This Day in U.S. Military History

Gen.: Clinton Lost Launch Codes for Mos.

2010-10-22T14:01:00.000-05:00

"According to a former chairman of the joint chiefs, Clinton managed to mislay not for hours, but for months, the special plastic card with the codes that in military and White House parlance is called 'the biscuit.' Without it, the president is theoretically unable to order a nuclear launch.
The extraordinary revelation comes towards the end of a new memoir from retired Army Gen. Hugh Shelton, who served under President Clinton as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called 'Without Hesitation: The Odyssey of An American Warrior.'"

Military Folks Financially More Savvy Than Civilians

2010-10-22T14:00:00.000-05:00

"The first-ever 'Military Financial Capability Study' finds that service members are more likely than civilians to keep up with monthly expenses, save for their kids' education, avoid payday lenders, invest in stocks and bonds, and even check on their own credit scores.
Where military members clearly need more financial counseling is credit card balances. Twenty-seven percent carry more than $10,000 in credit card debt versus only 16 percent of civilians surveyed.
But overall 'we can definitely say that [military personnel] are more savvy than the general population' regarding personal finances, said John M. Gannon, president of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation."

US-Saudi Arms Deal Ripples Through Region

2010-10-22T13:49:00.000-05:00

"The Obama administration notified Congress of plans to sell as many as 84 new F-15 fighter jets, helicopters and other gear with an estimated $60 billion price tag.
The proposed deal -- one of the biggest single U.S. arms sales -- is clearly aimed at countering Iran's rising military might and efforts to expand its influence.
But it ties together other significant narratives in the region, including an apparent retooling of Israeli policies to tacitly support a stronger, American-armed Saudi Arabia because of common worries about Iran."

RealClearWorld - Britain Bows Out of the Security Game

2010-10-22T10:46:00.000-05:00

This should be cautionary. I have believed for years that this is the desired end-state of the American Left. To spend and obligate us into a finacial postion htat we can on longer project power in the world. This strategy not only includes growing already massive social entitlemens, but also in the "patriotic" efforts to expand personnel costs for the military itself, such as education giveaways (Post 9/11 GI Bill) that they know will be passed as a matter of course.

"In announcing the cutbacks, Mr. Cameron promised that Britain would still 'punch above its weight.' His words ring hollow.
The British army, already cut a third since the end of the Cold War, will lose another 7,000 soldiers, dropping to 95,500 Tommies from 102,500, one-sixth the size of the U.S. Army. Also gone will be 40% of the British army's tanks and 35% of its artillery, thus making it very difficult to replicate the sort of armored blitzkrieg that Britain carried out against Iraq in 1991 and 2003. In the future Britain will be able to keep only one brigade of about 7,500 soldiers in the field long-term, well below the number deployed today in Afghanistan."

Brides Across America - SpouseBUZZ

2010-10-22T10:39:00.000-05:00

"Brides Across America
Brides Across America was born on a realization that our country needs to do more to support our troops and their families. Bringing bridal and military together is a marriage made in heaven! Bridal salons are uniting across America to donate and giving away wedding gowns to qualified military brides.

The wedding industry is making a difference and giving brides to be the opportunity to find the wedding gown of their dreams as well as alleviating financial stress of purchasing a wedding gown.

Each store will be preparing a select number of gown to give away. Most of the gowns are samples and overstocks and are worth approximately $500 to $3000. Dresses range in sizes from 4-22 and will be given away on a first-come, first serve basis as long as you qualify."

The National Guard - 45th BCT receives new spy in the sky

2010-10-21T22:38:00.000-05:00

"The RQ-7 UAS, known as the Shadow, is operated by Company B, 45th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 45th IBCT. The Shadow is the newest addition to the Oklahoma Army National Guard’s unmanned vehicle systems. Numerous Unmanned Aerial Platforms have proven themselves to be valuable assets in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Shadow is capable of operating in a wide variety of climates during anytime of the day or night. It has a variety of modern optical and communication systems to include; forward looking infrared, real time feedback and has the ability to function as an airborne communication relay system, all of which increase the safety and effectiveness of U.S. and allied Servicemembers."

Why is Obama putting a Fannie Mae/Goldman Sachs lobbyist/consultant as NSA? | Washington Examiner

2010-10-21T21:14:00.000-05:00

"Obama last week tapped Tom Donilon as National Security Advisor. What’s Donilon’s resume? I summarized it when folks floated his name as potential White House chief of staff:
He was a top lobbyist at Fannie Mae during the housing bubble, when Fannie fought — with Democratic help — to avoid any restrictions or curbs on its work to inflate home values and get more people under mortgage. Before that, Donilon was a lobbyist at O’Melveny and Myers, where Fannie was a client.
In 2008, according to his financial disclosure forms, Donilon was a paid consultant for Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Apollo Investments."

Wall St. mogul picked for State Department post - Washington Times

2010-10-21T21:00:00.000-05:00

"Thomas R. Nides, a six-figure fundraiser for Hillary Rodham Clinton during her 2008 presidential run, disclosed his compensation from Morgan Stanley in a recent filing with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
Mr. Nides, the company's chief operating officer, also said he remains eligible for additional bonus money at Morgan Stanley, which repaid its share of the federal bailout last year."

Information Warfare: Wi-Fi For Tanks

2010-10-21T13:33:00.000-05:00

"Russia is in a hurry to update its military, and is following the American example of using commercial technology. In this case, they are adapting Wi-Fi and WiMax wireless networking type tech for battlefield use. This will include the use of satellite links to tie it all together across Russians vast spaces. Most nations have resisted adopting Wi-Fi for military use, because of security vulnerabilities. But Russia has some of the best Internet engineering and cryptography talent on the planet. If they can apply that to their military wi-fi, they may have another hi-tech export."

U.S. Says Military Can Respond to Domestic Cyberthreats - NYTimes.com

2010-10-20T22:59:00.000-05:00

"The new approach will begin with a Department of Homeland Security team deploying to Fort Meade, Md., home to both the National Security Agency, which specializes in electronic espionage, and the military’s new Cyber Command. In exchange, a team of military networking experts would be assigned to the operations center at the Homeland Security Department.
The rules were detailed in a memorandum of agreement signed in late September by Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, but they were not released until last week."

Pentagon trying to change culture to allow gays - Yahoo! News

2010-10-20T22:57:00.000-05:00

"Will straight and gay troops have to shower next to one another? Will the military have to provide benefits to gay partners, and can it afford to? And the biggest question of all: Will gays be harassed or intimidated?"

Is that really the biggest question of all? I half expect that there is an element out there hoping for something really violent and bloody so that they can point to us in the military, shrieking that we must be the troglodytes that they've always warned you about. And, of course, use it as justification for making any further change they want by way of ~~punishment~~ correction.

20-year-old woman student is police chief of violent Mexican town

2010-10-20T22:53:00.000-05:00

"A 20-year-old criminology student, the only candidate for the position, was designated as police chief in the violence-plagued town of Guadalupe Distrito Bravo, Mexican media reported Tuesday.

Marisol Valles Garcia took charge on Monday of security in the town, population 10,000, on the US border. The community is around 80 km east of Ciudad Juarez, itself regarded as the most violent city in Mexico.

The former mayor of Guadalupe Distrito Bravos, Jesus Manuel Lara Rodriguez, was killed on June 19 at his home in Ciudad Juarez, after receiving death threats."

Karl Rove: Obama's Incoherent Closing Argument - WSJ.com

2010-10-20T22:51:00.000-05:00

"Memo to White House: Calling voters stupid is not a winning strategy.
The economy and jobs are the No. 1 issue in every poll. Yet Mr. Obama of late has talked about immigration reform and weighed in (unprompted) on the Ground Zero mosque. He devoted Labor Day to an ineffective Mideast peace initiative. He demeans large blocs of voters and now is ending his midterm pitch with attacks on nonexistent foreign campaign contributions and weird assertions that 'the Empire is striking back.'"

davidthompson

2010-10-20T18:59:00.000-05:00

"Shannon Love on the 1970 Kent State shooting and pathological vanity:
In the end, the idea that the Guard opened fire out of ideological hatred of all that is good and pure is really just a manifestation of the left’s own narcissism and megalomania. They are so convinced not only of their rectitude but of their critical importance to the world that they convince themselves that they are actually important enough for non-leftists to want to kill them. The thought that the Guard saw them not as world changing revolutionaries but just as spoiled, violent children just doesn’t play into the self-hagiography of the individual leftists."

U.S. Income Inequality: It’s Not So Bad

2010-10-20T17:31:00.000-05:00

"The unconstrained opportunity for individuals to create value for society—and the fact that their income reflects the value they create—encourages innovation and entrepreneurship. Economic research has documented a positive correlation between entrepreneurship/innovation and overall economic growth. A wary eye should be cast on policies that aim to shrink the income distribution by redistributing income from the more productive to the less productive simply for the sake of “fairness.” Redistribution of wealth increases the costs of entrepreneurship and innovation, with the result being lower overall economic growth for everyone.
Poverty and income inequality are related, but only the former deserves a policy-based response. Sound economic policy to reduce poverty would lift people out of poverty (increase their productivity) while not reducing the well-being of wealthier individuals. Tools to implement such a policy include investments in education and job training.
Income inequality should not be vilified, and public policy should encourage people to move up the income distribution and not penalize them for having already done so."

Will the Federal Reserve's Ben Bernanke Cause a Civil War? - The Curious Capitalist - TIME.com

2010-10-20T13:36:00.000-05:00

"November 3rd is when the Federal Reserve's next policy committee meeting ends, and if you thought this was just another boring money meeting you would be wrong. It could be the most important meeting in Fed history, maybe. The US central bank is expected to announce its next move to boost the faltering economic recovery. To say there has been considerable debate and anxiety among Fed watchers about what the central bank should do would be an understatement. Chairman Ben Bernanke has indicated in recent speeches that the central bank plans to try to drive down already low-interest rates by buying up long-term bonds. A number of people both inside the Fed and out believe this is the wrong move. But one website seems to believe that Ben's plan might actually lead to armed conflict. Last week, the blog, Zerohedge wrote, paraphrasing a top economic forecaster David Rosenberg, that it believed the Fed's plan is not only moronic, but 'positions US society one step closer to civil war if not worse.'"

Worthy proposes jail for parents who skip kids' school conferences | detnews.com | The Detroit News

2010-10-20T13:35:00.000-05:00

"Her plan would require parents to attend at least one conference per year or face three days in jail. Parents of those excelling in school would be exempt, as would those whose health issues make travel difficult and those 'actively engaged' with teachers through e-mail, phone calls or letters.
'We have to find any means necessary to get parents involved,' Worthy told the council. 'We have to start talking about prevention."

Pa. Democrat admits helping Tea Party candidate - The Hill's Ballot Box

2010-10-20T13:33:00.000-05:00

"A Pennsylvania Democratic House candidate on Tuesday admitted to helping a third candidate get on the ballot in the hopes he would siphon votes away from his Republican opponent.
Bryan Lentz, the Democratic nominee running for the seat being vacated by Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), said he knew that volunteers from his campaign helped Tea Party candidate Jim Schneller.
'If somebody's already made the decision to run, I didn't think that 'helping' with the process of signature petitions was improper,' Lentz told told the Delaware County Daily Times editorial board in an interview."

Murphy's Law: The Kids Were Impressed

2010-10-20T12:09:00.000-05:00

"On the downside, there is a growing divide in the United States when it comes to how many recruits different regions provide. A disproportionate number of recruits come from southern and the Rocky Mountain states. The northeast, upper Midwest and west coast are much more difficult to recruit from, and the recruits are not as good (less education, overweight, bad attitudes).
Recruiters have the hardest time in urban areas. Five years ago, the Department of Defense concluded that urban high schools were the source of most problems. Not because leftist teachers in some of those schools trying to keep recruiters out, but because so many potential recruits have to be turned down because of the poor education they have received in those schools. While only a fifth of Americans live outside cities and suburbs, nearly half of the qualified recruits come from these rural areas. What's strange about all this is that the rural areas spend much less, per pupil, on education, but get much better results."

Armor: Stryker 1.5 Headed For Afghanistan

2010-10-20T11:52:00.000-05:00

"This new design is intended to improve resistance to mines (more common in Afghanistan than Iraq) by adding a V shaped bottom. This is one of the key elements of the MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) design. The current plan is ship some off to Afghanistan, and see if it makes a significant difference in lowering troops casualties. But first, the fourteen prototypes are still being tested to determine the impact of the new design on Stryker operating characteristics. Some of the prototypes have also been run (via remote control), over mines and roadside bombs. These tests were apparently successful. Developing the new prototype design cost about $58 million."

Brits Force Pirates to Row Home in Shame

2010-10-20T09:40:00.000-05:00

"'One cannot help but get a sense of satisfaction at the sight of a bunch of chastened suspected pirates being landed ashore, tails between their legs and the tools of their trade disappearing with a boom and a flash of flame,' British Col. Mark Gray said in a news release."

Speech of James Wilson

2010-10-19T22:22:00.000-05:00

"The Pennsylvania State Legislature was in session when the new Constitution was proposed, so the ratification campaign proceeded immediately, and a large public meeting held October 6, 1787, in the State House (Independence Hall) yard to nominate delegates to the next Pennsylvania Legislature became a forum for debate on ratification. Wilson, who had been a delegate to the Federal Convention, was asked to speak to the gathering to explain the proposed Constitution and answer some of the criticisms that had been made of it. His speech was printed in the Pennsylvania Packet on October 10, 1787, and it was soon reprinted throughout the states, receiving more coverage than the more detailed arguments made in The Federalist."

When you think about it…: Protein Wisdom

2010-10-19T16:15:00.000-05:00

"…this really isn’t all that different from Obama’s pronouncement that those moving toward principled conservatism are merely frightened proles acting out against their betters in a pique of knee-jerk adolescent rebellion."

China Raises Interest Rates - WSJ.com

2010-10-19T15:41:00.000-05:00

"China raised interest rates for the first time since emerging from the financial crisis, in a surprise move that highlights the widening gap in the world economy between economically vibrant developing countries and the rich nations trying to fend off stagnation.
The People's Bank of China said Tuesday that it increased the benchmark one-year interest rate on loans and deposits by a quarter of a percentage point. The move is the first adjustment to interest rates since December 2008, when the central bank cut them by 0.27 percentage point as part of a stimulus package to combat the effects of the global financial crisis. The last increase in interest rates was in December 2007, when inflation was over 6%."

CIA sues ex-agent for book's breach of 'secrecy' - Washington Times

2010-10-19T15:38:00.000-05:00

"The book is a detailed account of his career inside the CIA's clandestine service and his work as a 'nonofficial cover' operative in the Middle East and Europe.
'The book contains no classified information and I do not profit from it,' Mr. Jones told The Washington Times. 'CIA censors attack this book because it exposes the CIA as a place to get rich, with billions of taxpayer dollars wasted or stolen in espionage programs that produce nothing.'"

Michael Gerson - Obama the snob

2010-10-19T15:29:00.000-05:00

"'Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now,' he recently told a group of Democratic donors in Massachusetts, 'and facts and science and argument [do] not seem to be winning the day all the time is because we're hard-wired not to always think clearly when we're scared. And the country is scared.'
Let's unpack these remarks.
Obama clearly believes that his brand of politics represents 'facts and science and argument.' His opponents, in disturbing contrast, are using the more fearful, primitive portion of their brains. Obama views himself as the neocortical leader -- the defender, not just of the stimulus package and health-care reform but also of cognitive reasoning. His critics rely on their lizard brains -- the location of reptilian ritual and aggression. Some, presumably Democrats, rise above their evolutionary hard-wiring in times of social stress; others, sadly, do not.
Though there is plenty of competition, these are some of the most arrogant words ever uttered by an American president."

Troops chafe at restrictive rules of engagement, talks with Taliban | Washington Examiner

2010-10-19T15:26:00.000-05:00

"Among those perceived truths: Tthe restrictive rules of engagement that they have to fight under have made serving in combat far more dangerous for them, while allowing the Taliban to return to a position of strength.
'If they use rockets to hit the [forward operating base] we can't shoot back because they were within 500 meters of the village. If they shoot at us and drop their weapon in the process we can't shoot back,' said Spc. Charles Brooks, 26, a U.S. Army medic with 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, in Zabul province.
Word had come down the morning Brooks spoke to this reporter that watch towers surrounding the base were going to be dismantled because Afghan village elders, some sympathetic to the Taliban, complained they were invading their village privacy. 'We have to take down our towers because it offends them and now the Taliban can set up mortars and we can't see them,' Brooks added, with disgust."

Republicans put 99 Democrat-held House seats in danger - Alex Isenstadt - POLITICO.com

2010-10-19T15:20:00.000-05:00

"It’s a dramatic departure from the outlook one year ago — and a broader landscape than even just prior to the summer congressional recess. As recently as early September, many Republicans were hesitant to talk about winning a majority for fear of overreaching.
Today, however, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report predicts a GOP net gain of at least 40 House seats, with 90 Democratic seats in total rated as competitive or likely Republican."

National Debt Up $3 Trillion on Obama's Watch - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

2010-10-19T13:39:00.000-05:00

And that's the good news.: "Just last Friday, the Treasury Department portrayed it as good news when it reported that the federal deficit in the fiscal year that ended September 30th was $1.294 trillion. That's less than the $1.416 trillion deficit accrued in 2009 - the largest federal deficit ever recorded. It was also less than the $1.556 trillion that had been initially projected for 2010."

Added: 25 January

2010-10-19T11:12:00.002-05:00

MILLER, ROBERT J.
Organization: U.S. Army, Company: Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 3312, Division: Special Operations Task Force 33, Born: 14 October 1983, Departed: Yes, Entered Service At: Oviedo, Florida, G.O. Number: Date of Issue: 10/06/2010, Accredited To: Florida, Place / Date: Konar Province, Afghanistan. Citation: Robert J. Miller distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of heroism while serving as the Weapons Sergeant in Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 3312, Special Operations Task Force-33, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan during combat operations against an armed enemy in Konar Province, Afghanistan on January 25, 2008. While conducting a combat reconnaissance patrol through the Gowardesh Valley, Staff Sergeant Miller and his small element of U.S. and Afghan National Army soldiers engaged a force of 15 to 20 insurgents occupying prepared fighting positions. Staff Sergeant Miller initiated the assault by engaging the enemy positions with his vehicle's turret-mounted Mark-19 40 millimeter automatic grenade launcher while simultaneously providing detailed descriptions of the enemy positions to his command, enabling effective, accurate close air support. Following the engagement, Staff Sergeant Miller led a small squad forward to conduct a battle damage assessment. As the group neared the small, steep, narrow valley that the enemy had inhabited, a large, well-coordinated insurgent force initiated a near ambush, assaulting from elevated positions with ample cover. Exposed and with little available cover, the patrol was totally vulnerable to enemy rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapon fire. As point man, Staff Sergeant Miller was at the front of the patrol, cut off from supporting elements, and less than 20 meters from enemy forces. Nonetheless, with total disregard for his own safety, he called for his men to quickly move back to covered positions as he charged the enemy over exposed ground and under overwhelming enemy fire in order to provide protective fire for his team. While maneuvering to engage the enemy, Staff Sergeant Miller was shot in his upper torso. Ignoring the wound, he continued to push the fight, moving to draw fire from over one hundred enemy fighters upon himself. He then again charged forward through an open area in order to allow his teammates to safely reach cover. After killing at least 10 insurgents, wounding dozens more, and repeatedly exposing himself to withering enemy fire while moving from position to position, Staff Sergeant Miller was mortally wounded by enemy fire. His extraordinary valor ultimately saved the lives of seven members of his own team and 15 Afghanistan National Army soldiers. Staff Sergeant Miller's heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty, and at the cost of his own life, are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.

Added to 21 June

2009-09-18T21:58:00.001-05:00

MONTI, JARED C.*
United States ArmyRank and organization: Staff Sergeant Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3d Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. Place and date: Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, on June 21, 2006. Citation: Staff Sergeant Jared C. Monti distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a team leader with , in connection with combat operations against an armed enemy in While Staff Sergeant Monti was leading a mission aimed at gathering intelligence and directing fire against the enemy, his 16-man patrol was attacked by as many as 50 enemy fighters. On the verge of being overrun, Staff Sergeant Monti quickly directed his men to set up a defensive position behind a rock formation. He then called for indirect fire support, accurately targeting the rounds upon the enemy who had closed to within 50 meters of his position. While still directing fire, Staff Sergeant Monti personally engaged the enemy with his rifle and a grenade, successfully disrupting an attempt to flank his patrol. Staff Sergeant Monti then realized that one of his Soldiers was lying wounded in the open ground between the advancing enemy and the patrol’s position. With complete disregard for his own safety, Staff Sergeant Monti twice attempted to move from behind the cover of the rocks into the face of relentless enemy fire to rescue his fallen comrade. Determined not to leave his Soldier, Staff Sergeant Monti made a third attempt to cross open terrain through intense enemy fire. On this final attempt, he was mortally wounded, sacrificing his own life in an effort to save his fellow Soldier. Staff Sergeant Monti’s selfless acts of heroism inspired his patrol to fight off the larger enemy force. Staff Sergeant Monti’s immeasurable courage and uncommon valor are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, and the United States Army.

Today!

2008-07-05T15:51:00.002-05:00

2008 - The US Coast Guard launches the USCGC Bertholf, it's first National Security Cutter. The cutter — 418 feet from stem to stern — is set to patrol the Pacific from California to Ecuador — a patch of ocean as large as the United States. The first of eight similar cutters to be rolled out over the next several years, its acquisition is part of the Coast Guard’s Deepwater program, a plan to modernize an aging fleet and keep up with its expanded Homeland Security role. The Legend Class National Security Cutter (NSC) was designed to be the flagship of the fleet – capable of meeting all maritime security mission needs, and supportive of the joint Coast Guard/Navy commitment to Joint Service Combatant Commanders. The NSC contributes to Intelligence Collection/Information Sharing through a sophisticated Command anad Control system, sensors and increased data exchange bandwidth. The NSC’s Deepwater and DoD interoperability capabilities are enhanced with DHS- and local responder interoperable radio communications. The NSC flight deck will grow to accommodate all variants of DHS and DoD HH-60 helicopters to provide enhanced interoperability with interagency and inter-service counter-terrorism teams. The NSC will now be fully integrated with the National Distress Response Modernization Program, known as RESCUE 21, which will provide port commanders with real-time tracking of the NSC and seamless Common Operational Picture data sharing. The NSC Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection suite will include underwater sonar that will allow the cutter to scan ports, approaches, facilities and high-value assets for underwater, minelike devices and detect swimmers. The cutter’s small arms mounts will be remote operated and fully integrated with the cutter’s radar and infrared sensors such that the cutter and high-value assets under its protection can be protected from a USS COLE-like incident. The Maritime Security Capabilities allow the cutter’s weapons and command and control suite to be upgraded and hardened to better survive potential terrorist incidents and process increased data flow. This will include a missile defense system with CIWS, SLQ-32, and a medium caliber deck gun (57MM) that will provide the ability to stop rogue merchant vessels far from shore. An integrated CBRNE Detection and Defense capability allows the NSC to remain on scene and operate in Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) scenarios.

Added to 4 December

2008-06-05T15:13:00.001-05:00

McGINNIS, ROSS ANDREW
United States Army. Citation. For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:Private First Class Ross A. McGinnis distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an M2 .50-caliber Machine Gunner, 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, in connection with combat operations against an armed enemy in Adhamiyah, Northeast Baghdad, Iraq, on 4 December 2006.That afternoon his platoon was conducting combat control operations in an effort to reduce and control sectarian violence in the area. While Private McGinnis was manning the M2 .50-caliber Machine Gun, a fragmentation grenade thrown by an insurgent fell through the gunner's hatch into the vehicle. Reacting quickly, he yelled "grenade," allowing all four members of his crew to prepare for the grenade's blast. Then, rather than leaping from the gunner's hatch to safety, Private McGinnis made the courageous decision to protect his crew. In a selfless act of bravery, in which he was mortally wounded, Private McGinnis covered the live grenade, pinning it between his body and the vehicle and absorbing most of the explosion. Private McGinnis' gallant action directly saved four men from certain serious injury or death. Private First Class McGinnis' extraordinary heroism and selflessness at the cost of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

Added to 23 April

2008-04-23T09:22:00.001-05:00

1908 - Congress passed legislation that created the Medical Reserve Corps, the Army's first federal reserve force. From this pool of trained medical professionals, the secretary of War was able to order Reserve officers to active duty during time of emergency. In June 1908, the first 160 Reserve medical officers received their commissions. This number grew to about 360 by 1909, to 1,900 by 1916, and to 9,223 by 1917. The concept of bringing civilian professionals into the Army in a disciplined and quickly-accessible manner soon expanded beyond the medical profession and beyond officers, becoming the modern US Army Reserve.

Added to 29 September

2008-04-09T10:17:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, President Bush presented the Medal of Honor to the family of a fallen SEAL.

*MONSOOR, MICHAEL A.
Rank and organization: Master-At-Arms Second Class, SEAL Team 3, Naval Special Warfare Task Group Arabian Peninsula,U.S. Navy. Place and Date: Ar Ramadi, Iraq, 29 September 2006. Entered Service at: Garden Grove, CA. Born: 5 April 1981, Long Beach, California. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Automatic Weapons Gunner in SEAL Team 3, Naval Special Warfare Task Group Arabian Peninsula, in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 29 September 2006. As a member of a combined SEAL and Iraqi Army sniper overwatch element, tasked with providing early warning and stand-off protection from a rooftop in an insurgent-held sector of Ar Ramadi, Iraq, Petty Officer Monsoor distinguished himself by his exceptional bravery in the face of grave danger. In the early morning, insurgents prepared to execute a coordinated attack by reconnoitering the area around the element's position. Element snipers thwarted the enemy's initial attempt by eliminating two insurgents. The enemy continued to assault the element, engaging them with a rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire. As enemy activity increased, Petty Officer Monsoor took position with his machine gun between two teammates on an outcropping of the roof. While the SEALs vigilantly watched for enemy activity, an insurgent threw a hand grenade from an unseen location, which bounced off Petty Officer Monsoor's chest and landed in front of him. Although only he could have escaped the blast, Petty Officer Monsoor chose instead to protect his teammates. Instantly and without regard for his own safety, he threw himself onto the grenade to absorb the force of the explosion with his body, saving the lives of his two teammates. By his undaunted courage, fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of certain death, Petty Officer Monsoor gallantly gave his life for his country, thereby reflecting great credit upon himself and upholding the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Adding US Military Awards Information

2008-02-04T16:32:00.001-06:00

I received an e-mail from LTC Doty, who is assigned as a speechwriter for the Chief of Staff of the Army. He let me know that he uses my little effort here sometimes gathering information for speeches for the CSA (that's a heck of thing, and I consider it high praise) and he pointed me to a resource for historical information on medals and awards and I've begun adding them in.

Thank you, LTC Doty!

UPDATE

2007-04-06T06:21:00.000-05:00

December 2004 now included.

Added:

2007-04-05T04:33:00.000-05:00

14 November-- Medal of Honor Citation for MAJ Bruce P. Crandall

14 April-- Medal of Honor Citation for CPL Jason L. Dunham

23 July-- Medal of Honor Citation for CPL Tibor Rubin

Yes. I'm late.

2005-11-02T23:31:00.000-06:00

Started adding in posts for November 2004.

New Update

2005-10-22T16:27:00.000-05:00

Added to 22 October--1918's organization of the U.S. Army Air Service and the 43rd Division's arrival in New Guinea in 1942.

One Year Completed!

2005-10-21T00:21:00.000-05:00

With the September 30th entry added to this blog, the entire year is now represented on this blog. As you can see there are a few changes.

I've added a calendar for quick navigation to the dates you want to know about.

By no means does this indicate that the work here is finished. Some of the entries I have put up so far are pretty thin on details. Some are undoubtedly in error. (One will be fixed soon--Thank you, CPT Moose, USN.) And of course, every day that does by is another day of entries to be added.

New posts will be administrative, describing updates and giving credit to anyone who helps out with tips, corrections and information. Updates will simply be made to the existing posts.

I hope everyone finds this useful, informative and fun.

If you wish to contact me, either e-mail (the link is on the sidebar) or post a comment at the end of any post.

