiliary organization is headed by the National Headquarters (with authority over the national organization) followed by eight regional commands and 52 wings (each of the 50 states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico). Each wing supervises the individual groups and squadrons that comprise the basic operational unit of the organization.

1951 – U.N. Forces drove the communists’ back across the 38th parallel on most of the Korean battlefields.

1952 – Tests from 26-29 May demonstrate feasibility of the angled-deck concept conducted on simulated angled deck on USS Midway.

1956 – Aircraft carrier Bennington burned off Rhode Island, killing 103 personnel.

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1960 – During a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Henry Cabot Lodge charges that the Soviet Union has engaged in espionage activities at the U.S. embassy in Moscow for years. The charges were obviously an attempt by the United States to deflect Soviet criticisms following the downing of an American U-2 spy plane over Russia earlier in the month. On May 1, 1960, a highly sophisticated (and supposedly invulnerable) U.S. spy plane, the U-2, was shot down over the Soviet Union. Although U.S. officials at first denied the existence of any such spy planes, the Soviets gleefully produced both the wreckage of the plane and its pilot, Francis Gary Powers.

Embarrassed U.S. officials, including President Dwight D. Eisenhower, were forced to publicly admit that the United States was indeed spying on the Soviet Union with the high altitude planes. However, the U.S. government consistently declared that it was doing nothing that the Soviets themselves were not doing. As evidence of that charge, Henry Cabot Lodge brought the issue before the U.N. Security Council. There, he produced a wooden reproduction of the Great Seal of the United States. Nestled inside was a small listening and transmitting device. Lodge claimed that the seal had been presented to the U.S. embassy in Moscow in 1945 by a group of Russian citizens.

In 1952, a security sweep of the embassy discovered the listening device. Lodge went on to note that more than 100 other such devices had been found in the U.S. embassies in Russia and other communist-bloc countries during the last few years. The Soviet representative on the Security Council chuckled often during Lodge’s presentation and then asked, “From what plays were these props taken and when will it open?” Despite the U.S. charges of Soviet espionage, nothing could undo the damage of the downed U-2 spy plane, the subsequent denials, and the public embarrassment suffered by Eisenhower and other U.S. officials when they were caught in a lie. Just 10 days before Lodge’s presentation in the Security Council, a summit meeting between Eisenhower and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev ended with each side exchanging angry accusations about spying and bad faith.

1961 – A USAF bomber flew the Atlantic in a record of just over three hours.

1964 – Sihanouk says he welcomes UN inquiry teams or UN troops to police the disputed border with South Vietnam.

1969 – The Apollo 10 astronauts returned to Earth after a successful eight-day dress rehearsal for the first manned moon landing.

1969 – Operation Pipestone Canyon began when the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines and 3d Battalion, 5th Marines began sweeps in the Dodge City/Go Noi areas southwest of Da Nang. It terminated at the end of June with 610 enemy killed in action at a cost of 34 Marines killed.

1971 – In Cambodia, an estimated 1,000 North Vietnamese capture the strategic rubber plantation town of Snoul, driving out 2,000 South Vietnamese as U.S. air strikes support the Allied forces. Snoul gave the communists control of sections of Routes 7 and 13 that led into South Vietnam and access to large amounts of abandoned military equipment and supplies. On May 31, the Cambodian government called for peace talks if all North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces agreed to withdraw. The communists rejected the bid. Cambodia ultimately fell to the communist Khmer Rouge and their North Vietnamese allies in April 1975.

1972 – President Richard M. Nixon and Soviet Communist Party chief Leonid Brezhnev signed in Moscow an arms reduction agreement that became known as SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks).

1981 – An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68), killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.

1992 – The White House announced that the Coast Guard was returning a group of Haitian refugees picked up at sea to their homeland under a new executive order signed by President Bush.

1995 – Serbs bombarded Sereajevo. On June 6th, NATO launched 2 air raids against an ammunition dump in Serb-held central Bosnia.

1999 – NATO military commanders won political approval to strike at the civilian telephone and computer networks of Yugoslavia. Warplanes carried out a record 650 sorties with 284 bombing attacks.

1999 – Serbian military fired over 30 missiles at NATO warplanes which had begun flying at lower altitudes to strike tanks, artillery and ground troops.

2004 – A District court jury in McAlester, Oklahoma, convicted Terry Nichols of 161 counts of 1st degree murder in the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing.

2004 – U.S. troops captured a key lieutenant of radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr during overnight clashes in Najaf that killed 24 people and wounded nearly 50.

2006 – The United States Capitol building complex in Washington, D.C. is locked down after reports of what sounded like gunfire reached US Capitol police. The United States Senate was in session as a report of at least one person seeing a gunman in the Rayburn House Office Building gym was issued. Police say that the sound was likely that of a pneumatic hammer and that the ‘gunman’ may have been a plainclothes police officer.

2010 – Space Shuttle Atlantis completes what is beleived to be its final scheduled mission after landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. STS-132 (ISS assembly flight ULF4) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission, during which Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station on 16 May 2010. STS-132 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on 14 May 2010.

The primary payload was the Russian Rassvet Mini-Research Module, along with an Integrated Cargo Carrier-Vertical Light Deployable (ICC-VLD). STS-132 was initially scheduled to be the final flight of Atlantis, provided that the STS-335/STS-135 Launch On Need rescue mission would not be needed. However, in February 2011, NASA declared that the final mission of Atlantis and of the Space Shuttle program, STS-135, would be flown regardless of the funding situation.

2011 – The United States House of Representatives votes overwhelmingly against funding the involvement of ground troops in Libya.

2011 – The United States Congress votes to approve a four year extension of powers in the USA PATRIOT Act and President of the United States Barack Obama signs it into law.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

*MARTINEZ, JOE P .
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company K, 32d Infantry, 7th Infantry Division. Place and date: On Attu, Aleutians, 26 May 1943. Entered service at: Ault, Colo. Birth: Taos, N. Mex. G.O. No.: 71, 27 October 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy. Over a period of several days, repeated efforts to drive the enemy from a key defensive position high in the snow-covered precipitous mountains between East Arm Holtz Bay and Chichagof Harbor had failed. On 26 May 1943, troop dispositions were readjusted and a trial coordinated attack on this position by a reinforced battalion was launched. Initially successful, the attack hesitated. In the face of severe hostile machinegun, rifle, and mortar fire, Pvt. Martinez, an automatic rifleman, rose to his feet and resumed his advance. Occasionally he stopped to urge his comrades on. His example inspired others to follow. After a most difficult climb, Pvt. Martinez eliminated resistance from part of the enemy position by BAR fire and hand grenades, thus assisting the advance of other attacking elements. This success only partially completed the action.

The main Holtz-Chichagof Pass rose about 150 feet higher, flanked by steep rocky ridges and reached by a snow-filled defile. Passage was barred by enemy fire from either flank and from tiers of snow trenches in front. Despite these obstacles, and knowing of their existence, Pvt. Martinez again led the troops on and up, personally silencing several trenches with BAR fire and ultimately reaching the pass itself. Here, just below the knifelike rim of the pass, Pvt. Martinez encountered a final enemy-occupied trench and as he was engaged in firing into it he was mortally wounded. The pass, however, was taken, and its capture was an important preliminary to the end of organized hostile resistance on the island.

NEWMAN, BERYL R.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 133d Infantry, 34th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Cisterna, Italy, 26 May 1944. Entered service at: Baraboo, Wis. Birth: Baraboo, Wis. G.O. No.: 5, 15 January 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on 26 May 1944. Attacking the strongly held German Anzio-Nettuno defense line near Cisterna, Italy, 1st Lt. Newman, in the lead of his platoon, was suddenly fired upon by 2 enemy machineguns located on the crest of a hill about 100 yards to his front. The 4 scouts with him immediately hit the ground, but 1st Lt. Newman remained standing in order to see the enemy positions and his platoon then about 100 yards behind. Locating the enemy nests, 1st Lt. Newman called back to his platoon and ordered 1 squad to advance to him and the other to flank the enemy to the right. Then, still standing upright in the face of the enemy machinegun fire, 1st Lt. Newman opened up with his tommygun on the enemy nests. From this range, his fire was not effective in covering the advance of his squads, and 1 squad was pinned down by the enemy fire.

Seeing that his squad was unable to advance, 1st Lt. Newman, in full view of the enemy gunners and in the face of their continuous fire, advanced alone on the enemy nests. He returned their fire with his tommygun and succeeded in wounding a German in each of the nests. The remaining 2 Germans fled from the position into a nearby house. Three more enemy soldiers then came out of the house and ran toward a third machinegun. 1st Lt. Newman, still relentlessly advancing toward them, killed 1 before he reached the gun, the second before he could fire it. The third fled for his life back into the house. Covering his assault by firing into the doors and windows of the house, 1st Lt. Newman, boldly attacking by himself, called for the occupants to surrender to him. Gaining the house, he kicked in the door and went inside. Although armed with rifles and machine pistols, the 11 Germans there, apparently intimidated, surrendered to the lieutenant without further resistance, 1st Lt. Newman, single-handed, had silenced 3 enemy machineguns, wounded 2 Germans, killed 2 more, and took 11 prisoners. This demonstration of sheer courage, bravery, and willingness to close with the enemy even in the face of such heavy odds, instilled into these green troops the confidence of veterans and reflects the highest traditions of the U.S. Armed Forces.

PETRY, LEROY A.
Rank: Staff Sergeant, Organization: U.S. Army, Company: Company D, Division: 2d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Born: 29 July 1979, Santa Fe, NM, Departed: No, Entered Service At: New Mexico, G.O. Number: , Date of Issue: 07/12/2011, Accredited To: New Mexico, Place / Date: 26 May 2008, Paktya Province, Afghanistan. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Staff Sergeant Leroy A. Petry distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy in the vicinity of Paktya Province, Afghanistan, on May 26, 2008. As a Weapons Squad Leader with D Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Staff Sergeant Petry moved to clear the courtyard of a house that potentially contained high-value combatants. While crossing the courtyard, Staff Sergeant Petry and another Ranger were engaged and wounded by automatic weapons fire from enemy fighters. Still under enemy fire, and wounded in both legs, Staff Sergeant Petry led the other Ranger to cover. He then reported the situation and engaged the enemy with a hand grenade, providing suppression as another Ranger moved to his position.

The enemy quickly responded by maneuvering closer and throwing grenades. The first grenade explosion knocked his two fellow Rangers to the ground and wounded both with shrapnel. A second grenade then landed only a few feet away from them. Instantly realizing the danger, Staff Sergeant Petry, unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his safety, deliberately and selflessly moved forward, picked up the grenade, and in an effort to clear the immediate threat, threw the grenade away from his fellow Rangers. As he was releasing the grenade it detonated, amputating his right hand at the wrist and further injuring him with multiple shrapnel wounds.

Although picking up and throwing the live grenade grievously wounded Staff Sergeant Petry, his gallant act undeniably saved his fellow Rangers from being severely wounded or killed. Despite the severity of his wounds, Staff Sergeant Petry continued to maintain the presence of mind to place a tourniquet on his right wrist before communicating the situation by radio in order to coordinate support for himself and his fellow wounded Rangers. Staff Sergeant Petry’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service, and reflect great credit upon himself, 75th Ranger Regiment, and the United States Army.

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27 May

1813 – Americans captured Fort George, Canada. Fort George served as the headquarters for the Centre Division of the British Army. These forces included British regulars, local militia, aboriginal warriors, and Runchey’s corps of freed slaves. Major General Sir Isaac Brock, “the saviour of Upper Canada” served here until his death at the Battle of Queenston Heights in October, 1813. Brock and his aide-de-camp John Macdonell were initially buried within the fort. Fort George was destroyed by American artillery fire and captured during the Battle of Fort George in May 1813. The U.S. forces used the fort as a base to invade the rest of Upper Canada, however, they were repulsed at the Battles of Stoney Creek and Beaver Dams. After a seven month occupation, the fort was retaken in December and remained in British hands for the remainder of the war. After the war, the fort was partially rebuilt, and by the 1820’s it was falling into ruins. It was finally abandoned in favour of a more strategic installation at Fort Mississauga and a more protected one at Butler’s Barracks.

1862 – Battle of Hanover Court House, VA (Slash Church, Peake’s Station). Elements of Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter’s V Corps extended north to protect the right flank of McClellan’s Union army that now straddled the Chickahominy River. Porter’s objective was to cut the railroad and to open the Telegraph Road for Union reinforcements under Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell that were marching south from Fredericksburg. Confederate forces, attempting to prevent this maneuver, were defeated just south of Hanover Courthouse after a stiff fight. The Union victory was moot, however, for McDowell’s reinforcements were recalled to Fredericksburg upon word of Banks’s rout at First Winchester.

