From the Navy’s Birthday to Black Thursday
LCdr. Virgil C. "Squash" Griffin becomes the first man to take off from an aircraft carrier in 1922.
This Week in American Military History (by W. Thomas Smith Jr.):
Oct. 12, 1862: Confederate cavalry commander Gen. James Ewell Brown “J.E.B.” Stuart completes his “second ride” around Union Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac.
Oct. 13, 1775: Happy Birthday U.S. Navy!
According to the Naval History and Heritage Command:
“…meeting in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress voted to fit out two sailing vessels, armed with ten carriage guns, as well as swivel guns, and manned by crews of eighty, and to send them out on a cruise of three months to intercept transports carrying munitions and stores to the British army in America.
“This was the original legislation out of which the Continental Navy grew and as such constitutes the birth certificate of the navy.”
Oct. 14, 1943: In what will become known as “Black Thursday,” U.S. Army Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses – elements of the famed 8th Air Force – attack the ball-bearing plants (critical to Germany’s aviation industry) at the heavily defended Bavarian city of Schweinfurt. Though the raid is successful, scores of bombers – and more than 600 airmen – are lost.
According to Bruce Crawford writing for Aviation History magazine: “There is not much there to commemorate the carnage that took place overhead so many years ago, and that is too bad, because Schweinfurt should rank with Pickett’s Charge, Bataan, Chosin and other battlefields as an epic of American heroism. As it is, we can only look at grainy wartime pictures of the bombers going down in flames, and try to imagine what it was like for the men trapped inside.”
In: Military History · Tagged with: American Revolution, Civil War, US Air Force, US Navy, USS Langley, W. Thomas Smith Jr., World War II
The Battle of Debecka Pass
With all of the bad news from Afghanistan, it’s nice to hear stories about the military in the good old days. You know, when Washington allowed our military to kill the bad guys in old-fashioned conventional warfare.
On the 17th day of the Iraq War, 26 Army SF soldiers, along with three Air Force combat controllers, two intelligence operators, and 80 Peshmerga (Kurdish fighters) faced off and beat down Iraqi tanks, APCs, and hundreds of infantry in the Battle of Debecka Pass.
I will update ASAP, but in the meantime, The New York Times actually has a pretty decent account of the battle.
In: Military · Tagged with: Battle of Debecka Pass, Special Forces, US Air Force, US Army
Relief is on the way
A C-17 Globemaster III sits on the flightline at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii Sept. 3, 2009, as crews prepare to deliver humanitarian supplies to the Samoa region, which was devastated by a tsunami. A contingent from Hawaii, including Hawaii National Guard and Hawaii Air National Guard, took off for American Samoa with relief supplies and equipment to assist in the region. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Mike Meares)
In: Military · Tagged with: US Air Force
Military Milestones from Blood Stripes to Bloody Ridge
This Week in American Military History (by W. Thomas Smith Jr.):
Sept. 13, 1814: From the deck of a Royal Navy ship aboard which he has been detained, Washington, D.C. lawyer Francis Scott Key pens his now-famous poem, “The Star Spangled Banner,” on an envelope as he witnesses the British night-bombardment of Fort McHenry, Baltimore during the War of 1812.
It will be more than a century before the U.S. Congress adopts “The Star Spangled Banner” as the official national anthem.
Sept. 13, 1847: U.S. Army and Marine forces (including lots of future Civil War generals like Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, George Pickett, Pierre G.T. Beauregard, Thomas J. Jackson, Joseph E. Johnston, Ulysses S. Grant, future Admiral Raphael Semmes, and I’m probably leaving out a few) participate in the storming of Chapultepec Castle during the Mexican War.
Chapultepec defends Mexico City, which will fall on the 14th.
For those of us fortunate enough since to claim the title, “Marine,” the taking of Chapultepec and ultimately Mexico City will give us two things:
First: The first five words of our hymn: “From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli …”
Second: The “blood” red stripe along the seams of our dress-blue uniform trousers (Marines don’t wear pants).
The origin of the blood stripe is more tradition than absolute fact. But we Marines heartily claim it. According to tradition, the blood stripe represents the blood shed by Marines storming Chapultepec. And the reason only corporals and above are authorized to wear the stripe is because there was such a high percentage of NCOs and officers killed in the storming of the castle.
In: Military History · Tagged with: American Revolution, Civil War, Korean War, Mexican-American War, US Air Force, US Marine Corps, Vietnam War, W. Thomas Smith Jr., War of 1812, World War II
Military Milestones from the King’s Proclamation to Richie’s MiG
Originally published at Human Events
Rear Admiral David Farragut
This Week in American Military History:
Aug. 23, 1775: Less than two months after the Second Continental Congress issues its “Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms [against the British]” in which the Congress resolves “to die free men rather than live as slaves,” King George III issues his own proclamation declaring the American colonies to be in a state of rebellion.
The king adds, “not only all our Officers, civil and military, are obliged to exert their utmost endeavours to suppress such rebellion, and to bring the traitors to justice, but that all our subjects of this Realm, and the dominions thereunto belonging, are bound by law to be aiding and assisting in the suppression of such rebellion, and to disclose and make known all traitorous conspiracies and attempts against us, our crown and dignity.”
Aug. 23, 1864: Union Naval forces under the command of Adm. David Glasgow Farragut — best known for purportedly uttering the command, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” — take Fort Morgan, effectively ending the near-month-long battle of Mobile Bay.