--RTO Trainer

September 30

2005-09-30T20:43:00.000-05:00

30 September

1777 - The Congress of the United States, forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces, moved to York, Pennsylvania.
1800 - U.S. concludes treaty of peace with France, ending Quasi War with France.
1864 - Confederate troops failed to retake Fort Harrison from the Union forces during the siege of Petersburg.
1864 - In an attempt to cut the last rail line into Petersburg, Virginia, Union troops attack the Confederate defense around the besieged city. Although initially successful, the attack ground to a halt when Confederate reinforcements were rushed into place from other sections of the Petersburg line. This battle came after more than three months of trench warfare. Union commander General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate commander General Robert E. Lee had fought a costly and fast-moving campaign in the spring, but by June they had settled into trenches around Petersburg. The lines extended all the way to Richmond, 25 miles north of Petersburg. Grant had made sporadic attacks to break the stalemate, and this battle was yet another attempt to drive Lee's men from the trenches. The attack coincided with a Federal assault at New Market Heights, near Richmond. The day before, Union forces had captured two strongholds in the Richmond defense system, but were unable to penetrate any further. A Confederate counterattack on September 30 failed to recapture the positions. Grant hoped that launching a strike around the same time at the other end of the line would keep Lee from sending reinforcements to both locations. On September 30, four divisions from Generals Gouvernor K. Warren's and John G. Parke's corps struck a Rebel redoubt (an earthen fortress) at Poplar Springs Church that was easily captured along with a section of trenches. But Confederate General Ambrose P. Hill, in charge of the Petersburg defenses, was able to bring two divisions from other parts of his line to stop the Yankees, and a counterattack prevented the loss of any more territory. The Yankees would try again on October 1, but would be unsuccessful. The Union lost 2,800 troops, including nearly 1,300 captured during the Confederate counterattack. Lee's army suffered only 1,300 casualties, but they were much harder for him to replace. The Southside Railroad, the object of the attack, was still in Confederate hands, and the armies settled back into their trenches.
1899 - First Navy wireless message sent via Lighthouse Service Station at Highlands of Navesink, New Jersey.
1924 - Allies stopped checking on the German navy.
1932 - "Chesty" Puller won second Navy Cross.
1938 - Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, French Premier Edouard Daladier, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain sign the Munich Pact, which seals the fate of Czechoslovakia, virtually handing it over to Germany in the name of peace. Upon return to Britain, Chamberlain would declare that the meeting had achieved "peace in our time." Although the agreement was to give into Hitler's hands only the Sudentenland, that part of Czechoslovakia where 3 million ethnic Germans lived, it also handed over to the Nazi war machine 66 percent of Czechoslovakia's coal, 70 percent of its iron and steel, and 70 percent of its electrical power. It also left the Czech nation open to complete domination by Germany. In short, the Munich Pact sacrificed the autonomy of Czechoslovakia on the altar of short-term peace-very short term. The terrorized Czech government was eventually forced to surrender the western provinces of Bohemia and Moravia (which became a protectorate of Germany) and finally Slovakia and the Carpathian Ukraine. In each of these partitioned regions, Germany set up puppet, pro-Nazi regimes that served the military and political ends of Adolf Hitler. By the time of the invasion of Poland in September 1939, the nation called "Czechoslovakia" no longer existed. It was Neville Chamberlain who would be best remembered as the champion of the Munich Pact, having met privately with Hitler at Berchtesgaden, the dictator's mountaintop retreat, before the Munich conference. Chamberlain, convinced that Hitler's territorial demands were not unreasonable (and that Hitler was a "gentleman"), persuaded the French to join him in pressuring Czechoslovakia to submit to the Fuhrer's demands. Upon Hitler's invasion of Poland a year later, Chamberlain was put in the embarrassing situation of announcing that a "state of war" existed between Germany and Britain. By the time Hitler occupied Norway and Denmark, Chamberlain was finished as a credible leader. "Depart, I say, and let us have done with you!" one member of Parliament said to him, quoting Oliver Cromwell. Winston Churchill would succeed him as prime minister soon afterwards.
1939 - Germany and Russia agreed to partition Poland.
1943 - The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps became the Women's Army Corps, a regular contingent of the U.S. Army with the same status as other army service corps.
1943 - The US 5th Army continues to advance. Elements of the British 10th Corps reach the outskirts of Naples as elements of US 6th Corps capture Avellino.
1944 - Admiral Fort takes command of US operations in this island group. He announces that Peleliu, Angaur, Ngesebus and Kongauru have been completely occupied. Japanese resistance continues, however.
1944 - Calais was reoccupied by Allies.
1944 - USS Nautilus (SS-168) lands supplies and evacuates some people from Panay, Philipppine Islands.
1945 - American Marines of the US 3rd Amphibious Corps start landing at Tientsin, in the north, to disarm 630,000 Japanese.
1946 - U.S. Government announces that U.S. Navy units would be permanently stationed in the Mediterranean to carry out American policy and diplomacy.
1946 - An international military tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, found 22 top Nazi leaders guilty of war crimes. Ribbentrop and Goering were sentenced to death. American psychiatrist Leon Goldensohn interviewed many of the participants and in 2004 the interviews were published as “The Nuremberg Interviews: An American Psychiatrist’s Conversations with the Defendants and Witnesses.”
1949 - After 15 months and more than 250,000 flights, the Berlin Airlift officially comes to an end. The airlift was one of the greatest logistical feats in modern history and was one of the crucial events of the early Cold War. In June 1948, the Soviet Union suddenly blocked all ground traffic into West Berlin, which was located entirely within the Russian zone of occupation in Germany. It was an obvious effort to force the United States, Great Britain, and France (the other occupying powers in Germany) to accept Soviet demands concerning the postwar fate of Germany. As a result of the Soviet blockade, the people of West Berlin were left without food, clothing, or medical supplies. Some U.S. officials pushed for an aggressive response to the Soviet provocation, but cooler heads prevailed and a plan for an airlift of supplies to West Berlin was developed. It was a daunting task: supplying the daily wants and needs of so many civilians would require tons of food and other goods each and every day. On June 26, 1948, the Berlin Airlift began with U.S. pilots and planes carrying the lion's share of the burden. During the next 15 months, 277,264 aircraft landed in West Berlin bringing over 2 million tons of supplies. On September 30, 1949, the last plane--an American C-54--landed in Berlin and unloaded over two tons of coal. Even though the Soviet blockade officially ended in May 1949, it took several more months for the West Berlin economy to recover and the necessary stockpiles of food, medicine, and fuel to be replenished. The Berlin Airlift was a tremendous Cold War victory for the United States. Without firing a shot, the Americans foiled the Soviet plan to hold West Berlin hostage, while simultaneously demonstrating to the world the "Yankee ingenuity" for which their nation was famous. For the Soviets, the Berlin crisis was an unmitigated disaster. The United States, France, and Great Britain merely hardened their resolve on issues related to Germany, and the world came to see the Russians as international bullies, trying to starve innocent citizens.
1949 - The rank of commodore, established in 1943 as a wartime measure, was terminated by the President under the provisions of an Act of Congress approved 24 July 1941.
1950 - U.N. forces crossed the 38th parallel separating North and South Korea as they pursued the retreating North Korean Army.
1954 - The USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear submarine, is commissioned by the U.S. Navy. The Nautilus was constructed under the direction of U.S. Navy Captain Hyman G. Rickover, a brilliant Russian-born engineer who joined the U.S. atomic program in 1946. In 1947, he was put in charge of the navy's nuclear-propulsion program and began work on an atomic submarine. Regarded as a fanatic by his detractors, Rickover succeeded in developing and delivering the world's first nuclear submarine years ahead of schedule. In 1952, the Nautilus' keel was laid by President Harry S. Truman, and on January 21, 1954, first lady Mamie Eisenhower broke a bottle of champagne across its bow as it was launched into the Thames River at Groton, Connecticut. Commissioned on September 30, 1954, it first ran under nuclear power on the morning of January 17, 1955. Much larger than the diesel-electric submarines that preceded it, the Nautilus stretched 319 feet and displaced 3,180 tons. It could remain submerged for almost unlimited periods because its atomic engine needed no air and only a very small quantity of nuclear fuel. The uranium-powered nuclear reactor produced steam that drove propulsion turbines, allowing the Nautilus to travel underwater at speeds in excess of 20 knots. In its early years of service, the USS Nautilus broke numerous submarine travel records and in August 1958 accomplished the first voyage under the geographic North Pole. After a career spanning 25 years and almost 500,000 miles steamed, the Nautilus was decommissioned on March 3, 1980. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982, the world's first nuclear submarine went on exhibit in 1986 as the Historic Ship Nautilus at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut.
1954 - NATO nations agreed to arm and admit West Germany.
1958 - Marines leave Lebanon.
1959 - Last flight of airshps assigned to the Naval Air Reserve at Lakehurst, NJ takes place.
1961 - A bill for the 1773 Boston Tea Party was paid by Mayor Snyder of Oregon. He wrote a check for $196, the total cost of all tea lost.
1962 - In Oxford, Mississippi, James H. Meredith, an African American, is escorted onto the University of Mississippi campus by U.S. Marshals, setting off a deadly riot. Two men were killed before the racial violence was quelled by more than 3,000 federal soldiers. The next day, Meredith successfully enrolled and began to attend classes amid continuing disruption. A former serviceman in the U.S. Air Force, Meredith applied and was accepted to the University of Mississippi in 1962, but his admission was revoked when the registrar learned of his race. A federal court ordered "Ole Miss" to admit him, but when he tried to register on September 20, 1962, he found the entrance to the office blocked by Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett. On September 28, the governor was found guilty of civil contempt and was ordered to cease his interference with desegregation at the university or face arrest and a fine of $10,000 a day. Two days later, Meredith was escorted onto the Ole Miss campus by U.S. Marshals. Turned back by violence, he returned the next day and began classes. Meredith, who was a transfer student from all-black Jackson State College, graduated with a degree in political science in 1963. In 1966, Meredith returned to the public eye when he began a lone civil rights march in an attempt to encourage voter registration by African Americans in the South. During this March Against Fear, Meredith intended to walk from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi. However, on June 6, just two days into the march, he was sent to a hospital by a sniper's bullet. Other civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr., and Stokely Carmichael, arrived to continue the march on his behalf. It was during the March Against Fear that Carmichael, who was leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, first spoke publicly of "Black Power"--his concept of militant African American nationalism. James Meredith later recovered and rejoined the march he had originated, and on June 26 the marchers successfully reached Jackson, Mississippi.
1968 - USS New Jersey, the world's only active battleship, arrives in Vietnamese waters and begins bombarding the Demilitarized Zone from her station off the Vietnamese coast.
1969 - Nazi war criminals Albert Speer, the German minister of armaments, and Baldur von Schirach, the founder of the Hitler Youth, were freed at midnight from Spandau prison after serving twenty-year prison sentences.
1989 - Thousands of East Germans who had sought refuge in West German embassies in Czechoslovakia and Poland began emigrating under an accord between Soviet bloc and NATO nations.
1992 - Congress approved a bill requiring the release of nearly all government files concerning the assassination of President Kennedy.
1992 - Marine Barracks, Subic Bay, Philippines, was disestablished. The Naval Base had been used by Americans for many years.
1993 - MS Dos 6.2 was released.
1994 - The space shuttle Endeavour and its six astronauts roared into orbit on an 11-day mission.
1994 - The crew of Coast Guard LORAN Station Marcus Island decommissioned their station and turned it over to the Japanese Maritime Safety Agency. This was the last station in the Northwest Pacific LORAN chain to be decommissioned and turned over to the Japanese under a 1992 agreement between the U.S. and Japan.
1995 - US envoy Richard Holbrooke, trying to negotiate a Bosnian cease-fire, ended inconclusive talks with the Sarajevo government and headed for Belgrade to try his luck with the Serbs.
1999 - Defense Secretary William Cohen ordered a top-level investigation of accounts of mass killings of Korean civilians by US soldiers at No Gun Ri in 1950.
2001 - Leaders of the Taliban said they had Osama bin Laden “under our control,” but would release him to the US only if shown proof that he plotted the Sep 11 attacks. Pres. Bush said he would not negotiate.
2004 - Three bombs exploded at a neighborhood celebration in western Baghdad, killing 35 children and seven adults. Across Iraq insurgent attacks left 51 dead.
2004 - The Arab news network Al-Jazeera showed video of 10 new hostages seized in Iraq by militants.

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day

BLODGETT, WELIS H.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, Company D, 37th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Newtonia, Mo., 30 September 1862. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born: 29 January 1839, Downers Grove, Ill. Date of issue: 15 February 1894. Citation: With a single orderly, captured an armed picket of 8 men and marched them in prisoners.

HADLEY, OSGOOD T.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company E, 6th New Hampshire Veteran Infantry. Place and date: Near Pegram House, Va., 30 September 1864. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Nashua, N.H. Date of issue: 27 July 1896. Citation: As color bearer of his regiment he defended his colors with great personal gallantry and brought them safely out of the action.

HUBBELL, WILLIAM S.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company A, 21st Connecticut Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Harrison, Va., 30 September 1864. Entered service at: North Stonington, Conn. Born: 19 April 1837, Wolcottville, Conn. Date of issue: 13 June 1894. Citation: Led out a small flanking party and by a clash and at great risk captured a large number of prisoners.

JAMES, MILES
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company B, 36th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 30 September 1864. Entered service at: Norfolk, Va. Birth: Princess Anne County, Va. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Having had his arm mutilated, making immediate amputation necessary, he loaded and discharged his piece with one hand and urged his men forward; this within 30 yards of the enemy's works.

JOHNDRO, FRANKLIN
Rank and organization: Private, Company A, 118th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 30 September 1864. Entered service at:------. Birth: Highgate Falls, Vt. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Capture of 40 prisoners.

MURPHY, THOMAS
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company K, 158th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 30 September 1864. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 15 October 1864. Citation: Capture of flag.

BAIRD, GEORGE W.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant and Adjutant, 5th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Bear Paw Mountain, Mont., 30 September 1877. Entered service at: Milford, Conn. Birth: Connecticut. Date of issue: 27 November 1894. Citation: Most distinguished gallantry in action with the Nez Perce Indians.

CARTER, MASON
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 5th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Bear Paw Mountain, Mont., 30 September 1877. Entered service at: Augusta, Ga. Birth: Augusta, Ga. Date of issue: 27 November 1894. Citation: Led a charge under a galling fire, in which he inflicted great loss upon the enemy.

GODFREY, EDWARD S.
Rank and organization: Captain, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Bear Paw Mountain, Mont., 30 September 1877. Entered service at: Ottawa, Putnam County, Ohio. Born: 9 October 1843, Ottawa, Ohio. Date of issue: 27 November 1894. Citation: Led his command into action when he was severely wounded.

HOGAN, HENRY
SECOND AWARD
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company G, 5th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Bear Paw Mountain, Mont., 30 September 1877. Citation: Carried Lt. Romeyn, who was severely wounded, off the field of battle under heavy fire.

LONG, OSCAR F.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, 5th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Bear Paw Mountain, Mont., 30 September 1877. Entered service at: Utica, N.Y. Born: 16 June 1852, Utica, N.Y. Date of issue: 22 March 1895. Citation: Having been directed to order a troop of cavalry to advance, and finding both its officers killed, he voluntarily assumed command, and under a heavy fire from the Indians advanced the troop to its proper position.

McCLERNAND, EDWARD J.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, 2d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Bear Paw Mountain, Mont., 30 September 1877. Entered service at: Springfield, 111. Birth: Jacksonville, 111. Date of issue: 27 November 1894. Citation: Gallantly attacked a band of hostiles and conducted the combat with excellent skill and boldness.

MOYLAN, MYLES
Rank and organization: Captain, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Bear Paw Mountain, Mont., 30 September 1877. Entered service at: Essex, Mass. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 27 November 1894. Citation: Gallantly led his command in action against Nez Perce Indians until he was severely wounded.

ROMEYN, HENRY
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 5th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Bear Paw Mountain, Mont., 30 September 1877. Entered service at: Michigan. Birth: Galen, N.Y. Date of issue: 27 November 1894. Citation: Led his command into close range of the enemy, there maintained his position, and vigorously prosecuted the fight until he was severely wounded.

TILTON, HENRY R.
Rank and organization: Major and Surgeon, U.S. Army. Place and date: At Bear Paw Mountain, Mont., 30 September 1877. Entered service at: Jersey City, N.J. Birth: Barnegat, N.J. Date of issue: 22 March 1895. Citation: Fearlessly risked his life and displayed great gallantry in rescuing and protecting the wounded men.

ROBB, GEORGE S.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 369th Infantry, 93d Division. Place and date: Near Sechault, France, 29-30 September 1918. Entered service at: Salina, Kans. Born: 18 May 1887, Assaria, Kans. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: While leading his platoon in the assault 1st Lt. Robb was severely wounded by machinegun fire, but rather than go to the rear for proper treatment he remained with his platoon until ordered to the dressing station by his commanding officer. Returning within 45 minutes, he remained on duty throughout the entire night, inspecting his lines and establishing outposts. Early the next morning he was again wounded, once again displaying his remarkable devotion to duty by remaining in command of his platoon. Later the same day a bursting shell added 2 more wounds, the same shell killing his commanding officer and 2 officers of his company. He then assumed command of the company and organized its position in the trenches. Displaying wonderful courage and tenacity at the critical times, he was the only officer of his battalion who advanced beyond the town, and by clearing machinegun and sniping posts contributed largely to the aid of his battalion in holding their objective. His example of bravery and fortitude and his eagerness to continue with his mission despite severe wounds set before the enlisted men of his command a most wonderful standard of morale and self-sacrifice.

September 29

2005-09-29T20:43:00.001-05:00

29 September

1789 - The U.S. War Department established a regular U.S. army with a strength of several hundred men.
1812 - Seminole Indians ambushed Marines at Twelve Mile Swamp, Florida.
1850 - Pres. Millard Fillmore named Mormon leader Brigham Young as the first governor of the Utah Territory.
1862 - Union General Jefferson C. Davis mortally wounds his commanding officer, General William Nelson, in Louisville, Kentucky. Davis had been upset by a reprimand handed down by Nelson. After quarreling in a hotel lobby, Nelson slapped Davis. Davis then chased him upstairs and shot him. Davis was never court-martialed, and it is thought that the influence of Indiana Governor Oliver Morton, who was with Davis at the time of the shooting, was instrumental in preventing a trial. Davis went on to serve with distinction at the Battles of Stones River, Chickamauga, and Chattanooga.
1863 - U.S.S. Lafayette, Lieutenant Commander J.P. Foster, and U.S.S. Kenwood, Acting Master John Swaney, arrived at Morganza, Louisiana, on Bayou Fordoche to support troops under Major General Napoleon J. T. Dana. More than 400 Union troops had been captured in an engagement with Confederates under Brigadier General Thomas Green. Foster noted, "the arrival of the gunboats was hailed . . . with perfect delight." Next day, the presence of the ships, he added, "no doubt deterred [the Confederates] from attacking General Dana in his position at Morganza as they had about four brigades to do it with, while our forces did not amount to more than 1,500." Foster ordered gunboats to cover the Army and prevent a renewal of the action.
1864 - Union General Ulysses S. Grant tries to break the stalemate around Richmond and Petersburg—25 miles south of Richmond—by attacking two points along the defenses of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The assault against Richmond, called the Battle of New Market Heights, and the assault against Petersburg, known as the Battle of Poplar Springs Church (Peeble's Farm), both failed. But they kept the pressure on Lee and prevented him from sending reinforcements to the beleaguered General Jubal Early, who was fighting against General Philip Sheridan in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Grant gave the attack on New Market Heights to General Benjamin Butler's Army of the James. Butler had carefully scouted the network of Confederate fortifications and determined that there were weaknesses. He instructed General Edward Ord to strike at Fort Harrison, a stronghold in the network, and General David Birney to attack New Market Heights. The assault began with Birney, who sent a division of African American soldiers against New Market Heights. Butler was correct about the weakness of the Richmond defenses, which were significantly undermanned since most of Lee's force was protecting Petersburg. The 1,800 Confederate defenders of New Market Heights soon realized that the Yankee attack threatened to overrun their position. After a half-hour battle, they retreated closer to Richmond. At nearby Fort Harrison, Ord's troops swarmed over the walls of the fort and scattered the 800 inexperienced defenders. Despite the initial success, the Union attack became bogged down. The leading units of the attack suffered significant casualties, including many officers. The Confederate defenses were deep, and the Yankees faced another set of fortifications. Butler instructed his men to secure the captured territory before renewing the attack. That night, Lee moved several brigades from Petersburg for an unsuccessful counterattack on September 30. In the end, Union soldiers bent the Richmond defenses but did not break them. Yankee casualties totaled 3,300 of the 20,000 troops engaged, while the Confederates lost 2,000 of 11,000 engaged. The stalemate continued until the following spring.
1864 - Ships of the Confederate James River Squadron, Flag Officer Mitchell, supported Southern troops in attacks against Fort Harrison, Chaffin's Farm, James River, Virginia. Though the Confederates failed to retake Fort Harrison, with the aid of heavy fire from Mitchell's ships, they prevented Union soldiers from capturing Chaffin's Bluff.
1879 - Dissatisfied Ute Indians killed Agent Nathan Meeker and nine others in the "Meeker Massacre."
1899 - VFW established.
1918 - Allied forces scored a decisive breakthrough of the Hindenburg Line during World War I.
1918 - Lt. Frank Luke Jr. against orders destroyed 3 German balloons and downed 2 pursuing fighters in a final flight of vengeance for the loss of his wingman Lt. Joseph Wehner. Luke received a posthumous medal of honor.
1939 - In New York city, Fritz Kuhn, the leader of the pro-Nazi German-American Bund, is imprisoned.
1939 - Germany and the Soviet Union agree to divide control of occupied Poland roughly along the Bug River--the Germans taking everything west, the Soviets taking everything east. As a follow-up to the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, (also known as the Hitler-Stalin Pact), that created a non-aggression treaty between the two behemoth military powers of Germany and the U.S.S.R., Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German foreign minister, met with his Soviet counterpart, V.M. Molotov, to sign the German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty. The fine print of the original non-aggression pact had promised the Soviets a slice of eastern Poland; now it was merely a matter of agreeing where to draw the lines. Joseph Stalin, Soviet premier and dictator, personally drew the line that partitioned Poland. Originally drawn at the River Vistula, just west of Warsaw, he agreed to pull it back east of the capital and Lublin, giving Germany control of most of Poland's most heavily populated and industrialized regions. In return, Stalin wanted Lvov, and its rich oil wells, as well as Lithuania, which sits atop East Prussia. Germany now had 22 million Poles, "slaves of the Greater German Empire," at its disposal; Russia had a western buffer zone.
1943 - Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf was published in the United States.
1943 - General Eisenhower and Marshal Badoglio sign the armistice agreement aboard the HMS Nelson in Malta harbor.
1943 - Elements the US 5th Army continue to advance. Elements of the US 6th Corps attack Avellino. The British 10th Corps reaches Pompeii.
1944 - USS Narwhal (SS-167) evacuates 81 Allied prisoners of war that survived sinking of Japanese Shinyo Maru from Sindangan Bay, Mindanao.
1944 - On Angaur, American forces confine Japanese resistance to a small area in the northwest of the island.
1946 - Lockheed P2V Neptune, Truculent Turtle, leaves Perth, Australia on long distance non-stop, non-refueling flight that ends October 1.
1950 - In a ceremony in the National Assembly Hall while fighting still raged in the outskirts, Seoul was officially restored as the capital of the Republic of Korea. An emotional President Rhee called General MacArthur "the savior of our race."
1965 - Hanoi publishes the text of a letter it has written to the Red Cross claiming that since there is no formal state of war, U.S. pilots shot down over the North will not receive the rights of prisoners of war (POWs) and will be treated as war criminals. The U.S. State Department protested, but this had no impact on the way the American POWs were treated and most suffered extreme torture and other maltreatment while in captivity. The first pilot captured by the North Vietnamese was Navy Lieutenant Everett Alvarez, who was shot down on August 5, 1964. The American POW held longest was Army Special Forces Captain Floyd James Thompson, who had been captured in the South on March 26, 1964. American POWs were held in 11 different prisons in North Vietnam and their treatment by the North Vietnamese was characterized by isolation, torture, and psychological abuse. The exact number of POWs held by the North Vietnamese during the war remains a debatable issue, but the POWs themselves have accounted for at least 766 verified captives at one point. Under the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords, the North Vietnamese released 565 American military and 26 civilian POWs in February and March 1973, but there were still more than 2,500 men listed as Missing in Action (MIA).
1966 - Operation "Monterey," Vietnam.
1969 - Secretary of the Army Stanley Resor announces that the U.S. Army, conceding that it is helpless to enlist the cooperation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is dropping the murder charges (of August 6) against eight Special Forces accused of killing a Vietnamese national. Col. Robert B. Rheault, Commander of the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam, and seven other Green Berets had been charged with premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the summary execution of Thai Khac Chuyen, who had served as an agent for Detachment B-57. Chuyen was reportedly summarily executed for being a double agent who had compromised a secret mission. The case against the Green Berets was ultimately dismissed for reasons of national security when the CIA refused to release highly classified information about the operations in which Detachment B-57 had been involved. Colonel Rheault subsequently retired from the Army.
1986 - Coast Guard officials signed the contract papers to acquire the H-60 series helicopter to replace the venerable Sikorsky HH-3F Pelicans.
1988 - The space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., marking America's return to manned space flight following the Challenger disaster.
1994 - Gunmen in Italy fired at the rental car of the Green family of Bodega Bay, Ca., and killed their young boy, Nicholas Green. The parents donated his organs and saved 7 lives in Italy. An appeals court in 1998 found 2 men guilty of the botched highway robbery. Michelle Ianello was sentenced to life in prison and Francesco Mesiano was sentenced to 20 years.
1994 - The crew of Coast Guard LORAN Station Iwo Jima decommissioned their station and turned it over to a crew from the Japanese Maritime Safety Agency. The turnover of all of the Northwest Pacific LORAN chain stations was arranged under a 1992 agreement between the U.S. and Japan.
1995 - Three U-S servicemen were indicted in the rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl and handed over to Japanese authorities. They were later convicted.
1999 - The Associated Press reported on the alleged mass killing of civilians by US soldiers in the early days of the Korean War, beneath a bridge at a hamlet called No Gun Ri.
2000 - A US AMRAAM missile sale to Taiwan was designed so that delivery would not occur unless China threatened an attack.
2000 - US navy pilot, Lt. Bruce Joseph Donald, was killed when his F/A-18C Hornet fighter crashed into the Persian Gulf.
2001 - Pres. Bush in his weekly radio address condemned the Taliban for sheltering terrorists and said: “We did not seek this conflict, but we will win it.”
2003 - US The Justice Department launched a full-blown criminal investigation into who leaked the name of CIA officer Valerie Plame, the wife of ex-Ambassador Joseph Wilson, and President Bush the next day directed his White House staff to cooperate fully. The White House denied that President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, had leaked a CIA agent's identity to retaliate against an opponent of the administration's Iraq policy.
2004 - A US federal judge ruled that a section of the Patriot Act, that allowed the search of phone and Internet records, was unconstitutional.
2004 - Kyrgyzstan police arrested a man for attempting the black market sale of 60 small containers of what was confirmed as plutonium.
2004 - A Yemeni judge sentenced two men to death and four others to prison terms ranging from five to 10 years for orchestrating the 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole.

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day

APPLETON, WILLIAM H.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, Company H, 4th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 15 June 1864; At New Market Heights, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Portsmouth, N.H. Born: 24 March 1843, Chichester, N.H. Date of issue: 18 February 1891. Citation: The first man of the Eighteenth Corps to enter the enemy's works at Petersburg, Va., 15 June 1864. Valiant service in a desperate assault at New Market Heights, Va., inspiring the Union troops by his example of steady courage.

ARCHER, LESTER
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company E, 96th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Harrison, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at:------. Birth: Fort Ann, N.Y. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Gallantry in placing the colors of his regiment on the fort.

BARNES, WILLIAM H.
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 38th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at:------. Birth: St. Marys County, Md. Date of issue 6 April 1865. Citation: Among the first to enter the enemy's works; although wounded.

BEATY, POWHATAN
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company G, 5th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Delaware County, Ohio. Birth: Richmond, Va. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Took command of his company, all the officers having been killed or wounded, and gallantly led it.

BELCHER, THOMAS
Rank and organization: Private, Company I, 9th Maine Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Bangor, Maine. Birth: Bangor, Maine. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Took a guidon from the hands of the bearer, mortally wounded, and advanced with it nearer to the battery than any other man.

BLUCHER, CHARLES
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company H, 188th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Harrison, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Harrisburgh, Pa. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Planted first national colors on the fortifications.

BRADY, JAMES
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 10th New Hampshire Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Kingston, N.H. Birth: Boston, Mass. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Capture of flag.

BRONSON, JAMES H.
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company D, 5th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Delaware County, Ohio. Birth: Indiana County, Pa. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Took command of his company, all the officers having been killed or wounded, and gallantly led it.

*BUCHANAN, GEORGE A.
Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 148th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Ontario County, N.Y. Birth: New York. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Took position in advance of the skirmish line and drove the enemy's cannoneers from their guns; was mortally wounded.

BUCK, F. CLARENCE
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company A, 21st Connecticut Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Windsor Conn. Birth: Hartford, Conn. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: A;though wounded, refused to leave the field until the fight closed.

CLAY, CECIL
Rank and organization: Captain, Company K, 58th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Harrison, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at:------. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 19 April 1892. Citation: Led his regiment in the charge, carrying the colors of another regiment, and when severely wounded in the right arm, incurring loss of same, he shifted the colors to the left hand, which also became disabled by a gunshot wound.

EDGERTON, NATHAN H.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant and Adjutant, 6th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth: ------. Date of issue: 30 March 1898. Citation: Took up the flag after 3 color bearers had been shot down and bore it forward, though himself wounded.

FLANAGAN, AUGUSTIN
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company A, 55th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Chest Springs, Pa. Birth: Cambria County, Pa. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Gallantry in the charge on the enemy's works: rushing forward with the colors and calling upon the men to follow him; was severely wounded.

FLEETWOOD, CHRISTIAN A.
Rank and organization: Sergeant Major, 4th U.S. Colored Troops, Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Baltimore, Md. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Seized the colors, after 2 color bearers had been shot down, and bore them nobly through the fight.

GARDINER, JAMES
Rank and organization: Private, Company I, 36th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at:------. Birth: Gloucester, Va. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Rushed in advance of his brigade, shot a rebel officer who was on the parapet rallying his men, and then ran him through with his bayonet.

*GASSON, RICHARD
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company K, 47th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Fell dead while planting the colors of his regiment on the enemy's works.

GRAUL, WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company I, 188th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Harrison, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Reading, Pa. Birth: Reading, Pa. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: First to plant the colors of his State on the fortifications.

GRUEB, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Private, Company E, 158th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Gallantry in advancing to the ditch of the enemy's works.

HARRIS, JAMES H.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 38th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At New Market Heights, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at:------. Birth: St. Marys County, Md. Date of issue: 18 February 1874. Citation: Gallantry in the assault.

HAWKINS, THOMAS R.
Rank and organization: Sergeant Major, 6th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth: Cincinnati, Ohio. Date of issue: 8 February 1870. Citation: Rescue of regimental colors.

HICKOK, NATHAN E.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company A, 8th Connecticut Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Danbury, Conn. Birth: Danbury, Conn. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Capture of flag.

HILTON, ALFRED B.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company H, 4th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date. At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at:------. Birth: Harford County, Md. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: When the regimental color bearer fell, this soldier seized the color and carried it forward, together with the national standard, until disabled at the enemy's inner line.

HOLLAND, MILTON M.
Rank and organization: Sergeant Major, 5th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Athens, Ohio. Born: 1844, Austin, Tex. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Took command of Company C, after all the officers had been killed or wounded, and gallantly led it.

HORNE, SAMUEL B.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company H, 11th Connecticut Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Harrison, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Winsted, Conn. Born: 3 March 1843, Ireland Date of issue: 19 November 1897. Citation: While acting as an aide and carrying an important message, was severely wounded and his horse killed but delivered the order and rejoined his general.

JAMIESON, WALTER
Rank and organization: 1st Sergeant, Company B, 139th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 30 July 1864; At Fort Harrison, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: France. Date of issue: 5 April 1898. Citation: Voluntarily went between the lines under a heavy fire at Petersburg, Va., to the assistance of a wounded and helpless officer, whom he carried within the Union lines. At Fort Harrison, Va., seized the regimental color, the color bearer and guard having been shot down, and, rushing forward, planted it upon the fort in full view of the entire brigade.

JOHNSON, JOSEPH E.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, Company A, 58th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Harrison, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: ------. Born: 5 February 1843, Lower Merion, Montgomery County, Pa. Date of issue: 1 April 1898. Citation: Though twice severely wounded while advancing in the assault, he disregarded his injuries and was among the first to enter the fort, where he was wounded for the third time.

KELLY, ALEXANDER
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company F, 6th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: ------. Birth. Pennsylvania. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Gallantly seized the colors, which had fallen near the enemy's lines of abatis, raised them and rallied the men at a time of confusion and in a place of the greatest danger.

KRAMER, THEODORE L.
Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 188th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Danville, Pa. Birth: Luzerne County, Pa. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Took one of the first prisoners, a captain.

LAING, WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 158th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Hempstead, N.Y. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Was among the first to scale the parapet.

McKOWN, NATHANIEL A.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 58th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at:------. Birth: Susquehanna County, Pa. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Capture of flag.

MEAGHER, THOMAS
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company G, 158th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Brooklyn N.Y. Birth: Scotland. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Led a section of his men on the enemy's works, receiving a wound while scaling a parapet.

PINN, ROBERT
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company I, 5th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Massillon, Ohio. Born: 1 March 1843, Stark County, Ohio. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Took command of his company after all the officers had been killed or wounded and gallantly led it in battle.

RATCLIFF, EDWARD
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company C, 38th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: ------. Birth: James County, Va. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation. Commanded and gallantly led his company after the commanding officer had been killed; was the first enlisted man to enter the enemy's works.

SCHILLER, JOHN
Rank and organization: Private, Company E, 158th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Advanced to the ditch of the enemy's works.

SHEA, JOSEPH H.
Rank and organization: Private, Company K, 92d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Baltimore, Md. Date of issue: March 1866. Citation: Gallantry in bringing wounded from the field under heavy fire.

SKELLIE, EBENEZER
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company D, 112th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Mina, N.Y. Birth: Mina, N.Y. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Took the colors of his regiment, the color bearer having fallen, and carried them through the first charge; also, in the second charge, after all the color guards had been killed or wounded he carried the colors up to the enemy's works, where he fell wounded.

VAN WINKLE, EDWARD (EDWIN)
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company C, 148th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Phelps, N.Y. Birth: Phelps, N.Y. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Took position in advance of the skirmish line and drove the enemy's cannoneers from their guns.