1863 – Confederate defenders turned back a major assault on Port Hudson, inflicting severe losses on the Union Army. General Banks’ troops fell back into siege position and appealed to Rear Admiral Farragut to continue the mortar and ship bombardment night and day, and requested naval offi-cers and Marines to man a heavy naval battery ashore. A week later, Farragut reported the situation to Welles: “General Banks still has Port Hudson closely invested and is now putting up a battery of four IX-inch guns and four 24 pounders. The first will be superintended by Lieutenant [Commander] Terry, of the Richmond, and worked by four of her gun crews and to be used as a breaching battery. We continue to shell the enemy every night from three to five hours, and at times during the day when they open fire on our troops. . . . I have the Hartford and two or three gunboats above Port Hudson; the Richmond, Genesee, Essex, and this vessel [Monongahela], together with the mortar boats below, ready to aid the army in any way in our power.

1863 – U.S.S. Cincinnati, Lieutenant Bache, “. . . in accordance with Generals Grant’s and Sherman’s urgent request,” moved to enfilade some rifle pits which had barred the Army’s progress before Vicksburg. Though Porter took great precautions for the ship’s safety by packing her with logs and hay, a shot entered Cincinnati’s magazine, “and she commenced filling rapidly.” Bache reported: ”Before and after this time the enemy fired with great accuracy, hitting us almost every time. We were especially annoyed by plunging shots from the hills, an 8-inch rifle and a 10-inch smoothbore doing us much damage. The shot went entirely through our protection-hay, wood, and iron.” Cincinnati, suffering 25 killed or wounded and 15 probable drownings, went down with her colors nailed to the mast. General Sherman wrote: “The style in which the Cincinnati engaged the battery elicited universal praise.”

1863 – Chief Justice Roger B. Taney issues ex parte Merryman, challenging the authority of Abraham Lincoln and the military to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in Maryland. Early in the war, President Lincoln faced many difficulties due to the fact that Washington was located in slave territory. Although Maryland did not secede, Southern sympathies were widespread. On April 27, 1861, Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus between Washington and Philadelphia to give military authorities the necessary power to silence dissenters and rebels. Under this order, commanders could arrest and detain individuals who were deemed threatening to military operations. Those arrested could be held without indictment or arraignment.

On May 25th, John Merryman, a vocal secessionist, was arrested in Cockeysville, Maryland. He was held at Ft. McHenry in Baltimore, where he appealed for his release under a writ of habeas corpus. The federal circuit court judge was Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who issued a ruling, ex parte Merryman, denying the president’s authority to suspend habeas corpus. A Marylander himself, Taney shrilly denounced the heavy hand played by Lincoln in interfering with civil liberties and argued that only Congress had the power to suspend the writ.

Lincoln did not respond directly to Taney’s edict, but he did address the issue in his message to Congress that July. He justified the suspension through Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution, which specifies a suspension of the writ “when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.” Although military officials continued to arrest suspected Southern sympathizers, the incident led to a softening of the policy. Concern that Maryland might still secede from the Union forced a more conciliatory stance from Lincoln and the military. Merryman was remanded to civil authorities in July and allowed to post bail. He was never brought to trial, and the charges of treason against him were dropped two years after the war.

1908 – Congress passes the “Second Dick Act,” one of a series of laws enacted between 1903 and 1916 that completely restructured the old “militia” into the modern “National Guard.” This law requires the federal government to call forth the Guard in case of emergency before accepting any volunteers for military service. It also removed the previous nine month limitation on militia service, and stated that such service could take place “either within or without of the territory of the United States.” This last aspect of the law was critical, because it appeared to remove a major objection the Army had regarding the militia: inability to employ the militia outside of the U.S. borders.

However, less than four years later this aspect of the law was overturned when the Judge Advocate General of the Army and the Attorney General of the United States both opined that employing militia outside the boundaries of the country violated the Constitution, which limited Congress’ power to call forth the militia to only three purposes: “to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.” It was only after World War I, when the entire National Guard had to be “drafted” into the Army as a quick and dirty way of getting the troops deployed to Europe, that the Congress in 1933 finally passed a new law giving every Guard member “dual status” in both the militia and as a federal reserve of the Army. In the latter capacity Guardsmen could be deployed overseas.

1916 – President Woodrow Wilson suggest the creation of an international body with the authority to maintain peace and the freedom of the seas.

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1918 – General Erich Ludendorff, the deputy chief of the German General Staff, opens his third offensive on the Western Front in 1918. It is a diversionary attack against the French forces holding the Chemin des Dames section of the Aisne River. Ludendorff’s aim is to prevent the French from sending reinforcements to the British in northern France, where he is planning to attack again. The offensive is led by General Max von Boehn’s Seventh Army and the First Army under General Bruno von Mudra, a total of 44 divisions. The objective of their advances, codenamed Bluecher and Yorck is General Denis Duchene’s French Sixth Army which consists of 12 divisions, including 3 British.

The German onslaught is heralded by a bombardment from 4600 artillery pieces, followed by an attack by seven divisions on a front of 10 miles. The Germans immediately capture the Chemin des Dames and advance on the Aisne River, taking several intact bridges. By the end of the day the Germans have advanced 10 miles. Although the offensive is intended to be limited in scope, its early successes convince the German high command to press forward, as Paris is only 80 miles distant. However the French are being sent reinforcements by the commander of the American Expeditionary Force, General John Pershing. They are General Omar Bundy’s 2nd Division and the 3rd Division under General J.T. Dickman. These will make their first contact with the Germans at the Marne River.

1919 – First Lieutenant Elmer F. Stone, USCG, piloting the Navy’s flying boat NC-4 in the first successful trans-Atlantic flight, landed in the Tagus River estuary near Lisbon, Portugal on 27 May 1919. Stone was decorated that same day by the Portuguese government with the Order of the Tower and Sword. Three aircraft, designated NC-1, NC-3 and NC-4–called “Nancy” boats–had taken off from New York’s Rockaway Naval Air Station for Lisbon on May 8, with intermediate stops planned for Newfoundland and the Azores. Only NC-4 completed the 3,925-mile transatlantic flight. Heavy rain and fog forced NC-1 down at sea, where it sank on May 17th. NC-3 came down in rough seas and taxied 200 miles into the harbor at Horta in the Azores.

1935 – New Deal: The Supreme Court of the United States declares the National Industrial Recovery Act to be unconstitutional in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, (295 U.S. 495).

1941 – Amid rising world tensions, President Roosevelt proclaimed an “unlimited national emergency.” Roosevelt had declared a “limited” national emergency two years earlier, but neither declaration granted the President nor the government any additional or extraordinary powers and appear to have been only for the purpose of conveying to the general public the gravity of world events. Nevertheless, President Truman took the step, in 1952, of formally repealing both declarations.

1941 – Despite US neutrality thus far into World War II, the US Navy assists the Royal Navy in its pursuit of the German battleship Bismarck. British code-breakers had been able to decrypt some German signals, including an order to the Luftwaffe to provide support for the damaged Bismarck making for Brest, and the French Resistance provided the British with confirmation that Luftwaffe units were relocating there. British Admiral John Tovey, in charge of the pursuit, could now turn his forces toward France to converge in areas through which Bismarck would have to pass.

A squadron of Coastal Command PBY Catalinas based in Northern Ireland joined the search, covering areas where Bismarck might be headed in her attempt to reach occupied France. At 10:30, a Catalina piloted by Ensign Leonard B. Smith of the US Navy located her, some 690 nmi (1,280 km; 790 mi) northwest of Brest. At her current speed, she would have been close enough to reach the protection of U-boats and the Luftwaffe in less than a day. Bismarck would be sunk early the next day.

1942 – The Japanese invasion fleet for Midway puts to sea from Saipan and Guam with troop transports carrying 5000 men. They are escorted by cruisers and destroyers. Likewise, the invasion force for the Aleutians sets sail in two groups from Ominato.

1942 – The damaged USS Yorktown arrives at Pearl Harbor and repairs begin immediately.

1942 – The “Americal” Infantry Division is organized primarily from Guard elements separated from their parent divisions by the Army’s reorganization of 1942. Three former Guard infantry regiments, the 132nd from Illinois, 164th from North Dakota and the 182nd from Massachusetts are its primary elements. In addition its four field artillery battalions also came from Illinois and Massachusetts. After completing its organization and training the division was committed to combat to relieve U.S. Marines fighting on Guadalcanal. Later in the war it saw hard fighting on Leyte and other southern Philippine Islands. When the war ended the “Americal” was inactivated, only to be reconstituted (with no Guard connection) during the Vietnam War.

1943 – On Attu American forces make some progress along the Clevesy Pass. Japanese are driven off of Fish Hook Ridge in heavy fighting. Also, Americans begin work on an airfield at Alexai Point.

1943 – Churchill and American General Marshall leave for North Africa for talks with General Eisenhower on the Italian campaign. Churchill wants to exploit opportunities in the Mediterranean and to get Italy to surrender. Marshall wants to avoid commitments that will interfere with the invasion of western Europe that is now being prepared.

1943 – The 29th Ranger Battalion (Provisional), composed of volunteers from the 29th Infantry Division (DC, MD, VA), takes part in Exercise “Columbus,” a joint Anglo-American wargame in southern England. The Battalion was assigned to the 175th Infantry along with the 29th Reconnaissance Troop, both also from the 29th Division. While the other elements of this task force kept the ‘enemy’ busy the rangers made a 20-mile forced night march coming in behind the British 42nd Armored Division. They were credited with ‘destroying’ six tank carriers along with capturing two command posts and numerous prisoners.

On the next night, though arriving late due to fatigue, the battalion destroyed a newly constructed bridge over the Canal. The Chief Umpire’s report states “The work of this battalion was performed in an excellent manner. In spite of only one hot meal the men worked with enthusiasm and without complaining.” Unfortunately the Army decided the battalion was not needed for the invasion of France on D-Day so it was disbanded in October 1943. The men of the 29th Rangers were returned to their former units where they shared their specialized training with other soldiers in their companies. Veteran’s recount how this helped them to survive the horrific carnage suffered by the 29th Infantry Division on D-Day and in the Normandy campaign which followed.

1944 – On Biak Island, the US 41st Infantry Division (General Fuller) lands near Bosnek. Naval escort for the landing is provided by cruisers and destroyers under the command of Admiral Fechteler. The forces of Admiral Crutchley and Admiral Berkey provide support. The Japanese garrison, led by Colonel Kuzume, numbers about 11,000 men but it does not resist the landings. On the mainland, American troops make limited gains in their advance toward Sarmi.

1944 – German forces counterattack around Artena but the US 3rd Division (part of the 6th Corps) holds on to the town.

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1945 – For the first time in history, an entire army is moved by air transport. American aircraft fly the Chinese 6th Army from Burma to China.

1945 – On Okinawa, American forces attacking southward, continue to encounter heavy Japanese resistance. Japanese aircraft begin a two-day series of strikes against the Allied naval forces around the island. The US destroyer Drexler is sunk.

1945 – The US 25th Division, part of the US 1st Corps, takes Santa Fe on Luzon. There is still heavy fighting in several parts of Mindanao.

1949 – Russians stopped train traffic to and from West Berlin.

1954 – The aircraft carrier USS Bennington (CV-20), with about 2,000 persons aboard, suffered an explosion and fire 35 miles south of Brenton Reef Lightship, injuring some 100 persons. U.S. Coast Guard aircraft from Salem Air Station and Quonset Point proceeded to the scene, assisted in transporting medical personnel to Bennington and provided air cover for all helicopter operations. One of the Coast Guard’s helicopters made 7 landings aboard the aircraft carrier and transported 18 injured to the hospital; another transported 14 injured.

1958 – The Air Force received its first production Republic F-105B Thunderchief. In 1951, Republic Aviation began a project to develop a supersonic tactical fighter-bomber to replace the F-84F. The result was the F-105 Thunderchief, which later gained the affectionate nickname “Thud”. Although the prototype YF-105A made its first flight on October 22, 1955, the first production aircraft, an F-105B, was not delivered to the United States Air Force (USAF) until May 27, 1958. A supersonic aircraft capable of carrying conventional and nuclear weapons internally as well as externally, the F-105B was the heaviest, most complex fighter in the USAF inventory when it became operational. F-105s were produced only in the “B,” “D” and “F” series (later, some “F”s were modified to become F-105Gs). Of the 833 Thunderchiefs built, only 75 were produced as F-105Bs.

1958 – The F-4 Phantom II makes its first flight. The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor aircraft/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it was also adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force, and by the mid-1960s had become a major part of their respective air wings. The Phantom is a large fighter with a top speed of over Mach 2.2. It can carry more than 18,000 pounds (8,400 kg) of weapons on nine external hardpoints, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and various bombs. The F-4, like other interceptors of its time, was designed without an internal cannon. Later models incorporated a M61 Vulcan rotary cannon. Beginning in 1959, it set 15 world records for in-flight performance, including an absolute speed record, and an absolute altitude record.

