Operation DESERT STORM Map
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21 years ago, U.S. and Coalition forces engaged in the “mother of all battles” with Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Army. The ground campaign lasted only four days. (Map from the U.S. Army Center of Military History)
In: Images, Military History
This Week in US Military History
Feb. 19, 1945: The first two of three dispatched U.S. Marine divisions begin hitting the beach on day-one of the epic battle for Iwo Jima. Of the 21,000 Japanese diehards defending Iwo, some 20,800 will be killed. Almost 7,000 Marines will lose their lives. Another 26,000 will be wounded.
Feb. 20, 1944: U.S. Army Air Forces and Britain’s Royal Air Force begin Operation ARGUMENT, a massive thousand-plus bomber offensive aimed at destroying the German Air Force and Luftwaffe manufacturing facilities in order to achieve irreversible air superiority before the Normandy landings. Allied losses will be high. German losses will be staggering.
Feb. 20, 1962: U.S. Marine Lt. Col. (future colonel) and two-war fighter pilot John H. Glenn Jr. becomes the first American to orbit Earth. Glenn orbits Earth three times in less than five hours in his spacecraft, Friendship 7.
Feb. 22, 1909: Pres. Theodore Roosevelt’s “Great White Fleet” – a four-squadron armada of white-painted warships manned by some 14,000 sailors and Marines – returns to Hampton Roads, Virginia after sailing around the world in a grand show of American Naval power.
Feb. 22, 1967: The U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade conducts the first and only mass parachute jump of the Vietnam War. The jump is but one element of the much broader airborne (primarily heliborne assault) and infantry “search and destroy” operation, Junction City. The operation will continue through May.
Feb. 22, 1974: Lt. J.G. Barbara Ann Allen Rainey becomes the first female Naval aviator. In 1982, she will be killed in a crash while training a student pilot.
Feb. 23, 1778: Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian Army officer – arguably the father of American drill instructors – arrives at Valley Forge with the task of whipping the Continental Army into shape.
Feb. 23, 1836: The advance elements of a 4,000-plus-man Mexican army under the command of Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna begin the siege of the isolated Texas Army garrison at the Alamo mission near (now part of present-day) San Antonio, Texas, during the Texas War of Independence.
The Alamo’s approximately 200-man garrison will be wiped out nearly to a man when the Mexicans storm the mission on March 6.
Feb. 23, 1847: During the Mexican-American War, a Mexican army under Santa Anna launches a series of attacks against a numerically inferior U.S. Army force under the command of Gen. (and future president) Zachary Taylor near Buena Vista. Though surprised and outnumbered, the Americans beat back the Mexicans who are forced to withdraw with heavy losses.
Feb. 23, 1945: After several days of savage fighting, U.S. Marines capture the summit of Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima. Just after 10:30 a.m., a small flag is raised on Suribachi. But an officer orders a larger flag be hoisted so that it might be seen from the far end of the island.
Feb. 24, 1813: The sloop-of-war USS Hornet (the third of eight so-named American warships) under the command of Capt. James Lawrence sinks the Royal Navy brig HMS Peacock in a swift action in which Peacock’s skipper, Capt. William Peake, is killed.
Feb. 24, 1991: At 4:00 a.m. the lead elements of the enormous coalition ground force surges forward into Iraq and Kuwait aimed at ousting Saddam Hussein’s army from Kuwait. President George H.W. Bush will order a ceasefire on the 28th. The 42-day “mother of all battles” (38 days for the initial air campaign and four days for the ground campaign) will end.
Feb. 25, 1779: Following an arduous campaign through freezing floodwaters, a joint American-French force under Virginia militia Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark captures British-held Fort Sackville at Vincennes in the Illinois backcountry.
Adapted (and abridged) in part from “This Week in US Military History” by W. Thomas Smith Jr. at Human Events. See more at the Center for American Military History.
In: Military History
‘All Necessary Force’ is a superb read
I love Tom Clancy books, but Clancy has only talked to those who have “been there, done that.” Brad Taylor has been at the absolute tip of the American military spear, and has lived to write about it.
Taylor spent 21 years in the infantry and Special Forces, including eight years as a commander in Delta Force, the Army’s secretive counterterrorist unit. Taylor’s first-hand experience clearly shows in his writing. Reading his books, one has to wonder: “Which parts are real and which are fiction?”
If what Taylor writes didn’t actually happen, I am sure the real story isn’t far from what’s in his second novel, “All Necessary Force.”
“Pike” Logan is a former operative for a counter-terrorism agency known simply as “The Taskforce.” The group is so secretive – and effective – that its discovery would scuttle the entire Executive Branch. Now Pike is a private contractor that finds himself right back in the middle of Taskforce business and is the only one who can save the country from a new and (highly possible) terrorist attack.
A recipe of treasonous congressmen, politicians willing to sacrifice soldiers’ lives for their careers, Chinese and al Qaeda operatives, and even a special operations raid during the Vietnam War combine to make “All Necessary Force” one of the best international thrillers I have read.