VEAL, CHARLES
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 4th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Portsmouth, Va. Birth: Portsmouth Va. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: Seized the national colors after 2 color bearers had been shot down close to the enemy's works, and bore them through the remainder of the battle.

*WELLS, HENRY S.
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 148th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Chapins Farm, Va., 29 September 1864. Entered service at: Phelps, N.Y. Birth: ------. Date of issue: 6 April 1865. Citation: With 2 comrades, took position in advance of the skirmish line, within short distance of the enemy's gunners, and drove them from their guns.

BRANAGAN, EDWARD
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red River, Tex., 29 September 1872. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 19 November 1872. Citation. Gallantry in action.

DODGE, FRANCIS S.
Rank and organization: Captain, Troop D, 9th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: Near White River Agency, Colo., 29 September 1879. Entered service at: Danvers, Mass. Born: 11 September 1842, Danvers, Mass. Date of issue: 2 April 1898. Citation: With a force of 40 men rode all night to the relief of a command that had been defeated and was besieged by an overwhelming force of Indians, reached the field at daylight, joined in the action and fought for 3 days.

FOSTER, WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red River, Tex., 29 September 1872. Entered service at: ------. Birth: England, Date of issue: 19 November 1872. Citation: Gallantry in action.

GRIMES, EDWARD P.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Milk River, Colo., 29 September to 5 October 1879. Entered service at:------. Birth: Dover, N.H. Date of issue: 27 January 1880. Citation: The command being almost out of ammunition and surrounded on 3 sides by the enemy, he voluntarily brought up a supply under heavy flre at almost point blank range.

LARKIN, DAVID
Rank and organization: Farrier, Company F, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red River, Tex., 29 September 1872. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 19 November 1872. Citation: Gallantry in action.

LAWTON, JOHN S.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company D, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Milk River, Colo., 29 September 1879. Entered service at:------. Birth: Bristol, R.l. Date of issue: 7 June 1880. Citation: Coolness and steadiness under fire; volunteered to accompany a small detachment on a very dangerous mission.

McMASTERS, HENRY A.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company A, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red River, Tex., 29 September 1872. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Augusta, Maine. Date of issue: 19 November 1872. Citation: Gallantry in action.

McNAMARA, WILLIAM
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company F, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red River, Tex., 29 September 1872. Entered service at:------. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 19 November 1872. Citation: Gallantry in action.

MERRILL, JOHN
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Milk River, Colo., 29 September 187'J. Entered service at: ------. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 7 June 1880. Citation: Though painfully wounded, he remained on duty and rendered gallant and valuable service.

MOQUIN, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company F, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Milk River, Colo., 29 September to 5 October 1879. Entered Service at: ---------. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 27 January 1880. Citation: Gallantry in action.

MURPHY, EDWARD F.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company D, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Milk River, Colo., 29 September 1879. Entered service at:------. Birth: Wayne County, Pa. [)ate of issue: 23 April 1880. Citation: Gallantry in action.

O'NEILL, WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company I, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red River, Tex., 29 September 1872. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Tariffville, Conn. Date of issue: 19 November 1872. Citation: Bravery in action.

PHILIPSEN, WILHELM O.
Rank and organization: Blacksmith, Troop D, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Milk River, Colo., 29 September 1879. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 12 December 1894. Citation: With 9 others voluntarily attacked and captured a strong position held by Indians.

POPPE, JOHN A.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Milk River, Colo., 29 September to S October 1879. Entered service at:------. Birth: Cincinnati, Ohio. Date of issue: 27 lanuary 1880. Citation: Gallantry in action.

PRATT, JAMES
Rank and organization: Blacksmith, Company I, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red River, Tex., 29 September 1872. Entered service at: Bellefontaine, Ohio. Birth: Bellefontaine, Ohio. Date of issue: 19 November 1872. Citation: Gallantry in action.

RANKIN, WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red River, Tex., 29 September 1872. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Lewistown, Pa. Date of issue: 19 November 1872. Citation: Gallantry in action with Indians.

ROACH, HAMPTON M.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company F, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Milk River, Colo., 29 September to 5 Qctober 1879. Entered service at:------. Birth: Concord, La. Date of issue: 27 January 1880. Citation: Erected breastworks under fire; also kept the command supplied with water 3 consecutive nights while exposed to fire from ambushed Indians at close range.

WIDMER, JACOB
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company D, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Milk River, Colo., 29 September 1879. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 4 May 1880. Citation: Volunteered to accompany a small detachment on a very dangerous mission.

WILSON, WILLIAM
SECOND AWARD
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company I, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red River, Tex., 29 September 1872. Citation: Distinguished conduct in action with Indians, Red River, Tex.

ADKINSON, JOSEPH B.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company C, 119th Infantry, 30th Division. Place and date: Near Bellicourt, France, 29 September 1918. Entered service at: Memphis, Tenn. Born: 4 January 1892, Egypt, Tenn. G.O. No.: 59, W.D., 1919. Citation: When murderous machinegun fire at a range of 50 yards had made it impossible for his platoon to advance, and had caused the platoon to take cover Sgt. Adkinson alone, with the greatest intrepidity, rushed across the 50 yards of open ground directly into the face of the hostile machinegun kicked the gun from the parapet into the enemy trench, and at the point of the bayonet captured the 3 men manning the gun. The gallantry and quick decision of this soldier enabled the platoon to resume its advance.

EGGERS, ALAN LOUIS
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Machine Gun Company, 107th Infantry, 27th Division. Place and date: Near Le Catelet, France, 29 September 1918. Entered service at: Summit, N.J. Birth: Saranac Lake, N.Y. G.O. No.: 20, W.D., 1919. Citation: Becoming separated from their platoon by a smoke barrage, Sgt. Eggers, Sgt. John C. Latham and Cpl. Thomas E. O'Shea took cover in a shell hole well within the enemy's lines. Upon hearing a call for help from an American tank, which had become disabled 30 yards from them, the 3 soldiers left their shelter and started toward the tank, under heavy fire from German machineguns and trench mortars. In crossing the fire-swept area Cpl. O'Shea was mortally wounded, but his companions, undeterred, proceeded to the tank, rescued a wounded officer, and assisted 2 wounded soldiers to cover in a sap of a nearby trench. Sgt. Eggers and Sgt. Latham then returned to the tank in the face of the violent fire, dismounted a Hotchkiss gun, and took it back to where the wounded men were, keeping off the enemy all day by effective use of the gun and later bringing it, with the wounded men, back to our lines under cover of darkness.

GAFFNEY, FRANK
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company G, 108th Infantry, 27th Division. Place and date: Near Ronssoy, France, 29 September 1918. Entered service at: Niagara Falls, N.Y. Birth: Buffalo, N.Y. G.O. No.: 20, W.D., 1919. Citation: Pfc. Gaffney, an automatic rifleman, pushing forward alone, after all the other members of his squad had been killed, discovered several Germans placing a heavy machinegun in position. He killed the crew, captured the gun, bombed several dugouts, and, after killing 4 more of the enemy with his pistol, held the position until reinforcements came up, when 80 prisoners were captured.

GUMPERTZ, SYDNEY G.
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company E, 132d Infantry, 33d Division. Place and date: In the Bois-de-Forges, France, 29 September 1918. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born: 24 October 1879, San Raphael, Calif. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: When the advancing line was held up by machinegun fire, 1st Sgt. Gumpertz left the platoon of which he was in command and started with 2 other soldiers through a heavy barrage toward the machinegun nest. His 2 companions soon became casualties from bursting shells, but 1st Sgt. Gumpertz continued on alone in the face of direct fire from the machinegun, jumped into the nest and silenced the gun, capturing 9 of the crew.

LATHAM, JOHN CRIDLAND
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Machine Gun Company, 107th Infantry, 27th Division. Place and date: Near Le Catelet, France, 29 September 1918. Entered .service at: Rutherford, N.J. Born: 3 March 1888, Windemere, England. G.O. No.: 20, W.D., 1919. Citation: Becoming separated from their platoon by a smoke barrage, Sgt. Latham, Sgt. Alan L. Eggers, and Cpl. Thomas E. O'Shea took cover in a shellhole well within the enemy's lines. Upon hearing a call for help from an American tank which had become disabled 30 yards from them, the 3 soldiers left their shelter and started toward the tank under heavy fire from German machineguns and trench mortars. In crossing the fire-swept area, Cpl. O'Shea was mortally wounded, but his companions, undeterred, proceeded to the tank, rescued a wounded officer, and assisted 2 wounded soldiers to cover in the sap of a nearby trench. Sgts. Latham and Eggers then returned to the tank in the face of the violent fire, dismounted a Hotchkiss gun, and took it back to where the wounded men were keeping off the enemy all day by effective use of the gun and later bringing it with the wounded men back to our lines under cover of darkness.

*LEMERT, MILO
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company G, 119th Infantry, 30th Division. Place and date: Near Bellicourt, France, 29 September 1918. Entered service at: Crossville, Tenn. Birth: Marshalltown, lowa. G.O. No.: 59, W.D., 1919. Citation: Seeing that the left flank of his company was held up, he located the enemy machinegun emplacement, which had been causing heavy casualties. In the face of heavy fire he rushed it single-handed, killing the entire crew with grenades. Continuing along the enemy trench in advance of the company, he reached another emplacement, which he also charged, silencing the gun with grenades. A third machinegun emplacement opened up on him from the left and with similar skill and bravery he destroyed this also. Later, in company with another sergeant, he attacked a fourth machinegun nest, being killed as he reached the parapet of the emplacement. His courageous action in destroying in turn 4 enemy machinegun nests prevented many casualties among his company and very materially aided in achieving the objective.

*LUKE, FRANK, JR. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Corps, 27th Aero Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, Air Service. Place and date: Near Murvaux, France, 29 September 1918. Entered service at: Phoenix, Ariz. Born: 19 May 1897, Phoenix, Ariz. G.O. No.: 59, W.D., 1919. Citation: After having previously destroyed a number of enemy aircraft within 17 days he voluntarily started on a patrol after German observation balloons. Though pursued by 8 German planes which were protecting the enemy balloon line, he unhesitatingly attacked and shot down in flames 3 German balloons, being himself under heavy fire from ground batteries and the hostile planes. Severely wounded, he descended to within 50 meters of the ground, and flying at this low altitude near the town of Murvaux opened fire upon enemy troops, killing 6 and wounding as many more. Forced to make a landing and surrounded on all sides by the enemy, who called upon him to surrender, he drew his automatic pistol and defended himself gallantly until he fell dead from a wound in the chest.

*O'SHEA, THOMAS E.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Machine Gun Company, 107th Infantry, 27th Division. Place and date: Near Le Catelet, France, 29 September 1918. Entered service at: Summit, N.J. Birth: New York, N.Y. G.O. No.: 20, W.D., 1919. Citation: Becoming separated from their platoon by a smoke barrage, Cpl. O'Shea, with 2 other soldiers, took cover in a shell hole well within the enemy's lines. Upon hearing a call for help from an American tank, which had become disabled 30 yards from them, the 3 soldiers left their shelter and started toward the tank under heavy fire from German machineguns and trench mortars. In crossing the fire-swept area Cpl. O'Shea was mortally wounded and died of his wounds shortly afterwards.

*SMITH, FRED E.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 308th Infantry, 77th Division. Place and date: Near Binarville, France, 29 September 1918. Entered service at: Bartlett, N. Dak. Birth: Rockford, Ill. G.O. NO.: 49, W.D., 1922. Citation: When communication from the forward regimental post of command to the battalion leading the advance had been interrupted temporarily by the infiltration of small parties of the enemy armed with machineguns, Lt. Col. Smith personally led a party of 2 other officers and 10 soldiers, and went forward to reestablish runner posts and carry ammunition to the front line. The guide became confused and the party strayed to the left flank beyond the outposts of supporting troops, suddenly coming under fire from a group of enemy machineguns only 50 yards away. Shouting to the other members of his party to take cover this officer, in disregard of his danger, drew his pistol and opened fire on the German guncrew. About this time he fell, severely wounded in the side, but regaining his footing, he continued to fire on the enemy until most of the men in his party were out of danger. Refusing first-aid treatment he then made his way in plain view of the enemy to a handgrenade dump and returned under continued heavy machinegun fire for the purpose of making another attack on the enemy emplacements. As he was attempting to ascertain the exact location of the nearest nest, he again fell, mortally wounded .

VALENTE, MICHAEL
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company D, 107th Infantry, 27th Division. Place and date: East of Ronssoy, France, 29 September 1918. Entered service at: Ogdensburg N.Y. Born: 5 February 1895, Cassino, Italy. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., i929. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy during the operations against the Hindenburg line, east of Ronssoy, France, 29 September 1918. Finding the advance of his organization held up by a withering enemy machinegun fire, Pvt. Valente volunteered to go forward. With utter disregard of his own personal danger, accompanied by another soldier, Pvt. Valente rushed forward through an intense machinegun fire directly upon the enemy nest, killing 2 and capturing 5 of the enemy and silencing the gun. Discovering another machinegun nest close by which was pouring a deadly fire on the American forces, preventing their advance, Pvt. Valente and his companion charged upon this strong point, killing the gunner and putting this machinegun out of action. Without hesitation they jumped into the enemy's trench, killed 2 and captured 16 German soldiers. Pvt. Valente was later wounded and sent to the rear.

*CHRISTIANSON, STANLEY R.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, Company E, 2d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Seoul, Korea, 29 September 1950. Entered service at: Mindoro, Wis. Born: 24 January 1925, Mindoro, Wis. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company E, in action against enemy aggressor forces at Hill 132, in the early morning hours. Manning 1 of the several listening posts covering approaches to the platoon area when the enemy commenced the attack, Pfc. Christianson quickly sent another marine to alert the rest of the platoon. Without orders, he remained in his position and, with full knowledge that he would have slight chance of escape, fired relentlessly at oncoming hostile troops attacking furiously with rifles, automatic weapons, and incendiary grenades. Accounting for 7 enemy dead in the immediate vicinity before his position was overrun and he himself fatally struck down, Pfc. Christianson, by his superb courage, valiant fighting spirit, and devotion to duty, was responsible for allowing the rest of the platoon time to man positions, build up a stronger defense on that flank, and repel the attack with 41 of the enemy destroyed, many more wounded, and 3 taken prisoner. His self-sacrificing actions in the face of overwhelming odds sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. Pfc. Christianson gallantly gave his life for his country.

*MONSOOR, MICHAEL A.
Rank and organization: Master-At-Arms Second Class, SEAL Team 3, Naval Special Warfare Task Group Arabian Peninsula,U.S. Navy. Place and Date: Ar Ramadi, Iraq, 29 September 2006. Entered Service at: Garden Grove, CA. Born: 5 April 1981, Long Beach, California. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Automatic Weapons Gunner in SEAL Team 3, Naval Special Warfare Task Group Arabian Peninsula, in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 29 September 2006. As a member of a combined SEAL and Iraqi Army sniper overwatch element, tasked with providing early warning and stand-off protection from a rooftop in an insurgent-held sector of Ar Ramadi, Iraq, Petty Officer Monsoor distinguished himself by his exceptional bravery in the face of grave danger. In the early morning, insurgents prepared to execute a coordinated attack by reconnoitering the area around the element's position. Element snipers thwarted the enemy's initial attempt by eliminating two insurgents. The enemy continued to assault the element, engaging them with a rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire. As enemy activity increased, Petty Officer Monsoor took position with his machine gun between two teammates on an outcropping of the roof. While the SEALs vigilantly watched for enemy activity, an insurgent threw a hand grenade from an unseen location, which bounced off Petty Officer Monsoor's chest and landed in front of him. Although only he could have escaped the blast, Petty Officer Monsoor chose instead to protect his teammates. Instantly and without regard for his own safety, he threw himself onto the grenade to absorb the force of the explosion with his body, saving the lives of his two teammates. By his undaunted courage, fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of certain death, Petty Officer Monsoor gallantly gave his life for his country, thereby reflecting great credit upon himself and upholding the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

September 28

2005-09-28T20:43:00.000-05:00

28 September

1542 - Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sails into present-day San Diego Bay during the course of his explorations of the northwest shores of Mexico on behalf of Spain. It was the first known European encounter with California. At San Diego, Cabrillo landed at Point Loma Head, now part of the Cabrillo National Monument. He then sailed on to explore much of the rest of the California coast. During one landing, he broke his leg and apparently fell sick with complications from the injury. He died in January 1543, probably on San Miguel Island off the Santa Barbara coast. Despite his reports of the appealing California coastline, the first Spanish settlement was not established in California until 1769, when Father Junípero Serra founded his mission at San Diego.
1781 - American forces in the Revolutionary War, backed by a French fleet, began their siege of Yorktown Heights, Va.
1787 - Congress voted to send the just-completed Constitution of the United States to state legislatures for their approval.
1781 - American forces in the Revolutionary War, backed by a French fleet, began their siege of Yorktown Heights, Va. 9,000 American forces and 7,000 French troops began the siege of Yorktown.
1822 - Sloop-of-war Peacock captures 5 pirate vessels.
1850 - Flogging was abolished as a form of punishment in the U.S. Navy.
1863 - Union Generals Alexander M. McCook and Thomas Crittenden lose their commands and are ordered to Indianapolis, Indiana, to face a court of inquiry following the Federal defeat at Chickamauga, Tennessee. Eight days before, the Union Army of the Cumberland, commanded by General William Rosecrans, had retreated from the Chickamauga battlefield in disarray. On the battle's second day, Rosecrans mistakenly ordered a division to move into a gap in the Federal line that did not exist, creating a real gap through which the Confederates charged, thus splitting the Union army. One wing collapsed, and a frantic retreat back to Chattanooga ensued. The other wing, led by General George Thomas, remained on the battlefield and held its position until it was nearly overrun by Confederates. The search for scapegoats began immediately, and fingers soon pointed to McCook and Crittenden. Their corps had been part of the collapsed flank, so Rosecrans removed them from command. Crittenden's removal stirred anger in his native Kentucky, and the state legislature sent a letter to President Lincoln demanding a reexamination of the firing. In February 1864, a military court cleared McCook and Crittenden, but their careers as field commanders were over. By quickly removing McCook and Crittenden, Rosecrans had been trying to save his own job. Three weeks after firing the generals, Rosecrans was himself replaced by Thomas.
1868 - In the Opelousas Massacre at St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, 200 blacks were killed.
1874 - Colonel Ranald Mackenzie (d.1889) raided a war camp of Comanche and Kiowa at the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon, Texas, slaughtering 2,000 of their horses.
1900 - Marines withdrew from Peking after the Boxer Rebelion.
1901 - At Balangiga on Samar Island, Philippine villagers surprised a the US military Company C, 9th Infantry Regiment. Church bells, used to signal the attack, were taken by the Americans. 38 of 74 US soldiers were killed and all the rest but 6 were wounded. Philippine casualties were estimated at 50-250 with 48 American soldiers killed.
1906 - US troops reoccupied Cuba. They stayed until 1909.
1913 - Race riots in Harriston, Mississippi, killed 10 people.
1922 - Mussolini marched on Rome.
1924 - Two U.S. Army planes landed in Seattle, Wash., having completed the first round-the-world flight in 175 days.
1939 - The Boundary and Friendship Treaty between the USSR and Germany was supplemented by secret protocols to amend the secret protocols of Aug 23. Among other things Lithuania was reassigned to the Soviet sphere of influence. Poland’s partition line was moved eastwards from the Vistula line to the line of the Bug. Germany kept a small part of south-west Lithuania, the Uznemune region. A separate Soviet mutual defense pact was signed with Estonia that allowed 25,000 Soviet troops to be stationed there.
1940 - The first of the 50 old American destroyers given to Britain arrives in the UK.
1941 - An Allied planning conference begins. Harriman attends from the US, Beaverbrook, from Britain and Molotov heads the Soviet delegation.
1942 - Gen. Henry "Hap" Arnold gives highest priority to the development of two exceptional aircraft--the B-35 Flying Wing and the B-36 Peacemaker--intended for bombing runs from bases in the United States to targets in Europe. General Arnold was a man of distinction from the beginning of his career: Not only was he one of the first pilots in the U.S. Signal Corps, he was taught to fly by none other than one of the Wright brothers. During World War I, Arnold was director of aviation training for the Army. Between the wars, he embraced a controversial military philosophy that emphasized strategic bombing, eliminating the need for the use of ground forces altogether. At the time of the United States' entry into the Second World War, the Army Air Forces had become an increasingly distinct military service. Arnold was made its first chief. Along with this honor came the opportunity of a seat with the Joint Chiefs of Staff; initially intended to boost his status to that of his counterpart in Britain, it also increased the stature and independence of the Army Air Forces. Arnold was able to form alliances with British RAF allies who also favored the use of strategic bombing in lieu of ground-force operations. In 1942, Arnold gave the highest priority to the development of two extra long-distance transatlantic planes that would prove most useful to his strategic bombing game plan: the B-35 and the B-36 transatlantic bombers. The B-35 had been first proposed in early 1941, intended for use in defending an invaded Britain. But the design was so radical (it was tailless), the plane was put on the back burner. It was finally revived because of advantages the plane afforded over the B-36--bombing range in relation to gross weight, for example. Fifteen B-35 planes were ordered for construction--but the first did not take flight until 1946. Designs for the B-36 were also developed early in 1941, on the assumption that the United States would inevitably be drawn into the war and it would need a bomber that could reach Europe from bases in America. It was to be a massive plane--162 feet long with a 230-foot wingspan. But its construction lagged, and it was not completed until after the war. Although Hap's "high priority" could not cut through the military bureaucracy, 1947 would see the Nation Defense Act establish an autonomous Air Force--a dream for which he had worked. The B-35 would become the prototype for the B-2 Stealth bomber built in 1989. And the B-36 was used extensively by U.S. Strategic Air Command until 1959, but never dropped a bomb.
1943 - The British 10th Corps (part of the US 5th Army) breaks into the plain of Naples at Nocera and advances. The US 6th Corps (also part of 5th Army) advances toward Avellino and has captured Teora.
1944 - Elements of the US forces deployed on Peleliu land on the small islands Negesbus and Kongauru. There is little resistance. On Peleliu, fighting is localized around Mount Umurbrogol where US forces attempt to eliminate individual Japanese strong points.
1950 - Task Force Matthews, consisting of the 25th Reconnaissance Company and A Company, 79th Tank Battalion, liberated 86 half-starved American POWs in Namwon.
1952 - At Panmunjom, the U.N. proposed three alternatives for a solution to the POW issue. The communists categorically reject voluntary repatriation.
1959 - Explorer VI, the U.S. satellite, took the first video pictures of earth.
1964 - First deployment of Polaris A-3 missile on USS Daniel Webster (SSBN 626) from Charleston, SC.
1968 - A battle begins for the Special Forces camp at Thuong Duc, situated between Da Nang and the Laotian border. The communists briefly captured the base before being driven out by air and artillery strikes. They then besieged the base, which was only lifted after a relief column, led by the U.S. 7th Marines, reached the base and drove the enemy forces out of the area.
1972 - Weekly casualty figures are released that contain no U.S. fatalities for the first time since March 1965. There were several reasons for this. President Nixon's troop withdrawal program, first initiated in the fall of 1969, had continued unabated even through the height of the fighting during the 1972 North Vietnamese "Easter Offensive." By this time in the war, there were less than 40,000 U.S. troops left in South Vietnam. Of this total, only a small number, mostly advisors, were involved in ground combat. In addition, it appeared that the North Vietnamese offensive, which had been blunted by the South Vietnamese with the aid of massive U.S. airpower, was finally winding down; there had been a general lull in ground fighting for the sixth straight day. South Vietnamese losses continued to be high since they had assumed the responsibility for fighting the ground battle in the absence of U.S. combat troops.
1975 - A US bill authorized the admission of women to military academies.
1990 - The exiled emir of Kuwait visited the White House, where he told President Bush the Iraqis were destroying and looting his country.
1991 - U.N. weapons inspectors ended a five-day standoff with Iraq over documents relating to Iraq's nuclear weapons program.
2000 - The United Nations Compensation Commission, which handles claims for reparations arising from Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, approves by consensus a $15.9 billion claim by Kuwait for compensation for lost oil production and damage to oil reserves and equipment. The proportion of revenues from Iraqi oil sales under the "oil for food" program which are used for payment of claims is reduced from 30 per cent to 25 per cent. Iraq condemns the decision, but states that it will not call a halt to oilexports, as had earlier been feared.
2001 - President George W. Bush told reporters the United States was in "hot pursuit" of terrorists behind the Sept. 11 attacks.
2001 - A Bush administration official said that small groups of US and British special forces had entered Afghanistan.
2001 - The FBI released a 4-page document, handwritten in Arabic, that served as a set of final instructions for the Sep 11. hijackers. Copies were found in a rental car, in the suitcase of Mohamed Atta and the wreckage of the UA plane that crashed in Pa.
2001 - Dr. Kenneth M. Berry of Pittsburgh filed a patent application for a system responsive to bioterrorism attacks. In 2004 the FBI probed him in relation to investigations on letters containing anthrax.
2001 - The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a US sponsored resolution to oblige all 189 member states to crack down on the financing, training and movement of terrorists.
2001 - In Afghanistan Taliban leader Mohammed Omar told a 9-member Pakistani delegation that the Taliban would be willing to fight to the death to protect Osama bin Laden from US military forces.
2001 - In China Wu Jianmin, a Chinese-born American writer, was released from jail and expelled. The state media said he had confessed to his crimes of spying for Taiwan.
2002 - U.S. jets raided the Basra civilian airport for the second time inside a week, targeting its radar systems and the passenger terminals.
2002 - Iraq rejected a U.S.-British plan for the United Nations to force President Saddam Hussein to disarm and open his palaces for weapons searches.
2004 - The Pentagon notified Congress of plans to build five bases in Afghanistan for the Afghan National Army at a cost of up to one billion dollars.

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day

BLISS, GEORGE N.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company C, 1st Rhode Island Cavalry. Place and date: At Waynesboro, Va., 28 September 1864. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Tiverton, R.I. Date of issue: 3 August 1897. Citation: While in command of the provost guard in the village, he saw the Union lines returning before the attack of a greatly superior force of the enemy, mustered his guard, and, without orders, joined in the defense and charged the enemy without support. He received three saber wounds, his horse was shot, and he was taken prisoner.

MAHONEY, GREGORY
Rank and organization: Private, Company E, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: Near Red River, Tex., 26-28 September 1874. Entered service at: ------. Birth: South Wales. Date of issue: 13 October 1875, Citation: Gallantry in attack on a large party of Cheyennes.

McCABE, WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Private, Company E, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: Near Red River, Tex., 26-28 September 1874. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 13 October 1875. Citation: Gallantry in attack on a large party of Cheyennes.

PHOENIX, EDWIN
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company E, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: Near Red River, Tex., 26-28 September 1874. Entered service at: Kentucky. Birth: St. Louis, Mo. Date of issue: 13 October 1875. Citation: Gallantry in action.

FERGUSON, ARTHUR M.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 36th Infantry, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: Near Porac, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 28 September 1899. Entered service at: Burlington, Kans. Birth: Coffey County, Kans. Date of issue: 8 March 1902. Citation: Charged alone a body of the enemy and captured a captain.

*MILLER, OSCAR F.
Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Army, 361st Infantry, 91st Division. Place and date: Near Gesnes, France, 28 September 1918. Entered service at: Los Angeles, Calif. Birth: Franklin County, Ark. G.O. No.: 16, W.D. 1919. Citation: After 2 days of intense physical and mental strain, during which Maj. Miller had led his battalion in the front line of the advance through the forest of Argonne, the enemy was met in a prepared position south of Gesnes. Though almost exhausted, he energetically reorganized his battalion and ordered an attack. Upon reaching open ground the advancing line began to waver in the face of machinegun fire from the front and flanks and direct artillery fire. Personally leading his command group forward between his front-line companies, Maj. Miller inspired his men by his personal courage, and they again pressed on toward the hostile position. As this officer led the renewed attack he was shot in the right leg, but he nevertheless staggered forward at the head of his command. Soon afterwards he was again shot in the right arm, but he continued the charge, personally cheering his troops on through the heavy machinegun fire. Just before the objective was reached he received a wound in the abdomen, which forced him to the ground, but he continued to urge his men on, telling them to push on to the next ridge and leave him where he lay. He died from his wounds a few days later.

SCHAFFNER, DWITE H.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 306th Infantry, 77th Division. Place and date: Near St. Hubert's Pavillion, Boureuilles, France, 28 September 1918. Entered service at: Falls Creek, Pa. Birth: Arroya, Pa. G.O. No.: 15, W.D., 1923. Citation: He led his men in an attack on St. Hubert's Pavillion through terrific enemy machinegun, rifle, and artillery fire and drove the enemy from a strongly held entrenched position after hand-to-hand fighting. His bravery and contempt for danger inspired his men, enabling them to hold fast in the face of 3 determined enemy counterattacks. His company's position being exposed to enemy fire from both flanks, he made 3 efforts to locate an enemy machinegun which had caused heavy casualties. On his third reconnaissance he discovered the gun position and personally silenced the gun, killing or wounding the crew. The third counterattack made by the enemy was initiated by the appearance of a small detachment in advance of the enemy attacking wave. When almost within reach of the American front line the enemy appeared behind them, attacking vigorously with pistols, rifles, and handgrenades, causing heavy casualties in the American platoon. 1st Lt. Schaffner mounted the parapet of the trench and used his pistol and grenades killing a number of enemy soldiers, finally reaching the enemy officer leading the attacking forces, a captain, shooting and mortally wounding the latter with his pistol, and dragging the captured officer back to the company's trench, securing from him valuable information as to the enemy's strength and position. The information enabled 1st Lt. Schaffner to maintain for S hours the advanced position of his company despite the fact that it was surrounded on 3 sides by strong enemy forces. The undaunted bravery, gallant soldierly conduct, and leadership displayed by 1st Lt. Schaffner undoubtedly saved the survivors of the company from death or capture.

*STOWERS, FREDDIE
Corporal Stowers, a native of Anderson County, South Carolina, distinguished himself by exceptional heroism on 28 September 1918, while serving as a squad leader in Company C, 371st Infantry Regiment, 93rd Infantry Division. His company was the lead company during the attack on Hill 188, Champagne Marne Sector, France, during World War I. A few minutes after the attack began, the enemy ceased firing and began climbing up onto the parapets of the trenches, holding up their arms as if wishing to surrender. The enemy's actions caused the American forces to cease fire and to come out into the open. As the company started forward and when within about 100 meters of the trench line, the enemy jumped back into their trenches and greeted Corporal Stowers' company with interlocking bands of machine gun fire and mortar fire causing well over fifty percent casualties. Faced with incredible enemy resistance, Corporal Stowers took charge, setting such a courageous example of personal bravery and leadership that he inspired his men to follow him in the attack. With extraordinary heroism and complete disregard of personal danger under devastating fire, he crawled forward leading his squad toward an enemy machine gun nest, which was causing heavy casualties to his company. After fierce fighting, the machine gun position was destroyed and the enemy soldiers were killed. Displaying great courage and intrepidity, Corporal Stowers continued to press the attack against a determined enemy. While crawling forward and urging his men to continue the attack on a second trench line, he was gravely wounded by machine gun fire. Although, Corporal Stowers was mortally wounded, he pressed forward, urging on the members of his squad, until he died. Inspired by the heroism and display of bravery of Corporal Stowers, his company continued the attack against incredible odds, contributing to the capture of Hill 188 and causing heavy enemy casualties. Corporal Stowers' conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism and supreme devotion to his men were well above and beyond the call of duty, follow the finest traditions of military service and reflect the utmost credit on him and the United States Army.