During the Vietnam War, the F-4 was used extensively; it served as the principal air superiority fighter for both the Navy and Air Force, and became important in the ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance roles late in the war. The Phantom has the distinction of being the last U.S. fighter flown to attain ace status in the 20th century. During the Vietnam War, the USAF had one pilot and two weapon systems officers (WSOs), and the US Navy one pilot and one radar intercept officer (RIO), achieve five aerial kills against other enemy fighter aircraft and become aces in air-to-air combat. The F-4 continued to form a major part of U.S. military air power throughout the 1970s and 1980s, being gradually replaced by more modern aircraft such as the F-15 Eagle and F-16 in the U.S. Air Force, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat in the U.S. Navy, and the F/A-18 Hornet in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. The F-4 Phantom II remained in use by the U.S. in the reconnaissance and Wild Weasel (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) roles in the 1991 Gulf War, finally leaving service in 1996.

It was also the only aircraft used by both U.S. flight demonstration teams: the USAF Thunderbirds (F-4E) and the US Navy Blue Angels (F-4J). The F-4 was also operated by the armed forces of 11 other nations. Israeli Phantoms saw extensive combat in several Arab–Israeli conflicts, while Iran used its large fleet of Phantoms in the Iran–Iraq War. Phantoms remain in front line service with seven countries, and in use as an Target drone in the U.S. Air Force. Phantom production ran from 1958 to 1981, with a total of 5,195 built, making it the most numerous American supersonic military aircraft.

1965 – Augmenting the vital role now being played by U.S. aircraft carriers, whose planes participated in many of the raids over South and North Vietnam, U.S. warships from the 7th Fleet begin to fire on Viet Cong targets in the central area of South Vietnam. At first, this gunfire was limited to 5-inch-gun destroyers, but other ships would eventually be used in the mission. Organized into Task Group 70.8, the ships were assigned from the fleet’s cruiser-destroyer command, from the carrier escort units and amphibious units, from the Navy-Coast Guard Coastal Surveillance Force, and from the Royal Australian Navy. Ships and weapons included the battleship New Jersey, with 16-inch guns; cruisers with 8-inch and 5-inch guns; destroyers with 5-inch guns, and inshore fire support ships and landing ships.

Naval gunfire support and shore bombardment ranged the entire coast of Vietnam, but most of the operations took place off the coast of the northernmost region of South Vietnam, just south of the Demilitarized Zone. During the 1968 Tet Offensive, Task Group 70.8 had as many as 22 ships at a time on the gun line, offering invaluable naval gunfire support to ground forces. In May 1972, as part of Operation Linebacker I, a 7th Fleet cruiser-destroyer group bombarded targets near Haiphong and along the North Vietnam coast, firing over 111,000 rounds at the enemy. One destroyer was hit by a MiG bombing attack and 16 ships were hit by communist shore batteries, but none were sunk.

1967 – The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is launched by Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline. USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) (formerly CVA-67) is the only ship of her class (a variant of the Kitty Hawk class of aircraft carrier) and the last conventionally powered carrier built for the United States Navy. The ship is named after the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and is nicknamed “Big John.” Kennedy was originally designated a CVA (fixed wing attack carrier); however, the designation was changed to CV to denote that the ship was capable of anti-submarine warfare, making her an all-purpose carrier. After nearly 40 years of service in the United States Navy, Kennedy was officially decommissioned on 1 August 2007. She is berthed at the NAVSEA Inactive Ships On-site Maintenance facility in Philadelphia. She is available for donation as a museum and memorial to a qualified organization. The name has been adopted by the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79).

1968 – Last Monday of the month. Memorial Day, which began in 1868 as Decoration Day, was set aside to remember those who have died in the service of their country. Celebrated on May 30 for the first 100 years, Memorial Day was officially changed to the last Monday in May in 1968.

1968 – Thai Premier Thanom Kittikachorn announces that, at President Johnson’s request, his country will send 5,000 more troops to Vietnam.

1968 – Future President George W. Bush enlists in the Texas Air National Guard.

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1972 – Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev and U.S. President Richard Nixon, meeting in Moscow, sign the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) agreements. At the time, these agreements were the most far-reaching attempts to control nuclear weapons ever. Nixon and Brezhnev seemed unlikely candidates for the American and Soviet statesmen who would sign a groundbreaking arms limitation treaty. Both men carried reputations as hard-line Cold War warriors. Yet, by 1972, both leaders were eager for closer diplomatic relations between their respective nations. The Soviet Union was engaged in an increasingly hostile war of words with communist China; border disputes between the two nations had erupted in the past few years. The United States was looking for help in extricating itself from the unpopular and costly war in Vietnam. Nixon, in particular, wished to take the American public’s mind off the fact that during nearly four years as president, he had failed to bring an end to the conflict. The May 1972 summit meeting between Nixon and Brezhnev was an opportune moment to pursue the closer relations each desired. The most important element of the summit concerned the SALT agreements.

Discussions on SALT had been occurring for about two-and-a-half years, but with little progress. During the May 1972 meeting between Nixon and Brezhnev, however, a monumental breakthrough was achieved. The SALT agreements signed on May 27 addressed two major issues. First, they limited the number of antiballistic missile (ABM) sites each country could have to two. (ABMs were missiles designed to destroy incoming missiles.) Second, the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles was frozen at existing levels. There was nothing in the agreements, however, about multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle missiles (single missiles carrying multiple nuclear warheads) or about the development of new weapons. Nevertheless, most Americans and Soviets hailed the SALT agreements as tremendous achievements. In August 1972, the U.S. Senate approved the agreements by an overwhelming vote. SALT-I, as it came to be known, was the foundation for all arms limitations talks that followed.

1988 – Two days before the start of the Moscow summit, the Senate voted 93-5 to ratify a treaty eliminating medium-range nuclear missiles.

1997 – In Paris, Russian President Boris Yeltsin joined 16 NATO leaders, including President Clinton, to sign a historic agreement giving Moscow a voice in NATO affairs.

1997 – Former Iraqi oil minister Issam Al Chalabi estimates Iraq needs $5 billion of outside investment and two to three years for its oil industry to restore production to the level prior to the imposition of United Nations sanctions (3.8-4.2 million barrels per day). He also indicates that it would take 5 years and $30-50 billion to achieve production capacity of 5.5 million barrels per day.

1998 – Michael Fortier, the government’s star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing case, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after apologizing for not warning anyone about the deadly plot.

1999 – The space shuttle Discovery was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with 7 astronauts from the US, Canada and Russia. The shuttle was on a 10-day mission to stock the new space station.

1999 – The Int’l. War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague announced an indictment against Pres. Milosevic and 4 senior aides for atrocities and mass deportations and multiple counts of crimes against humanity. Also indicted were: Milan Milutinovic, president of Serbia; Vlajko Stojilkovic, Serbian interior minister; Nikola Sainovic, deputy prime minister of Yugoslavia; and Gen’l. Dragoljub Ojdanic, chief of staff of the Yugoslav army. Sainovic surrendered in 2002.
1999 – In North Korea US inspectors found an empty tunnel at a suspected nuclear arms site.

1999 – The Philippine Senate ratified an accord with the US for joint military exercises.

2001 – Gunmen abducted 21 people from the Dos Palmas Island Resort in Palawan province. Guillermo Sobero from Corona, Ca., was one of the 3 abducted Americans. The Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility. Sobero was later beheaded. Missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham were among the kidnapped. A $300,000 ransom for the Burnhams was paid in 2002, but the rebels then asked for $200,000 more.

2002 – President Bush commemorated Memorial Day at Normandy American Cemetery in France, where he honored the 9,387 men and women buried there.

2003 – A US weapons-inspection team arrived at Al Qaqaa weapons site and found that the IAEA seals were broken and the high explosives missing.

2004 – London police arrested Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical Muslim cleric suspected of helping the deadly 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole. The US sought his extradition on terrorism charges.

2004 – The U.S.-led coalition agreed to suspend offensive operations in Najaf after local leaders struck a deal with radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to end a bloody standoff.

2008 – CGC Dallas departed Charleston, SC for a planned 4-1/2 month deployment to conduct maritime safety and security exchanges with countries along the central and west coasts of Africa, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It was an historic voyage that included delivering relief supplies to Georgia after that country was attacked by Russia in “Operation Assured Delivery” (she was the second U.S. military ship to deliver relief supplies to Georgia) and a port visit to Sevastopol, Ukraine.

2011 – Space Shuttle Endeavour crewmembers Mike Fincke and Greg Chamitoff undertake what is expected to be the last spacewalk ever conducted by a space shuttle crew.

2014 – President Barack Obama announced that U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan would end in December 2014 and that the troops levels will be reduced to 9,800 troops by this time.

2014 – The White House accidentally reveals the name of the CIA’s top intelligence official in Afghanistan to approximately 6,000 journalists during U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Bagram Airfield.

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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

BOIS, FRANK
Rank and organization: Quartermaster, U.S. Navy. Entered service at: Northampton, Mass. Born: 1841, Canada. Date of issue: 24 November 1916. G.O. No.: 17, 10 July 1863. Citation: Served as quartermaster on board the U.S.S. Cincinnati during the attack on the Vicksburg batteries and at the time of her sinking, 27 May 1863. Engaging the enemy in a fierce battle, the Cincinnati, amidst an incessant fire of shot and shell, continued to fire her guns to the last, though so penetrated by enemy shellfire that her fate was sealed. Conspicuously cool in making signals throughout the battle, Bois, after all the Cincinnati’s staffs had been shot away, succeeded in nailing the flag to the stump of the forestaff to enable this proud ship to go down, “with her colors nailed to the mast.”

DELAND, FREDERICK N.
Rank and organization: Private, Company B, 40th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Port Hudson, La., 27 May 1863. Entered service at: ——. Born: 25 December 1843, Sheffield, Mass. Date of issue: 22 June 1896. Citation: Volunteered in response to a call and, under a heavy fire from the enemy, advanced and assisted in filling with fascines a ditch which presented a serious obstacle to the troops attempting to take the works of the enemy by assault.

DOW, HENRY
Rank and organization: Boatswain’s Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 1840, Scotland. Accredited to: Illinois. G.O. No.: 17, 10 July 1863. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Cincinnati during the attack on the Vicksburg batteries and at the time of her sinking, 27 May 1863. Engaging the enemy in a fierce battle, the Cincinnati, amidst an incessant fire of shot and shell, continued to fire her guns to the last, though so penetrated by enemy shellfire that her fate was sealed. Serving courageously throughout this action, Dow carried out his duties to the end on this proud ship that went down with “her colors nailed to the mast.”

HAMILTON, THOMAS W.
Rank and organization: Quartermaster, U.S. Navy. Born: 1833, Scotland. Accredited to: Massachusetts. G.O. No.: 17, 10 July 1863. Citation: Serving as quartermaster on board the U.S.S. Cincinnati during the attack on the Vicksburg batteries and at the time of her sinking, 27 May 1863. Engaging the enemy in a fierce battle, the Cincinnati, amidst an incessant fire of shot and shell, continued to fire her guns to the last although so penetrated by enemy shell fire that her fate was sealed. Conspicuously gallant during this action, Hamilton, severely wounded at the wheel, returned to his post and had to be sent below, to hear the incessant roar of guns as the gallant ship went down, “her colors nailed to the mast.”

JENKINS, THOMAS
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Biography not available. G.O. No.: 17, 10 July 1863. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Cincinnati during the attack on the Vicksburg batteries and at the time of her sinking, 27 May 1863. Engaging the enemy in a fierce battle, the Cincinnati, amidst an incessant fire of shot and shell, continued to fire her guns to the last, though so penetrated by shell fire that her fate was sealed. Serving bravely during this action, Jenkins was conspicuously cool under the fire of the enemy, never ceasing to fight until this proud ship went down, “her colors nailed to the mast.”

JOHNS, HENRY T.
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 49th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Port Hudson, La., 27 May 1863. Entered service at: Hinsdale, Mass. Birth: ——. Date of issue. 25 November 1893. Citation: Volunteered in response to a call and took part in the movement that was made upon the enemy’s works under a heavy fire there from of a mile in advance of the general assault.

JOHNSON, FOLLETT
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company H, 60th New York Infantry. Place and date: At New Hope Church, Ga., 27 May 1864. Entered service at: ——. Birth: St. Lawrence, N.Y. Date of issue: 6 April 1892. Citation: Voluntarily exposed himself to the fire of a Confederate sharpshooter, thus drawing fire upon himself and enabling his comrade to shoot the sharpshooter.

McHUGH, MARTIN
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1837, Cincinnati, Ohio. Accredited to: Ohio. G.O. No.: 17, 10 July 1863. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Cincinnati during the attack on the Vicksburg batteries and at the time of her sinking, 27 May 1863. Engaging the enemy in a fierce battle, the Cincinnati amidst, an incessant fire of shot and shell, continued to fire her guns to the last, though so penetrated by shellfire that her fate was sealed. Serving bravely during this action, McHugh was conspicuously cool under the fire of the enemy, never ceasing to fire until this proud ship went down, “her colors nailed to the mast.”