Typically, I am reading a dozen or so books at once. “All Necessary Force” was so good that I had to put them all down. And if you haven’t read the first book in the series, “One Rough Man,” grab it too.
Battle of Ganjgal Lessons Learned Video
In: Military · Tagged with: Afghanistan, Battle of Ganjgal
This Week in American Military History
Better late than never…
Jan. 22, 1944: Allied forces, including the U.S. VI Corps under the command of Maj. Gen. John P. Lucas (of Lt. Gen. Mark Clark’s Fifth Army), begin a series of landings along a stretch of western Italian coastline in the Anzio-Nettuno area. Codenamed Operation Shingle, the Allies achieve complete surprise against – and encounter little initial resistance from – the Germans. But the landings kick off what will become one of the most grueling campaigns of World War II.
Jan. 22, 1954: First Lady Mamie Eisenhower breaks a bottle of champagne across the bow of USS Nautilus in Groton, Connecticut, launching the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine. The following year, Nautilus gets underway, begins breaking numerous sea-travel records, and becomes the first “ship” to cross the North Pole.
Jan. 22, 1969: Operation Dewey Canyon, the Marine Corps’ last major offensive of the Vietnam War, begins. Marines under the command of Col. Robert H. Barrow spent 56 days clearing out the North Vietnamese Army’s stronghold near the A Shau Valley.
Jan. 25, 1856: Marines and seamen from the sloop USS Decatur land at Seattle to protect settlers from an Indian attack. The Battle of Seattle lasted seven hours and the Indians suffered severe casualties, while only two settlers died.
Jan. 26, 1948: Pres. Harry S. Truman signs executive order 9981, which essentially directs the desegregation of the armed forces.
Jan. 27, 1837: U.S. soldiers and Marines under the command of Col. Archibald Henderson – a serving Marine Corps commandant – defeat a force of Seminole Indians in the running battle of Hatchee-Lustee Creek (Florida). For his actions, Henderson will receive a brevet promotion to brigadier general, becoming the Corps’ first general officer.
Jan. 27, 1862: Pres. Abraham Lincoln issues the first of two war orders. The first, General War Order No. One, directs U.S. Army and Naval forces to move “against the insurgent forces [of the Southern states].” In four days, Lincoln will issue Special War Order No. One, calling for an expeditionary force to seize and hold “a point” along the railroad southwest of Manassas Junction.
Jan. 27, 1942: The submarine USS Gudgeon sinks a Japanese submarine – becoming the first American sub to send an enemy warship to the bottom during World War II. Gudgeon also becomes the first sub to patrol Japanese waters. She will go on to rack up more than a dozen kills. She will conduct rescue missions and special operations. But in 1944, on her 12th patrol, she mysteriously disappears with all hands.
Jan. 27, 1943: American bombers – specifically B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators – of the U.S. Eighth Air Force strike German U-boat facilities at Wilhelmshaven. The bombing raid is the first U.S. Army Air Forces mission over Germany.
Jan. 28, 1915: Pres. Woodrow Wilson signs into law the congressionally approved merger of the “Life Saving” and “Revenue Cutter” services, thus establishing the U.S. Coast Guard. Still, the officially recognized birthday of the Coast Guard is Aug. 4, 1790, the day Congress approved Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton’s proposal to “build ten cutters to protect the new nation’s revenue.”
Adapted (and abridged) in part from “This Week in US Military History” by W. Thomas Smith Jr. at Human Events.
“This Week in US Military History” is a project of the Center for American Military History. See more or submit content here.
In: Military History
“Black Jack” Pershing awards MacArthur, Donovan the DSC duiring World War I
Gen. John J. Pershing (second from left) decorates Brig. Gen. Douglas MacArthur (third from left) with the Distinguished Service Cross. Maj. Gen. Charles T. Menoher (left) reads out the citation. Col. George E. Leach (fourth from left) and Col. William Joseph Donovan await their decorations. (US Army photo)
In: Images, Military History
Unmanned helicopter makes first-ever combat delivery
CAMP DWYER, Afghanistan-A detachment of Marines from Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 in Afghanistan completed their first unmanned aerial system cargo delivery in a combat zone, Dec. 17. The unmanned helicopter moved about 3,500 pounds of food and supplies from Camp Dwyer to troops at Combat Outpost Payne. The helicopter, an unmanned variant of the K-MAX, completed the delivery in about an hour and a half. (USMC photo by Cpl. Justin M. Boling)
In: Images, Military
Medal of Honor history: Patrick Henry and Don Jenkins
Brady
On this day in military history, two American soldiers earned the Medal of Honor – the nation’s highest decoration for valor. 44 years ago on January 6, 1968, Major Patrick Henry Brady (citation), commander of the 54th Medical Detachment, volunteered for a dangerous “dust off” mission near Chu Lai, Vietnam. Wounded soldiers were pinned down in enemy-held territory that was also reportedly blanketed with dense fog. Upon arrival, Brady descended through the dense fog and smoke to reach the two South Vietnamese soldiers. Despite the close proximity to enemy forces who were firing at the unarmed helicopter, Brady landed his aircraft and evacuated the men.