*BAUER, HAROLD WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 20 November 1908. Woodruff, Kans. Appointed from: Nebraska. Citation: For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous courage as Squadron Commander of Marine Fighting Squadron 212 in the South Pacific Area during the period 10 May to 14 November 1942. Volunteering to pilot a fighter plane in defense of our positions on Guadalcanal, Lt. Col. Bauer participated in 2 air battles against enemy bombers and fighters outnumbering our force more than 2 to 1, boldly engaged the enemy and destroyed 1 Japanese bomber in the engagement of 28 September and shot down 4 enemy fighter planes in flames on 3 October, leaving a fifth smoking badly. After successfully leading 26 planes on an over-water ferry flight of more than 600 miles on 16 October, Lt. Col. Bauer, while circling to land, sighted a squadron of enemy planes attacking the U.S.S. McFarland. Undaunted by the formidable opposition and with valor above and beyond the call of duty, he engaged the entire squadron and, although alone and his fuel supply nearly exhausted, fought his plane so brilliantly that 4 of the Japanese planes were destroyed before he was forced down by lack of fuel. His intrepid fighting spirit and distinctive ability as a leader and an airman, exemplified in his splendid record of combat achievement, were vital factors in the successful operations in the South Pacific Area.

*ROEDER, ROBERT E.
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, Company G, 350th Infantry, 88th Infantry Division. Place and date: Mt. Battaglia, Italy, 27-28 September 1944. Entered service at: Summit Station, Pa. Birth: Summit Station, Pa. G.O. No.: 31, 17 April 1945. Citation: for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. Capt. Roeder commanded his company in defense of the strategic Mount Battaglia. Shortly after the company had occupied the hill, the Germans launched the first of a series of determined counterattacks to regain this dominating height. Completely exposed to ceaseless enemy artillery and small-arms fire, Capt. Roeder constantly circulated among his men, encouraging them and directing their defense against the persistent enemy. During the sixth counterattack, the enemy, by using flamethrowers and taking advantage of the fog, succeeded in overrunning the position Capt. Roeder led his men in a fierce battle at close quarters, to repulse the attack with heavy losses to the Germans. The following morning, while the company was engaged in repulsing an enemy counterattack in force, Capt. Roeder was seriously wounded and rendered unconscious by shell fragments. He was carried to the company command post, where he regained consciousness. Refusing medical treatment, he insisted on rejoining his men although in a weakened condition, Capt. Roeder dragged himself to the door of the command post and, picking up a rifle, braced himself in a sitting position. He began firing his weapon, shouted words of encouragement, and issued orders to his men. He personally killed 2 Germans before he himself was killed instantly by an exploding shell. Through Capt. Roeder's able and intrepid leadership his men held Mount Battaglia against the aggressive and fanatical enemy attempts to retake this important and strategic height. His valorous performance is exemplary of the fighting spirit of the U.S. Army.

September 27

2005-09-27T20:42:00.000-05:00

27 September

1777 - At the Battle of Germantown the British defeated Washington's army. English General William Howe occupied Philadelphia.
1779 - John Adams was named to negotiate the Revolutionary War's peace terms with Britain.
1787 - The US Constitution was submitted to states for ratification.
1809 - Raphael Semmes (d.1877), Rear Admiral (Confederate Navy), was born.
1813 - Marines served aboard ships in battle against the British on Lake Ontario.
1840 - Alfred T. Mahan, navy admiral, was born. He wrote “The Influence of Seapower on History” and other books that encouraged world leaders to build larger navies. Although a brilliant naval historian and noted theorist on the importance of sea power to national defense, Alfred Thayer Mahan hated the sea and dreaded his duties as a ship's captain.
1863 - Jo Shelby's cavalry in action at Moffat's Station, Arkansas.
1864 - A guerilla band led by William "Bloody Bill" Anderson sacks the town of Centralia, Missouri, killing 22 unarmed Union soldiers before massacring 120 pursuing Yankees. The Civil War in Missouri and Kansas was rarely fought between regular armies in the field. It was carried out primarily by partisan bands of guerilla fighters, and the atrocities were nearly unmatched. In 1863, Confederate marauders sacked Lawrence, Kansas, and killed 250 residents. In 1864, partisan activity increased in anticipation of Confederate General Sterling Price's invasion of the state. On the evening of September 26, a band of 200 Confederate marauders gathered near the town of Centralia, Missouri. The next morning, Anderson led 30 guerillas into Centralia and began looting the tiny community and terrorizing the residents. Unionist congressmen William Rollins escaped execution only by giving a false name and hiding in a nearby hotel. Meanwhile, a train from St. Louis was just pulling into the station. The engineer, who spotted Anderson's men destroying the town, tried to apply steam to keep the train moving. However, the brakeman, unaware of the raid, applied the brakes and brought the train to a halt. The guerillas took 150 prisoners from the train, which included 23 Union soldiers, and then set it on fire and opened its throttle; the flaming train sped away from the town. The soldiers were stripped and Anderson's men began firing on them, killing all but one within a few minutes. The surviving Yankee soldier was spared in exchange for a member of Anderson's company who had recently been captured. That afternoon, a Union detachment commanded by Major A. V. E. Johnston arrived in Centralia to find the bushwhackers had already vacated the town. Johnston left some troops to hold the tiny burgh, and then headed in the direction of Anderson's band. Little did he know he was riding right into a perfect trap: Johnston's men followed Rebel pickets into an open field, and the Southern partisans attacked from three sides. Johnston and his entire command were quickly annihilated. Anderson's men scalped and mutilated many of the bodies before moving back into Centralia and killing the remaining Federal soldiers. In all, the bushwhackers killed some 140 Yankee troops. A month later, Anderson was killed attempting a similar attack near Albany, Missouri.
1918 - President Woodrow Wilson opened his fourth Liberty Loan campaign to support men and machines for World War I.
1922 - Report on observations of experiments with short wave radio at Anacostia, DC, starts Navy development of radar.
1928 - The United States said it was recognizing the Nationalist Chinese government.
1938 - League of Nations declared Japan the aggressor against China.
1939 - 140,000 Polish troops are taken prisoner by the German invaders as Warsaw surrenders to the superior mechanized forces of Hitler's army. The Poles fought bravely, but were able to hold on for only 26 days. On the heels of its victory, the Germans began a systematic program of terror, murder, and cruelty, executing members of Poland's middle and upper classes: Doctors, teachers, priests, landowners, and businessmen were rounded up and killed. The Nazis had given this operation the benign-sounding name "Extraordinary Pacification Action." The Roman Catholic Church, too, was targeted, because it was a possible source of dissent and counterinsurgency. In one west Poland church diocese alone, 214 priests were shot. And hundreds of thousands more Poles were driven from their homes and relocated east, as Germans settled in the vacated areas. This was all part of a Hitler master plan. Back in August, Hitler warned his own officers that he was preparing Poland for that "which would not be to the taste of German generals"--including the rounding up of Polish Jews into ghettos, a prelude to their liquidation. All roads were pointing to Auschwitz.
1940 - Black leaders protested discrimination in US armed forces.
1940 - The Axis powers are formed as Germany, Italy, and Japan become allies with the signing of the Tripartite Pact in Berlin. The Pact provided for mutual assistance should any of the signatories suffer attack by any nation not already involved in the war. This formalizing of the alliance was aimed directly at "neutral" America--designed to force the United States to think twice before venturing in on the side of the Allies. The Pact also recognized the two spheres of influence. Japan acknowledged "the leadership of Germany and Italy in the establishment of a new order in Europe," while Japan was granted lordship over "Greater East Asia." A footnote: There was a fourth signatory to the Pact-Hungary, which was dragged into the Axis alliance by Germany in November 1940.
1941 - Launch of first Liberty ship, SS Patrick Henry, in Baltimore, MD. 13 sister ships are launched the same day.
1942 - Glenn Miller and his Orchestra performed together for the last time, at the Central Theater in Passaic, N.J., prior to Miller's entry into the Army.
1942 - The S.S. Stephen Hopkins, a Liberty Ship with an all-San Francisco crew, engaged the German raider Stier and her tender, Tannenfels. It shelled and brought down the Stier and hit the Tannenfels before it was sunk. Of a crew of 58, only 15 survived. They reached the shore of Brazil after a 31-day voyage in an open lifeboat.
1942 - 1st Class Signalman Douglas A. Munro, U.S. Coast Guard, rescued Marines of 1/7 during Operation Pestilence on Guadalcanal. He is the only Medal of Honor recipient for the U.S. Coast Guard.
1944 - Thousands of British troops were killed as German forces rebuffed their massive effort to capture the Arnhem Bridge across the Rhine River in Holland.
1944 - Special Air Task Force (STAG-1) commences operations with drones, controlled by TBM aircraft, against Japanese in Southwestern Pacific
1944 - The US 20th Corps (part of US 3rd Army) begins attacks on the outer defenses of the fortress town of Metz. Meanwhile, the British 2nd Army achieves limited advances south of Arnhem in the Netherlands.
1949 - HUAC held hearings on alleged communist infiltration of the Radiation Laboratory at UC Berkeley.
1950 - While considerable mopping up remained, Seoul fell to the 1st Marine Division augmented by ROK Marines and troops of the 7th Infantry Division with the 17th ROK Regiment attached. Marine Private First Class Luther Leguire of Tampa, Fl, raised the Stars and Stripes above the looted residence of American Ambassador John J. Muccio.
1950 - President Truman authorized military operations north of the 38th parallel.
1950 - The Secretary of Defense authorized the Army to plan for 17 Army divisions and a strength of 1,263,000 for fiscal year 1951 and 18 divisions and a strength of 1,353,000 for fiscal year 1952.
1950 - For the purpose of alleviating attrition during the Korean War, Executive Order 10164 authorized the Coast Guard, in cases where enlisted personnel did not immediately reenlist in the Coast Guard, to extend enlistments for one year, if the date of expiration of enlistment occurred prior to 9 July 1951. The Coast Guard, however, adopted a policy of permitting the discharge of men upon expiration of enlistment, provided they immediately enlisted in the Coast Guard Reserve.
1956 - The U.S. Air Force Bell X-2, the world's fastest and highest-flying plane, crashed, killing the test pilot.
1959 - Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev concluded his visit to the United States. During the visit he debated with Richard Nixon. He also saw the filming of Can Can and found the dance immoral. Bassetts produced 50 tubs of borscht sorbet in honor of Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s visit to Philadelphia.
1963 - Lee Harvey Oswald visited the Cuban consulate in Mexico.
1964 - The Warren Commission report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is released after a 10-month investigation, concluding that there was no conspiracy in the assassination, either domestic or international, and that Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin, acted alone. The presidential commission, headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, also found that Jack Ruby, the nightclub owner who murdered Oswald on live national television, had no prior contact with Oswald. According to the report, the bullets that killed President Kennedy and injured Texas Governor John Connally were fired by Oswald in three shots from a rifle pointed out of a sixth floor window in the Texas School Book Depository. Oswald's life, including his visit to the Soviet Union, was described in detail, but the report made no attempt to analyze his motives. Despite its seemingly firm conclusions, the report failed to silence conspiracy theories surrounding the event, and in 1978 the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded in a preliminary report that Kennedy was "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy" that may have involved multiple shooters and organized crime. The committee's findings, as with the findings of the Warren Commission, continue to be widely disputed.
1969 - President Nguyen Van Thieu says his government entertains no "ambition or pretense" to take over all fighting by the end of 1970, but given proper support South Vietnamese troops could replace the "bulk" of U.S. troops that year. Thieu said his agreement on any further U.S. troops withdrawals would hinge on whether his requests for equipment and funds for ARVN forces were granted. These comments were in response to President Nixon's continued emphasis on "Vietnamizing" the war so that U.S. forces could be withdrawn.
1979 - Congress gave final approval to forming the Department of Education, the 13th Cabinet agency in U.S. history.
1990 - The deposed emir of Kuwait delivered an emotional address to the UN General Assembly in which he denounced the “rape, destruction and terror” inflicted upon his country by Iraq.
1991 - President Bush announced in a nationally broadcast address that he was eliminating all U.S. battlefield nuclear weapons, and called on the Soviet Union to match the gesture.
1996 - US Defense Sec. William Perry said the 3 Baltic nations would not be among the first new NATO members drawn from Eastern Europe.
1997 - The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off, docking hours later with the problem-plagued Russian Mir station to drop off American David Wolf and pick up Michael Foale.
2001 - Pres. Bush announced enhanced airport security measures that included national guard soldiers at checkpoints and armed air marshals on planes as a first step toward federal control of airline security.
2001 - US and British warplanes struck 2 artillery sites in Iraq’s southern no-fly zone.
2001 - Def. Sec. Donald Rumsfeld displayed the new Medal for the Defense of Freedom to be awarded to all Defense Dept. civilian employees killed or wounded in the sep 11 terrorist attacks.
2001 - In Afghanistan the Taliban said it had delivered an official request for Osama bin Laden to leave the country.
2001 - In Jakarta, Indonesia, protesters burned US flags outside the US Embassy and threatened to kill Americans.
2002 - President Bush said the UN should have a chance to force Saddam Hussein to give up his weapons of mass destruction before the US acted on its own against Iraq, but told a Republican fund-raising event in Denver that action had to come quickly.
2002 - U.S. and British jets bomb two Iraqi surface-to-air missile sites south of Baghdad after Iraqi forces fire on allied aircraft. The U.S. Defence Department said the planes hit targets near Qalat Sikur, about 200km south-east of Baghdad.
2003 - President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Iran and North Korea to abandon suspected nuclear weapons programs, but disagreed over how to deal with both countries; Putin also declined at the end of a two-day summit at Camp David to pledge any postwar help for Iraq.
2004 - U.S. jets pounded suspected Shiite militant positions in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City.
2004 - Lebanon said Ismail Katib, a local al Qaeda operative captured a week earlier, died “of a heart attack” while in police custody.

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.

PAINE, ADAM
Rank and organization: Private, Indian Scouts. Place and date: Canyon Blanco tributary of the Red River, Tex., 26-27 September 1874. Entered service at: Fort Duncan, Texas. Birth: Florida. Date of issue: 13 October 1875. Citation: Rendered invaluable service to Col. R. S. Mackenzie, 4th U.S. Cavalry, during this engagement.

*BAESEL, ALBERT E.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 148th Infantry, 37th Division. Place and date: Near Ivoiry, France, 27 September 1918. Entered service at: Berea, Ohio. Born: 1892, Berea, Ohio. G.O. No.: 43, W.D., 1922. Citation: Upon hearing that a squad leader of his platoon had been severely wounded while attempting to capture an enemy machinegun nest about 200 yards in advance of the assault line and somewhat to the right, 2d Lt. Baesel requested permission to go to the rescue of the wounded corporal. After thrice repeating his request and permission having been reluctantly given, due to the heavy artillery, rifle, and machinegun fire, and heavy deluge of gas in which the company was at the time, accompanied by a volunteer, he worked his way forward, and reaching the wounded man, placed him upon his shoulders and was instantly killed by enemy fire.

BRONSON, DEMING
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company H, 364th Infantry, 91st Division. Place and date: Near Eclisfontaine, France, 26-27 September 1918. Entered service at: Seattle, Wash. Born: 8 July 1894, Rhinelander, Wis. G.O. No.: 12 W.D., 1929. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy. On the morning of 26 September, during the advance of the 364th Infantry, 1st Lt. Bronson was struck by an exploding enemy handgrenade, receiving deep cuts on his face and the back of his head. He nevertheless participated in the action which resulted in the capture of an enemy dugout from which a great number of prisoners were taken. This was effected with difficulty and under extremely hazardous conditions because it was necessary to advance without the advantage of cover and, from an exposed position, throw handgrenades and phosphorous bombs to compel the enemy to surrender. On the afternoon of the same day he was painfully wounded in the left arm by an enemy rifle bullet, and after receiving first aid treatment he was directed to the rear. Disregarding these instructions, 1st Lt. Bronson remained on duty with his company through the night although suffering from severe pain and shock. On the morning of 27 September, his regiment resumed its attack, the object being the village of Eclisfontaine. Company H, to which 1st Lt. Bronson was assigned, was left in support of the attacking line, Company E being in the line. He gallantly joined that company in spite of his wounds and engaged with it in the capture of the village. After the capture he remained with Company E and participated with it in the capture of an enemy machinegun, he himself killing the enemy gunner. Shortly after this encounter the company was compelled to retire due to the heavy enemy artillery barrage. During this retirement 1st Lt. Bronson, who was the last man to leave the advanced position, was again wounded in both arms by an enemy high-explosive shell. He was then assisted to cover by another officer who applied first aid. Although bleeding profusely and faint from the loss of blood, 1st Lt. Bronson remained with the survivors of the company throughout the night of the second day, refusing to go to the rear for treatment. His conspicuous gallantry and spirit of self-sacrifice were a source of great inspiration to the members of the entire command.

*TURNER, WILLIAM B.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army 105th Infantry, 27th Division. Place and date: Near Ronssoy, France, 27 September 1918. Entered service at: Garden City, N.Y. Birth: Boston, Mass. G.O. No.: 81, W.D., 1919. Citation: He led a small group of men to the attack, under terrific artillery and machinegun fire, after they had become separated from the rest of the company in the darkness. Single-handed he rushed an enemy machinegun which had suddenly opened fire on his group and killed the crew with his pistol. He then pressed forward to another machinegun post 25 yards away and had killed 1 gunner himself by the time the remainder of his detachment arrived and put the gun out of action. With the utmost bravery he continued to lead his men over 3 lines of hostile trenches, cleaning up each one as they advanced, regardless of the fact that he had been wounded 3 times, and killed several of the enemy in hand-to-hand encounters. After his pistol ammunition was exhausted, this gallant officer seized the rifle of a dead soldier, bayoneted several members of a machinegun crew, and shot the other. Upon reaching the fourth-line trench, which was his objective, 1st Lt. Turner captured it with the 9 men remaining in his group and resisted a hostile counterattack until he was finally surrounded and killed.

WAALER, REIDAR
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 105th Machine-Gun Battalion, 27th Division. Place and date: Near Ronssoy, France, 27 September 1918. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Norway. G.O. No.. 5, W.D., 1920. Citation: In the face of heavy artillery and machinegun fire, he crawled forward to a burning British tank, in which some of the crew were imprisoned, and succeeded in rescuing 2 men. Although the tank was then burning fiercely and contained ammunition which was likely to explode at any time, this soldier immediately returned to the tank and, entering it, made a search for the other occupants, remaining until he satisfied himself that there were no more living men in the tank.

FIELDS, JAMES H.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 10th Armored Infantry, 4th Armored Division. Place and date: Rechicourt, France, 27 September 1944. Entered service at: Houston, Tex. Birth: Caddo, Tex. G.O. No.: 13, 27 February 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty, at Rechicourt, France. On 27 September 1944, during a sharp action with the enemy infantry and tank forces, 1st Lt. Fields personally led his platoon in a counterattack on the enemy position. Although his platoon had been seriously depleted, the zeal and fervor of his leadership was such as to inspire his small force to accomplish their mission in the face of overwhelming enemy opposition. Seeing that 1 of the men had been wounded, he left his slit trench and with complete disregard for his personal safety attended the wounded man and administered first aid. While returning to his slit trench he was seriously wounded by a shell burst, the fragments of which cut through his face and head, tearing his teeth, gums, and nasal passage. Although rendered speechless by his wounds, 1st Lt. Fields refused to be evacuated and continued to lead his platoon by the use of hand signals. On 1 occasion, when 2 enemy machineguns had a portion of his unit under deadly crossfire, he left his hole, wounded as he was, ran to a light machinegun, whose crew had been knocked out, picked up the gun, and fired it from his hip with such deadly accuracy that both the enemy gun positions were silenced. His action so impressed his men that they found new courage to take up the fire fight, increasing their firepower, and exposing themselves more than ever to harass the enemy with additional bazooka and machinegun fire. Only when his objective had been taken and the enemy scattered did 1st Lt. Fields consent to be evacuated to the battalion command post. At this point he refused to move further back until he had explained to his battalion commander by drawing on paper the position of his men and the disposition of the enemy forces. The dauntless and gallant heroism displayed by 1st Lt. Fields were largely responsible for the repulse of the enemy forces and contributed in a large measure to the successful capture of his battalion objective during this action. His eagerness and determination to close with the enemy and to destroy him was an inspiration to the entire command, and are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Armed Forces.

*MUNRO, DOUGLAS ALBERT
Rank and organization: Signalman First Class, U.S. Coast Guard Born: 11 October 1919, Vancouver, British Columbia. Accredited to Washington. Citation: For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry m action above and beyond the call of duty as Petty Officer in Charge of a group of 24 Higgins boats, engaged in the evacuation of a battalion of marines trapped by enemy Japanese forces at Point Cruz Guadalcanal, on 27 September 1942. After making preliminary plans for the evacuation of nearly 500 beleaguered marines, Munro, under constant strafing by enemy machineguns on the island, and at great risk of his life, daringly led 5 of his small craft toward the shore. As he closed the beach, he signaled the others to land, and then in order to draw the enemy's fire and protect the heavily loaded boats, he valiantly placed his craft with its 2 small guns as a shield between the beachhead and the Japanese. When the perilous task of evacuation was nearly completed, Munro was instantly killed by enemy fire, but his crew, 2 of whom were wounded, carried on until the last boat had loaded and cleared the beach. By his outstanding leadership, expert planning, and dauntless devotion to duty, he and his courageous comrades undoubtedly saved the lives of many who otherwise would have perished. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

September 26

2005-09-26T20:42:00.000-05:00

26 September

1777 - The British army launched a major offensive during the American Revolution, capturing Philadelphia.
1781 - French fleet defeats British at Yorktown, VA.
1789 - Thomas Jefferson was appointed America's first Secretary of State; John Jay the first chief justice of the United States; Samuel Osgood the first Postmaster-General; and Edmund Jennings Randolph the first Attorney General.
1864 - Confederate General Sterling Price invades Missouri and attacks a Yankee garrison at Pilot Knob. Price's troops captured a fort and scattered the Union defenders, but also suffered heavy losses. The Confederate military fortunes were at an all-time low, and Price had hoped that the mission would destabilize Missouri just prior to the fall elections and give new hope to the Confederate cause. He also hoped to capture one of the major cities in Missouri and secure supplies for his troops. Price mounted his campaign from Pocahontas, Arkansas, and entered Missouri in mid-September. On September 26, he hurled his 12,000 troops at Fort Davidson at Pilot Knob. Two days later, the Confederates drove the 1,400 Yankee defenders away, but the attack was time-consuming and costly. Price lost 1,200 men and gained little in the way of strategic value or political impact. The rest of Price's raid didn't fare any better. He was harassed by state militia and had difficulty raising supplies; and Union resistance at important points such as the capital, Jefferson City, was much greater than expected. Through October, Price drove north to St. Louis, west to Kansas City, and then south into Texas. Much of his force disintegrated along the way, and in November Missouri voters elected Radical Republicans into office.
1901 - Leon Czolgosz, who murdered President William McKinley, was sentenced to death.
1910 - First recorded reference to provision for aviation in Navy Department organization.
1913 - The first boat was raised in the locks of the Panama Canal.
1915 - "Horse Marines" engaged Haitian bandits near Petite Riviere.
1918 - Battle of the Argonne, final major battle of WW I.
1918 - The Imperial German Navy's submarine UB-91 torpedoed and sank the CGC Tampa (formerly named Miami) which was escorting a convoy bound for Milford Haven, Wales, with all hands. 111 Coast Guardsmen, as well as four U.S. Navy, 11 Royal Navy, and five civilian passengers were killed. The bodies of two of the Coast Guard crew were recovered and buried in a small church yard in Lamphey, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Great Britain. One body was returned to the family in the U.S. after the war while one, who was never identified, is still interred in Lamphey's church yard to this day. Local residents care for the grave.
1931 - Keel laying at Newport News, VA of USS Ranger (CV-4), first ship designed and constructed as an aircraft carrier.
1931 - As more and more Americans lost their jobs, President Hoover stepped in on this day and convened a national conference on unemployment. On the agenda was not just the shortage of jobs, but how to address the discontentment of those Americans who had previously been shortchanged by the labor system. After serving in World War I, African-Americans were beginning to protest job discrimination and their relegation to low-paying work. In response, the Hoover Conference suggested a jobs program, as well as a slash in prices. Although this wouldn't directly stimulate jobs, the Commission hoped it would make goods more readily available to all citizens.
1938 - Hitler issued his ultimatum to Czech government, demanding Sudetenland.
1940 - An American embargo is imposed on the export of all scrap iron and steel to Japan.
1941 - A Provost Marshal General's Office and Corps of Military Police were established in 1941. Prior to that time, except during the Civil War and World War I, there was no regularly appointed Provost Marshal General or regularly constituted Military Police Corps, although a "Provost Marshal" can be found as early as January 1776, and a "Provost Corps" as early as 1778.
1942 - The CGC Ingham rescued eight survivors from the torpedoed SS Tennessee.
1943 - The advance of the British 10th Corps (part of US 5th Army) advances without resistance. The German rearguard has withdrawn, because all German forces inland have successfully been pulled back.
1944 - Operation Market-Garden, a plan to seize bridges in the Dutch town of Arnhem, fails, as thousands of British and Polish troops are killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. British Gen. Bernard Montgomery conceived an operation to take control of bridges that crossed the Rhine River, from the Netherlands into Germany, as a strategy to make "a powerful full-blooded thrust to the heart of Germany." The plan seemed cursed from the beginning. It was launched on September 17, with parachute troops and gliders landing in Arnhem. Holding out as long as they could, waiting for reinforcements, they were compelled to surrender. Unfortunately, a similar drop of equipment was delayed, and there were errors in locating the proper drop location and bad intelligence on German troop strength. Added to this, bad weather and communication confused the coordination of the Allied troops on the ground. The Germans quickly destroyed the railroad bridge and took control of the southern end of the road bridge. The Allies struggled to control the northern end of the road bridge, but soon lost it to the superior German forces. The only thing left was retreat-back behind Allied lines. But few made it: Of more than 10,000 British and Polish troops engaged at Arnhem, only 2,900 escaped. Claims were made after the fact that a Dutch Resistance fighter, Christiaan Lindemans, betrayed the Allies, which would explain why the Germans were arrayed in such numbers at such strategic points. A conservative member of the British Parliament, Rupert Allason, writing under the named Nigel West, dismissed this conclusion in his A Thread of Deceit, arguing that Lindemans, while a double agent, "was never in a position to betray Arnhem." Winston Churchill would lionize the courage of the fallen Allied soldiers with the epitaph "Not in vain." Arnhem was finally liberated on April 15, 1945.
1945 - President Truman announces that, under a decision at the recent Potsdam Conference, the surviving German naval vessels will be divided equally between the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. He notes also that no decision has been made on the disposal of the Imperial Japanese Fleet.
1945 - Lt. Col. Peter Dewey, a U.S. Army officer with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in Vietnam, is shot and killed in Saigon. Dewey was the head of a seven-man team sent to Vietnam to search for missing American pilots and to gather information on the situation in the country after the surrender of the Japanese. According to the provisions of the Potsdam Conference, the British were assigned the responsibility of disarming Japanese soldiers south of the 16th parallel. However, with the surrender of the Japanese, Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh declared themselves the rightful government of Vietnam. This angered the French colonial officials and the remaining French soldiers who had been disarmed and imprisoned by the Japanese. They urged British Maj. Gen. Douglas D. Gracey to help them regain control. Gracey, not fond of the Viet Minh or their cause, rearmed 1,400 French soldiers to help his troops maintain order. The next day these forces ousted the Viet Minh from the offices that they had only recently occupied. Dewey's sympathies lay with the Viet Minh, many of whom were nationalists who did not want a return to French colonial rule. The American officer was an outspoken man who soon angered Gracey, eventually resulting in the British general ordering him to leave Indochina. On the way to the airport, accompanied by another OSS officer, Capt. Henry Bluechel, Dewey refused to stop at a roadblock manned by three Viet Minh soldiers. He yelled back at them in French and they opened fire, killing Dewey instantly. Bluechel was unhurt and escaped on foot. It was later determined that the Viet Minh had fired on Dewey thinking he was French. He would prove to be the first of nearly 59,000 Americans killed in Vietnam.
1950 - Elements of the 1st Cavalry Division's 7th Cavalry Regiment, driving north from the Pusan Perimeter, linked up with elements of the 7th Infantry Division's 31st Infantry Regiment near Suwon.
1950 - The USS Brush struck a free-floating mine and 13 sailors were killed and 34 others seriously wounded. This was the first incident of a U.S. Navy ship hitting a mine during the war.
1952 - U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Cecil Foster, 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, flying an F-80 Shooting Star jet fighter, shot down a pair of MiG-15s for his second and third aerial kills.
1953 - US and Spain signed a defense treaty with 4 US bases to be set in Spain.
1963 - First steam-eject launch of Polaris missile at sea off Cape Canaveral, FL (now Cape Kennedy) from USS Observation Island (EAG-154).
1967 - Hanoi rejected a U.S. peace proposal.
1969 - President Nixon, speaking at a news conference, cites "some progress" in the effort to end the Vietnam War and says, "We're on the right course in Vietnam." Urging the American people to give him the support and time he needed to end the war honorably, Nixon said, "If we have a united front, the enemy will begin to talk [at the negotiating table in Paris]." Nixon branded the attitude of Senator Charles Goodell (R-NY), and others like him in Congress as "defeatist." Goodell had only days before proposed legislation which failed to pass, but would have required the withdrawal of U.S. troops by the end of 1970, and barred the use of congressionally appropriated funds after December 1, 1970, for maintaining U.S. military personnel in Vietnam. In response to Nixon's remarks, 24 liberal Democratic congressmen held a private caucus. The group decided to endorse the nationwide protest scheduled for October 15 and agreed to press in Congress for resolutions calling for an end to the war and a withdrawal of U.S. troops; over the next three weeks, there would be 10 such proposals. None of these passed, but they indicated the mounting opposition to "Nixon's war."
1972 - Richard M. Nixon met with Emperor Hirohito in Anchorage, Alaska, the first-ever meeting of a U.S. President and a Japanese Monarch.
1988 - In a farewell speech to the U.N. General Assembly, President Reagan saw "a moment for hope" for peace in the world, citing a new U.S.-Soviet treaty to sharply reduce nuclear arms due during the following year.
1989 - In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze accepted President Bush's call for deep cuts in U.S. and Soviet chemical weapon stockpiles. Shevardnadze called for the total destruction of Soviet and US chemical weapons.
1994 - Coast Guard forces departed for Haiti in support of Operation Restore Democracy.
1996 - U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid returns to Earth in the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis following six months in orbit aboard the Russian space station Mir. On March 23, 1996, Lucid transferred to Mir from the same space shuttle for a planned five-month stay. A biochemist, Lucid shared Mir with Russian cosmonauts Yuri Onufriyenko and Yuri Usachev and conducted scientific experiments during her stay. She was the first American woman to live in a space station. Beginning in August, her scheduled return to Earth was delayed by more than six weeks because of last-minute repairs to the booster rockets of Atlantis and then by a hurricane. Finally, on September 26, 1996, she returned to Earth aboard Atlantis, touching down at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Her 188-day sojourn aboard Mir set a new space endurance record for an American and a world endurance record for a woman.
1997 - US and Russia signed a package of arms control agreements that extended parts of START II to 2007. Systems were still required to be disabled by 2003. Other accords modified the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 with Belarus, Kazakstan, the Ukraine and Russia to allow flexibility for the development of short range systems.
2001 - In Afghanistan protesters turned a Taliban march into an attack on the mothballed US Embassy in Kabul.
2001 - Spain detained 6 Algerians with alleged links to Osama bin Laden and a group planning attacks on US targets in Europe.
2001 - Sudan began rounding up extremists that have used the country as an operating base.
2002 - Britain and the United States reach agreement on a tough United Nations Security Council resolution which threatens Saddam Hussein with severe consequences if he fails to grant weapons inspectors unfettered access to Iraq. Russia, China and France express grave reservations about the Anglo-American text.
2002 - NATO planned to issue invitations in November to Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Expansion would commit the current 19 members to defend the borders of the new members.
2004 - Suicide attackers detonated a pair of car bombs outside an Iraqi National Guard compound west of the capital, wounding American and Iraqi forces. An insurgent rocket hit a busy Baghdad neighborhood, killing at least one person and wounding eight.
2004 - In Pakistan Amjad Hussain Farooqi, accused in two attempts on the life of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in December 2003, died in a four-hour shootout at a house in the southern town of Nawabshah. He was also wanted for his alleged role in the 2002 kidnapping and beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day

HILLS, WILLIAM G.
Rank and organization: Private, Company E, 9th New York Cavalry. Place and date: At North Fork, Va., 26 September 1864. Entered service at. ------. Birth: 26 June 1841, Conewango, N.Y. Date of issue: 26 September 1893. citation: Voluntarily carried a severely wounded comrade out of a heavy fire of the enemy.