PUTNAM, EDGAR P.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company D, 9th New York Cavalry. Place and date: At Crumps Creek, Va., 27 May 1864. Entered service at: Stockton, N.Y. Birth: Stockton, N.Y. Date of issue: 13 May 1892. Citation: With a small force on a reconnaissance drove off a strong body of the enemy, charged into another force of the enemy’s cavalry and stampeded them, taking 27 prisoners.

RUTHERFORD, JOHN T.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, Company L, 9th New York Cavalry. Place and date: At Yellow Tavern, Va., 11 May 1864; At Hanovertown, Va., 27 May 1864. Entered service at: Canton, N.Y. Birth:——. Date of issue: 22 March 1892. Citation: Made a successful charge at Yellow Tavern, Va., 11 May 1864, by which 90 prisoners were captured. On 27 May 1864, in a gallant dash on a superior force of the enemy and in a personal encounter, captured his opponent.

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STRONG, JAMES N.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 49th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Port Hudson, La., 27 May 1863. Entered service at: Pittsfield, Mass. Birth: ——. Date of issue: 25 November 1893. Citation: Volunteered in response to a call and took part in the movement that was made upon the enemy’s works under a heavy fire therefrom in advance of the general assault.

WARREN, FRANCIS E.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company C, 49th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Port Hudson, La., 27 May 1863. Entered service at: Hinsdale, Mass. Birth: Hinsdale, Mass. Date of issue: 30 September 1893. Citation: Volunteered in response to a call, and took part in the movement that was made upon the enemy’s works under a heavy fire therefrom in advance of the general assault.

CUTTER, GEORGE W.
Rank and organization: Landsman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1849, Philadelphia, Pa. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 176, 9 July 1872. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Powhatan, Norfolk, Va., 27 May 1872. Jumping overboard on this date, Cutter aided in saving one of the crew of that vessel from drowning.

*FLEEK, CHARLES CLINTON
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U .S. Army, Company C, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. Place and date: Binh Duong Province, Republic of Vietnam, 27 May 1967. Entered service at: Cincinnati, Ohio. Born: 28 August 1947, Petersburg, Ky. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Fleek distinguished himself while serving as a squad leader in Company C, during an ambush operation. Sgt. Fleek’s unit was deployed in ambush locations when a large enemy force approached the position. Suddenly, the leading enemy element, sensing the ambush, halted and started to withdraw.

Reacting instantly, Sgt. Fleek opened fire and directed the effective fire of his men upon the numerically superior enemy force. During the fierce battle that followed, an enemy soldier threw a grenade into the squad position. Realizing that his men had not seen the grenade, Sgt. Fleek, although in a position to seek cover, shouted a warning to his comrades and threw himself onto the grenade, absorbing its blast. His gallant action undoubtedly saved the lives or prevented the injury of at least 8 of his fellow soldiers. Sgt. Fleek’s gallantry and willing self-sacrifice were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

*PHIPPS, JIMMY W.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, Company B, 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division (Rein), FMF. Place and date: Near An Hoa, Republic of Vietnam, 27 May 1969. Entered service at: Culver City, Calif. Born: 1 November 1950, Santa Monica, Calif. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a combat engineer with Company B in connection with combat operations against the enemy. Pfc. Phipps was a member of a 2-man combat engineer demolition team assigned to locate and destroy enemy artillery ordnance and concealed firing devices. After he had expended all of his explosives and blasting caps, Pfc. Phipps discovered a 175mm high explosive artillery round in a rice paddy. Suspecting that the enemy had attached the artillery round to a secondary explosive device, he warned other marines in the area to move to covered positions and prepared to destroy the round with a hand grenade.

As he was attaching the hand grenade to a stake beside the artillery round, the fuse of the enemy’s secondary explosive device ignited. Realizing that his assistant and the platoon commander were both within a few meters of him and that the imminent explosion could kill all 3 men, Pfc. Phipps grasped the hand grenade to his chest and dived forward to cover the enemy’s explosive and the artillery round with his body, thereby shielding his companions from the detonation while absorbing the full and tremendous impact with his body. Pfc. Phipps’ indomitable courage, inspiring initiative, and selfless devotion to duty saved the lives of 2 marines and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

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28 May

1539 – Hernando de Soto sailed from Cuba to Florida with 13 pigs to help sustain his 700 men on his gold-hunting expedition.

1754 – In the first engagement of the French and Indian War, a Virginia militia under 22-year-old Lieutenant Colonel George Washington defeats a French reconnaissance party in southwestern Pennsylvania. In a surprise attack, the Virginians killed 10 French soldiers from Fort Duquesne, including the French commander, Coulon de Jumonville, and took 21 prisoners. Only one of Washington’s men was killed. The French and Indian War was the last and most important of a series of colonial conflicts between the British and the American colonists on one side, and the French and their broad network of Native American allies on the other. Fighting began in the spring of 1754, but Britain and France did not officially declare war against each other until May 1756 and the outbreak of the Seven Years War in Europe. In November 1752, at the age of 20, George Washington was appointed adjutant in the Virginia colonial militia, which involved the inspection, mustering, and regulation of various militia companies.

In November 1753, he first gained public notice when he volunteered to carry a message from Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to the French moving into the Ohio Valley, warning them to leave the territory, which was claimed by the British crown. Washington succeeded in the perilous wilderness journey and brought back an alarming message: The French intended to stay. In 1754, Dinwiddie appointed Washington a lieutenant colonel and sent him out with 160 men to reinforce a colonial post at what is now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before Washington could reach it, however, it was given up without bloodshed to the French, who renamed it Fort Duquesne. Washington moved within about 40 miles of the French position and set about building a new post at Great Meadows, which he named Fort Necessity. From this base, he ambushed an advance detachment of about 30 French, striking the first blow of the French and Indian War. For the victory, Washington was appointed a full colonel and reinforced with several hundred Virginia and North Carolina troops.

On July 3rd, the French descended on Fort Necessity with their full force, and after an all-day fight Washington surrendered to their superior numbers. The disarmed colonials were allowed to march back to Virginia, and Washington was hailed as a hero despite his surrender of the fort. The story of the campaign was written up in a London gazette, and Washington was quoted as saying, “I have heard the bullets whistle; and believe me, there is something charming in the sound.” Reading this, King George II remarked, “He would not say so if he had been used to hear many.” In October 1754, Washington resigned his commission in protest of the British underpayment of colonial offices and policy of making them subordinate to all British officers, regardless of rank.

In early 1755, however, British General Edward Braddock and his army arrived to Virginia, and Washington agreed to serve as Braddock’s personal aide-de-camp, with the courtesy title of colonel. The subsequent expedition against Fort Duquesne was a disaster, but Washington fought bravely and succeeded in bringing the survivors back after Braddock and 1,000 others were killed. With the western frontier of Virginia now dangerously exposed, Governor Dinwiddie appointed Washington commander in chief of all Virginia forces in August 1755.

During the next three years, Washington struggled with the problems of frontier defense but participated in no major engagements until he was put in command of a Virginia regiment participating in a large British campaign against Fort Duquesne in 1758. The French burned and abandoned the fort before the British and Americans arrived, and Fort Pitt was raised on its site. With Virginia’s strategic objective attained, Washington resigned his commission with the honorary rank of brigadier general. He returned to a planter’s life and took a seat in Virginia’s House of Burgesses. The French and Indian War raged on elsewhere in North America for several years.

With the signing of the Treaty of Paris in February 1763, France lost all claims to the mainland of North America east of the Mississippi and gave up Louisiana, including New Orleans, to Spain. Fifteen years later, French bitterness over the loss of their North American empire contributed to their intervention in the American Revolution on the side of the Patriots, despite the fact that the Patriots were led by one of France’s old enemies, George Washington.

1813 – Frigate Essex and prize capture five British whalers.

1818 – P.G.T. Beauregard, Confederate general, was born. He first fired on Fort Sumter and fought at First Manassas, and Shiloh.

1830 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act which relocates Native Americans.

1863 – The 54th Massachusetts Infantry, the most famous African-American regiment of the war, leaves Boston for combat in the South. For the first two years of the war, President Abraham Lincoln resisted the use of black troops despite the pleas of men such as Frederick Douglass, who argued that no one had more to fight for than African Americans. Lincoln finally endorsed, albeit timidly, the introduction of blacks for service in the military in the Emancipation Proclamation. On May 22, 1863, the War Department established the Bureau of Colored Troops to recruit and assemble black regiments. Many blacks, often freed or escaped slaves, joined the military and found themselves usually under white leadership. Ninety percent of all officers in the United States Colored Troops (USCT) were white.

Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the idealistic scion of an abolitionist family, headed the 54th. Shaw was a veteran of the 2nd Massachusetts infantry and saw action in the 1862 Shenandoah Valley and Antietam campaigns. After being selected by Massachusetts Governor John Andrew to organize and lead the 54th, Shaw carefully selected the most physically fit soldiers and white officers with established antislavery views. The regiment included two of Frederick Douglass’s sons and the grandson of Sojourner Truth. On May 28, 1863, the new regiment marched onto a steamer and set sail for Port Royal, South Carolina. The unit saw action right away, taking part in a raid into Georgia and withstanding a Confederate attack near Charleston. On July 16, 1863, Shaw led a bold but doomed attack against Fort Wagner in which he and 20 of his men were killed.

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1917 – First underway fueling in U.S. Navy, USS Maumee fuels 6 destroyers in North Atlantic. LCDR Chester W. Nimitz served as Maumee’s executive officer and chief engineer.

1918 – US forces undertake their first attack of World War I on the second day of the German offensive along the River Aisne. The fighting centers on the village of Cantigny to the east of Montdidier on the Somme River sector t the north. Elements of the US 1st Division under General Robert Lee Bullard are pitched against the German Eighteenth Army lead by General Oskar von Hutier. Bullard’s troops capture Cantigny, taking 200 prisoners and block a series of German counterattacks over the following days.

1942 – The rest of the Japanese forces directed at Midway set out. Admiral Yamamato, commanding the operation overall, believes that, if the plan to invade the island succeeds, the American fleet can be forced into a decisive engagement and that their defeat will force a truce before American production can swamp the Japanese war effort.

1942 – Task Force 16 sails from Oahu for Midway with the carriers Enterprise and Hornet and escorts. Admiral Fletcher’s Task Force 17 follows after miraculously quick repairs to the Yorktown.

1943 – A reported 100 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers attack the oil refinery and shipping at Livorno (Leghorn).

1943 – American P-40 and Marauder aircraft strike four airfields and encounter heavy anti-aircraft (flak) defenses.

1943 – The Office of War Mobilization is established to coordinated production.

1944 – Allied forces continue the Italian offensive. The Canadian 1st Corps captures Ceprano. There is heavy fighting all along the front. However, other than rearguards from the German 14th Panzer Corps and the 51st Mountain Corps, German forces are retiring to the Caesar Line because of the threat to their rear posed by the US 6th Corps at Anzio.

1944 – Bombers of the US 8th Air Force attack Leuna and Magdeburg.

1944 – On Biak Island, the US 41st Infantry Division begins to expand its beachhead. There is heavy fighting near the village of Mokmer, where an airfield is located, and the American battalion pulls back.

1944 – General MacArthur announces that, strategically, the campaign for New Guinea has been won although there is still some hard fighting to be done.

1945 – William Joyce (“Lord Haw Haw”) is captured in Flensburg. He is a British fascist who became a radio propagandist for the Nazis during the war.

1945 – Admiral Halsey, commanding US 3rd Fleet, takes command of American naval forces operating against targets in Japan; US Task Force 58 is assigned to US 3rd Fleet, becoming TF38.

1945 – More than 100 Japanese planes are shot down near Okinawa. This is the last major effort against the Allied naval forces surrounding the island. One American destroyer is sunk in the otherwise unsuccessful air strikes.

1947 – The Coast Guard announced the disestablishment of all U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Marine Details in foreign ports. During World War II, a total of 36 foreign Merchant Marine Details had been activated for the purpose of performing “on-the-spot” services in connection with the preventive aspects of safety of life and property of the US Merchant Marine. These functions reverted to the continental U.S. ports in which there were located U.S. Marine Inspection Offices. The Merchant Marine Details disestablished were located in the following ports: Antwerp, Belgium; Bremerhaven, Germany; London, England; Cardiff, Wales; Le Havre, France; Marseille, France; Naples, Italy; Piraeus, Greece; Shanghai, China; Manila, Philippine Islands; and Trieste, Venezia Giulia.

1951 – U.N. Forces drove the communists’ back across the 38th parallel on most of the Korean battlefields.

1951 – The Eighth Army took both Hwachon and Inje.

1953 – The U.N. negotiating team presented its final terms and threatened to break off the talks if they were rejected.

1953 – The Chinese attack outposts of the 25th Infantry Division. OP Carson was overrun and OPs Elko and Vegas were abandoned on order. Friendly casualties were heavy, but enemy losses were far greater.

1957 – 1st of 24 detonations, during Operation Plumb Bob nuclear tests.