On his next mission, American troops were wounded and pinned down 50 meters from an enemy position. Two helicopters had been shot down and other attempts to rescue the troops were unsuccessful. Maj. Brady made four flights into the contested area and evacuated all of the wounded.
Next, Brady flew into another area surrounded by enemy forces. This time, his helicopter was badly damaged, but he was able to extract the wounded. Brady was called upon once more, this time to assist a platoon trapped in a minefield. Upon landing, a mine detonated near his aircraft, injuring two crewmembers and damaging the helicopter. Brady would return with yet another helicopter – his third of the day – and evacuate six more wounded soldiers.
“If you cared enough about the lives you were trying to save, you would find a way,” Brady stated in an interview at the Pritzker Military Library in 2007. That day, Brady rescued 51 seriously-wounded soldiers, many of whom would have died had it not been for his “unmatched skill and extraordinary courage.”
Over his two tours, Brady flew 2,000 missions and rescued 5,000 wounded soldiers. In Brady’s first tour, he was part of the only medevac company (five helicopters) in Vietnam. He retired as a Major General in 1993 after 34 years in the Army.
Jenkins
One year after Brady’s actions, helicopters inserted members of the 39th Infantry Regiment into the Kien Phong Province on a reconnaisance mission. After landing, Private First Class Don Jenkins (citation)and the men of his unit immediately began receiving heavy crossfire from North Vietnamese Army bunkers that encircled the landing zone.
Jenkins ran to an exposed area and opened fire on enemy soldiers gathering near log bunkers with his M-60. When his machine gun jammed, Jenkins grabbed another rifle and fired upon the enemy while a teammate attempted to repair the M-60. He repeatedly charged through open terrain to grab ammunition from fallen soldiers until he could no longer find any ammunition. Then Jenkins picked up two anti-tank weapons from another fallen soldier. Despite incoming enemy fire, he closed within 20 yards of the enemy bunkers and destroyed two of them.
Then the resourceful soldier picked up an M-79 grenade launcher and resumed his destruction until that weapon was exhausted as well. Meanwhile, an group of soldiers was pinned down just meters away from the enemy. Previous rescue attempts had resulted in one death and many injuries, but that news must not have phased Jenkins. Ignoring serious shrapnel wounds in his stomach and legs, Jenkins crawled forward 100 meters to the embattled position three times over the course of the night, each time bringing back a wounded comrade.
Following the battle, Jenkins was promoted to Staff Sergeant. Oddly enough however, Jenkins’ commanding officer had threatened to bust him down to Private the day prior to his heroic actions: Jenkins needed to be resuscitated due to drinking a poisoned bottle of wine.
Following his discharge, Jenkins returned to the coal mines of Kentucky, and received notification that he was to be awarded the Medal in 1971.
In: Military History
Jan. 6 in US Military History
1777: Gen. George Washington sets up winter camp for the Continental Army in the hills surrounding Morristown, N.J.
1861: Florida militia forces seize the Union Apalachicola Arsenal, which is defended by only Ordnance Sergeant Edwin Powell and three laborers. Although hopelessly outnumbered, Powell was prepared to fight if ordered to hold and initially refuses to surrender the keys to the magazines or armory. But when the militia allows him to send a telegram to his command for instruction – and he receives no response – he reluctantly concedes.
1927: U.S. Marines return to Nicaragua to protect American lives and property.
1942: Pres. Franklin Roosevelt informs Congress that he is authorizing the largest armaments production in United States history: 8 million tons of shipping, 45,000 planes, and 45,000 tanks, and 20,000 anti-aircraft guns will roll off assembly lines within the year.
1944: Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill is designated to lead the 5307th Composite Unit (provisional), a long-range penetration special operations unit, now popularly known as Merrill’s Marauders. Of the 2,750 men to enter the unit at Burma, only two were not wounded or killed. Today’s 75th Ranger Regiment is a descendant of Merrill’s Marauders.
Medal of Honor: 44 years ago in South Vietnam, Army helicopter pilot Maj. Patrick H. Brady conducted multiple medical evacuation missions in dense fog and in the face of heavy enemy fire. Over the course of the day, he rescued 51 soldiers and 400 bullet holes were counted in the three helicopters he flew.
In: Military History
The late Col. Robert Howard
The late Col. Robert Howard (second from left), one of America's highest-decorated soldiers during the Vietnam War. (Source: Militaryphotos.net)
Col. Howard was nominated for the Medal of Honor three times in just over a year. Read Howard’s Medal of Honor citation here.
In: Images, Military History · Tagged with: Robert L. Howard, Vietnam War