CALL, DONALD M.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, 344th Battalion, Tank Corps. Place and date: Near Varennes, France, 26 September 1918. Entered service at: France. Born: 29 November 1892, New York, N.Y. G.O. No.: 13, W.D., 1919. Citation: During an operation against enemy machinegun nests west of Varennes, Cpl. Call was in a tank with an officer when half of the turret was knocked off by a direct artillery hit. Choked by gas from the high-explosive shell, he left the tank and took cover in a shellhole 30 yards away. Seeing that the officer did not follow, and thinking that he might be alive, Cpl. Call returned to the tank under intense machinegun and shell fire and carried the officer over a mile under machinegun and sniper fire to safety.

KATZ, PHILLIP C.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company C, 363d Infantry, 91st Division. Place and date: Near Eclisfontaine, France, 26 September 1918. Entered service at: San Francisco, Calif. Birth: San Francisco, Calif. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: After his company had withdrawn for a distance of 200 yards on a line with the units on its flanks, Sgt. Katz learned that one of his comrades had been left wounded in an exposed position at the point from which the withdrawal had taken place. Voluntarily crossing an area swept by heavy machinegun fire, he advanced to where the wounded soldier lay and carried him to a place of safety.

MALLON, GEORGE H.
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, 132d Infantry, 33d Division. Place and date: In the Bois-de-Forges, France, 26 September 1918. Entered service at: Minneapolis, Minn. Born: 15 June 1877 Ogden, Kans. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: Becoming separated from the balance of his company because of a fog, Capt. Mallon, with 9 soldiers, pushed forward and attacked 9 active hostile machineguns, capturing all of them without the loss of a man. Continuing on through the woods, he led his men in attacking a battery of four 155-millimeter howitzers, which were in action, rushing the position and capturing the battery and its crew. In this encounter Capt. Mallon personally attacked 1 of the enemy with his fists. Later, when the party came upon 2 more machineguns, this officer sent men to the flanks while he rushed forward directly in the face of the fire and silenced the guns, being the first one of the party to reach the nest. The exceptional gallantry and determination displayed by Capt. Mallon resulted in the capture of 100 prisoners, 11 machineguns, four 155-millimeter howitzers and 1 antiaircraft gun.

SANDLIN, WILLIE
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 132d Infantry, 33d Division. Place and date: At Bois-de-Forges, France, 26 September 1918. Entered service at: Hyden, Ky. Birth: Jackson, Ky. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: He showed conspicuous gallantry in action by advancing alone directly on a machinegun nest which was holding up the line with its fire. He killed the crew with a grenade and enabled the line to advance. Later in the day he attacked alone and put out of action 2 other machinegun nests, setting a splendid example of bravery and coolness to his men.

SEIBERT, LLOYD M.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company F, 364th Infantry, 91st Division. Place and date: Near Epinonville, France, 26 September 1918. Entered service at: Salinas, Calif. Birth: Caledonia, Mich. G.O. No.: 445, W.D., 1919. Citation. Suffering from illness, Sgt. Seibert remained with his platoon and led his men with the highest courage and leadership under heavy shell and machinegun fire. With 2 other soldiers he charged a machinegun emplacement in advance of their company, he himself killing one of the enemy with a shotgun and capturing 2 others. In this encounter he was wounded, but he nevertheless continued in action, and when a withdrawal was ordered he returned with the last unit, assisting a wounded comrade. Later in the evening he volunteered and carried in wounded until he fainted from exhaustion.

*SKINKER, ALEXANDER R.
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, 138th Infantry, 35th Division. Place and date: At Cheppy, France, 26 September 1918. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. Birth: St. Louis, Mo. G.O. No.: 13, W.D., 1919. Citation: Unwilling to sacrifice his men when his company was held up by terrific machinegun fire from iron pill boxes in the Hindenburg Line, Capt. Skinker personally led an automatic rifleman and a carrier in an attack on the machineguns. The carrier was killed instantly, but Capt. Skinker seized the ammunition and continued through an opening in the barbed wire, feeding the automatic rifle until he, too, was killed.

WEST, CHESTER H.
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company D, 363d Infantry, 91st Division. Place and date: Near Bois-de-Cheppy, France, 26 September 1918. Entered service at: Los Banos, Calif. Birth: Fort Collins, Colo. G.O. No.: 34, W.D., 1919. Citation: While making his way through a thick fog with his automatic rifle section, his advance was halted by direct and unusual machinegun fire from 2 guns. Without aid, he at once dashed through the fire and, attacking the nest, killed 2 of the gunners, 1 of whom was an officer. This prompt and decisive hand-to-hand encounter on his part enabled his company to advance farther without the loss of a man.

*WOLD, NELS
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company I, 138th Infantry, 35th Division. Place and date: Near Cheppy, France, 26 September 1918. Entered service at: Minnewaukan, N. Dak. Birth: Winger, Minn. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: He rendered most gallant service in aiding the advance of his company, which had been held up by machinegun nests, advancing, with 1 other soldier, and silencing the guns, bringing with him, upon his return, 11 prisoners. Later the same day he jumped from a trench and rescued a comrade who was about to be shot by a German officer, killing the officer during the exploit. His actions were entirely voluntary, and it was while attempting to rush a 5th machinegun nest that he was killed. The advance of his company was mainly due to his great courage and devotion to duty.

*OBREGON, EUGENE ARNOLD
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, Company G, 3d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Seoul, Korea, 26 September 1950. Entered service at: Los Angeles, Calif. Born: 12 November 1930, Los Angeles, Calif. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company G, in action against enemy aggressor forces. While serving as an ammunition carrier of a machine gun squad in a marine rifle company which was temporarily pinned down by hostile fire, Pfc. Obregon observed a fellow marine fall wounded in the line of fire. Armed only with a pistol, he unhesitating dashed from his covered position to the side of the casualty. Firing his pistol with 1 hand as he ran, he grasped his comrade by the arm with his other hand and, despite the great peril to himself dragged him to the side of the road. Still under enemy fire, he was bandaging the man's wounds when hostile troops of approximately platoon strength began advancing toward his position. Quickly seizing the wounded marine's carbine, he placed his own body as a shield in front of him and lay there firing accurately and effectively into the hostile group until he himself was fatally wounded by enemy machine gun fire. By his courageous fighting spirit, fortitude, and loyal devotion to duty, Pfc. Obregon enabled his fellow marines to rescue the wounded man and aided essentially in repelling the attack, thereby sustaining and enhancing the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

CAPTAIN HUMBERT R. VERSACEUNITED STATES ARMY: for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Captain Humbert R. Versace distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism during the period of 29 October 1963 to 26 September 1965, while serving as S-2 Advisor, Military Assistance Advisory Group, Detachment 52, Ca Mau, Republic of Vietnam. While accompanying a Civilian Irregular Defense Group patrol engaged in combat operations in Thoi Binh District, An Xuyen Province, Captain Versace and the patrol came under sudden and intense mortar, automatic weapons, and small arms fire from elements of a heavily armed enemy battalion. As the battle raged, Captain Versace, although severely wounded in the knee and back by hostile fire, fought valiantly and continued to engage enemy targets. Weakened by his wounds and fatigued by the fierce firefight, Captain Versace stubbornly resisted capture by the over-powering Viet Cong force with the last full measure of his strength and ammunition. Taken prisoner by the Viet Cong, he exemplified the tenets of the Code of Conduct from the time he entered into Prisoner of War status. Captain Versace assumed command of his fellow American soldiers, scorned the enemy's exhaustive interrogation and indoctrination efforts, and made three unsuccessful attempts to escape, despite his weakened condition which was brought about by his wounds and the extreme privation and hardships he was forced to endure. During his captivity, Captain Versace was segregated in an isolated prisoner of war cage, manacled in irons for prolonged periods of time, and placed on extremely reduced ration. The enemy was unable to break his indomitable will, his faith in God, and his trust in the United States of America. Captain Versace, an American fighting man who epitomized the principles of his country and the Code of Conduct, was executed by the Viet Cong on 26 September 1965. Captain Versace's gallant actions in close contact with an enemy force and unyielding courage and bravery while a prisoner of war are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect the utmost credit upon himself and the United States Army.

September 25

2005-09-25T20:41:00.000-05:00

25 September

1493 - Christopher Columbus set sail from Cadiz, Spain, with a flotilla of 17 ships on his second voyage to the Western Hemisphere.
1513 - Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Spanish explorer, crossed the Isthmus of Panama and claimed the Pacific Ocean for Spain. He was named governor of Panama and the Pacific by King Ferdinand. In 2004 Hugh Thomas authored “Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire from Columbus to Magellan.”
1639 - The 1st printing press in America began operating.
1775 - British troops captured Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga, when he and a handful of Americans led an attack on Montreal, Canada.
1777 - English general William Howe conquered Philadelphia.
1780 - American General Benedict Arnold joined the British.
1789 - The first Congress of the United States approves 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and sends them to the states for ratification. The amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were designed to protect the basic rights of U.S. citizens, guaranteeing the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and exercise of religion; the right to fair legal procedure and to bear arms; and that powers not delegated to the federal government were reserved for the states and the people. Influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689, the Bill of Rights was also drawn from Virginia's Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason in 1776. Mason, a native Virginian, was a lifelong champion of individual liberties, and in 1787 he attended the Constitutional Convention and criticized the final document for lacking constitutional protection of basic political rights. In the ratification process that followed, Mason and other critics agreed to approve the Constitution in exchange for the assurance that amendments would immediately be adopted. In December 1791, Virginia became the 10th of 14 states to approve 10 of the 12 amendments, thus giving the Bill of Rights the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it legal. Of the two amendments not ratified, the first concerned the population system of representation, while the second prohibited laws varying the payment of congressional members from taking effect until an election intervened. The first of these two amendments was never ratified, while the second was finally ratified more than 200 years later, in 1992.
1804 - The 12th Amendment was ratified. It required electors to vote separately for the president and vice-president.
1846 - American General Zachary Taylor's forces captured Monterey, Mexico.
1861 - Secretary of US Navy authorized the enlistment of slaves.
1861 - U.S.S. Jacob Bell, Lieutenant Edward P. McCrea, and U.S.S. Seminole, Lieutenant Charles S. Norton, engaged Confederate battery at Freestone Point, Virginia.
1862 - U.S.S. Kensington, Acting Master Crocker, U.S.S. Rachel Seaman, Acting Master Hooper, and mortar schooner Henry Janes, Acting Master Lewis Pennington, bombarded Confederate batteries at Sabine Pass, Texas. The action was broken off when the defending troops evacuated the fort, having spiked the guns. Though Sabine City surrendered to Acting Master Crocker the next day and a force under Acting Master Hooper severed communications between Sabine Pass and Taylor's Bayou by burning the railroad bridge and seized the mails on 27 September, the expedition sent by Rear Admiral Farragut could not occupy the area because there were no troops available for that purpose. As Rear Admiral Farragut noted some three months later, "It takes too much force to hold the places for me to take any more, or my outside fleet will be too much reduced to keep up the blockade and keep the river open" - the two primary missions of the squadron.
1864 - Confederate President Jefferson Davis meets with General John Bell Hood at Hood's Palmetto, Georgia, headquarters to discuss the recent misfortunes of the Army of Tennessee. Since Hood had assumed command of the army in July, he had launched an unsuccessful series of attacks on Union General William T. Sherman's forces, endured a month-long siege in Atlanta, and was finally forced to abandon the city. Now, Davis journeyed to Georgia to shore up the sagging morale of his leader and troops. The most pressing problem was dissent within the Confederate command. Leading generals began feuding and pointing fingers to assign blame for the disastrous Atlanta campaign. Hood blamed General William Hardee, commander of one of Hood's three corps, for the loss of Atlanta, and Hardee demanded removal from Hood's authority. After conferring with Hood, Davis reassigned Hardee to the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Even though Hardee was the most able corps commander, Davis personally selected Hood to command the Army of Tennessee in July, and refused to admit his mistake. Unfortunately for the Confederates, Hood invaded Tennessee in the late fall, and by Christmas he saw his once-grand army virtually destroyed. On his return trip to Richmond, Davis gave a speech at Columbia, South Carolina, in which he gushed about Hood's prospects. In doing so, he let slip important information, saying that Hood's eye was set "upon a point far beyond that where he was assailed by the enemy." Sherman read the quote in a newspaper a few days later and guessed, correctly, that Hood intended to move back into Tennessee to cut Sherman's supply lines. Sherman planned his fall strategy accordingly, sending part of his army to deal with Hood while he took the rest across Georgia.
1890 - President Benjamin Harrison signed a measure establishing Sequoia National Park. Sequoia National Park, the nation’s 2nd oldest, was created by Congress. The army was assigned park patrol duty.
1915 - Battle of Petit Rivers, Haiti.
1919 - Pres. Wilson collapsed in Pueblo, Colorado. An ailing President Woodrow Wilson was faced with the possibility that the Senate might not ratify the Versailles Treaty ending World War I without substantial changes. Wilson embarked on a grueling railroad tour of America to sway public opinion in favor of his version of the Treaty, delivering 40 speeches in less than a week. He warned America that without the Treaty, "there will be another world war" within a single generation. He was rushed back to a White House sickroom but there suffered a stroke on October 2. For the five weeks Wilson's life was in danger, his doctor and Mrs. Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, kept the president isolated, but did not declare him unfit to perform his presidential duties. By November 1, Wilson once again governed the country, although he was left partially paralyzed, weak and demoralized. In March 1920, the Senate finally rejected the Treaty of Versailles.
1941 - In first successful U.S. Navy escort of convoys during World War II, Navy escort turn over HX-150 to British escorts at the Mid-Ocean Meeting Point. All ships reach port safely.
1942 - Camp Pendleton was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1943 - A Lend-Lease agreement is signed by American and Free French representatives.
1943 - The Japanese begin to evacuate the garrison on the island of Kolombangara.
1944 - On Peleliu, US forces employing flamethrowers and tanks advance in the north of the island toward Mount Amiangal. On Angaur, pockets of Japanese resistance persist near Lake Salome.
1945 - The Allied Control Commission issued a proclamation announcing additional requirements of Germany. Field Marshal Montgomery, General Eisenhower, Marshal Zhukov and General Koenig sign the 3000 word document. Among the points of the declaration is that the NSDAP and all German armed forces are declared illegal. Meanwhile, secret German OKW documents dated August 17, 1940 which deal with the plan to invade Britain (code named Operation Sealion) are discovered by the Allies.
1948 - Iva Toguri D'Aquino (b.1916), a Japanese-American suspected of being wartime radio propagandist "Tokyo Rose," arrived in SF aboard the General Hodges and was taken away by FBI agents. On Sep 9, 1949, she was found guilty of speaking into a microphone concerning the loss of US ships. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. She was released in 1956 and pardoned by Pres. Ford in 1977.
1950 - U.S. Marines and infantry pushed across the Han River into Seoul. The infantry crossing came after an airlift had brought heavy reinforcements to Kimpo Airfield.
1957 - Under escort from the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, nine black students enter all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Three weeks earlier, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus had surrounded the school with National Guard troops to prevent its federal court-ordered racial integration. After a tense standoff, President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent 1,000 army paratroopers to Little Rock to enforce the court order. On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in educational facilities was unconstitutional. Five days later, the Little Rock School Board issued a statement saying it would comply with the decision when the Supreme Court outlined the method and time frame in which desegregation should be implemented. Arkansas was at the time among the more progressive Southern states in regard to racial issues. The University of Arkansas School of Law was integrated in 1949, and the Little Rock Public Library in 1951. Even before the Supreme Court ordered integration to proceed "with all deliberate speed," the Little Rock School Board in 1955 unanimously adopted a plan of integration to begin in 1957 at the high school level. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed suit, arguing the plan was too gradual, but a federal judge dismissed the suit, saying that the school board was acting in "utmost good faith." Meanwhile, Little Rock's public buses were desegregated. By 1957, seven out of Arkansas' eight state universities were integrated. In the spring of 1957, there were 517 black students who lived in the Central High School district. Eighty expressed an interest in attending Central in the fall, and they were interviewed by the Little Rock School Board, which narrowed down the number of candidates to 17. Eight of those students later decided to remain at all-black Horace Mann High School, leaving the "Little Rock Nine" to forge their way into Little Rock's premier high school. In August 1957, the newly formed Mother's League of Central High School won a temporary injunction from the county chancellor to block integration of the school, charging that it "could lead to violence." Federal District Judge Ronald Davies nullified the injunction on August 30. On September 2, Governor Orval Faubus--a staunch segregationist--called out the Arkansas National Guard to surround Central High School and prevent integration, ostensibly to prevent the bloodshed he claimed desegregation would cause. The next day, Judge Davies ordered integrated classes to begin on September 4. That morning, 100 armed National Guard troops encircled Central High School. A mob of 400 white civilians gathered and turned ugly when the black students began to arrive, shouting racial epithets and threatening the teenagers with violence. The National Guard troops refused to let the black students pass and used their clubs to control the crowd. One of the nine, 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford, was surrounded by the mob, which threatened to lynch her. She was finally led to safety by a sympathetic white woman. Little Rock Mayor Woodrow Mann condemned Faubus' decision to call out the National Guard, but the governor defended his action, reiterating that he did so to prevent violence. The governor also stated that integration would occur in Little Rock when and if a majority of people chose to support it. Faubus' defiance of Judge Davies' court order was the first major test of Brown v. Board of Education and the biggest challenge of the federal government's authority over the states since the Reconstruction Era. The standoff continued, and on September 20 Judge Davies ruled that Faubus had used the troops to prevent integration, not to preserve law and order as he claimed. Faubus had no choice but to withdraw the National Guard troops. Authority over the explosive situation was put in the hands of the Little Rock Police Department. On September 23, as a mob of 1,000 whites milled around outside Central High School, the nine black students managed to gain access to a side door. However, the mob became unruly when it learned the black students were inside, and the police evacuated them out of fear for their safety. That evening, President Eisenhower issued a special proclamation calling for opponents of the federal court order to "cease and desist." On September 24, Little Rock's mayor sent a telegram to the president asking him to send troops to maintain order and complete the integration process. Eisenhower immediately federalized the Arkansas National Guard and approved the deployment of U.S. troops to Little Rock. That evening, from the White House, the president delivered a nationally televised address in which he explained that he had taken the action to defend the rule of law and prevent "mob rule" and "anarchy." On September 25, the Little Rock Nine entered the school under heavily armed guard. Troops remained at Central High School throughout the school year, but still the black students were subjected to verbal and physical assaults from a faction of white students. Melba Patillo, one of the nine, had acid thrown in her eyes, and Elizabeth Eckford was pushed down a flight of stairs. The three male students in the group were subjected to more conventional beatings. Minnijean Brown was suspended after dumping a bowl of chili over the head of a taunting white student. She was later suspended for the rest of the year after continuing to fight back. The other eight students consistently turned the other cheek. On May 27, 1958, Ernest Green, the only senior in the group, became the first black to graduate from Central High School. Governor Faubus continued to fight the school board's integration plan, and in September 1958 he ordered Little Rock's three high schools closed rather than permit integration. Many Little Rock students lost a year of education as the legal fight over desegregation continued. In 1959, a federal court struck down Faubus' school-closing law, and in August 1959 Little Rock's white high schools opened a month early with black students in attendance. All grades in Little Rock public schools were finally integrated in 1972.
1957 - In project Stratoscope, Office of Naval Research obtains sharp photographs of sun's corona from first balloon-borne telescope camera.
1959 - A US Navy P5M seaplane that had ditched off the Oregon coast was located through radio contact by a U.S. Coast Guard UF-1G Albatross aircraft. After sighting 10 survivors in two rafts 110 miles off shore, the Albatross crew directed the CGC Yocona to the scene, where a successful night rescue was made.
1969 - Senator Charles Goodell (a maverick Republican from New York) proposes legislation that would require the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam by the end of 1970, and bar the use of congressionally appropriated funds after December 1, 1970, for maintaining U.S. military personnel in Vietnam. The legislation failed to pass, but it was followed by 10 similar proposals over the next three weeks by legislators including Senators Jacob Javits, Frank Church, and Mark Hatfield. Nixon had temporarily silenced his critics earlier in the month by announcing a new troop withdrawal and a reduction in the draft call for the next two months, but many of those who opposed him in Congress felt that Nixon had ignored an opportunity to push for peace in Vietnam when Ho Chi Minh had died on September 1.
1973 - The three-man crew of the U.S. space laboratory Skylab Two splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean after spending 59 days in orbit.
1989 - President Bush, addressing the U.N. General Assembly, offered to slash American stocks of chemical weapons by more than 80 percent, provided the Soviets did the same.
1990 - In a videotaped message to Americans, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein warned that if President Bush launched a war against his country, “it would not be up to him to end it.”
1990 - The UN Security Council voted 14-to-1 to impose Resolution 677 an air embargo against Iraq. Cuba cast the lone dissenting vote.
1992 - The Mars Observer blasted off on a $980 million mission to the red planet. The probe disappeared just before entering Martian orbit in August 1993.
1993 - Three U.S. soldiers in Somalia were killed when their helicopter was downed by a rocket-propelled grenade.
1996 - NATO generals were ordered to prepare plans for an extension of allied military force in Bosnia beyond the Dec. 20 deadline.
1997 - The space shuttle Atlantis was launched and astronaut David Wolf scheduled to replace Michael Foale on the Mir space station.
1998 - Douglas Groat, a former CIA covert operator, was sentenced to 5 years in prison after admitting that he attempted to extort $1 million from the agency with threats to disclose how the US intercepts foreign communications.
2001 - The US campaign against terrorism was renamed “Operation Enduring Freedom.”
2001 - Naseer Ahmed Mujahed, Osama bin Laden’s military chief, faxed a statement to news agencies that said: “Wherever there are Americans and Jews, they will be targeted.”
2001 - Interpol issued a bulletin for the arrest of Ayman al-Zawahri (50), an Egyptian surgeon believed to be Osama bin Laden’s closest al Qaeda associate in Afghanistan.
2001 - Nato agreed to keep troops in Macedonia beyond the Sep 26 expiration of its mission.
2002 - US military C-130s and U.S. troops landed in Ivory Coast to rescue Americans in the West African nation's deadliest-ever uprising.
2003 - A mortar blast, fired by insurgents, tore through a market in Baqouba, Iraq, killing nine civilians and injuring more than a dozen others.
2003 - Aquila al-Hashimi (50), the first member of Iraq's American-picked Governing Council to be targeted for assassination, died, five days after she was shot in an ambush.
2004 - Afghan security forces killed a senior Taliban commander and two of his comrades in southern Afghanistan. Maulvi Abdul Ghaffar, a former inmate at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, died in the gunbattle.
2004 - US warplanes, tanks and artillery units struck the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. Five mortar shells struck the Iraqi Oil Ministry headquarters in Baghdad.
2004 - An Internet posting claimed that an al-Qaida-linked group has killed British hostage Kenneth Bigley.

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day

CONNOR, WILLIAM C.
Rank and organization: Boatswain's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 1832, Pennsylvania. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Howquah on the occasion of the destruction of the blockade runner Lynx, off Wilmington, 25 September 1864. Performing his duty faithfully under the most trying circumstances, Connor stood firmly at his post in the midst of a crossfire from the rebel shore batteries and our own vessels.

ROBINSON, ALEXANDER
Rank and organization: Boatswain's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 1831, England. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as boatswain's mate on board the U.S.S. Howquah on the occasion of the destruction of the blockade runner, Lynx, off Wilmington, 25 September 1864. Performing his duty faithfully under the most trying circumstances, Robinson stood firmly at his post in the midst of a crossfire from the rebel shore batteries and our own vessels.

ORMSBEE, FRANCIS EDWARD, JR.
Rank and organization: Chief Machinist's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 30 April 1892, Providence, R.l. Accredited to: Florida. G.O. No.: 436, 1918. Citation: For extraordinary heroism while attached to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla., on 25 September 1918. While flying with Ens. J. A. Jova, Ormsbee saw a plane go into a tailspin and crash about three-quarters of a mile to the right. Having landed near by, Ormsbee lost no time in going overboard and made for the wreck, which was all under water except the 2 wing tips. He succeeded in partially extricating the gunner so that his head was out of water, and held him in this position until the speedboat arrived. Ormsbee then made a number of desperate attempts to rescue the pilot, diving into the midst of the tangled wreckage although cut about the hands, but was too late to save his life.

RICKENBACKER, EDWARD V. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Corps, 94th Aero Squadron, Air Service. Place and date: Near Billy, France, 25 September 1918. Entered service at: Columbus, Ohio. Born: 8 October 1890, Columbus, Ohio. G.O. No.: 2, W.D., 1931. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy near Billy, France, 25 September 1918. While on a voluntary patrol over the lines, 1st Lt. Rickenbacker attacked 7 enemy planes (5 type Fokker, protecting two type Halberstadt). Disregarding the odds against him, he dived on them and shot down one of the Fokkers out of control. He then attacked one of the Halberstadts and sent it down also.

*NEW, JOHN DURY
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 12 August 1924, Mobile, Ala. Accredited to: Alabama. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 2d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Peleliu Island, Palau Group, 25 September 1944. When a Japanese soldier emerged from a cave in a cliff directly below an observation post and suddenly hurled a grenade into the position from which 2 of our men were directing mortar fire against enemy emplacements, Pfc. New instantly perceived the dire peril to the other marines and, with utter disregard for his own safety, unhesitatingly flung himself upon the grenade and absorbed the full impact of the explosion, thus saving the lives of the 2 observers. Pfc. New's great personal valor and selfless conduct in the face of almost certain death reflect the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