1965 – A five day running battle begins in Quangngai Province. Vietcong forces ambush a battalion of ARVN troops near Bagia and reinforcements are called for. The US Marine battalion fails to arrive in time and other ARVN reinforcements are also ambushed. Only 3 US advisors and about 60 ARVN troops manage to get away. The battle instills a sense of urgency in US military leaders, as it reveals how vulnerable the South Vietnamese military remains facing a sizable and flexible Communist force.

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[SHOOTER13]

1969 – U.S. troops abandon Ap Bia Mountain. A spokesman for the 101st Airborne Division said that the U.S. troops “have completed their search of the mountain and are now continuing their reconnaissance-in-force mission throughout the A Shau Valley.” This announcement came amid the public outcry about what had become known as the “Battle of Hamburger Hill.” The battle was part of Operation Apache Snow in the A Shau Valley. The operation began on May 10 when paratroopers from the 101st Airborne engaged a North Vietnamese regiment on the slopes of Hill 937, known to the Vietnamese as Ap Bia Mountain. Entrenched in prepared fighting positions, the North Vietnamese 29th Regiment repulsed the initial American assault and beat back another attempt by the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry on May 14. An intense battle raged for the next 10 days as the mountain came under heavy Allied air strikes, artillery barrages, and 10 infantry assaults.

On May 20th, Maj. Gen. Melvin Zais, commanding general of the 101st, sent in two additional U.S. airborne battalions and a South Vietnamese battalion as reinforcements. The communist stronghold was finally captured in the 11th attack, when the American and South Vietnamese soldiers fought their way to the summit of the mountain. In the face of the four-battalion attack, the North Vietnamese retreated to sanctuary areas in Laos. During the intense fighting, 597 North Vietnamese were reported killed and U.S. casualties were 56 killed and 420 wounded. Due to the bitter fighting and the high loss of life, the battle for Ap Bia Mountain received widespread unfavorable publicity in the United States and was dubbed “Hamburger Hill” in the U.S. media, a name evidently derived from the fact that the battle turned into a “meat grinder.”

The purpose of the operation was not to hold territory but rather to keep the North Vietnamese off balance so the decision was made to abandon the mountain shortly after it was captured. The North Vietnamese occupied it a month after it was abandoned. Outrage over what appeared to be a senseless loss of American lives was exacerbated by pictures published in Life magazine of 241 U.S. soldiers killed during the week of the battle. Gen. Creighton Abrams, commander of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam, was ordered to avoid such battles. Because of Hamburger Hill, and other battles like it, U.S. emphasis was placed on “Vietnamization”–turning the war over to the South Vietnamese forces rather than engage in direct combat operations.

1971 – President Nixon ordered John Haldeman to do more wiretapping and political espionage against the Democrats. The orders were recorded on tape.

1971 – Audie Murphy (46), WW II hero, actor (Whispering Smiths), was killed in plane crash near Roanoke, Va.

1972 – Operatives working for the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP) burglarize the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Washington, DC, Watergate office complex.

1980 – 55 women become first women graduates from the U.S. Naval Academy.

1984 – On Memorial Day the only American Unknown Soldier from the Vietnam War is laid to rest at ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC, attended by 250,000, including members of Congress and the international diplomatic community, and Vietnam veterans in fatigues. President Reagan, named honorary next-of-kin, delivers the eulogy at the hero’s funeral, and urges greater efforts to locate the more than 2,400 service members still missing. The remains were unearthed in 1998 for DNA testing and possible identification. They were later identified as those of Air Force First Lieutenant Michael J. Blassie, and were sent to St. Louis for hometown burial.

1985 – David Jacobsen, director of the American University Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, was abducted by pro-Iranian kidnappers. He was freed 17 months later.

1987 – Matthias Rust, a 19-year-old amateur pilot from West Germany, takes off from Helsinki, Finland, travels through more than 400 miles of Soviet airspace, and lands his small Cessna aircraft in Red Square by the Kremlin. The event proved to be an immense embarrassment to the Soviet government and military. Rust, described by his mother as a “quiet young man…with a passion for flying,” apparently had no political or social agenda when he took off from the international airport in Helsinki and headed for Moscow. He entered Soviet airspace, but was either undetected or ignored as he pushed farther and farther into the Soviet Union. Early on the morning of May 28, 1987, he arrived over Moscow, circled Red Square a few times, and then landed just a few hundred yards from the Kremlin.

Curious onlookers and tourists, many believing that Rust was part of an air show, immediately surrounded him. Very quickly, however, Rust was arrested and whisked away. He was tried for violating Soviet airspace and sentenced to prison. He served 18 months before being released. The repercussions in the Soviet Union were immediate. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sacked his minister of defense, and the entire Russian military was humiliated by Rust’s flight into Moscow. U.S. officials had a field day with the event–one American diplomat in the Soviet Union joked, “Maybe we should build a bunch of Cessnas.”

Soviet officials were less amused. Four years earlier, the Soviets had been harshly criticized for shooting down a Korean Airlines passenger jet that veered into Russian airspace. Now, the Soviets were laughingstocks for not being able to stop one teenager’s “invasion” of the country. One Russian spokesperson bluntly declared, “You criticize us for shooting down a plane, and now you criticize us for not shooting down a plane.”

1990 – Iraqi President Saddam Hussein opened a two-day Arab League summit in Baghdad with a keynote address in which he said if Israel were to deploy nuclear or chemical weapons against Arabs, Iraq would respond with “weapons of mass destruction.”

1991 – US Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and other NATO defense chiefs agreed to create a rapid reaction corps as part of a broad plan to reshape the Western alliance in the post-Cold War era.

1996 – A US jury convicted the former business partners of President Clinton in the Whitewater Case. James and Susan McDougal, and Jim Guy Tucker, governor of Arkansas. Tucker was charged with creating a sham bankruptcy to avoid paying taxes on profits from a sold cable TV company in which he was a partner. Tucker resigned after the verdict. He briefly reversed his decision, but finally stepped down in July. In 1998 Tucker pleaded guilty to a felony charge of fraud and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors of independent council Kenneth Starr.

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[SHOOTER13]

1998 – In Ecuador Simon Bolivar Chanalata, a hotel clerk, engaged in a fight with 2 US sailors who were visiting while on a naval exercise. Chanalata died 6 days later and his family filed a $1.5 million suit against the US Navy. The 2 Navy men faced charges of involuntary manslaughter.

1998 – NATO Ministers agreed to help Albania and Macedonia strengthen their border patrols.

2000 – In Russia Pres. Putin signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. It would not be effective until the US and other nations also approve.

2001 – President Bush honored America’s veterans with the Memorial Day signing of legislation to construct a World War II monument on the National Mall.

2001 – The US and China tentatively agreed that the US spy plane on Hainan Island would be dismantled and possibly flown home aboard a giant Antonov-124 transport.

2002 – The last steel girder is removed from the original World Trade Center site. Cleanup duties officially end with closing ceremonies at Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York City.

2002 – Libya offered $10 million in compensation for each victim in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in exchange for removal from the US list of states that sponsor terrorism.

2002 – Russia signed an agreement with NATO leaders in Rome for participation in NATO discussions on a fixed variety of subjects, bit no veto power.

2002 – The Mars Odyssey finds signs of large ice deposits on the planet Mars.

2003 – Russia’s upper house of parliament ratified a landmark nuclear deal with the United States that slashes both nation’s nuclear arsenals by two-thirds.

2004 – US officials and 5 Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) signed a free trade pact (CAFTA), to be later approved by Congress. The Dominican Republic would be included later.

2004 – The Iraqi Governing Council nominated one of its own members, Iyad Allawi, a Shiite Muslim physician who spent years in exile, to become prime minister of the new government to take power June 30th.

2004 – In Saudi Arabia suspected Islamic militants sprayed gunfire inside two oil industry compounds on the Persian Gulf, killing at least 10 people including one American.

2014 – A preliminary report from the VA inspector general’s office finds systemic problems at health facilities nationwide, and serious management and scheduling issues in Phoenix.


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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

CHRISTIANCY, JAMES I.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, Company D, 9th Michigan Cavalry. Place and date: At Hawes Shops, Va., 28 May 1864. Entered service at: Monroe County, Mich. Birth: Monroe County, Mich. Date of issue: 10 October 1892. Citation: While acting as aide, voluntarily led a part of the line into the fight, and was twice wounded.

STOREY, JOHN H. R.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 109th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Dallas, Ga., 28 May 1864. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 29 August 1896. Citation: While bringing in a wounded comrade, under a destructive fire, he was himself wounded in the right leg, which was amputated on the same day.

JOHNSON, PETER
Rank and organization: Fireman First Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 29 December 1857, Sumerland, England. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 167, 27 August 1904. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Vixen on the night of 28 May 1898. Following the explosion of the lower front manhole gasket of boiler A of the vessel, Johnson displayed great coolness and self-possession in entering the fireroom.

MAHONEY, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Fireman First Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 15 January 1865, Worcester, Mass. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 167, 27 August 1904. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Vixen on the night of 28 May 1898. Following the explosion of the lower front manhole gasket of boiler A of that vessel, Mahoney displayed great coolness and self-possession in entering the fireroom.

SHANAHAN, PATRICK
Rank and organization: Chief Boatswain’s Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 6 November 1867, Ireland. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 534, 29 November 1899. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Alliance, 28 May 1899. Displaying heroism, Shanahan rescued William Steven, quartermaster, first class, from drowning.

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DAVILA, RUDOLPH B.
Staff Sergeant Rudolph B. Davila distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action, on 28 May 1944, near Artena, Italy. During the offensive which broke through the German mountain strongholds surrounding the Anzio beachhead, Staff Sergeant Davila risked death to provide heavy weapons support for a beleaguered rifle company. Caught on an exposed hillside by heavy, grazing fire from a well-entrenched German force, his machine gunners were reluctant to risk putting their guns into action. Crawling fifty yards to the nearest machine gun, Staff Sergeant Davila set it up alone and opened fire on the enemy. In order to observe the effect of his fire, Sergeant Davila fired from the kneeling position, ignoring the enemy fire that struck the tripod and passed between his legs. Ordering a gunner to take over, he crawled forward to a vantage point and directed the firefight with hand and arm signals until both hostile machine guns were silenced. Bringing his three remaining machine guns into action, he drove the enemy to a reserve position two hundred yards to the rear.

When he received a painful wound in the leg, he dashed to a burned tank and, despite the crash of bullets on the hull, engaged a second enemy force from the tank’s turret. Dismounting, he advanced 130 yards in short rushes, crawled 20 yards and charged into an enemy-held house to eliminate the defending force of five with a hand grenade and rifle fire. Climbing to the attic, he straddled a large shell hole in the wall and opened fire on the enemy. Although the walls of the house were crumbling, he continued to fire until he had destroyed two more machine guns. His intrepid actions brought desperately needed heavy weapons support to a hard-pressed rifle company and silenced four machine gunners, which forced the enemy to abandon their prepared positions. Staff Sergeant Davila’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.

*LARA, SALVADOR J.
Rank and Organization: Private First Class. U.S. Army. Company L. 180th Infantry. Place and Date: May 27-28, 1944, Aprilia, Italy. Born: 1920. Departed: Yes (05/28/1945). Entered Service At: Riverside, CA. G.O. Number: . Date of Issue: 03/18/2014. Accredited To: . Citation: Then-Pfc. Salvador Lara is being recognized for his valorous actions in Aprilia, Italy, May 27-28, 1944. During the fight, May 27, he aggressively led his rifle squad in neutralizing multiple enemy strong points and inflicting large numbers of casualties on the enemy. The next morning, as his company resumed the attack, Lara sustained a severe leg wound, but did not stop to receive first aid. Lara continued his exemplary performance until he captured his objective. [Note — The exact date of Lara’s death is not know, but is approximated.].

*CHAMPAGNE, DAVID B.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, Company A 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date. Korea, 28 May 1952. Entered service at: Wakefield R.I. Born: 11 November 1932, Waterville, Md. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a fire team leader of Company A, in action against enemy aggressor forces. Advancing with his platoon in the initial assault of the company against a strongly fortified and heavily defended hill position, Cpl. Champagne skillfully led his fire team through a veritable hail of intense enemy machine gun, small-arms, and grenade fire, overrunning trenches and a series of almost impregnable bunker positions before reaching the crest of the hill and placing his men in defensive positions. Suffering a painful leg wound while assisting in repelling the ensuing hostile counterattack, which was launched under cover of a murderous hail of mortar and artillery fire, he steadfastly refused evacuation and fearlessly continued to control his fire team

When the enemy counterattack increased in intensity, and a hostile grenade landed in the midst of the fire team, Cpl. Champagne unhesitatingly seized the deadly missile and hurled it in the direction of the approaching enemy. As the grenade left his hand, it exploded blowing off his hand and throwing him out of the trench. Mortally wounded by enemy mortar fire while in this exposed position, Cpl. Champagne, by his valiant leadership, fortitude, and gallant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of almost certain death, undoubtedly saved the lives of several of his fellow marines. His heroic actions served to inspire all who observed him and reflect the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

*KELLY, JOHN D.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, Company C, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Korea, 28 May 1952. Entered service at: Homestead, Pa. Born: 8 July 1928, Youngstown, Ohio. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a radio operator of Company C, in action against enemy aggressor forces. With his platoon pinned down by a numerically superior enemy force employing intense mortar, artillery, small-arms and grenade fire, Pfc. Kelly requested permission to leave his radio in the care of another man and to participate in an assault on enemy key positions. Fearlessly charging forward in the face of a murderous hail of machine gun fire and hand grenades, he initiated a daring attack against a hostile strongpoint and personally neutralized the position, killing 2 of the enemy.