September 24

2005-09-24T20:41:00.001-05:00

24 September

1683 - King Louis XIV expelled all Jews from French possessions in America.
1789 - The Judiciary Act of 1789 is passed by Congress and signed by President George Washington, establishing the Supreme Court of the United States as a tribunal made up of six justices who were to serve on the court until death or retirement. That day, President Washington nominated John Jay to preside as chief justice, and John Rutledge, William Cushing, John Blair, Robert Harrison, and James Wilson to be associate justices. On September 26, all six appointments were confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The U.S. Supreme Court was established by Article 3 of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution granted the Supreme Court ultimate jurisdiction over all laws, especially those in which their constitutionality was at issue. The high court was also designated to oversee cases concerning treaties of the United States, foreign diplomats, admiralty practice, and maritime jurisdiction. On February 1, 1790, the first session of the U.S. Supreme Court was held in New York City's Royal Exchange Building. The U.S. Supreme Court grew into the most important judicial body in the world in terms of its central place in the American political order. According to the Constitution, the size of the court is set by Congress, and the number of justices varied during the 19th century before stabilizing in 1869 at nine. In times of constitutional crisis, the nation's highest court has always played a definitive role in resolving, for better or worse, the great issues of the time.
1827 - Union General Henry Slocum is born in Delphi, New York. In 1852, Slocum graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, seventh in his class of 42. He remained in the military for just four years, serving in Florida and South Carolina. In 1856, he left the service to study law, and by 1858 he had established a practice in Syracuse. After serving in the New York State assembly, Slocum became a lieutenant colonel in the New York State militia. When war broke out, he received command of the 27th New York Infantry and was commissioned colonel. Slocum fought at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. Although he was wounded and his regiment suffered 130 casualties out of about 800 present, his star rose rapidly in the Army of the Potomac. He was promoted to brigadier general after Bull Run, and by the time the army embarked on the Peninsular campaign in May 1862, he was a major general. In October 1862, Slocum received command of the army's XII corps. During the Chancellorsville campaign of May 1862, Slocum had developed an intense dislike for General Joseph Hooker, who was commander of the Army of the Potomac at the time. After the Yankees were dealt a humiliating defeat at the hands of an outnumbered Confederate army, Slocum participated in a movement to have Hooker removed. Although he played a key role at the Battle of Gettysburg in July, Slocum's corps was placed under Hooker's command in September in order to reinforce Union troops in Chattanooga, Tennessee, after the Battle of Chickamauga. Rather than serve under Hooker, Slocum resigned. However, his resignation was not accepted, and he was sent to command forces at Vicksburg, Mississippi. After Hooker left the army, Slocum returned to command his old corps, which was now part of General William T. Sherman's army. Selected to command one wing of the Federal army during Sherman's famous "March to the Sea," Slocum remained with Sherman as the Yankees pacified the Carolinas, and was present at the surrender of General Joseph Johnston's army at the end of the war. Slocum resigned his commission in 1865 and returned to New York. He practiced law in New York City and served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1868 to 1873 and again from 1883 to 1885. He died in Brooklyn, New York, in 1894.
1862 - President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus against anyone suspected of being a Southern sympathizer.
1864 - Under command of Acting Master William T. Street, wooden steamer U.S.S. Fuchsia, and side-wheelers Thomas Freeborn and Mercury proceeded to Milford Haven, Virginia, near which Con-federates were believed to be preparing a number of boats to attack the blockading force at the mouth of the Piankatank River. Leaving Fuchsia and Thomas Freeborn at Milford Haven, Street took armed boats in tow of Mercury and proceeded up Stutt's Creek. Some three miles upstream a force of 40 sailors was landed, under Acting Master William A. Arthur and Acting Ensign Philip Sheridan. Four Confederate boats were destroyed, five were captured, and a fishery demolished. Though the Rappahannock River area was dominated by the Northern forces, Union ships had to be continually on the alert to prevent audacious Southern raids.
1906 - The First US National Monument, Devils Tower, was designated by President Theodore Roosevelt. Devils Tower is a volcanic rock formation, rising 865 feet over a base of gray igneous rock at 1,700 feet, located in the Black Hills of Wyoming.
1918 - Ensign David S. Ingalls, USNR, in a Sopwith Camel, shoots down his fifth enemy aircraft, becoming the first U.S. Navy ace while flying with the British Royal Air Force.
1929 - U.S. Army pilot Lt. James H. Doolittle guided a Consolidated NY2 Biplane over Mitchel Field in New York in the first all-instrument flight.
1941 - Representatives from 15 Allied countries sign the Atlantic Charter, including the UK, USA and USSR, as well as several Commonwealth countries and the European governments-in-exile.
1941 - The Japanese consul in Hawaii is instructed to divide Pearl Harbor into five zones and calculate the number of battleships in each zone--and report the findings back to Japan. Relations between the United States and Japan had been deteriorating quickly since Japan's occupation of Indo-China and the implicit menacing of the Philippines, an American protectorate, with the occupation of the Cam Ranh naval base only eight miles from Manila. American retaliation included the seizing of all Japanese assets in the States and the closing of the Panama Canal to Japanese shipping. In September 1941, Roosevelt issued a statement, drafted by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, that threatened war between the United States and Japan should the Japanese encroach any farther on territory in Southeast Asia or the South Pacific. The Japanese military had long dominated Japanese foreign affairs. So, although official negotiations between the U.S. secretary of state and his Japanese counterpart to ease tensions were ongoing, Hideki Tojo, the minister of war who would soon be prime minister, had no intention of withdrawing from captured territories. He also construed the American "threat" of war as an ultimatum and prepared to deliver the first blow in a Japanese-American confrontation: the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In September 1941, Nagai Kita, the Japanese consul in Hawaii, was told to begin carving up Pearl Harbor into five distinct zones and to determine the number of warships moored in each zone. Little did Japan know that the United States had intercepted the message; unfortunately, it had to be sent back to Washington for decrypting. Flights east were infrequent, so the message was sent via sea, a more time-consuming process. When it finally arrived at the capital, staff shortages and other priorities further delayed the decryption. When the message was finally unscrambled in mid-October--it was dismissed as being of no great consequence. It would be found of consequence on December 7.
1942 - Off Guadalcanal, the routine re-supplying done at night by the Japanese is disrupted by the Americans as they sink two Japanese destroyers and a cruiser.
1942 - MCAS Mojave, California organized.
1943 - The Coast Guard-manned USS LST-167 and the USS LST-334 with a partial Coast Guard crew landed troops during the invasion of Vella Lavella in the central Solomons despite fierce resistance from the Japanese defenders. Japanese aircraft attacked the invasion fleet, hitting LST-167 with two bombs that killed 10 of her crew and wounded 10. Five crewmen were reported as missing in action. The LST was later salvaged.
1944 - On Peleliu, American naval bombardment and air strikes support new US attacks which fail to break Japanese resistance.
1944 - US Task Force 38 conducts air strikes on Japanese targets on the Visayan islands. Twelve American carriers are involved. Since August 31st, TF38 is estimated to have destroyed 1000 Japanese aircraft and 150 ships of all types. The American forces has lost 72 aircraft, including 18 accidents.
1945 - Japanese Emperor Hirohito says that he did not want war and blames Tojo for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
1947 - The Coast Guard announced that it had virtually completed the return of United States buoys, lights, and other aids to navigation to a peacetime basis.
1948 - Mildred Gillars, accused of being Nazi wartime radio propagandist "Axis Sally," pleaded innocent in Washington, D.C., to charges of treason. (Gillars ended up serving 12 years in prison.)
1950 - In the south, Eighth Army's 1st Cavalry Division took Sangju and Oksan. On the Inchon/Seoul front, the 7th Infantry Division entered Osan on a drive to link up with Eighth Army forces advancing from the south.
1950 - Paratroopers of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team, arrived at Kimpo Air Base from Japan. This 4000-man RCT was detached from the 11th Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., for service in Korea.
1953 - In a speech that is by turns confrontational and sarcastic, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles declares that the United States will not "cringe or become panicky" in the face of Soviet nuclear weapons. Dulles' speech indicated that although the Korean War had finally reached a peaceful conclusion, the United States would continue its policy of containing communist expansion, by force if necessary. Secretary Dulles began his speech to the American Federation of Labor by observing that he believed world peace was within reach, but was threatened by "communist leaders who openly repudiate the restraints of moral law." The United States, he declared, "does not believe that salvation can be won merely by making concessions which enhance the power and increase the arrogance of those who have already extended their rule over one-third of the human race." Acknowledging that the Soviets now possessed a nuclear arsenal, Dulles countered that the United States would not "cringe or became panicky." Turning to the issue of labor, Dulles then spoke at length about what he called the communist "swindle." The secretary spoke derisively of the "hoax" played on Russian workers by their own government. "The Russian worker," Dulles stated, "is the most underpaid, overworked person in any modern industrial state. He is the most managed, checked, spied on, and unrepresented worker in the world today." Dulles' speech indicated that although the new administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower had recently finished negotiating a cease-fire in Korea, the United States was not backing off from its stated Cold War commitment to containing communism. The speech also hinted at two points that would become mainstays of the Secretary's Cold War diplomacy. First was the idea that the United States would not back down from the Soviets simply because of the threat of nuclear war. This idea eventually became known as "brinkmanship"--the notion that the Soviets, if pushed to the "brink" of nuclear war, would eventually back down. Second was Dulles' frequently repeated assertion that the people living in communist nations were essentially "captives" of repressive communist regimes. In the years to come, Dulles would expand on both ideas in more detail.
1955 - President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Denver. The illness didn't prevent Eisenhower from being re-elected to a second term the following year.
1957 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent federal troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, to protect nine black students entering its newly integrated high school.
1960 - The USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched at Newport News, Va.
1962 - US Circuit Court of Appeals ordered James Meredith admitted to the Univ. of Miss. The University of Mississippi agreed to admit James Meredith as the first black university student, sparking more rioting.
1963 - The U.S. Senate ratified a treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union limiting nuclear testing.
1963 - Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Gen. Maxwell Taylor, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrive in Vietnam. At President John F. Kennedy's request, they were to determine whether South Vietnam's military situation had deteriorated as a result of the continuing clash between the Ngo Dinh Diem government and the Buddhists over Diem's refusal to institute internal political reform. Earlier in the month, Kennedy had sent Marine Corps Gen. Victor Krulak and State Department official Joseph Mendenhall to Saigon on a fact-finding mission. They returned with a conflicting report that left Kennedy unsure of the actual situation in Saigon. Consequently, Kennedy dispatched McNamara and Taylor in an attempt to clarify the situation. They were accompanied on the eight-day trip by William Bundy of the Defense Department, William Colby of the Central Intelligence Agency, White House advisor Michael Forrestall, and diplomat William Sullivan. Again, the individual perceptions of the group differed. Gen. Paul Harkins, commander of the U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) convinced General Taylor that the war against the Viet Cong was progressing on schedule, even to the point that Harkins thought that 1,000 advisors might be sent home by the end of the year. The civilians in the party were not so optimistic, agreeing with Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge's assessment that the Diem government was very fragile. They were even more convinced when they met with Diem and he rejected any discussion of meaningful political reforms that might have quieted the growing unrest among the Buddhists. When the group returned to Washington in October, their report was an amalgamation of their differing views of the situation. While agreeing that some progress was being made in the field against the Viet Cong, they all agreed that the political situation threatened further progress. On the subject of a potential coup, the report said that there was only a slight chance and that the United States should not support any coup attempts "at this time." They recommended selective economic and psychological measures to convince Diem to institute reforms to redress the political unrest. Unfortunately, when the recommended measures were taken, they had no effect on Diem and his policies. The United States made clear its dissatisfaction with Diem's refusal to change his domestic policies, giving, in effect the green light to a coup by opposition military officers. A coup was staged on November 1, 1963, in which Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, were murdered by South Vietnamese officers.
1967 - In Saigon, Hue, and Da Nang, demonstrations are staged against the recent election of President Nguyen Van Thieu and Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky, led by the militant Buddhist faction, who charge that the elections were rigged and demand that the Constituent Assembly cancel the results. In the United States, the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) adopted a resolution against the Johnson administration's policy and strategy in Vietnam, charging that in Vietnam the United States was "in league with a corrupt and illiberal government supported by a minority of the people."
1969 - The trial of the "Chicago Eight" (later seven) began. Demonstrations began outside the court house, with the "Weatherman" group proclaiming the "Days of Rage" in protest of the trial. The Chicago Eight staged demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to protest the Vietnam War and its support by the top Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey. These anti-Vietnam War protests were some of the most violent in American history as the police and national guardsmen confronted antiwar protesters. Five defendants (Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis) were convicted of crossing state lines to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic national convention; the convictions were ultimately overturned.
1982 - US, Italian and French peacekeeping troops began arriving in Lebanon.
1987 - President Reagan rebuffed congressional calls to limit U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, and defended the recent U.S. attack on an Iranian mine-laying vessel.
1991 - Iraq agrees to allow U.N. helicopters to make unrestricted flights over its territory.
1992 - Acting Navy Secretary Sean O'Keefe stripped three admirals of their jobs for failing to investigate aggressively the Tailhook sex abuse scandal.
1994 - A firefight erupted between U.S. Marines and a group of armed Haitians outside a police station in the northern coastal city of Cap-Haitian; 10 of the Haitians were killed.
1996 - The United States, represented by President Clinton, and the world's other major nuclear powers signed a treaty to end all testing and development of nuclear weapons.
1998 - NATO instructed its generals to begin preparing for air strikes on Yugoslavia unless pres. Milosevic ends his attacks on ethnic Albanians.
2001 - President Bush ordered a freeze on the assets of 27 people and organizations with suspected links to terrorism, including Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, and urged other nations to do likewise.
2001 - The US received from Russia an essential go-ahead to use 3 former republics as bases for attacks on Afghanistan.
2001 - In Afghanistan Taliban officials said they were dispatching 300,000 fighters to defend their borders. Analysts estimated Taliban strength at 45,000 fighters with 20,000 in action against the Northern Alliance.
2001 - Kazakstan offered air and military bases to the US for attacks on Afghanistan. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were said to be negotiating use of their territory by the US.
2001 - It was reported that at least 16 Syrian, Jordanian and Lebanese citizens were arrested in Paraguay in the wake of the Sep 11 terrorist attacks in the US.
2001 - Russia pledged support for US efforts and arms for anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
2002 - Iraq dismissed a British government report that said Saddam Hussein is pursuing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
2002 - Allied aircraft struck Iraqi air defence facilities again in a double strike at two southeastern installations. Precision-guided weapons were aimed at a radar facility near Al Amarah about 165 miles southeast of Baghdad and a defence communications facility at Tallil, about 170 miles southeast of the capital.
2002 - U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thomas H. Collins announced the award of a $611 million contract to General Dynamics of Scottsdale, AZ, for the production, deployment and support of “Rescue 21,” a modernization of the National Distress and Response System. "Rescue 21" was planned to be the nation's primary maritime "911" system for coastal waters of the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and navigable rivers and lakes within the United States. "Rescue 21" replaced the current system entitled the National Distress and Response System that monitored for distress calls and coordinated the search and rescue response. This system consisted of a network of VHF-FM antenna high-sites with analog transceivers that are remotely controlled by regional communication centers and rescue boat stations that provided coverage out to approximately 20 nautical miles from shore in most areas. The Rescue 21 deployment began in the Atlantic City, NJ, and Eastern Shore regions. Concurrently, the system will be deployed in the Seattle, Port Angeles, WA; St. Petersburg, FL; and Mobile, AL, regions. The deployment for the coastal waters of the continental U.S. was scheduled to be completed by September 2005 with all regions completed by September 2006.
2004 - PM Ayad Allawi and President Bush declared that Iraq is on the road to stability, with the Iraqi leader saying elections would be possible in all but 3-4 of Iraq's 18 provinces.
2005 - Hurricane Rita made landfall just east of Sabine Pass, on the Texas-Louisiana line, as a Category 3 hurricane with top sustained winds of 120 mph. Coast Guard units still in the area from Hurricane Katrina rescue and relief efforts responded, saving138 lives and evacuating 53 people.

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day

BAYBUTT, PHILIP
Rank and organization: Private, Company A, 2d Massachusetts Cavalry. Place and date: At Luray, Va., 24 September 1864. Entered service at: Fall River, Mass. Birth: England. Date of issue: 19 October 1864. Citation: Capture of flag.

NISPEROS, JOSE B.
Rank and organization: Private, 34th Company, Philippine Scouts. Place and date: At Lapurap, Basilan, Philippine Islands, 24 September 191 1. Entered service at: San Fernandos Union, P.I.. Birth: San Fernandos Union, P.I.. Date of issue: Unknown. Citation: Having been badly wounded (his left arm was broken and lacerated and he had received several spear wounds in the body so that he could not stand) continued to fire his rifle with one hand until the enemy was repulsed, thereby aiding materially in preventing the annihilation of his party and the mutilation of their bodies.

CATHERWOOD, JOHN HUGH
Rank and organization: Ordinary Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 7 August 1888, Springfield, Ill. Accredited to: Illinois. G.O. No.: 138, 13 December 1911. Citation: While attached to the U.S.S. Pampang, Catherwood was one of a shore party moving in to capture Mundang, on the island of Basilan, Philippine Islands, on the morning of 24 September 1911. Advancing with the scout party to reconnoiter a group of nipa huts close to the trail, Catherwood unhesitatingly entered the open area before the huts, where his party was suddenly taken under point-blank fire and charged by approximately 20 enemy Moros coming out from inside the native huts and from other concealed positions. Struck down almost instantly by the outlaws' deadly fire, Catherwood, although unable to rise, rallied to the defense of his leader and fought desperately to beat off the hostile attack. By his valiant effort under fire and in the face of great odds, Catherwood contributed materially toward the destruction and rout of the enemy.

HARRISON, BOLDEN REUSH
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 26 April 1886, Savannah, Tenn. Accredited to: Tennessee. G.O. No.: 138, 13 December 1911. Citation: While attached to the U.S.S. Pampang, Harrison was one of a shore party moving in to capture Mundang, on the island of Basilan, Philippine Islands, on 24 September 1911. Harrison instantly responded to the calls for help when the advance scout party investigating a group of nipa huts close to the trail, was suddenly taken under point-blank fire and rushed by approximately 20 enemy Moros attacking from inside the huts and from other concealed positions. Armed with a double-barreled shotgun, he concentrated his blasting fire on the outlaws, destroying 3 of the Moros and assisting in the rout of the remainder. By his aggressive charging of the enemy under heavy fire and in the face of great odds, Harrison contributed materially to the success of the engagement.

McGUlRE, FRED HENRY
Rank and organization: Hospital Apprentice, U.S. Navy. Born: 7 November 1890, Gordonville, Mo. Entered service at: Gordonville, Mo. G.O. No.: 138, 13 December 1911. Citation: While attached to the U.S.S. Pampang, McGuire was one of a shore party moving in to capture Mundang, on the island of Basilan, Philippine Islands, on the morning of 24 September 1911. Ordered to take station within 100 yards of a group of nipa huts close to the trail, McGuire advanced and stood guard as the leader and his scout party first searched the surrounding deep grasses, then moved into the open area before the huts. Instantly enemy Moros opened point-blank fire on the exposed men and approximately 20 Moros charged the small group from inside the huts and from other concealed positions. McGuire, responding to the calls for help, was one of the first on the scene. After emptying his rifle into the attackers, he closed in with rifle, using it as a club to wage fierce battle until his comrades arrived on the field, when he rallied to the aid of his dying leader and other wounded. Although himself wounded, McGuire ministered tirelessly and efficiently to those who had been struck down, thereby saving the lives of 2 who otherwise might have succumbed to enemy-inflicted wounds.

HENRECHON, GEORGE FRANCIS
Rank and organization: Machinist's Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 22 November 1885, Hartford, Conn. Accredited to: California. G.O. No.: 138, 13 December 1911 Citation: While attached to the U.S.S. Pampang, Henrechon was one of a shore party moving in to capture Mundang, Philippine Islands, on 24 September 1911. Ordered to take station within 100 yards of a group of nipa huts close to the trail, Henrechon advanced and stood guard as the leader and his scout party first searched the surrounding deep grasses, then moved into the open area before the huts. Instantly enemy Moros opened point-blank fire on the exposed men and approximately 20 Moros rushed the small group from inside the huts and from other concealed positions. Henrechon, responding to the calls for help, was one of the first on the scene. When his rifle jammed after the first shot, he closed in with rifle, using it as a club to break the stock over the head of the nearest Moro and then, drawing his pistol, started in pursuit of the fleeing outlaws. Henrechon's aggressive charging of the enemy under heavy fire and in the face of great odds contributed materially to the success of the engagement.

VOLZ, JACOB
Rank and organization: Carpenter's Mate Third Class, U.S. Navy. Place and date: Island of Basilan, Philippine Islands, 24 September 1911. Entered service at: Nebraska. Birth: Sutton, Nebr. G.O. No.: 138, 13 December 1911. Citation: While attached to the U.S.S. Pampang, Volz was one of a shore party moving in to capture Mundang, on the island of Basilan, Philippine Islands, on 24 September 1911. Investigating a group of nipa huts close to the trail, the advance scout party was suddenly taken under point-blank fire and rushed by approximately 20 enemy Moros attacking from inside the huts and other concealed positions. Volz responded instantly to calls for help and, finding all members of the scout party writhing on the ground but still fighting, he blazed his rifle into the outlaws with telling effect, destroying several of the Moros and assisting in the rout of the remainder. By his aggressive charging of the enemy under heavy fire and in the face of great odds, Volz contributed materially to the success of the engagement.

SCHAEFER, JOSEPH E.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company I, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Stolberg, Germany, 24 September 1944. Entered service at: Long Island, N.Y. Birth: New York, N.Y. G.O. No.: 71, 22 August 1945. Citation: He was in charge of a squad of the 2d Platoon in the vicinity of Stolberg, Germany, early in the morning of 24 September 1944, when 2 enemy companies supported by machineguns launched an attack to seize control of an important crossroads which was defended by his platoon. One American squad was forced back, another captured, leaving only S/Sgt. Schaefer's men to defend the position. To shift his squad into a house which would afford better protection, he crawled about under heavy small-arms and machinegun fire, instructed each individual, and moved to the building. A heavy concentration of enemy artillery fire scored hits on his strong point. S/Sgt. Schaefer assigned his men to positions and selected for himself the most dangerous one at the door. With his Ml rifle, he broke the first wave of infantry thrown toward the house. The Germans attacked again with grenades and flame throwers but were thrown back a second time, S/Sgt. Schaefer killing and wounding several. Regrouped for a final assault, the Germans approached from 2 directions. One force drove at the house from the front, while a second group advanced stealthily along a hedgerow. Recognizing the threat, S/Sgt. Schaefer fired rapidly at the enemy before him, killing or wounding all 6; then, with no cover whatever, dashed to the hedgerow and poured deadly accurate shots into the second group, killing 5, wounding 2 others, and forcing the enemy to withdraw. He scoured the area near his battered stronghold and captured 10 prisoners. By this time the rest of his company had begun a counterattack; he moved forward to assist another platoon to regain its position. Remaining in the lead, crawling and running in the face of heavy fire, he overtook the enemy, and liberated the American squad captured earlier in the battle. In all, single-handed and armed only with his rifle, he killed between 15 and 20 Germans, wounded at least as many more, and took 10 prisoners. S/Sgt. Schaefer's indomitable courage and his determination to hold his position at all costs were responsible for stopping an enemy break-through.

September 23

2005-09-23T20:40:00.000-05:00

23 September

1776 - Continental Marines were ordered to reinforce General George Washington in New York.
1779 - During the American Revolution, the U.S. ship Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, wins a hard-fought engagement against the British ships of war Serapis and Countess of Scarborough off the east coast of England. Scottish-born John Paul Jones first sailed to America as a cabin boy and lived for a time in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where his brother had a business. He later served on slave and merchant ships and proved an able seaman. After he killed a sailor while suppressing a mutiny, he went to the American colonies to escape possible British prosecution. With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, he traveled to Philadelphia and was commissioned a senior lieutenant in the new Continental Navy. He soon distinguished himself in actions against British ships in the Bahamas, the Atlantic, and the English Channel. In August 1779, Jones took command of the Bonhomme Richard and sailed around the British Isles. On September 23, the Bonhomme Richard engaged the Serapis and the smaller Countess of Scarborough, which were escorting the Baltic merchant fleet. After inflicting considerable damage to the Bonhomme Richard, Richard Pearson, the captain of the Serapis, asked Jones if he had struck his colors, the naval sign indicating surrender. From his disabled ship, Jones replied, "I have not yet begun to fight," and after three more hours of furious fighting the Serapis and Countess of Scarborough surrendered to him. After the victory, the Americans transferred to the Serapis from the Bonhomme Richard, which sunk the following day. Jones was hailed as a great hero in France, but recognition in the United States was somewhat belated. He continued to serve the United States until 1787 and then served briefly in the Russian navy before moving to France, where he died in 1792 at the age of 45, amid the chaos of the French Revolution. He was buried in an unmarked grave. In 1905, his remains were located under the direction of the U.S. ambassador to France and then escorted back to America by U.S. warships. His body was later enshrined in a crypt at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
1780 - British spy John Andre was captured along with papers revealing Benedict Arnold's plot to surrender West Point to the British.
1805 - Lieutenant Zebulon Pike paid $2,000 to buy from the Sioux a 9-square-mile tract at the mouth of the Minnesota River that would be used to establish a military post, Fort Snelling.
1806 - Amid much public excitement, American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark return to St. Louis, Missouri, from the first recorded overland journey from the Mississippi River to the Pacific coast and back. The Lewis and Clark Expedition had set off more than two years before to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase. Even before the U.S. government concluded purchase negotiations with France, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned his private secretary Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, an army captain, to lead an expedition into what is now the U.S. Northwest. On May 14, the "Corps of Discovery," featuring 28 men and one woman--a Native American named Sacagawea--left St. Louis for the American interior. The expedition traveled up the Missouri River in six canoes and two longboats and wintered in Dakota before crossing into Montana, where they first saw the Rocky Mountains. On the other side of the Continental Divide, they were met by Sacagawea's tribe, the Shoshone Indians, who sold them horses for their journey down through the Bitterroot Mountains. After passing through the dangerous rapids of the Clearwater and Snake rivers in canoes, the explorers reached the calm of the Columbia River, which led them to the sea. On November 8, 1805, the expedition arrived at the Pacific Ocean, the first European explorers to do so by an overland route from the east. After pausing there for winter, the explorers began their long journey back to St. Louis. After two and a half years, the expedition returned to the city, bringing back a wealth of information about the largely unexplored region, as well as valuable U.S. claims to Oregon Territory.
1863 - President Lincoln meets with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, several cabinet members, and military planners on September 23 to discuss the desperate situation at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Three days before, General William Rosecrans's army had been dealt a serious defeat at Chickamauga, Georgia, just south of Chattanooga. The Yankees suffered 16,000 casualties, and there was fear that a Confederate attack on Chattanooga would place the Union army in grave danger. Reinforcements were needed quickly, but there weren't any in the immediate vicinity. Lincoln and his advisors settled on a bold plan to ship General Joseph Hooker and his men, who were in Virginia with the Army of the Potomac, to relieve Rosecrans' army. Some observers thought it would take at least a month, but the troops were moving within two days. Railroads and military officials received notification by telegraph, and the troops were given the highest priority. One of Hooker's corps arrived in Chattanooga, while the other was shipped to nearby northern Alabama. It took just a week and a half to ship an entire army of soldiers, animals, and equipment. The move of Hooker's army, which underscored the Union's ability to effectively utilize the rail network, was the most impressive logistical accomplishment of the war.
1864 - Confederate and Union forces clashed at Mount Jackson, Front Royal and Woodstock in Virginia during the Valley campaign.
1864 - Battle of Athens, Va.
1931 - LT Alfred Pride pilots Navy's first rotary wing aircraft, XOP-1 autogiro, in landings and takeoffs on board USS Langley while underway.
1938 - British premier Neville Chamberlain flew to Munich.
1941 - US President Roosevelt announces the possibility of arming American merchant vessels against German attacks.
1942 - The Australians go on the offensive as more American reinforcements arrive at Port Moresby. The Australian Commander in Chief, General Blamey, takes personal charge. His orders from General Douglas MacArthur are to intensify and invigorate the campaign.
1942 - At Auschwitz Nazis began experimental gassing executions.
1943 - Benito Mussolini, deposed dictator of Italy, fashions a new fascist republic--by the leave of his new German masters--which he "rules" from his headquarters in northern Italy. In July 1943, after a Grand Council vote of "no confidence," Mussolini was thrust from power and quickly placed under house arrest. The Italian masses, who had so enthusiastically embraced him for his promises of a new Italian "empire," now despised him for the humiliating defeat they had suffered during the war. But Mussolini still had one fan--Adolf Hitler. Gen. Pietro Badoglio, who had assumed authority in Mussolini's absence, knew there might be an attempt to break the former Duce out of his confinement, and so moved him to a hotel in the Apennine Mountains. Despite the presence of an entire army of armed police, German commandos in a bold move swept onto an Apennine mountain peak from the air, overran the hotel, and flew Mussolini to Hitler's headquarters on the Russian front. Mussolini could not sit still long and wanted to return to Italy to reassume power. But his German "patrons" had no intention of allowing him, whom they regarded as incompetent, to return to the scene of the disaster. So in order to pacify--and control--him, he was set up in a German-controlled area of northern Italy, Gargnano, on Lake Garda. Mussolini set about creating a reformed version of fascism, one that supposedly had learned from past mistakes and included elections and a free press. His "Verona Manifesto" was the blueprint for this new fascist republic-the Republic of Salo--where his government departments had fled in light of the Italian surrender to the Allies. Of course, there were never any elections in the new fascist republic, and no freedom of anything. Salo was little more than a police state clogged with aging Black Shirts--corrupt, viscous, and delusional. And Mussolini, geographically removed from Salo, ensconced at Lake Garda as he was, controlled nothing. He was little more than a puppet of the Germans, spewing anti-Allied propaganda and avenging himself and his masters on traitors to the party by ordering the executions of former Grand Council members--including his own son-in-law, Count Ciano. Eventually, the Allied advance into northern Italy, and the brave guerilla warfare waged by the Italian partisans, spelled the end of Salo-and its paper ruler.
1943 - The British 10th Corps (part of the US 5th Army) begins attacks to clear the passes to Naples. The German defenders amount to little more than a regiment.
1944 - To the north of Palau Islands, part of the US 81st Division occupies Ulithi Atoll after naval reconnaissance suggests it is not in use by the Japanese. Work begins on converting the atoll into a major American naval base.
1944 - USS West Virginia (BB-48) reaches Pearl Harbor and rejoins the Pacific Fleet, marking the end of the salvage and reconstruction of 18 ships damaged at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
1944 - US 5th Army attacks clear the Futa Pass through the Appenine Mountains, to the north of Florence.
1945 - The first American died in Vietnam during the fall of Saigon to French forces.
1949 - In a surprisingly low-key and carefully worded statement, President Harry S. Truman informs the American people that the Soviets have exploded a nuclear bomb. The Soviet accomplishment, years ahead of what was thought possible by most U.S. officials, caused a panic in the American government. The United States developed the atomic bomb during the latter stages of World War II and dropped two bombs on Japan in August 1945. By the time of the bombings in Japan, relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were already crumbling. Many U.S. officials, including President Truman, came to see America's atomic monopoly as a valuable asset in the developing Cold War with Russia. Most American officials, and even the majority of scientists in the United States, believed that it would be many years before the Soviets could develop an atomic bomb of their own, and by that time the United States would have achieved a vast numeric superiority. On September 3, 1949, however, U.S. scientists recorded seismic activity from inside the Soviet Union that was unmistakably the result of an underground nuclear test. Truman, informed of this development, at first refused to believe it. He ordered his scientific and military advisers to recheck their data. Once they confirmed the results, however, Truman had to face the fact that America's nuclear monopoly was gone. He also had to face the task of informing the American people, for the news was sure to leak. On September 23, he issued a brief statement to the media. "We have evidence," the statement read, "within recent weeks an atomic explosion occurred in the USSR." The president attempted to downplay the seriousness of the event by noting that "The eventual development of this new force by other nations was to be expected. This probability has always been taken into account by us." What had not been taken into account by the U.S. government was the fact that the Soviets, like the Americans, had captured many German scientists after World War II who had been working on nuclear development. In addition, the United States was unaware of the scope of Soviet spy efforts to gain valuable information. Years ahead of what Americans thought possible, the Soviets had exploded a nuclear device. Truman reacted by requesting an intensive re-evaluation of America's Cold War policies by the National Security Council. The report, issued to the president in early 1950, called for massive increases in military spending and a dramatic acceleration in the program to develop the next stage of nuclear weaponry--the hydrogen bomb.
1950 - Congress adopted the Internal Security Act, which provided for registration of communists. The Act was ruled later unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. US Sen. Pat McCarran (Nevada) legislated the Internal Security Act, which included a jumble of restrictions on speech and association. Pres. Truman attempted an unsuccessful veto of the McCarran Act, which gave the government unprecedented powers.
1950 - IX Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General John R. Coulter, became operational at Miryang with the 2nd and 25th Infantry Divisions attached. This brought the total number of corps in Korea to three.
1950 - A 160-person Red Cross field hospital unit from Sweden arrived in Pusan as part of the U.N. commitment to the war. Initially a 200-bed capacity hospital, it was soon expanded to 450 beds. After the fighting ended in July 1953, the Swedish Red Cross Hospital continued to render humanitarian assistance to the Republic of Korea until April 1957.
1950 - US Mustangs accidentally bombed British troops on Hill 282 Korea, 17 killed.
1965 - The South Vietnamese government executes three accused Viet Cong agents held at Da Nang. They did it at night to prevent foreign photographers from recording it, but nevertheless, the story got out. Three days later, a clandestine Viet Cong radio station announced North Vietnam's execution of two U.S. soldiers held captive since 1963, as "war criminals."
1990 - Two Hospital ships (USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort) steam together for first time in Arabian Gulf.
1991 - UN weapons inspectors in Baghdad discovered documents detailing Iraq's secret nuclear weapons program and said Iraq was close to building a bomb. This triggered a standoff with Iraqi authorities.
1995 - Guillermo Gaede, an Intel engineer, was arrested in Phoenix. He had used his computer to tap into plans for the Pentium & 486 chip manufacturing process and video taped the information in May 1993. He sent the info to his former employer Advanced Micro Devices who notified federal authorities. He claimed to have been double-crossed by the FBI and also to have passed info from AMD to Cuba, China, North Korea and Iran.
1996 - Space shuttle Atlantis left Russia's orbiting Mir station with astronaut Shannon Lucid, who ended her six-month visit with tender goodbyes to her Russian colleagues.
1999 - The $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter was presumed lost after it hit the Martian atmosphere. The crash was later blamed on navigation confusion due to 2 teams using conflicting English and metric units.
1999 - In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council pledge to continue to work toward a consensus on a new policy toward Iraq. All five permanent members have accepted that on-site weapons inspections must resume in Iraq, though there is still disagreement over how much cooperation Iraq would haveto give international inspectors before economic sanctions could be lifted.
2001 - President George W. Bush returned the American flag to full staff at Camp David, symbolically ending a period of national mourning.
2001 - NASA reported that its Deep Space I craft took pictures of the comet Borrelly.
2001 - Osama bin Laden issued a statement that called for Muslim brothers to resist the "Christian-Jewish crusade led by the big crusader Bush under the flag of the Cross…"
2001 - The 6-member Persian "Gulf Cooperation Council" (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAR) met in Jidda and pledged support for an int’l. coalition against terrorism.
2002 - The United States military gives President George Bush a highly detailed military plan for ousting Saddam Hussein.
2003 - Puerto Rico's congressional delegate said the United States will close its Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in eastern Puerto Rico within the next six months.
2003 - A raid in Saudi Arabia on Islamic militants left three suspects dead, including an Sultan Jubran Sultan al-Qahtani (aka as Zubayr al-Rimi), an al-Qaida figure wanted by the US.
2004 - US warplanes fired on insurgent targets in the east Baghdad slum of Sadr City. Gunmen in Mosul killed a senior official of Iraq's North Oil Co.
2004 - In Iraq kidnappers seized 2 more Egyptian construction engineers working for the country's mobile phone company.

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day

FERRARI, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company D, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red Creek, Ariz., 23 September 1869. Entered service at: Montgomery County, Ohio. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 23 November 1869. Citation: Gallantry in action.

HARRIS, CHARLES D.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company D, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red Creek, Ariz., 23 September 1869. Entered service at:------. Birth: Albion, N.Y. Date of issue: 23 November 1869. Citation: Gallantry in action.

WALKER, JOHN
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red Creek, Ariz., 23 September 1869. Entered service at: ------. Birth: France. Date of issue: 23 November 1869. Citation: Gallantry in action with Indians.

SLATON, JAMES D.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, 157th Infantry, 45th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Oliveto, Italy, 23 September 1943. Entered service at: Gulfport, Miss. Born: 2 April 1912, Laurel, Miss G.O. No.: 44, 30 May 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy in the vicinity of Oliveto, Italy, on 23 September 1943. Cpl. Slaton was lead scout of an infantry squad which had been committed to a flank to knock out enemy resistance which had succeeded in pinning 2 attacking platoons to the ground. Working ahead of his squad, Cpl. Slaton crept upon an enemy machinegun nest and, assaulting it with his bayonet, succeeded in killing the gunner. When his bayonet stuck, he detached it from the rifle and killed another gunner with rifle fire. At that time he was fired upon by a machinegun to his immediate left. Cpl. Slaton then moved over open ground under constant fire to within throwing distance, and on his second try scored a direct hit on the second enemy machinegun nest, killing 2 enemy gunners. At that time a third machinegun fired on him 100 yards to his front, and Cpl. Slaton killed both of these enemy gunners with rifle fire. As a result of Cpl. Slaton's heroic action in immobilizing 3 enemy machinegun nests with bayonet, grenade, and rifle fire, the 2 rifle platoons which were receiving heavy casualties from enemy fire were enabled to withdraw to covered positions and again take the initiative. Cpl. Slaton withdrew under mortar fire on order of his platoon leader at dusk that evening. The heroic actions of Cpl. Slaton were far above and beyond the call of duty and are worthy of emulation.

September 22

2005-09-22T20:40:00.000-05:00

22 September

1554 - Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez, his health badly deteriorated from injuries and the toll of his strenuous travels, dies. He never found the fabled cities of gold that he had sought for decades. A quarter-century earlier Coronado had explored much of the southwestern United States, leading his force of 300 Spaniards and 800 Indians northward from Mexico in search of the Seven Cities of Cíbola that were rumored to have walls made of gold and treasure houses filled with priceless gems. Arriving in the region that today straddles the border between New Mexico and Arizona, Coronado did actually find Cíbola. But after winning a brief battle against the native defenders, Coronado discovered he had conquered only a modest Zuni village built with walls of adobe mud, not gold. Discouraged, Coronado considered abandoning his search. But while exploring the Rio Grande one of his lieutenants had acquired a slave, a man the Spaniards called "the Turk," who boasted that in his homeland of Quivara, far to the northeast, Coronado could find all the treasures after which he lusted. Coronado set off in search of Quivara in the spring of 1541, eventually traveling across the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles and up into Kansas. But when he finally made contact with the Quivara Indians, Coronado was once again disappointed to find that they were living in simple huts and had no more gold and silver than the Zunis. After strangling the Turk for having lied to him, Coronado gave up and returned to Mexico where he faced a government furious that he had not brought back the wealth he had promised. Coronado never again mounted another exploratory mission and died believing that he had been a shameful failure. But while he never found the golden cities he sought, Coronado did succeed in giving the Spanish and the rest of the world their first fairly accurate understanding of the inhabitants and geography of the southern half of the present United States.
1711 - The Tuscarora Indian War began with a massacre of settlers in North Carolina, following white encroachment that included the enslaving of Indian children.
1776 - In New York City, Nathan Hale, a Connecticut schoolteacher and captain in the Continental Army, is executed by the British for spying. A graduate of Yale University, Hale joined a Connecticut regiment in 1775 and served in the successful siege of British-occupied Boston. In the summer of 1776, he crossed behind British lines on Long Island in civilian clothes to spy on the British. While returning with the intelligence information, British soldiers captured Hale near the American lines and charged him with espionage. Taken to New York, he was hanged without trial the next day. Before being executed, legend holds that Hale said, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." There is no historical record to prove that Hale actually made this statement, but if he did he may have been inspired by the lines in English author Joseph Addison's 1713 play Cato: "What a pity it is/That we can die but once to serve our country."
1776 - John Paul Jones in Providence sails into Canso Bay, Nova Scotia, and attacks British fishing fleet.
1855 - Marines and Seamen landed in Fiji Islands.
1862 - Motivated by his growing concern for the inhumanity of slavery as well as practical political concerns, President Abraham Lincoln changes the course of the war and American history by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. Announced a week after the nominal Union victory at the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), this measure did not technically free any slaves, but it redefined the Union's war aim from reunification to the abolition of slavery. The proclamation announced that all slaves in territory that was still in rebellion as of January 1, 1863, would be free. Lincoln used vacated congressional seats to determine the areas still in rebellion, as some parts of the South had already been recaptured and representatives returned to Congress under Union supervision. Since it freed slaves only in Rebel areas that were beyond Union occupation, the Emancipation Proclamation really freed no one. But the measure was still one of the most important acts in American history, as it meant slavery would end when those areas were recaptured. In addition, the proclamation effectively sabotaged Confederate attempts to secure recognition by foreign governments, especially Great Britain. When reunification was the goal of the North, foreigners could view the Confederates as freedom fighters being held against their will by the Union. But after the Emancipation Proclamation, the Southern cause was now viewed as the defense of slavery. The proclamation was a shrewd maneuver by Lincoln to brand the Confederate States as a slave nation and render foreign aid impossible. The measure was met by a good deal of opposition, because many Northerners were unwilling to fight for the freedom of blacks. But it spelled the death knell for slavery, and it had the effect on British opinion that Lincoln had desired. Antislavery Britain could no longer recognize the Confederacy, and Union sentiment swelled in Britain. With this measure, Lincoln effectively isolated the Confederacy and killed the institution that was the root of sectional differences.
1863 - Acting Master David Nichols and a crew of 19 Confederate seamen captured Army tug Leviathan before dawn at South West pass, Mississippi River, but were taken prisoner later that morning when U.S.S. De Soto, Captain W. M. Walker, recaptured the prize in the Gulf of Mexico some 40 miles off shore. Nichols and his men had departed Mobile 2 or 3 days before in the small cutter Teaser. Reaching South West Pass, they pulled the cutter into the marshes and made their way on foot to the coal wharf where Leviathan lay. They seized the tug, described by Captain Walker as a new and very fast screw steamer, amply supplied with coal and provisions for a cruise," and put to sea at once. Shortly thereafter, Commodore Bell ordered Navy ships in pursuit. At midmorning, U.S.S. De Soto fired three shots at the tug and brought her to.
1863 - Expedition under Acting Master George W. Ewer from U.S.S. Seneca destroyed the Hudson Place Salt Works near Darien, Georgia. Ewer reported that the works, producing some 10 or 15 bushels of salt a day, were now "completely useless."
1864 - Union General Philip Sheridan defeated Confederate General Jubal Early's troops at the Battle of Fisher's Hill, in Virginia. Gen Early retreated to Brown's Gap. Sheridan set up camp in Harrisonburg, Va.
1868 - Race riots took place in New Orleans, La.
1893 - America's first automobile was not built by a Henry Ford or Walter Chrysler, but by Charles and Frank Duryea, two bicycle makers. Charles spotted a gasoline engine at the 1886 Ohio State Fair and became convinced that an engine-driven carriage could be built. The two brothers designed and built the car together, working in a rented loft in Springfield, Massachusetts. After two years of tinkering, Charles and Frank Duryea showed off their home invention on the streets of Springfield, the first successful run of an automobile in the U.S.
1919 - President Woodrow Wilson abandoned his national tour to support the League of Nations when he suffered a case of nervous exhaustion.
1942 - The Communications Branch of the OSS is formed by General Donovan.
1943 - The US 5th Army is preparing to advance in Italy.
1943 - The invasion of Finschafen, New Guinea: an Allied invasion fleet, including Coast Guard-manned landing ships, landed Australian troops at Finschafen. Coast Guard-manned ships in the invasion fleet included USSs LST-18, LST-67, LST-168, and LST-204. There were no casualties among the Coast Guard LSTs.
1944 - On Peleliu, US 3rd Amphibious Corps (Geiger) deploys a regiment of US 81st Infantry Division to replace depleted elements of the US 1st Marine Division. The marines have suffered heavy casualties in attacks on Mount Umurbrogol.
1944 - US Task Force 38 conducts air strikes on Japanese targets on Luzon, particularly Manila and Manila Bay. Twelve American carriers are involved.
1945 - President Truman accepted U.S. Secretary of War Stimson's recommendation to designate the war World War II.
1945 - Gen. George S. Patton tells reporters that he does not see the need for "this denazification thing" and compares the controversy over Nazism to a "Democratic and Republican election fight." Once again, "Old Blood and Guts" had put his foot in his mouth. Descended from a long line of military men, Patton graduated from the West Point Military Academy in 1909 and served in the Tank Corps during World War I. As a result of this experience, Patton became a dedicated proponent of tank warfare. During World War II, as commander of the U.S. 7th Army, he captured Palermo, Sicily, in 1943 by just such means. Patton's audacity made itself evident in 1944, when, as commander of the 3rd Army, he overran much of northern France in an unorthodox--and ruthless--strategy. Along the way, Patton's mouth proved as dangerous to his career as the Germans. When he berated and slapped a hospitalized soldier diagnosed with shell shock, but whom Patton accused of "malingering," the press turned on him, and pressure was applied to cut him down to size. He might have found himself enjoying early retirement had not Generals Dwight Eisenhower and George Marshall intervened on his behalf. After several months of inactivity, he was put back to work. And work he did--at the Battle of the Bulge, during which Patton once again succeeded in employing a complex and quick-witted strategy, turning the German thrust in Bastogne into an Allied counterthrust, driving the Germans east across the Rhine. In March 1945, Patton's army swept through southern Germany into Czechoslovakia--which he was stopped by the Allies from capturing, out of respect for the Soviets' postwar political plans for Eastern Europe. Patton had many gifts, but diplomacy was not one of them. After the war, while stationed in Germany, he criticized the process of denazification, or the removal of former Nazi party members from positions of political, administrative, and governmental power, probably out of naivete more than anything else. Nevertheless, his impolitic press statements questioning the policy resulted in Eisenhower's removing him as U.S. commander in Bavaria. He was transferred to the 15th Army Group, but in December 1945 he suffered a broken neck in a car accident and died less than two weeks later at the age of 60.
1945 - The 5thMarDiv landed at Sasebo, Japan, for occupation duty.
1947 - A Douglas C-54 Skymaster made the first automatic-pilot flight over the Atlantic.
1950 - Omar N. Bradley was promoted to the rank of five-star general, joining an elite group that included Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, George C. Marshall and Henry H. “Hap” Arnold.
1950 - Eighth Army completed its breakout from the Pusan Perimeter. Outflanked by the Inchon invasion in the north and under relentless pressure of the U.N. Forces' attack from the south, the In Mun Gun began a wholesale withdrawal to the north.
1951 - The 2nd Infantry Division's struggle for Heartbreak Ridge continued. By the time the battle was over Oct. 15, 1951, the division has suffered 3,700 casualties.
1958 - The nuclear submarine USS Skate remained a record 31 days under the North Pole.
1971 - Captain Ernest Medina is acquitted of all charges relating to the My Lai massacre of March 1968. His unit, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade (Light) of the 23rd (Americal) Division, was charged with the murder of over 200 Vietnamese civilians, including women and children, at My Lai 4, a cluster of hamlets that made up Son My village in Son Tinh District in Quang Ngai Province in the coastal lowlands of I Corps Tactical Zone. Medina had been charged with murder, manslaughter, and assault. All charges were dropped when the military judge at the Medina's court martial made an error in instructing the jury. After the charges were dropped, Medina subsequently resigned from the service. There were 13 others charged with various crimes in conjunction with the My Lai massacre, but only one, Lt. William Calley, was found guilty. Calley was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 22 civilians, but his sentence was reduced first to 20 years, then 10 years, and he was ultimately paroled by President Nixon in November 1974, after having served about one-third of his sentence.
1975 - President Gerald R. Ford dodged a second assassination in less than three weeks. Sara Jane Moore, an FBI informer and self-proclaimed revolutionary, attempted to shoot President Ford outside a San Francisco hotel, but missed. A bullet she fired slightly wounded a man in the crowd.
1980 - Iraq invaded Iran following border skirmishes and a dispute over the Shatt al-Arab waterway. This marked the beginning of a war that would last eight years. Iraq invaded Iran striking refineries and an oil-loading terminal on Kharg Island. The Iraqis used the political instability in Iran to try to capture long-disputed territory. They attacked across the Shatt al Arab River, a trunk of the great Tigris-Euphrates river system.
1987 - U.S. forces attack an Iranian mine-laying vessel in the Persian Gulf.
1989 - After Hurricane Hugo, Sailors and Marines provide assistance to Charleston, SC, through 10 October.
1990 - The second port security unit, PSU 301, was deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield.
1993 - The space shuttle "Discovery" and its five astronauts landed at Kennedy Space Center, ending a 10-day mission.
1994 - The United States stepped up its military control of Haiti, breaking up heavy weapons, guarding pro-democracy activists and giving U.S. troops more leeway to use force.
1995 - An AWACS plane carrying US and Canadian military personnel crashed on takeoff from Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, Alaska, killing all 24 people aboard.
1997 - President Clinton, addressing the United Nations, told world leaders to "end all nuclear tests for all time" as he sent the long-delayed global test-ban treaty to the Senate.
1998 - The U.S. and Russia agreed to help Russia privatize its nuclear program and stop the export of scientists and plutonium.
2001 - President Bush consulted at length with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the United States mustered a military assault on terrorism in the wake of Sept. 11.
2001 - In Afghanistan there was heavy fighting in the northern provinces of Balkh and Samangan. 39 Taliban were reported killed along with 2 opposition fighters.
2003 - A suicide bomber, his body wrapped in explosives and his car filled with 50 pounds of TNT, struck a police checkpoint outside UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing an Iraqi policeman who stopped him and wounding 19 people.
2004 - In Iraq kidnappers seized 4 Egyptians and four Iraqis working for the country's mobile phone company.
2004 - Suicide attackers detonated a car bomb near an Iraqi National Guard recruiting center in west Baghdad, killing at least six people and injuring 54. US aircraft and tanks attacked Shiite militia positions in fierce fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City slum, killing 10 people and injuring 92 others.

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day

CONNORS, JAMES
Rank and organization: Private, Company E, 43d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Fishers Hill, Va., 22 September 1864. Entered service at:------. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 6 October 1864. Citation: Capture of flag.

CREED, JOHN
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 23d Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Fishers Hill, Va., 22 September 1864. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 6 October 1864. Citation: Capture of flag.

MOORE, GEORGE G.
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 11th West Virginia Infantry. Place and date: At Fishers Hill, Va., 22 September 1864. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Tyler County W. Va. Date of issue: 6 October 1864. Citation: Capture of flag.

RHODES, SYLVESTER D.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company D, 61st Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Fishers Hill, Va., 22 September 1864. Entered service at: Wilkes_Barre, Pa. Birth: Plains, Pa. Date of issue: 16 February 1897. Citation: Was on the skirmish line which drove the enemy from the first entrenchment and was the first man to enter the breastworks, capturing one of the guns and turning it upon the enemy.

WHITTIER, EDWARD N.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 5th Battery, Maine Light Artillery. Place and date: At Fishers Hill, Va., 22 September 1864. Entered service at: Gorham, Maine. Birth: Portland, Maine. Date of issue: 13 January 1892. Citation: While acting as assistant adjutant general, Artillery brigade, 6th Army Corps, went over the enemy's works, mounted, with the assaulting column, to gain quicker possession of the guns and to turn them upon the enemy.

WILLIS, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Coxswain, U.S. Navy. Born: 1839, Boston, Mass. Accredited to: Massachusetts. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Tigress, Willis displayed gallant and meritorious conduct on the night of 22 September 1873 off the coast of Greenland.

BLOCH, ORVILLE EMIL
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company E, 338th Infantry, 85th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Firenzuola, Italy, 22 September 1944. Entered service at: Streeter, N. Dak. Birth: Big Falls, Wis. G.O. No.: 9, 10 February 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. 1st Lt. Bloch undertook the task of wiping out 5 enemy machinegun nests that had held up the advance in that particular sector for 1 day. Gathering 3 volunteers from his platoon, the patrol snaked their way to a big rock, behind which a group of 3 buildings and 5 machinegun nests were located. Leaving the 3 men behind the rock, he attacked the first machinegun nest alone charging into furious automatic fire, kicking over the machinegun, and capturing the machinegun crew of 5. Pulling the pin from a grenade, he held it ready in his hand and dashed into the face of withering automatic fire toward this second enemy machinegun nest located at the corner of an adjacent building 15 yards distant. When within 20 feet of the machinegun he hurled the grenade, wounding the machinegunner, the other 2 members of the crew fleeing into a door of the house. Calling one of his volunteer group to accompany him, they advanced to the opposite end of the house, there contacting a machinegun crew of 5 running toward this house. 1st Lt Bloch and his men opened fire on the enemy crew, forcing them to abandon this machinegun and ammunition and flee into the same house. Without a moment's hesitation, 1st Lt. Bloch, unassisted, rushed through the door into a hail of small-arms fire, firing his carbine from the hip, and captured the 7 occupants, wounding 3 of them. 1st Lt. Bloch with his men then proceeded to a third house where they discovered an abandoned enemy machinegun and detected another enemy machinegun nest at the next corner of the building. The crew of 6 spotted 1st Lt. Bloch the instant he saw them. Without a moment's hesitation he dashed toward them. The enemy fired pistols wildly in his direction and vanished through a door of the house, 1st Lt. Bloch following them through the door, firing his carbine from the hip, wounding 2 of the enemy and capturing 6. Altogether 1st Lt. Bloch had single-handedly captured 19 prisoners, wounding 6 of them and eliminating a total of 5 enemy machinegun nests. His gallant and heroic actions saved his company many casualties and permitted them to continue the attack with new inspiration and vigor.

CHILDERS, ERNEST
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 45th Infantry Division. Place and date: At Oliveto, Italy, 22 September 1943. Entered service at: Tulsa, Okla. Birth: Broken Arrow, Okla. G.O. No.: 30, 8 April 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action on 22 September 1943, at Oliveto, Italy. Although 2d Lt. Childers previously had just suffered a fractured instep he, with 8 enlisted men, advanced up a hill toward enemy machinegun nests. The group advanced to a rock wall overlooking a cornfield and 2d Lt. Childers ordered a base of fire laid across the field so that he could advance. When he was fired upon by 2 enemy snipers from a nearby house he killed both of them. He moved behind the machinegun nests and killed all occupants of the nearer one. He continued toward the second one and threw rocks into it. When the 2 occupants of the nest raised up, he shot 1. The other was killed by 1 of the 8 enlisted men. 2d Lt. Childers continued his advance toward a house farther up the hill, and single-handed, captured an enemy mortar observer. The exceptional leadership, initiative, calmness under fire, and conspicuous gallantry displayed by 2d Lt. Childers were an inspiration to his men.

September 21

2005-09-21T20:39:00.000-05:00

21 September

1673 - James Needham returned to Virginia after exploring the land to the west, which would become Tennessee.
1776 - Nathan Hale was arrested in NYC by the British for spying for American rebels.
1776 - NYC burned down in the Great Fire 5 days after British took over.
1780 - General Benedict Arnold, American commander of West Point, met with British spy Major John André to hand over plans of the important Hudson River fort to the enemy. Unhappy with how General George Washington treated him and in need of money, Arnold planned to "sell" West Point for 20,000 pounds--a move that would enable the British to cut New England off from the rest of the rebellious colonies. Arnold's treason was exposed when André was captured by American militiamen who found the incriminating plans in his stocking. Arnold received a timely warning and was able to escape to a British ship, but André was hanged as a spy on October 2, 1780. Condemned for his Revolutionary War actions by both Americans and British, Arnold lived until 1801.
1817 - Carter Littlepage Stevenson, Major General (Confederate Army), was born.
1820 - Union General John Fulton Reynolds is born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. One of nine children, Reynolds received his education at private academies before Senator James Buchanan, a family friend, secured him an appointment at West Point in 1837. He graduated in 1841, 26 out of 52 in his class. Prior to the Mexican War, Reynolds served in Maryland, South Carolina, and Florida. He was part of General Zachary Taylor's army in Mexico, and he distinguished himself at the Battles of Monterey and Buena Vista. His heroism earned him promotions to captain and major. In the 1850s, Reynolds served in Maine, fought Native Americans in the West, and participated in the Mormon War of the late 1850s. In 1860, he returned to West Point as commandant of cadets. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Reynolds received command of a regular army regiment. His orders were soon changed, however, and he became a brigade commander with orders to serve at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Before he shipped for service along the coast, General George B. McClellan—then commander of the Army of the Potomac—used his leverage to secure Reynolds's service in McClellan's army. In 1862, Reynolds participated in the Seven Days' Battles around Richmond. This was the climax of McClellan's Peninsular campaign, in which Confederate General Robert E. Lee attacked the Yankees and drove them away from the Rebel capital. At the Battle of Gaines' Mills on June 26, Reynolds's brigade—protecting a Union retreat—bore the brunt of a Confederate attack. The next day, Reynolds held his position, but he was detached from the main Union army. The Confederates overran Reynolds and part of his command, and the general was sent to Richmond's Libby Prison. Reynolds spent less than six weeks at Libby before he was exchanged in August 1862. He was given command of a division, and fought at the Second Battle of Bull Run on August 29 and 30, just three weeks after his release. In November, Reynolds returned to the Army of the Potomac as a commander of I Corps. His force fought at Fredericksburg in December, but was held in reserve at Chancellorsville in May 1863. Reynolds commanded the left wing of the Army of the Potomac during the Gettysburg campaign. On the morning of July 1, he rode into Gettysburg and placed his force in front of advancing Confederates, forcing Union General George Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac, to fight. Reynolds was killed by a Confederate volley and was buried in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on July 4.
1858 – Navy Sloop Niagara departs Charleston, SC, for Liberia with African slaves rescued from slave ship.
1862 - William Benjamin Gould and 7 other black men stole a boat and rowed past Fort Caswell, NC. They were picked up the next day by the Union warship Cambridge.
1863 - Union troops under Major Gen’l. William S. Rosencrans defeated at Chickamauga sought refuge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which was then besieged by Confederate troops. There they lost 10,000 horses and mules to starvation.
1872 - John Henry Conyers of SC became the 1st black student at Annapolis.
1904 - Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph dies on the Colville reservation in northern Washington at the age of 64. The whites had described him as superhuman, a military genius, an Indian Napoleon. But in truth, the Nez Perce Chief Him-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt ("Thunder Rolling Down from the Mountains") was more of a diplomat than a warrior. Chief Joseph-as non-Indians knew him-had been elected chief of the Wallowa band of Nez Perce Indians when he was only 31. For six difficult years the young leader struggled peacefully against the whites who coveted the Wallowa's fertile land in northeastern Oregon. In 1877, General Howard of the U.S. Army warned that if the Wallowa and other bands of the Nez Perce did not abandon their land and move to the Lapwai Reservation within 30 days, his troops would attack. While some of the other Nez Perce chiefs argued they should resist, Chief Joseph convinced them to comply with the order rather than face war, and he led his people on a perilous voyage across the flood-filled Snake and Salmon River canyons to a campsite near the Lapwai Reservation. But acting without Chief Joseph's knowledge, a band of 20 young hotheaded braves decided to take revenge on some of the more offensive white settlers in the region, sparking the Nez Perce War of 1877. Chief Joseph was no warrior, and he opposed many of the subsequent actions of the Nez Perce war councils. Joseph's younger brother, Olikut, was far more active in leading the Nez Perce into battle, and Olikut helped them successfully outsmart the U.S. Army on several occasions as the war ranged over more than 1,600 miles of Washington, Idaho, and Montana territory. Nonetheless, military leaders and American newspapers persisted in believing that since Chief Joseph was the most prominent Nez Perce spokesman and diplomat, he must also be their principal military leader. By chance, Chief Joseph was the only major leader to survive the war, and it fell to him to surrender the surviving Nez Perce forces to Colonel Nelson A. Miles at the Bear Paw battlefield in northern Montana in October 1877. "From where the sun now stands," he promised, "I will fight no more forever." Chief Joseph lived out the rest of his life in peace, a popular romantic symbol of the noble "red men" who many Americans admired now that they no longer posed any real threat.
1922 - Congress authorized officers of the Customs and of the Coast Guard to board and examine vessels, reaffirming authority to seize and secure vessels for security of revenue under act of March 2, 1799.
1931 - In the depths of the Depression, Americans had lost their faith in the nation's banking system. Despite President Hoover's various attempts to rekindle confidence, including temporary halts on debts and reparations, the nation remained wary. On September 21, 1931, that feeling of insecurity grew more pronounced with the announcement that Great Britain had decided to abandon the gold standard. Most people assumed that the United States would follow suit and pull out of the precious metal. Since gold was the standard bank reserve, the public also assumed that any money they had in the banks would be at risk. A mini-panic ensued, as people rushed to withdraw their savings and stockpile any available gold. By the end of October 1931, 827 banks had been forced to shut down. The public's suspicions, meanwhile, proved to be a bit premature, as the government did not give up the gold standard until 1933.
1936 - The German army held its largest maneuvers since 1914.
1936 - The Spanish fascist junta named Franco generalissimo, supreme commander.
1939 - President Roosevelt addresses a special joint session of Congress and urges the repeal of the Neutrality Act provisions embargoing arms sales to belligerent countries. "Our acts must be guided by one single hard-headed thought -- keeping America out of this war," the president said. Allowing arms to be sold on a cash-and-carry basis would be "better calculated than any other means to keep us out of war."
1941 - With America on the verge of entering World War II, the government needed a source of extra revenue to fund the war effort. To that end, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1941, increasing the burden on America's taxpayers to help pay for the upcoming conflict.
1942 - The U.S. B-29 Superfortress makes its debut flight in Seattle, Washington. It was the largest bomber used in the war by any nation. The B-29 was conceived in 1939 by Gen. Hap Arnold, who was afraid a German victory in Europe would mean the United States would be devoid of bases on the eastern side of the Atlantic from which to counterattack. A plane was needed that would travel faster, farther, and higher than any then available, so Boeing set to creating the four-engine heavy bomber. The plane was extraordinary, able to carry loads almost equal to its own weight at altitudes of 30,000 to 40,000 feet. It contained a pilot console in the rear of the plane, in the event the front pilot was knocked out of commission. It also sported the first radar bombing system of any U.S. bomber. The Superfortress made its test run over the continental United States on September 21, but would not make its bombing-run debut until June 5, 1944, against Bangkok, in preparation for the Allied liberation of Burma from Japanese hands. A little more than a week later, the B-29 made its first run against the Japanese mainland. On June 14, 60 B-29s based in Chengtu, China, bombed an iron and steel works factory on Honshu Island. While the raid was less than successful, it proved to be a morale booster to Americans, who were now on the offensive. Meanwhile, the Marianas Islands in the South Pacific were being recaptured by the United States, primarily to provide air bases for their new B-29s-a perfect position from which to strike the Japanese mainland on a consistent basis. Once the bases were ready, the B-29s were employed in a long series of bombing raids against Tokyo. Although capable of precision bombing at high altitudes, the Superfortresses began dropping incendiary devices from a mere 5,000 feet, firebombing the Japanese capital in an attempt to break the will of the Axis power. One raid, in March 1945, killed more than 80,000 people. But the most famous, or perhaps infamous, use of the B-29 would come in August, as it was the only plane capable of delivering a 10,000-pound bomb--the atomic bomb. The Enola Gay and the Bock's Car took off from the Marianas, on August 6 and 9, respectively, and flew into history.
1943 - The US 5th Army reorients to the left as the British 8th Army moves to east side of the front. German forces are withdrawing all along the front with the exception of the passes leading to Naples.
1943 - American forces on Arundel discover that the Japanese forces have been evacuated.
1944 - US Task Force 38 conducts air strikes on Japanese targets on Luzon, particularly Manila and Manila Bay. Twelve American carriers are involved.
1944 - U.S. troops of the 7th Army, invading Southern France, crossed the Meuse River.
1945 - President Truman holds a cabinet meeting to discuss the question of sharing atomic secrets with the British and particularly the Soviet governments. He chose the topic because it was Secretary of War Stimson's last day in government service; Stimson was retiring that afternoon. In the words of Undersecretary of State Acheson, "the discussion was unworthy of the subject." Stimson desired only a diplomatic approach, not an openhanded passing of information American scientists sought. The presumption was that the Soviets would offer a quid pro quo for the cost of the nuclear project. Instead, some cabinet members misconstrued the debate to be whether to give away the secrets. They were totally unprepared to handle this complicated subject and hardly knew the difference between an at secret and common scientific knowledge. They responded by offering their opinions in airy detail. After the discussion, and reception of papers prepared thereafter (with the exception of Stimson's, which was prepared well in advance), the president released an ambiguous public statement.
1949 - At the opening of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Peking, Mao Zedong announces that the new Chinese government will be "under the leadership of the Communist Party of China." The September 1949 conference in Peking was both a celebration of the communist victory in the long civil war against Nationalist Chinese forces and the unveiling of the communist regime that would henceforth rule over China. Mao and his communist supporters had been fighting against what they claimed was a corrupt and decadent Nationalist government in China since the 1920s. Despite massive U.S. support for the Nationalist regime, Mao's forces were victorious in 1949 and drove the Nationalist government onto the island of Taiwan. In September, with cannons firing salutes and ceremonial flags waving, Mao announced the victory of communism in China and vowed to establish the constitutional and governmental framework to protect the "people's revolution." In outlining the various committees and agencies to be established under the new regime, Mao announced that "Our state system of the People's Democratic Dictatorship is a powerful weapon for safeguarding the fruits of victory of the people's revolution and for opposing plots of foreign and domestic enemies to stage a comeback. We must firmly grasp this weapon." He denounced those who opposed the communist government as "imperialistic and domestic reactionaries." In the future, China would seek the friendship of "the Soviet Union and the new democratic countries." Mao also claimed that communism would help end reputation as a lesser-developed country. "The era in which the Chinese were regarded as uncivilized is now over. We will emerge in the world as a highly civilized nation." On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was formally announced, with Mao Zedong as its leader. He would remain in charge of the nation until his death in 1976.
1949 - In Germany the Allied Occupation Statute came into force. The functions of the military government were transferred to the Allied high commission. The Federal Republic of [West] Germany was created under the 3-power occupation.
1950 - X Corps, under Lieutenant General Edward M. Almond, assumed command of all U.N. forces ashore in the Inchon/Seoul area from Vice Admiral J. D. Struble's Joint Task Force Seven.
1951 - Operation SUMMIT, the first helicopter landing of a combat unit in history, took place. It included the airlifting of a reinforced company of Marines and 17,772 pounds of cargo into the Punchbowl area.
1951 - Operation CLEAVER took place. This one-day tank and infantry raid by elements of the U.S. 24th Infantry Division at the eastern end of the Iron Triangle near Kumsong inflicted heavy losses on the communist.
1952 - USAF Captain Robinson Risner, 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, destroyed his fifth and sixth MiG-15 near Sinuiju to become the 20th jet ace of the Korean War.
1953 - North Korean pilot Lieutenant Ro Kim Suk landed his aircraft at Kimpo airfield outside Seoul. The Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, powered by a jet engine superior to those then used in American fighter planes, first saw combat in Korea during November 1950, where its performance shifted the balance of air power to Russian-backed North Korea. On April 26, 1953, two U.S. Air Force B-29s dropped leaflets behind enemy lines, offering a $50,000 reward and political asylum to any pilot delivering an intact MiG-15 to American forces for study. Although Ro denied any knowledge of the bounty, he collected the reward, and American scientists were able to examine the MiG-15.
1955 - The last allied occupying troops left Austria.
1961 - The U.S. Army's 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, is activated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The Special Forces were formed to organize and train guerrilla bands behind enemy lines. President John F. Kennedy, a strong believer in the potential of the Special Forces in counterinsurgency operations, visited the Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg to review the program and authorized the Special Forces to wear the headgear that became their symbol, the Green Beret. The 5th S.F. Group was sent to Vietnam in October 1964, to assume control of all Special Forces operations in Vietnam. Prior to this time, Green Berets had been assigned to Vietnam only on temporary duty. The primary function of the Special Forces in Vietnam was to organize the Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDG) among South Vietnam's Montagnard population. The Montagnards, "mountain people" or "mountaineers," were a group of indigenous people made up of several tribes, such as the Rhade, Bru, and Jarai, who lived mainly in the highland areas of Vietnam. These forces manned camps along the mountainous border areas to guard against North Vietnamese infiltration. At the height of the war the 5th S.F. controlled 84 CIDG camps with more than 42,000 CIDG strike forces and local militia units. The CIDG program ended in December 1970 with the transfer of troops and mission to the South Vietnamese Border Ranger Command. In February 1971, the 5th Special Forces Group was withdrawn as part of the U.S. troop drawdown.
1974 - US Mariner 10 made a 2nd fly-by of Mercury.
1975 - Self-proclaimed revolutionary Sara Jane Moore attempted to kill President Gerald Ford as he walked from a San Francisco hotel. A bullet she fired slightly wounded a man in the crowd.
1976 - Chilean exile Orlando Letelier, one time foreign minister to Chilean President Salvador Allende, was killed when a bomb exploded in his car in Washington D.C. He was assassinated by order from Chile by Gen’l. Manuel Contreras, head of the secret police known as DINA. Ronni Moffitt (25), an American colleague of Letelier, was also killed. Contreras was convicted of the order in 1993 and sentenced to a 7-year prison term. In 2000 Gen. Pinochet was linked to the killing.
1984 - Mid East Force begins escort of U.S. flagged vessels in Persian Gulf.
1987 - A U.S. helicopter gunship disabled an Iranian vessel, the "Iran Ajr," that was caught laying mines in the Persian Gulf; four Iranian crewmen were killed, 26 wounded and detained.
1992 - President Bush addressed the U.N. General Assembly, offering U.S. support to strengthen international peacekeeping.
1992 - Former defense secretaries Melvin Laird and James R. Schlesinger told a congressional committee the Pentagon had known American airmen were alive in Laos at the end of the Vietnam War and were not returned.
1996 - The board of all-male Virginia Military Institute voted to admit women.
1998 - In New York Wadih el Hage, a Texas American citizen who served as the personal secretary for Osama bin laden in Sudan, was indicted for lying to a Manhattan grand jury investigating bin Laden.
1998 - In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Mustafa Mahmoud Said Ahmen of Egypt and Rashid Saleh Hemed of Tanzania were charged with murder in connection with the bombing of the US Embassy.
2000 - A Belgrade court found Pres. Clinton and other world leaders guilty of war crimes for the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. 14 leaders were sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison. The 120-page indictment charged the leaders for the deaths of 546 Yugoslav army soldiers, 138 Serbian police officers and 504 civilians, including 88 children.
2001 - A US unmanned reconnaissance plane was downed in Afghanistan.
2001 - A US Taurus rocket, made by Orbital Sciences, carrying a NASA satellite failed to launch and probably plunged into the Indian ocean.
2001 - In Afghanistan the ruling Taliban rejected Pres. Bush’s ultimatum and to give up Osama bin Laden. The Taliban also threatened to hang Afghan aid workers if they communicate with their int’l. counterparts.
2001 - Terrorist suspects were arrested in Britain (4), France (7), Germany (2 warrants), Peru (3 detained) and Yemen (20 detained). Lofti Raissi, an Algerian pilot arrested in Britain, was later described as the "lead instructor" to 4 of the hijackers. Raissi was released Feb 12, 2002, for lack of evidence.
2002 - Iraq rejects U.S. efforts to secure new U.N. resolutions threatening war. Iraqi state-run radio announces Baghdad will not abide by the unfavourable new resolutions adopted by the U.N. Security Council. U.N. chief inspector Hans Blix says he expects an advance team of inspectors to be in Iraq by October 15, and some early inspections could be carried out soon afterward.
2003 - NASA’s $1.5 billion Galileo mission ended a 14-year exploration of the solar system's largest planet and its moons with the spacecraft crashing by design into Jupiter at 108,000 mph.
2004 - The new $219 million Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian opened in Washington DC. It included some 800,000 artifacts collected by George Gustav Heye (1874-1957).
2004 - President Bush, defending his decision to invade Iraq, urged the U.N. General Assembly to stand united with the country's struggling government.
2004 - US forces killed 6 Afghan guerrillas following a rocket attack on a helicopter.
2004 - Iran revealed that it started converting tons of raw uranium as part of a process that could be used to make nuclear arms.
2004 - A posting on an Islamic Web site claimed that the al-Qaida-linked group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has slain US hostage Jack Hensley.
2004 - A Turkish construction company announced that it was halting operations in neighboring Iraq in a bid to save the lives of 10 employees kidnapped by militants.