Unyielding in the fact of heavy odds, he continued forward and single-handedly assaulted a machine gun bunker. Although painfully wounded, he bravely charged the bunker and destroyed it, killing 3 of the enemy. Courageously continuing his 1-man assault, he again stormed forward in a valiant attempt to wipe out a third bunker and boldly delivered pointblank fire into the aperture of the hostile emplacement. Mortally wounded by enemy fire while carrying out this heroic action, Pfc. Kelly, by his great personal valor and aggressive fighting spirit, inspired his comrades to sweep on, overrun and secure the objective. His extraordinary heroism in the face of almost certain death reflects the highest credit upon himself and enhances the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

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[SHOOTER13]

29 May

1677 – The Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and various Virginia Native American tribes including the Nottoway, the Appomattoc, the Wayonaoake, the Nansemond, the Nanzatico, the Monacan, the Saponi, and the Meherrin following the end of Bacon’s Rebellion. The treaty designated those that signed as “tributary tribe(s),” meaning they were guaranteed their homeland territories, hunting and fishing rights, the right to keep and bear arms, and other colonial protections so long as they maintained obedience and subjugation to the English Empire. The twenty-one articles of the treaty were confirmed when England sent gifts to the chiefs along with various badges of authority.The Queen of Pamunkey, known as Cockacoeske to the English, received a red velvet cap which was fastened with a silver frontlet and silver chains.

1765 – Patrick Henry denounced the Stamp Act before Virginia’s House of Burgesses. Henry responded to a cry of “Treason!” by saying, “If this be treason, make the most of it!”

1780 – At the Battle of Waxhaws, the British continue attacking after the Continentals lay down their arms, killing 113 and critically wounding all but 53 that remained. The Battle of Waxhaws (also known as the Waxhaws or Waxhaw Massacre, and Buford’s Massacre) took place during the American Revolutionary War near Lancaster, South Carolina, between a Continental Army force led by Abraham Buford and a mainly Loyalist force led by Banastre Tarleton. Buford refused an initial demand to surrender, but when his men were attacked by Tarleton’s cavalry, many of them threw down their arms to surrender. Accounts differ on significant details. Buford apparently then attempted to surrender, but his surrender was either rejected or not received (Tarleton possibly having been incapacitated at that time).

Tarleton’s men continued killing the Continental soldiers, including men who were not resisting. Little quarter was given to the Patriots. Of the 400 or so Continentals, 113 were killed with sabres, 150 so badly injured they could not be moved, and only 53 prisoners taken by the British and Loyalists. “Tarleton’s quarter” thereafter became a common expression for refusing to take prisoners, and in some subsequent battles in the Carolinas few of the defeated were taken alive by either side. The battle was used in an extensive propaganda campaign by the Continental Army to bolster recruitment and resentment against the British. Other accounts of the battle describe Tarleton as having no part in ordering the massacre, and having ordered thorough medical treatment of American prisoners and wounded.

1781 – Frigate Alliance captures HMS Atalanta and Trepassy off Nova Scotia.

1787 – The “Virginia Plan” was proposed.

1790 – Rhode Island became the last of the 13 original colonies to ratify the United States Constitution. They held out for an amendment securing religious freedom. The state was largely founded by Baptists fleeing persecution in Massachusetts.

1810 – Erasmus Darwin Keyes (d.1895), Major General (Union volunteers), was born.

1810 – Solomon Meredith (d,1875), Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), was born.

1825 – David Bell Birney (d.1864), Major General (Union volunteers), was born.

1827 – Reuben Lindsay Walker (d.1890), Brigadier General (Confederate Army), was born.

1843 – John C. Fremont again departs from St. Louis to explore the West, having only recently returned from his first western expedition. The son of a French father and American mother, Fremont had an unstable and nomadic childhood, and money troubles often plagued his family. As a young man, he showed an aptitude for mathematics and surveying, and in 1838, he won a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers. In 1842, he received an assignment to make a survey of the Platte River, and set out with 24 companions, including the famous guide Kit Carson. During five months of travel, Fremont crossed the South Pass in central Wyoming and explored the Wind River Mountains. Scarcely before he had time to recover from his first expedition, Fremont was preparing to depart on his second.

On this day in 1843, Fremont left St. Louis on a much more ambitious journey to explore the Oregon country. In Colorado the party met up with Carson, who had again agreed to serve as a guide. On September 6th, the Fremont caught site of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, “stretching in still and solitary grandeur far beyond the limits of our vision.” By early November, they arrived at Fort Vancouver, across the Columbia River from the present-day site of Portland. Having surveyed the Oregon country, Fremont’s orders were to return east via the Oregon Trail. Fremont, however, apparently decided this would be an inadequately grand approach, and decided instead to head south and cross the Sierra Nevada in the middle of the winter. The journey was awful and nearly disastrous. Fremont and his men struggled with the deep snow and bitter cold; they often got lost and ate their horses to survive.

Thanks to the skill of Carson and amazing good luck with the weather, the expedition eventually emerged from the mountains and limped into Sutter’s Fort on March 6, 1844. After resting for three weeks, they returned east by a route that took them through the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains of Utah. With the help of his wife, Jessie, Fremont wrote a detailed account of his western adventures. The report made some notable errors. Fremont foolishly identified the country around the Great Salt Lake as fertile-a mistake that contributed to the Mormons decision to migrate to the area. However, Fremont’s account did provide the first comprehensive scientific survey of vast areas of the West. Fremont went on to lead two other successful expeditions to the West. His reports of these and his earlier journeys made him a national hero and he later went into politics. He lived into his early 70s, but the four western journeys he made before he was 40 remained his greatest achievements.

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[SHOOTER13]

1848 – Following approval of statehood by the territory’s citizens, Wisconsin enters the Union as the 30th state. In 1634, French explorer Jean Nicolet landed at Green Bay, becoming the first European to visit the lake-heavy northern region that would later become Wisconsin. In 1763, at the conclusion of the French and Indian Wars, the region, a major center of the American fur trade, passed into British control. Two decades later, at the end of the American Revolution, the region came under U.S. rule and was governed as part of the Northwest Territory. However, British fur traders continued to dominate Wisconsin from across the Canadian border, and it was not until the end of the War of 1812 that the region fell firmly under American control.

In the first decades of the 19th century, settlers began arriving via the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes to exploit Wisconsin’s agricultural potential, and in 1832 the Black Hawk War ended Native American resistance to white settlement. In 1836, after several decades of governance as part of other territories, Wisconsin was made a separate entity, with Madison, located midway between Milwaukee and the western centers of population, marked as the territorial capital. By 1840, population in Wisconsin had risen above 130,000, but the people voted against statehood four times, fearing the higher taxes that would come with a stronger central government. Finally, in 1848, Wisconsin citizens, envious of the prosperity that federal programs brought to neighboring Midwestern states, voted to approve statehood. Wisconsin entered the Union the next May.

1849 – A patent for lifting vessels was granted to Abraham Lincoln.

1861 – Dorothea Dix offered to help set up hospitals for Union Army.

1862 – Confederate General P.T. Beauregard retreated to Tupelo, Mississippi. He had taken command of the Trans-Mississippi area after the death of General Albert Sidney Johnson.

1864 – Union troops lose another foot race with the Confederates in a minor stop on the long and terrible campaign between Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Potomac and Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. During the entire month of May 1864, Grant and Lee had pounded each other along an arc swinging from the Wilderness forest south to the James River. After fighting in the Wilderness, Grant moved south to Spotsylvania Court House to place his army between Lee and Richmond. Predicting his move, Lee marched James Longstreet’s corps through the night and beat the Federals to the strategic crossroads. For 12 days the two armies fought in some of the bloodiest combat of the war.

Finally, Grant pulled out and again moved south, this time to the North Anna River, where he probed the Rebel lines on the high banks of the river, but found no weakness. He moved south again, this time to Totopotomoy Creek. Once again, Lee and his men beat him there and stood ready to defend Richmond from the Union army. Grant was getting frustrated. After the Totopotomoy, Grant slid south to Cold Harbor, just 10 miles from Richmond. His impatience may have gotten the best of him. At Cold Harbor, Grant would commit the foolish mistake of hurling his troops at well-fortified Confederates, creating a slaughter nearly unmatched during the war.

1865 – President Andrew Johnson issues general amnesty for all Confederates.

1903 – Bob Hope (d.2003), US comedian, was born as Leslie Townes in Kent, England.

1916 – Official flag of President of United States was adopted.

1916 – U.S. forces invaded the Dominican Republic and stayed until 1924.

1917 – John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States (1961-1963), was born at 83 Beals St. in Brookline, Mass. He was assassinated in his first term.

1931 – Michele Schirru, a citizen of the United States, is executed by Italian military firing squad for intent to kill Benito Mussolini.

1932 – At the height of the Great Depression, the so-called “Bonus Expeditionary Force,” a group of 1,000 World War I veterans seeking cash payments for their veterans’ bonus certificates, arrive in Washington, D.C. One month later, other veteran groups spontaneously made their way to the nation’s capital, swelling the Bonus Marchers to nearly 20,000 strong, most of them unemployed veterans in desperate financial straits. Camping in vacant government buildings and in open fields made available by District of Columbia Police Chief Pelham D. Glassford, they demanded passage of the veterans’ payment bill introduced by Representative Wright Patman.

While awaiting a vote on the issue, the veterans conducted themselves in an orderly and peaceful fashion, and on June 15th the Patman bill passed in the House of Representatives. However, two days later, its defeat in the Senate infuriated the marchers, who refused to return home. In an increasingly tense situation, the federal government provided money for the protesters’ trip home, but 2,000 refused the offer and continued to protest. On July 28th, President Herbert Hoover ordered the army, under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, to evict them forcibly. MacArthur’s men set their camps on fire, and the veterans were driven from the city. Hoover, increasingly regarded as insensitive to the needs of the nation’s many poor, was much criticized by the public and press for the severity of his response.

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[SHOOTER13]

1940 – The first flight of the Vought F4U Corsair. The Chance Vought F4U Corsair was an American fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Demand for the aircraft soon overwhelmed Vought’s manufacturing capability, resulting in production by Goodyear and Brewster: Goodyear-built Corsairs were designated FG and Brewster-built aircraft F3A. From the first prototype delivery to the U.S. Navy in 1940, to final delivery in 1953 to the French, 12,571 F4U Corsairs were manufactured by Vought, in 16 separate models, in the longest production run of any piston-engined fighter in U.S. history (1942–53). The Corsair was designed as a carrier-based aircraft. However its difficult carrier landing performance rendered the Corsair unsuitable for Navy use until the carrier landing issues were overcome when used by the British Fleet Air Arm.

The Corsair thus came to and retained prominence in its area of greatest deployment: land based use by the U.S. Marines. The role of the dominant U.S. carrier based fighter in the second part of the war was thus filled by the Grumman F6F Hellcat, powered by the same Double Wasp engine first flown on the Corsair’s first prototype in 1940. The Corsair served to a lesser degree in the U.S. Navy. As well as the U.S. and British use the Corsair was also used by the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the French Navy Aéronavale and other, smaller, air forces until the 1960s.

Some Japanese pilots regarded it as the most formidable American fighter of World War II, and the U.S. Navy counted an 11:1 kill ratio with the F4U Corsair. After the carrier landing issues had been tackled it quickly became the most capable carrier-based fighter-bomber of World War II. The Corsair served almost exclusively as a fighter-bomber throughout the Korean War and during the French colonial wars in Indochina and Algeria.

1943 – Norman Rockwell’s portrait of “Rosie the Riveter” appeared on the cover of “The Saturday Evening Post.” Rockwell’s model was Mary Keefe (19) of Arlington, Vermont. In 2002 the painting sold at auction for $4,959,500.

1943 – Churchill, Marshall and Eisenhower met in the Confederacy of Algiers.

1943 – Meat and cheese began to be rationed in United States.

1943 – On Attu the Japanese mount a final attack on American forces established in Chicagof.

1944 – On Biak Island, as well as Arare on the mainland, the American beachheads are heavily attacked by Japanese forces. The Japanese garrison on Biak makes use of tanks to force the US 162nd Regiment back towards its landing zone.

1944 – The American escort carrier Block Island and a destroyer are sunk by U-549 before it is itself sunk.

1944 – About 400 American bombers attack German synthetic fuel works and oil refineries at Polits and other locations. The damage caused sets back aircraft fuel production.

1944 – At Anzio, the British and American troops of the US 6th Corps take Campoleone and Carroceto. The Canadian 1st Corps begins to advance up Route 6 from Caprano toward Frosinone.

1945 – American B-29 Superfortress bombers drop incendiaries on Yokohama, burning 85 percent of the port area.

1945 – First combat mission of the Consolidated B-32 Dominator heavy bomber.

1949 – Lieutenant F. X. Riley, believed to be the first Coast Guardsman to earn an advanced degree under US Coast Guard sponsorship through night class attendance, received his MA degree in Public Administration from American University in Washington, D.C.

1953 – Surface elements carried the brunt of naval operations with strikes against Pukchong and Wonsan as adverse weather temporarily suspended air operations.

1955 – John Hinckley Jr., attempted assassin of President Reagan, was born.

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[SHOOTER13]

1972 – In a joint communique issued by the United States and the Soviet Union following the conclusion of summit talks with General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev during President Richard Nixon’s visit to Moscow (the first visit ever by an U.S. president), both countries set forth their standard positions on Vietnam. The United States insisted that the future of South Vietnam should be left to the South Vietnamese without interference. The Soviet Union insisted on a withdrawal of U.S. and Allied forces from South Vietnam and an end to the bombing of North Vietnam. Despite this disagreement over the situation in Southeast Asia, Brezhnev and Nixon had reached a detente and Brezhnev did not want the Vietnam War to threaten the thawing of relations with the United States.

Nixon, who had also visited China in February 1972, had hoped that the rapprochement with the Chinese and Soviets would scare North Vietnam into making concessions at the Paris peace talks. He was wrong, however, and the North Vietnamese continued to pursue the massive invasion of South Vietnam that they had launched on March 30 and proved intractable in the ongoing negotiations. The Soviet Union had supported North Vietnam because it served Soviet interests well by keeping the United States fully occupied in an area not of crucial importance to the USSR.

After the 1968 Tet Offensive, the Soviets believed for the first time that a total victory was possible, but as the fighting continued, the Soviet leaders became increasingly weary of the war. They came to believe that little more was to be gained from a war that was proving very expensive for the Soviet Union. The Soviets had supplied weapons and equipment that were used in the 1972 spring offensive, but when the Paris peace talks became deadlocked later that year, the Soviets pressured Hanoi to accept a compromise settlement with South Vietnam and the United States that was finally reached in January 1973.

1974 – President Nixon agreed to turn over 1,200 pages of edited Watergate transcripts.

1981 – US performed a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

1982 – Pentagon planned 1st strategy to fight a nuclear war.

1988 – President Ronald Reagan travels to Moscow to begin the fourth summit meeting held in the past three years with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Though the summit produced no major announcements or breakthroughs, it served to illuminate both the successes and the failures achieved by the two men in terms of U.S.-Soviet relations. In May 1988, President Reagan made his first trip to Moscow to meet with Gorbachev and begin their fourth summit meeting. Just six months earlier, during a summit in Washington, D.C., in December 1987, the two men had signed the historic Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons from Europe.

In many ways, Reagan’s trip to Moscow in May was a journey of celebration. Demonstrating the famous Reagan charm, the president and his wife waded into crowds of Russian well wishers and curiosity-seekers to shake hands and exchange pleasantries. Very quickly, however, the talks between Reagan and Gorbachev revealed that serious differences still existed between the Soviet Union and the United States. From the beginning, Reagan–who had in the past referred to the Soviet Union as the “evil empire”–pressed Gorbachev on the issue of human rights. He urged Gorbachev to ease Soviet restrictions on freedom of religion and also asked that the Soviet Union relax the laws that kept many Russian Jews from emigrating.

The Soviets were obviously displeased at Reagan’s insistence on lecturing them about what they considered purely internal matters. A spokesman from the Soviet Foreign Ministry showed his irritation when he declared to a group of reporters, “We don’t like it when someone from outside is teaching us how to live, and this is only natural.” Despite the tension introduced by the human rights issue, the summit was largely an opportunity for Reagan and Gorbachev to trade compliments and congratulations about their accomplishments, most notably the INF Treaty. As Reagan stated after their first day of meetings, “I think the message is clear–despite clear and fundamental differences, and despite the inevitable frustrations that we have encountered, our work has begun to produce results.”

1989 – Student protesters in Tiananmen Square China constructed a replica of the Statue of Liberty.

1989 – Signing of an agreement between Egypt and the United States, allowing the manufacture of parts of the F-16 jet fighter plane in Egypt.

1991 – President Bush, addressing the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, unveiled a plan to curb “unnecessary and destabilizing weapons” in the Middle East.

1991 – Elements of a joint task force that included the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade departed the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Bangladesh after nearly two weeks of disaster relief operations following a devastating cyclone. The joint task force delivered tons of relief supplies using helicopters, C-130s, and landing craft in Operation Sea Angel.

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1995 – The last three bodies entombed in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City were recovered.

1995 – A request from the Commander in Chief of Naval Forces Europe led to the deployment of the CGC Dallas to the Mediterranean. She departed Governors Island on 29 May 1995 and visited ports throughout the Mediterranean and Black Sea, including Istanbul and Samsun in Turkey; Durres, Albania; Varna, Bulgaria; Constanta, Romania; Koper, Slovenia; Taranto, Italy; and Bizerte, Tunisia. The crew trained with naval and coast guard forces in each country. She deployed for a few days with the Sixth Fleet and served as a plane guard for the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The crew was also able to coordinate schedules with six NATO and non-NATO nations to conduct boardings. She returned to the U.S. in August and arrived at Governors Island on 28 August 1995.

1996 – The Endeavor space shuttle landed after a 10-day mission. It went be overhauled for a space-station assembly mission in 1997.

1998 – United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan approves Iraq’s new aid distribution plan under the U.N. sponsored oil-for-food program, clearing the way for Iraq to export up to $5.26 billion worth of oil during the fourth phase of the program. If oil prices remain at current levels, Iraq will need to export close to 2 million barrels per day of oil to reach$4 billion, up from current export rates of around 1.5 million barrels per day. To reach 2 million barrels per day, Iraq’s production facilities are estimated to need approximately $300 million worth of repairs.

1999 – It was reported that the US Defense Dept. had ordered 9,000 Purple Hearts from Graco Industries near Houston to “replenish its supply.”

1999 – The space shuttle “Discovery” completed the first-ever docking with the international space station.

2000 – The space shuttle Atlantis landed at Cape Canaveral in the early morning dark after a successful overhaul of the Int’l. Space Station.

2001 – Four followers of Osama bin Laden were convicted in New York of a global conspiracy to murder Americans, including the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people.

2001 – Intel unveiled its new 64-bit processor, the Itanium, previously known under the code name Merced. A 2nd generation of the chip, code-named McKinley, was planned for 2002.

2002 – FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged that the bureau did not pursue “red flags” in the weeks before September 11th, and suggested for the first time that investigators might have uncovered the plot if they had been more diligent about pursuing leads. A reorganization plan for the bureau was announced with a focus on terrorist attacks.

2002 – Libya denied that it had any relationship to the deal made by lawyers to pay $2.7 billion to the families of Pan Am Flight 103 victims. The move was seen as a ploy and a settlement was expected soon.

2003 – President Bush, in a wide-ranging interview with reporters at the White House, repeated his defense of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and hinted that relations with France remained scarred over its opposition to the war.

2004 – A new WW II memorial was dedicated on the National Mall in Washington DC.

2006 – In Kabul, Afghanistan, thousands demonstrate against the United States after several civilians were killed in a car accident in which 3 US humvees collided with a traffic jam.

2011 – U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin, the largest military contractor in the world, is targeted by a “significant and tenacious” cyber attack.

2014 – Political pressure mounts from Senate Democrats and others for Shinseki to go.


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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

BOYNE, THOMAS
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 9th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Mimbres Mountains, N. Mex., 29 May 1879; at Cuchillo Negro River near Ojo Caliente, N. Mex., 27 September 1879. Entered service at:——. Birth: Prince Georges County, Md. Date of issue: 6 January 1882. Citation: Bravery in action.

NOLAN, JOSEPH A.
Rank and organization: Artificer, Company B, 45th Infantry, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Labo, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 29 May 1900. Entered service at: South Bend, Ind. Birth: Elkhart, Ind. Date of issue: 14 March 1902. Citation: Voluntarily left shelter and at great personal risk passed the enemy’s lines and brought relief to besieged comrades.

KING, JOHN
Rank and organization: Watertender, U.S. Navy. Born: 7 February 1865, Ireland. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 72, 6 December 1901. Second award. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Vicksburg, for heroism in the line of his profession at the time of the accident to the boilers, 29 May 1901.

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GALT, WILLIAM WYLIE
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, 168th Infantry, 34th Infantry Division. Place and date: At Villa Crocetta, Italy, 29 May 1944. Entered service at: Stanford, Mont. Birth: Geyser, Mont. G.O. No.: 1, 1 February 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. Capt. Galt, Battalion S3, at a particularly critical period following 2 unsuccessful attacks by his battalion, of his own volition went forward and ascertained just how critical the situation was. He volunteered, at the risk of his life, personally to lead the battalion against the objective. When the lone remaining tank destroyer refused to go forward, Capt. Galt jumped on the tank destroyer and ordered it to precede the attack.

As the tank destroyer moved forward, followed by a company of riflemen, Capt. Galt manned the .30-caliber machinegun in the turret of the tank destroyer, located and directed fire on an enemy 77mm. anti-tank gun, and destroyed it. Nearing the enemy positions, Capt. Galt stood fully exposed in the turret, ceaselessly firing his machinegun and tossing hand grenades into the enemy zigzag series of trenches despite the hail of sniper and machinegun bullets ricocheting off the tank destroyer. As the tank destroyer moved, Capt. Galt so maneuvered it that 40 of the enemy were trapped in one trench.

When they refused to surrender, Capt. Galt pressed the trigger of the machinegun and dispatched every one of them. A few minutes later an 88mm shell struck the tank destroyer and Capt. Galt fell mortally wounded across his machine gun. He had personally killed 40 Germans and wounded many more. Capt. Galt pitted his judgment and superb courage against overwhelming odds, exemplifying the highest measure of devotion to his country and the finest traditions of the U.S. Army.

*MORELAND, WHITT L.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Kwagch’i-Dong, Korea, 29 May 1951. Entered service at: Austin, Tex. Born: 7 March 1930, Waco, Tex. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an intelligence scout attached to Company C, in action against enemy aggressor forces. Voluntarily accompanying a rifle platoon in a daring assault against a strongly defended enemy hill position, Pfc. Moreland delivered accurate rifle fire on the hostile emplacement and thereby aided materially in seizing the objective. After the position had been secured, he unhesitatingly led a party forward to neutralize an enemy bunker which he had observed some 400 meters beyond, and moving boldly through a fire-swept area, almost reached the hostile emplacement when the enemy launched a volley of hand grenades on his group.

Quick to act despite the personal danger involved, he kicked several of the grenades off the ridge line where they exploded harmlessly and, while attempting to kick away another, slipped and fell near the deadly missile. Aware that the sputtering grenade would explode before he could regain his feet and dispose of it, he shouted a warning to his comrades, covered the missile with his body and absorbed the full blast of the explosion, but in saving his companions from possible injury or death, was mortally wounded. His heroic initiative and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of certain death reflect the highest credit upon Pfc. Moreland and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

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30 May

MEMORIAL DAY

Feast Day of Ferdinand III of Castile, Paton Saint of Engineers: Ferdinand III of Castile was the son of Alfonso IX, King of Leon, and Berengaria, daughter of Alfonso III, King of Castile (Spain). He was declared king of Castile at age eighteen. Ferdinand was born near Salamanca; proclaimed king of Palencia, Valladolid, and Burgos; his mother advised and assisted him during his young reign. He married Princess Beatrice, daughter of Philip of Swabia, King of Germany and they had seven sons and three daughters. His father (the king of Leon) turned against him and tried to take over his rule. The two reconciled later, and fought successfully against the Moors. In 1225, he held back Islamic invaders; prayed and fasted to prepare for the war; extremely devoted to the Blessed Virgin. Between 1234-36, Ferdinand conquered the city of Cordoba from the Moors. Queen Beatrice died in 1236, and he overtook Seville shortly thereafter. He founded the Cathedral of Burgos and the University of Salamanca; married Joan of Ponthieu after the death of Beatrice. He died on May 30th after a prolonged illness, and buried in the habit of his secular Franciscan Order. His remains are preserved in the Cathedral of Seville and was canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671. Ferdinand was a great administrator and a man of deep faith. He founded hospitals and bishoprics, monasteries, churches, and cathedrals during his reign. Her also compiled and reformed a code of laws which were used until the modern era. Ferdinand rebuilt the Cathedral of Burgos and changed the mosque in Seville into a Cathedral. He was a just ruler, frequently pardoning former offenders to his throne.