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day

HORTON, JAMES
Rank and organization: Gunner's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 1838, Massachusetts. Accredited to: Massachusetts. G.O. No.: 59, 22 June 1865. Citation: Served as gunner's mate on board the U.S.S. Montauk, 21 September 1864. During the night of 21 September, when fire was discovered in the magazine lightroom of the vessel, causing a panic and demoralizing the crew, Horton rushed into the cabin, obtained the magazine keys, sprang into the lightroom and began passing out combustibles, Including the box of signals in which the fire originated.

ROUNTRY, JOHN
Rank and organization: First Class Fireman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1840, Massachusetts. Accredited to: Massachusetts. G.O. No.: 59, 22 June 1865. Citation: Served as first class fireman on board the U.S.S. Montauk, 21 September 1864. During the night of 21 September when fire was discovered in the magazine lightroom of that vessel, causing a panic and demoralizing the crew, Rountry, notwithstanding the cry of "fire in the magazine," forced his way with hose in hand, through the frightened crowd to the lightroom and put out the flames.

WEEKS, CHARLES H.
Rank and organization: Captain of the Foretop, U.S. Navy. Born: 1837, New Jersey. Accredited to: New Jersey. G.O. No.: 84, 3 October 1867. Citation: Served as captain of the foretop on board the U.S.S. Montauk, 21 September 1864. During the night of 21 September, when fire was discovered in the magazine lightroom of that vessel, causing a panic and demoralizing the crew, Weeks, notwithstanding the cry of "fire in the magazine," displayed great presence of mind and rendered valuable service in extinguishing the flames which were imperiling the ship and the men on board.

MOORE, PHILIP
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born. 1853, Newfoundland. Accredited to: Rhode Island. G. O. No.: 326, 18 October 1884. Citation: For jumping overboard from the U.S.S. Trenton, at Genoa, Italy, 21 September 1880, and rescuing from drowning Hans Paulsen, ordinary seaman.

RUSSELL, JOHN
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1852, New York, N.Y. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 326, 18 October 1884. Citation: For jumping overboard from the U.S.S. Trenton, at Genoa, Italy, 21 September 1880, and rescuing from drowning Hans Paulsen, ordinary seaman.

*TOWLE, JOHN R.
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company C, 504th Parachute Infantry, 82d Airborne Division. Place and date: Near Oosterhout, Holland, 21 September 1944. Entered service at: Cleveland, Ohio. Birth: Cleveland, Ohio. G.O. No.: 18, 15 March 1945. Citation. For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty on 21 September 1944, near Oosterhout, Holland. The rifle company in which Pvt. Towle served as rocket launcher gunner was occupying a defensive position in the west sector of the recently established Nijmegen bridgehead when a strong enemy force of approximately 100 infantry supported by 2 tanks and a half-track formed for a counterattack. With full knowledge of the disastrous consequences resulting not only to his company but to the entire bridgehead by an enemy breakthrough, Pvt. Towle immediately and without orders left his foxhole and moved 200 yards in the face of Intense small-arms fire to a position on an exposed dike roadbed. From this precarious position Pvt. Towle fired his rocket launcher at and hit both tanks to his immediate front. Armored skirting on both tanks prevented penetration by the projectiles, but both vehicles withdrew slightly damaged. Still under intense fire and fully exposed to the enemy, Pvt. Towle then engaged a nearby house which 9 Germans had entered and were using as a strongpoint and with 1 round killed all 9. Hurriedly replenishing his supply of ammunition, Pvt. Towle, motivated only by his high conception of duty which called for the destruction of the enemy at any cost, then rushed approximately 125 yards through grazing enemy fire to an exposed position from which he could engage the enemy half-track with his rocket launcher. While in a kneeling position preparatory to firing on the enemy vehicle, Pvt. Towle was mortally wounded by a mortar shell. By his heroic tenacity, at the price of his life, Pvt. Towle saved the lives of many of his comrades and was directly instrumental in breaking up the enemy counterattack.

*DAVENPORT, JACK A.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, Company G, 3d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Vicinity of Songnae-Dong, Korea, 21 September 1951. Entered service at: Mission, Kans. Born: 7 September 1931, Kansas City, Mo. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a squad leader in Company G, in action against enemy aggressor forces, early in the morning. While expertly directing the defense of his position during a probing attack by hostile forces attempting to infiltrate the area, Cpl. Davenport, acting quickly when an enemy grenade fell into the foxhole which he was occupying with another marine, skillfully located the deadly projectile in the dark and, undeterred by the personal risk involved, heroically threw himself over the live missile, thereby saving his companion from serious injury or possible death. His cool and resourceful leadership were contributing factors in the successful repulse of the enemy attack and his superb courage and admirable spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of almost certain death enhance and sustain the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. Cpl. Davenport gallantly gave his life for his country.

*BARKER, JEDH COLBY
Rank and organization: Lance Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, Company F, 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, 3d Marine Division (Rein), FMF. Place and date: Near Con Thein, Republic of Vietnam, 21 September 1967. Entered service at: Park Ridge, N.J. Born: 20 June 1945, Franklin, N.H. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machine gunner with Company F. During a reconnaissance operation L/Cpl. Barker's squad was suddenly hit by enemy sniper fire. The squad immediately deployed to a combat formation and advanced to a strongly fortified enemy position, when it was again struck by small arms and automatic weapons fire, sustaining numerous casualties. Although wounded by the initial burst of fire, L/Cpl. Barker boldly remained in the open, delivering a devastating volume of accurate fire on the numerically superior force. The enemy was intent upon annihilating the small marine force and, realizing that L/Cpl. Barker was a threat to their position, directed the preponderance of their fire on his position. He was again wounded, this time in the right hand, which prevented him from operating his vitally needed machine gun. Suddenly and without warning, an enemy grenade landed in the midst of the few surviving marines. Unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his personal safety, L/Cpl. Barker threw himself upon the deadly grenade, absorbing with his body the full and tremendous force of the explosion. In a final act of bravery, he crawled to the side of a wounded comrade and administered first aid before succumbing to his grievous wounds. His bold initiative, intrepid fighting spirit and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of almost certain death undoubtedly saved his comrades from further injury or possible death and reflected great credit upon himself, the Marine Corps, and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

*LAUFFER, BILLY LANE
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company C, 2d Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Air Cavalry Division. place and date: Near Bon Son in Binh Dinh province, Republic of Vietnam, 21 September 1966. Entered service at: phoenix, Ariz. Born: 20 October 1945, Murray, Ky. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Pfc. Lauffer's squad, a part of Company C, was suddenly struck at close range by an intense machine gun crossfire from 2 concealed bunkers astride the squad's route. Pfc. Lauffer, the second man in the column, saw the lead man fall and noted that the remainder of the squad was unable to move. Two comrades, previously wounded and being carried on litters, were Lying helpless in the beaten zone of the enemy fire. Reacting instinctively, Pfc. Lauffer quickly engaged both bunkers with fire from his rifle, but when the other squad members attempted to maneuver under his covering fire, the enemy fusillade increased in volume and thwarted every attempt to move. Seeing this and his wounded comrades helpless in the open, Pfc. Lauffer rose to his feet and charged the enemy machine gun positions, firing his weapon and drawing the enemy's attention. Keeping the enemy confused and off balance, his 1-man assault provided the crucial moments for the wounded point man to crawl to a covered position, the squad to move the exposed litter patients to safety, and his comrades to gain more advantageous positions. Pfc. Lauffer was fatally wounded during his selfless act of courage and devotion to his fellow soldiers. His gallantry at the cost of his life served as an inspiration to his comrades and saved the lives of an untold number of his companions. His actions are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

September 20

2005-09-20T22:37:00.000-05:00

1565--Spanish forces under Pedro Menendez de Aviles capture the French Huguenot settlement of Fort Caroline, near present-day Jacksonville, Florida. The French, commanded by René Goulaine de Laudonnière, lost 135 men in the first instance of colonial warfare between European powers in America. Most of those killed were massacred on the order of Aviles, who allegedly had the slain hung on trees beside the inscription "Not as Frenchmen, but as heretics." Laudonniere and some 40 other Huguenots escaped. In 1564, the French Huguenots (Protestants) had settled on the Banks of May, a strategic point on the Florida coast. King Philip II of Spain was disturbed by this challenge to Spanish authority in the New World and sent Pedro Menendez de Aviles to Florida to expel the French heretics and establish a Spanish colony there. In early September 1565, Aviles founded San Augustin on the Florida coast, which would later grow into Saint Augustine--the oldest city in North America. Two weeks later, on September 20, he attacked and destroyed the French settlement of Fort Caroline. The decisive French defeat encouraged France to refocus its colonial efforts in America far to the north, in what is now Quebec and Nova Scotia in Canada.
1776 - American soldiers, some of them members of Nathan Hale’s regiment, filtered into British-held New York City and stashed resin soaked logs into numerous buildings and a roaring inferno was started. A fourth of the city was destroyed including Trinity Church. The events are documented in the 1997 book "Liberty by Thomas Fleming."
1777 - British Dragoons massacred sleeping Continental troops at Paoli, Pa. Prior to launching a surprise night attack on Anthony Wayne’s Continental division at Paoli, General Charles Grey ordered his troops to rely entirely on their bayonets. To ensure that his troops obeyed, he had his men remove the flints from their weapons so they could not be fired.
1797 - The US frigate Constitution (Old Ironsides) was launched in Boston.
1806 - After nearly two-and-a-half years spent exploring the western wilderness, the Corps of Discovery arrived at the frontier village of La Charette, the first white settlement they had seen since leaving behind the outposts of eastern civilization in 1804. Entirely out of provisions and trade goods and subsisting on wild plums, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and their men were understandably eager to reach home. Upon arriving at La Charette, the men fired a three-round salute to alert the inhabitants of their approach and were answered by three rounds from the trading boats moored at the riverbank. The people of La Charette rushed to the banks of the Missouri to greet the returning heroes. "Every person," Clark wrote with his characteristic inventive spelling, "both French and americans Seem to express great pleasure at our return, and acknowledge them selves astonished in Seeing us return. They informed us that we were Supposed to have been lost long Since." The Lewis and Clark mission had been a spectacular success. With the aid of friendly Native American tribes, the explorers had charted the upper reaches of the Missouri, proved there was no easy water passage across the Continental Divide, reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean, and made the first major step to opening of the trans-Mississippi West to the American settlement. After spending the evening celebrating with the people of La Charette, the next day the expedition continued rapidly down the river and after two more days reached St. Louis, the city where their long journey had begun. Lewis' first act upon leaping from his canoe to the St. Louis dock was to send a note asking the postmaster to delay the mail headed east so he could write a quick letter to President Jefferson telling him that the intrepid Corps of Discovery had, at long last, come home.
1814 - With the U.S. Capitol destroyed by the British, Marines protected Congress in a hotel.
1820 - John Fulton Reynolds, Major General (Union volunteers), was born. He died in 1863 on first day at Gettysburg.
1861 - Lexington, Missouri, was captured by Union forces.
1863 - In one of the bloodiest battles of the war, the Confederate Army of Tennessee drives the Union Army of the Cumberland back into Chattanooga, Tennessee, from Chickamauga Creek in northern Georgia. Although technically a Confederate victory, the battle had little long-term effect on the military situation in the region. During the summer of 1863, Union General William Rosecrans had outmaneuvered Confederate General Braxton Bragg. Without fighting any major battles, Rosecrans had moved Bragg out of Tullahoma, Tennessee, and, by September, had captured Chattanooga. Pursuing Bragg into the mountainous region of northern Georgia, Rosecrans gleaned information from Confederate deserters that indicated Bragg was retreating. However, this information was false and had been deliberately fed to the Yankees. Bragg had hoped to attack Rosecrans and drive the Federals south, away from Chattanooga and Union supply lines. On September 19, a division from Union General George Thomas's corps moved out to strike at what Thomas thought was an isolated Confederate brigade. But his force ran into dismounted Rebel cavalry, and the battle escalated when Bragg sent additional troops to the skirmish. As the day wore on, the battle spread down the lines until both armies were fully engaged. That night, additional Confederate troops arrived under the command of James Longstreet. Longstreet was part of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, and his men had fought at Gettysburg two months prior. He was dispatched with two of his divisions to stem the tide of Confederate defeat in the West. Longsteet's appearance paid off for the Confederates. Around noon on September 20, the stalemate broke when Rosecrans ordered General Thomas Wood to move his division to plug a gap in the Yankee line. Although no such gap existed, one was created when Wood moved his division. Longstreet's troops were now able to march through the gap, and the Union line collapsed in chaos. Most of the Union army began a hasty retreat to nearby Chattanooga, leaving Thomas's corps alone on the battlefield. Thomas stubbornly held his ground and halted the Rebel attack, which allowed him to successfully withdraw without further losses. His action earned him the nickname "The Rock of Chickamauga." Bragg did not immediately pursue Rosecrans to Chattanooga. Instead, the Confederates besieged the city until Union reinforcements arrived in late October. One of the largest battles of the war, Chickamauga resulted in 18,500 Confederate casualties and 16,100 Union casualties. Each side lost about 28 percent of their forces.
1881 - Chester A. Arthur was sworn in as the 21st president of the United States, succeeding James A. Garfield, who had been assassinated.
1917 - The 26th “Yankee” Division (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) becomes the first American division to arrive in Europe during World War I. More than one million American soldiers and Marines will join them by war’s end in November 1918. All 18 National Guard divisions will serve in France, but only 11 see combat as intact units. Six others become “depot” divisions, serving as a source of replacements for casualties suffered by the frontline divisions. One, the 93rd Division, composed of all of the Guard’s African American units, has each of its four regiments parceled out to three different French divisions because American army leadership did not want to mix black and white soldiers together.
1943 - American forces on Sagekarasa discover that the Japanese forces have been evacuated.
1943 - In an ongoing debate over drafting fathers of families, General Marshal and Admiral King tell a Senate Committee hearing that failure to draft such persons will probably prolong the war.
1943 - General Lucas replaces General Dawley in command of the US 6th Corps (part of the US 5th Army).
1944 - Operation Market Garden continues. A joint attack by the British Guards Armored Division and the US 82nd Airborne Division captures Nijmegen and the bridge over the Waal River. At Arnhem, the British 1st Airborne Division is forced away from the bridge by German forces. Meanwhile, Polish forces, part of Canadian 1st Army, make gains along the Scheldt River. Farther south, US 3rd Army (part of US 12th Army Group) captures Chatel and Luneville.
1944 - On Angaur, most of the Japanese garrison has been eliminated by American forces. Some Japanese forces continue to resist in the northwest of the island.1945 - German rocket engineers who have been captured at the end of the war and been brought to the US start work on the American rocket program.
1945 - Automotive manufacturers had been at the heart of a seamless war machine during World War II, producing trucks, tanks, and planes at astounding rates. But only after the last shots were fired did auto factories begin to produce cars again, focusing their sights on the booming postwar market. A month after the surrender of Japan, Packard followed the lead of every other company and ceased military production, turning out its last wartime Rolls-Royce Merlin engine on this day.
1950 - Marines of the 1st Marine Division crossed the Han River along a six-mile beachhead, eight miles northwest of Seoul, Korea. Five days later, the 1st and 5th Marines would attack Seoul and the city would be captured by 27 September.
1951 - In Operation Summit, the first combat helicopter landing in history, U.S. Marines were landed in Korea.
1954 - The 1st FORTRAN computer program was executed.
1972 - The USAF reveals that U.S. planes have been mining the coastal rivers and canals of northern Quang Tri province below the DMZ, the first mining of waterways within South Vietnam. This was an attempt to impede further reinforcement of North Vietnamese forces in the area and to remove the threat to the newly recaptured city of Quang Tri.
1984 - Twelve people were killed today when a suicide car bomber attacked the U.S. embassy complex in Beirut, Lebanon. Unfortunately, these deaths were not an isolated tragedy. Car bombs have become the weapon of choice for terrorists in recent years, used by militant groups all over the world. The car bomb method has sadly proven an effective way of achieving mass destruction, as it is much easier for a terrorist to find a parking space than bypass a building's internal security. From Beirut to Oklahoma City, entire buildings have been destroyed from car bomb blasts, and countless lives have been lost. Among the most recent tragedies were the dual U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, where two car bombs killed 257 people, and reduced several buildings to rubble.
1990 - Both Germanys ratified reunification.
1990 - Demanding equal time, Iraq asked US networks to broadcast a message by President Saddam Hussein in response to President Bush’s videotaped address to the Iraqi people.
1990 - PSU 301 became the second reserve Coast Guard port security unit deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield. PSU 301 was staffed by reservists from Buffalo, New York. They were stationed in Al-Jubayl, Saudi Arabia.
1991 - U.N. weapons inspectors left Bahrain for Iraq to renew their search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
1992 - The space shuttle Endeavour landed at the Kennedy Space Center.
1994 - Space shuttle Discovery and its six astronauts landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California after an 11-day mission.
1995 - Bosnian Serb rebels pulled back enough heavy weapons from around Sarajevo to keep NATO airstrikes at bay.
1999 - In Kosovo NATO and the KLA agreed on a transformation of the KLA into a civil defense group named the Kosovo Protection Corps.
2001 - Pictures of most of the Sep 11 hijackers were published along with some personal data.
2001 - Iraq accuses Kuwait of excessive extraction of the joint al-Ratqa border oilfield. Iraq's foreign minister requests compensation from Kuwait.
2001 - The FBI arrested Nabil Al-Marabh (34), a suspected bin laden associate, in the Chicago area.
2001 - A chartered flight left the US with members of the sprawling bin Laden family. The FBI interviewed 22 of the 26 people aboard.
2001 - In Afghanistan Muslim clerics issued an edict that suggested Osama bin Laden be persuaded to leave the country.
2001 - In Macedonia NATO troops began the 3rd stage of Essential Harvest.
2001 - President Bush addresses joint session of Congress in response to 9/11 attacks, proposing a new Office of Homeland Security.
2002 - In Yemen 2 suspected members of al-Qaida were killed in a gunbattle and three others were arrested after security forces raided several homes looking for members of the terrorist network.
2003 - In Iraq gunmen attacked and wounded Aquila al-Hashimi, one of three women on Iraq's Governing Council and a leading candidate to become the country's representative at the United Nations.
2004 - A car bomb exploded in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, killing three people. Gunmen killed a Sunni Muslim cleric as he entered a mosque in Baghdad to perform noon prayers. At least two people were killed and three wounded in explosions that rocked the rebel-held city of Fallujah. An Islamic group posted a video showing the beheading of US contract employee Eugene Armstrong.

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

BURKE, DANIEL W.
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company B, 2d U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Shepherdstown Ford, Va., 20 September 1862. Entered service at: Connecticut. Birth: New Haven, Conn. Date of issue 21 April 1892. Citation: Voluntarily attempted to spike a gun in the face of the enemy.

CADWELL, LUMAN L.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 2d New York Veteran Cavalry. Place and date: At Alabama Bayou, La., 20 September 1864. Entered service at:------. Birth: Broome, N.Y. Date of issue: 17 August 1894. Citation: Swam the bayou under fire of the enemy and captured and brought off a boat by means of which the command crossed and routed the enemy.

CHAMBERLAIN, ORVILLE T.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, Company G, 74th Indiana Infantry. Place and date: At Chickamauga, Ga., 20 September 1863. Entered service at: Elkhart, Ind. Birth: Kosciusko County, Ind. Date of issue: 1 I March 1896. Citation: While exposed to a galling fire, went in search of another regiment, found its location, procured ammunition from the men thereof, and returned with the ammunition to his own company.

CILLEY, CLINTON A.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company C, 2d Minnesota Infantry. Place and date: At Chickamauga, Ga., 20 September 1863. Entered service at: Sasioja, Minn. Birth: Rockingham County, N.H. Date of issue: 12 June 1895. Citation: Seized the colors of a retreating regiment and led it into the thick of the attack.

PALMER, GEORGE H.
Rank and organization: Musician, 1st Illinois Cavalry. Place and date. At Lexington, Mo., 20 September 1861. Entered service at: Illinois. Birth: New York. Date of issue. 10 March 1896. Citation: Volunteered to fight in the trenches and also led a charge which resulted in the recapture of a Union hospital, together with Confederate sharpshooters then occupying the same.

PORTER, HORACE
Rank and organization: Captain, Ordnance Department, U.S. Army. Place and date: At Chickamauga, Ga., 20 September 1863. Entered service at: Harrisburgh, Pa. Born: 15 April 1837, Huntington, Pa. Date of issue: 8 July 1902. Citation: While acting as a volunteer aide, at a critical moment when the lines were broken, rallied enough fugitives to hold the ground under heavy fire long enough to effect the escape of wagon trains and batteries.

TAYLOR, ANTHONY
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, Company A, 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Place and date: At Chickamauga, Ga., 20 September 1863. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Born: 11 October 1837, Burlington, N.J. Date of issue: 4 December 1893. Citation: Held out to the last with a small force against the advance of superior numbers of the enemy.

WHITNEY, WILLIAM G.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 11th Michigan Infantry. Place and date: At Chickamauga, Ga., 20 September 1863. Entered service at: Quincy, Mich. Born. 13 December 1840, Allen, Mich. Date of issue: 21 October 1895. Citation: As the enemy were about to charge, this officer went outside the temporary Union works among the dead and wounded enemy and at great exposure to himself cut off and removed their cartridge boxes, bringing the same within the Union lines, the ammunition being used with good effect in again repulsing the attack.

POPE, EVERETT PARKER
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division. Place and date: Peleliu Island, Palau group, 19-20 September 1944. Entered service at: Massachusetts. Born: 16 July 1919, Milton, Mass. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as commanding officer of Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Peleliu Island, Palau group, on 19-20 September 1944. Subjected to pointblank cannon fire which caused heavy casualties and badly disorganized his company while assaulting a steep coral hill, Capt. Pope rallied his men and gallantly led them to the summit in the face of machinegun, mortar, and sniper fire. Forced by widespread hostile attack to deploy the remnants of his company thinly in order to hold the ground won, and with his machineguns out of order and insufficient water and ammunition, he remained on the exposed hill with 12 men and 1 wounded officer determined to hold through the night. Attacked continuously with grenades, machineguns, and rifles from 3 sides, he and his valiant men fiercely beat back or destroyed the enemy, resorting to hand-to-hand combat as the supply of ammunition dwindled, and still maintaining his lines with his 8 remaining riflemen when daylight brought more deadly fire and he was ordered to withdraw. His valiant leadership against devastating odds while protecting the units below from heavy Japanese attack reflects the highest credit upon Capt. Pope and the U.S. Naval Service .

COMMISKEY, HENRY A., SR.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant (then 2d Lt.), U.S. Marine Corps, Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Near Yongdungp'o, Korea, 20 September 1950. Entered service at: Hattiesburg, Miss. Birth: 10 January 1927, Hattiesburg, Miss. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a platoon leader in Company C, in action against enemy aggressor forces. Directed to attack hostile forces well dug in on Hill 85, 1st Lt. Commiskey, spearheaded the assault, charging up the steep slopes on the run. Coolly disregarding the heavy enemy machine gun and small arms fire, he plunged on well forward of the rest of his platoon and was the first man to reach the crest of the objective. Armed only with a pistol, he jumped into a hostile machine gun emplacement occupied by 5 enemy troops and quickly disposed of 4 of the soldiers with his automatic pistol. Grappling with the fifth, 1st Lt. Commiskey knocked him to the ground and held him until he could obtain a weapon from another member of his platoon and killed the last of the enemy guncrew. Continuing his bold assault, he moved to the next emplacement, killed 2 more of the enemy and then led his platoon toward the rear nose of the hill to rout the remainder of the hostile troops and destroy them as they fled from their positions. His valiant leadership and courageous fighting spirit served to inspire the men of his company to heroic endeavor in seizing the objective and reflect the highest credit upon 1st Lt. Commiskey and the U.S. Naval Service.

*MONEGAN, WALTER C., JR.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, Company F, 2d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Near Sosa-ri, Korea, 17 and 20 September 1950. Entered service at: Seattle, Wash. Born: 25 December 1930, Melrose, Mass. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a rocket gunner attached to Company F, and in action against enemy aggressor forces. Dug in on a hill overlooking the main Seoul highway when 6 enemy tanks threatened to break through the battalion position during a predawn attack on 17 September, Pfc. Monegan promptly moved forward with his bazooka, under heavy hostile automatic weapons fre and engaged the lead tank at a range of less than 50 yards. After scoring a direct hit and killing the sole surviving tankman with his carbine as he came through the escape hatch, he boldly fired 2 more rounds of ammunition at the oncoming tanks, disorganizing the attack and enabling our tank crews to continue blasting with their 90-mm guns. With his own and an adjacent company's position threatened by annihilation when an overwhelming enemy tank-infantry force bypassed the area and proceeded toward the battalion command post during the early morning of September 20, he seized his rocket launcher and, in total darkness, charged down the slope of the hill where the tanks had broken through. Quick to act when an illuminating shell lit the area, he scored a direct hit on one of the tanks as hostile rifle and automatic-weapons fire raked the area at close range. Again exposing himself, he fired another round to destroy a second tank and, as the rear tank turned to retreat, stood upright to fire and was fatally struck down by hostile machine gun fire when another illuminating shell silhouetted him against the sky. Pfc. Monegan's daring initiative, gallant fighting spirit and courageous devotion to duty were contributing factors in the success of his company in repelling the enemy, and his self-sacrificing efforts throughout sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country .

*PIERCE, LARRY S.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade. Place and date: Near Ben Cat, Republic of Vietnam, 20 September 1965. Entered service at: Fresno, Calif. Born: 6 July 1941, Wewoka, Okla. G.O. No.: 7, 24 February 1966. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Pierce was serving as squad leader in a reconnaissance platoon when his patrol was ambushed by hostile forces. Through his inspiring leadership and personal courage, the squad succeeded in eliminating an enemy machinegun and routing the opposing force. While pursuing the fleeing enemy, the squad came upon a dirt road and, as the main body of his men entered the road, Sgt. Pierce discovered an antipersonnel mine emplaced in the road bed. Realizing that the mine could destroy the majority of his squad, Sgt. Pierce saved the lives of his men at the sacrifice of his life by throwing himself directly onto the mine as it exploded. Through his indomitable courage, complete disregard for his safety, and profound concern for his fellow soldiers, he averted loss of life and injury to the members of his squad. Sgt. Pierce's extraordinary heroism, at the cost of his life, are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.