1498 – Columbus departed with 6 ships for his 3rd trip to America.

1539 – Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto landed at Tampa Bay, Florida, with 600 soldiers in search of gold. Hernando de Soto returned to the New World at the head of a 1,000-man expedition into North America. He landed near present-day Tampa Bay and proceeded through what is now Alabama and Tennessee, making treaties with some Indian, viciously fighting with others.

1806 – In Logan County, Kentucky, future president Andrew Jackson participates in a duel, killing Charles Dickinson, a lawyer regarded as one of the best pistol shots in the area. The proud and volatile Jackson, a former senator and representative of Tennessee, called for the duel after his wife Rachel was slandered as a bigamist by Dickinson, who was referring to a legal error in the divorce from her first husband in 1791. Jackson met his foe at Harrison’s Mills on Red River in Logan, Kentucky, on May 30, 1806. In accordance with dueling custom, the two stood 24 feet apart, with pistols pointed downward.

After the signal, Dickinson fired first, grazing Jackson’s breastbone and breaking some of his ribs. However, Jackson, a former Tennessee militia leader, maintained his stance and fired back, fatally wounding his opponent. It was one of several duels Jackson was said to have participated in during his lifetime, the majority of which were allegedly called in defense of his wife’s honor. None of the other rumored duels were recorded, and whether he killed anyone else in this manner is not known. In 1829, Rachel died, and Jackson was elected the seventh president of the United States.

1814 – Navy gunboats capture three British boats on Lake Ontario near Sandy Creek, NY.

1848 – Mexico ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo giving US: New Mexico, California and parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona & Colorado in return for $15 million.

1854 – The territories of Nebraska and Kansas were established. The governor of the Kansas Territory was James William Denver. Pres. Pierce kept appointing proslavery governors. The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and opened the north to slavery. This period of Kansas history was incorporated into the 1998 novel “The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton,” by Jane Smiley.

1861 – U.S.S. Merrimack, scuttled and burned at Norfolk Navy Yard, is raised by Confederates.

1861 – Members of the 7th New York Volunteer Infantry continue to train at “Camp Cameron” as part of the garrison of the Union capital. The regiment arrived soon after war began on April 12. This is the same unit, then designated as the 2nd Battalion, 11th New York Artillery, which adopted the nickname “National Guard” in honor of the visit to New York in 1825 of the Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette, who had served as one of General George Washington’s ablest commanders during the American Revolution, commanded the “Garde Nationale de Paris” during the French Revolution.

After he left the unit was re-designated to the 7th New York and maintained the ‘National Guard’ designation. The scriptic letters “NG” often appeared embossed on member’s cross-belt plates, buttons, cartridge box plates and other accoutrements, as well as on camp furniture. By the end of the 19th century many uniformed volunteer companies used the phrase ‘National Guard’ in their official designations and several states had adopted the term in reference to their entire state militia organization. By 1916 the term “National Guard” was mandated as the official designation for all organized militia coming under federal authority and receiving federal funds.

1861 – Union troops occupy Grafton, Virginia.

1862 – Confederates abandon the city of Corinth. After the epic struggle at Shiloh in April 1862, the Confederate army, under the command of P.T. Beauregard, concentrated at Corinth, while the Union army, under Henry Halleck, began a slow advance from the Shiloh battlefield toward the rail center at Corinth. Halleck had no intention of taking on Beauregard’s army directly; he was more concerned with controlling the railroad junction. Beauregard was in a difficult position. Halleck, the commander of Union forces in the West, had at his disposal Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Tennessee, Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio, and John Pope’s Army of the Mississippi. With these forces, he had a more than two-to-one advantage over Beauregard. Nearly a week before the evacuation, Beauregard assessed his situation with his lieutenants.

Although he considered the city to be vital to the Confederacy, he also worried that his entire command could be captured or cut to pieces if a retreat was delayed. So he crafted a clever withdrawal from Corinth: His troops deployed a number of logs painted black (“Quaker guns”) along his front lines to fool the Yankees into thinking they were facing substantial artillery. Meanwhile, he had his troops cook extra rations and cheer the arrival of empty boxcars to lead the Union troops to believe the Confederates were preparing for battle and receiving reinforcements. On the night of May 29, Beauregard began slipping his forces out of Corinth. On May 30, the remainder of the army left the city and burned any remaining supplies. Halleck’s men entered a deserted Corinth later that day. Although an important city had been forfeited to the Union army, Beauregard’s army remained intact and, with it, Confederate hopes in the West.

1862 – Battle of Front Royal, VA.

1864 – Battle of Bethesda Church, VA.

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1864 – Mounting evidence pointed to a Confederate naval assault on Union forces in the James River below Richmond. This date, John Loomis, a deserter from C.S.S. Hampton, reported that three ironclads and six wooden gunboats, all armed with torpedoes, had passed the obstructions at Drewry’s Bluff and were below Fort Darling, awaiting an opportunity to attack. The ironclads were C.S.S. Virginia II, Flag Officer John K. Mitchell, C.S.S. Richmond, Lieutenant William H Parker, and C.S.S. Fredericksburg, Commander Thomas R. Rootes.

1865 – William Clarke Quantrill (27), criminal, Confederate bushwhacker, died.

1868 – By proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, the first major Memorial Day observance is held to honor those who died “in defense of their country during the late rebellion.” Known to some as “Decoration Day,” mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery. The 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances that had taken place in various locations in the three years since the end of the Civil War. In fact, several cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Mississippi; Macon, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; and Carbondale, Illinois.

In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon B. Johnson, declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo–which had first celebrated the day on May 5th, 1866–because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags. By the late 19th century, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day, and after World War I, observers began to honor the dead of all of America’s wars.

In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. It is customary for the president or vice president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. More than 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually. Several Southern states continue to set aside a special day for honoring the Confederate dead, which is usually called Confederate Memorial Day.

1912 – U.S. Marines were sent to Nicaragua to protect American interests.

1921 – U.S. Navy transferred Teapot Dome oil reserves to the Department of Interior.

1922 – The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., by Chief Justice William Howard Taft. The Memorial has 48 sculptured festoons above the columns representing the number of states at the time of dedication. The 36 Doric columns in the Lincoln Memorial represent the number of states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death in 1865. The limestone and marble edifice, which is situated at the western end of the Mall, was designed by Henry Bacon in the style of a Greek temple.

1942 – Four Japanese submarines arrive too late to intercept the American task forces destined for Midway.

1942 – US aircraft carrier Yorktown left Pearl Harbor.

1943 – US forces complete the occupation of Attu Island. American losses are reported as 600 dead and 1200 wounded. Japanese losses are given as 2350 killed (including many suicides) and 28 wounded have been captured.

1945 – On Okinawa, American forces reach Shuri, south of the former Japanese positions. Two battalions of US Marines reach the southeast edge of Naha.

1945 – The Iranian government formally requests the withdrawal of American, British and Soviet troops from Iran.

1951 – The Eighth Army regained the Kansas Line in Korea.

1952 – Far East Air Forces had flown 200,000 sorties in the Korean War during some 330 consecutive days of combat operations.

1958 – Memorial Day: the remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, are buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

1962 – Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem,” premiered.

1965 – Viet Cong offensive began against US base at Da Nang.

1966 – China charges that US planes killed three persons during an attack on Chinese fishing boats north of the Gulf of Tonkin in international waters.

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1966 – In the largest raids since air attacks on North Vietnam began in February 1965, U.S. planes destroy five bridges, 17 railroad cars, and 20 buildings in the Thanh Hoa and Vinh areas (100 and 200 miles south of Hanoi, respectively). Others planes hit Highway 12 in four places north of the Mugia Pass and inflicted heavy damage on the Yen Bay arsenal and munitions storage area, which was located 75 miles northeast of Hanoi. A U.S. spokesman attributed the unprecedented number of planes taking part in the raids to an improvement in weather conditions.

1966 – Launch of Surveyor 1, the first US spacecraft to land on an extraterrestrial body.

1969 – South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu, concluding a four-day visit to South Korea, tells reporters at a news conference that he would “never” agree to a coalition government with the National Liberation Front (NLF). Regarding the role of the NLF in possible elections, Thieu said, “If the communists are willing to lay down their weapons, abandon the communist ideology, and abandon atrocities, they could participate in elections.”

1971 – The North Vietnamese conclude a series of 48 attacks inside South Vietnam during a 24-hour period. Included in the assaults are five allied DMZ bases, and the US air base at Danang. The following day a Saigon bomb blast levels a government building.

1971 – The U.S. unmanned space probe Mariner 9 is launched on a mission to gather scientific information on Mars, the fourth planet from the sun. The 1,116-pound spacecraft entered the planet’s orbit on November 13, 1971, and circled Mars twice each day for almost a year, photographing the surface and analyzing the atmosphere with infrared and ultraviolet instruments. It gathered data on the atmospheric composition, density, pressure, and temperature of Mars, and also information about the surface composition, temperature, and topography of the planet. When Mariner 9 first arrived, Mars was almost totally obscured by dust storms, which persisted for a month.

However, after the dust cleared, Mariner 9 proceeded to reveal a very different planet–one that boasted enormous volcanoes and a gigantic canyon stretching 3,000 miles across its surface. The spacecraft’s cameras also recorded what appeared to be dried riverbeds, suggesting the ancient presence of water and perhaps life on the planet. The first spacecraft to orbit a planet other than earth, Mariner 9 sent back more than 7,000 pictures of the “Red Planet” and succeeded in photographing the entire planet. Mariner 9 also sent back the first close-up images of the Martian moon. Its transmission ended on October 27, 1972.

1982 – Spain became NATO’s 16th member, the first country to enter the Western alliance since West Germany in 1955.

1990 – Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Washington, D.C., for three days of talks with President George Bush. The summit meeting centered on the issue of Germany and its place in a changing Europe. When Gorbachev arrived for this second summit meeting with President Bush, his situation in the Soviet Union was perilous. The Soviet economy, despite Gorbachev’s many attempts at reform, was rapidly reaching a crisis point.

Russia’s control over its satellites in Eastern Europe was quickly eroding, and even Russian republics such as Lithuania were pursuing paths of independence. Some U.S. observers believed that in an effort to save his struggling regime, Gorbachev might try to curry favor with hard-line elements in the Russian Communist Party. That prediction seemed to be borne out by Gorbachev’s behavior at the May 1990 summit. The main issue at the summit was Germany.

By late 1989, the Communist Party in East Germany was rapidly losing its grip on power; the Berlin Wall had come down and calls for democracy and reunification with West Germany abounded. By the time Gorbachev and Bush met in May 1990, leaders in East and West Germany were making plans for reunification. This brought about the question of a unified Germany’s role in Europe. U.S. officials argued that Germany should become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The Soviets adamantly opposed this, fearful that a reunified and pro-western Germany might be a threat to Russian security. Gorbachev indicated his impatience with the U.S. argument when he declared shortly before the summit that, “The West hasn’t done much thinking,” and complained that the argument concerning German membership in NATO was “an old record that keeps playing the same note again and again.”

The Gorbachev-Bush summit ended after three days with no clear agreement on the future of Germany. Russia’s pressing economic needs, however, soon led to a breakthrough. In July 1990, Bush promised Gorbachev a large economic aid package and vowed that the German army would remain relatively small. The Soviet leader dropped his opposition to German membership in NATO. In October 1990, East and West Germany formally reunified and shortly thereafter joined NATO.

1995 – In a letter to UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic demanded guarantees of no further NATO air attacks and de facto recognition of a self-styled Serb state.

1996 – The CGC Yocona was decommissioned in Kodiak, Alaska. She had been in Coast Guard service since 1946.

1999 – Astronauts from the space shuttle “Discovery” rigged cranes and other tools to the exterior of the international space station during a spacewalk; then, the astronauts entered the orbiting outpost for three days of making repairs and delivering supplies.

2002 – Attorney General John Ashcroft issued new terror-fighting guidelines allowing FBI agents to visit Internet sites, libraries, churches and political organizations as part of an effort to pre-empt terrorist strikes.

2002 – In Oregon 3 of 9 hikers were killed while climbing Mt. Hood. An Air Force Pave Hawk rescue helicopter crashed in an attempt to rescue the climbers.

2003 – President Bush began a 6-nation tour in Krakow, Poland, and brought personal thanks to the country for standing up as a wartime ally in Iraq.

2003 – The US government lowered the terrorist threat level from orange to yellow.

2004 – Saudi commandos stormed the expatriate resort of Khobar to free up to 60 foreign hostages seized by Islamic militant gunmen who had attacked oil industry compounds, killing 22 people. Americans were among those killed and taken captive. 3 suspects escaped.

2014 – President Barack Obama accepts Eric Shinseki’s resignation. Obama says he did so with regret, and said that Shinseki offered to step down at a White House meeting with the President so as not to be a distraction going forward. Obama said that Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson will temporarily fill Shinseki’s role as the search is launched for a permanent replacement.

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