In: Military History · Tagged with: American Revolution, Civil War, US Air Force, US Navy, Vietnam War, W. Thomas Smith Jr., War of 1812, World War II
Swapping Fuel
A U.S. Air Force KC-10 Extender aircraft from the 9th Air Refueling Squadron out of Travis Air Force Base, Calif., flies in to refuel from a KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft assigned to the 336th Aerial Refueling Squadron Aug. 4, 2009, over March Air Reserve Base, Calif. (DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Daniel St. Pierre, U.S. Air Force/Released)
In: Images, Military · Tagged with: KC-10, KC-135, US Air Force
Military Milestones from a Midnight Ride to a Pre-Dawn Airstrike
Originally published at Human Events
Apr. 12, 1861: Confederate Brig. Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard’s artillery forces — strategically positioned around Charleston harbor, S.C. — open fire on Union-held Fort Sumter (constructed atop shoals at the harbor entrance).
Unable to effectively return fire and with his position indefensible, Union Army Maj. Robert Anderson will surrender the fort: The garrison will be evacuated on the 14th.
The firing on Fort Sumter is considered to be the opening engagement of the Civil War. Technically it is; though shots were fired in January by militia batteries — including a battery manned by cadets of the Citadel (the Military College of South Carolina) — on the U.S. commercial paddlesteamer “Star of the West” in Charleston harbor.
In: Military History · Tagged with: American Revolution, CIA, Civil War, Doolittle Raid, Mexican-American War, US Air Force, US Navy, World War I, World War II
John A. Chapman Air Force Cross citation
TECHNICAL SERGEANT
JOHN A. CHAPMAN
AIR FORCE
For service as set forth in the following:
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Title 10, Section 8742, United States Code, takes pride in presenting the Air Force Cross (Posthumously) to Technical Sergeant John A. Chapman, United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operation against an armed enemy of the United States as a 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Combat Controller in the vicinity of Gardez, in the eastern highlands of Afghanistan, on 4 March 2002. On this date, during his helicopter insertion for a reconnaissance and time sensitive targeting close air support mission, Sergeant Chapman’s aircraft came under heavy machine gun fire and received a direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade which caused a United States Navy sea-air-land team member to fall from the aircraft. Though heavily damaged, the aircraft egressed the area and made an emergency landing seven kilometers away. Once on the ground Sergeant Chapman established communication with an AC-130 gunship to insure the area was secure while providing close air support coverage for the entire team. He then directed the gunship to begin the search for the missing team member. He requested, coordinated, and controlled the helicopter that extracted the stranded team and aircrew members. These actions limited the exposure of the aircrew and team to hostile fire. Without regard for his own life Sergeant Chapman volunteered to rescue his missing team member from an enemy strong hold. Shortly after insertion, the team made contact with the enemy. Sergeant Chapman engaged and killed two enemy personnel. He continued to advance reaching the enemy position then engaged a second enemy position, a dug-in machine gun nest. At this time the rescue team came under effective enemy fire from three directions. From close range he exchanged fire with the enemy from minimum personal cover until he succumbed to multiple wounds. His engagement and destruction of the first enemy position and advancement on the second position enabled his team to move to cover and break enemy contact. In his own words, his Navy sea-air-land team leader credits Sergeant Chapman unequivocally with saving the lives of the entire rescue team. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, aggressiveness in the face of the enemy, and the dedication to the service of his country, Sergeant Chapman reflects the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
Born: 14 July 1965, Springfield, Mass…. Is the first Combat Controller to be awarded the Air Force Cross… One of two airmen to be awarded the Air Force Cross – both posthumously – during the Battle of Roberts Ridge.
In: Men of Valor · Tagged with: Air Force Cross, US Air Force, War on Terror, War on Terror Air Force Cross recipients
Duane D. Hackney Air Force Cross citation
AIRMAN SECOND CLASS
DUANE D. HACKNEY
AIR FORCE
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Title 10, Section 8742, United States Code, takes pleasure in presenting the Air Force Cross to Airman Second Class Duane D. Hackney (AFSN: 16827003), United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force while serving with the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, 3d Air Rescue and Recovery Group, DaNang Air Base, Vietnam, as a Paramedic (Pararescueman) on an unarmed HH-3E Rescue Helicopter near Mu Gia Pass, North Vietnam, on 6 February 1967. On that date, Airman Hackney flew two sorties in a heavily defended hostile area. On the first sortie, despite the presence of armed forces known to be hostile, entrenched in the vicinity, Airman Hackney volunteered to be lowered into the jungle to search for the survivor. He searched until the controlling Search and Rescue agency ordered an evacuation of the rescue crew. On the second sortie, Airman Hackney located the downed pilot, who was hoisted into the helicopter. As the rescue crew departed the area, intense and accurate 37-mm. flak tore into the helicopter amidships, causing extensive damage and a raging fire aboard the craft. With complete disregard for his own safety, Airman Hackney fitted his parachute to the rescued man. In this moment of impending disaster, Airman Hackney chose to place his responsibility to the survivor above his own life. The courageous Pararescueman located another parachute for himself and had just slipped his arms through the harness when a second 37-mm. round struck the crippled aircraft, sending it out of control. The force of the explosion blew Airman Hackney through the open cargo door and, though stunned, he managed to deploy the unbuckled parachute and make a successful landing. He was later recovered by a companion helicopter. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of hostile forces, Airman Hackney reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
Born: 5 Jun. 1947, Flint, Mich…. Turned down assignments in Bermuda and England to go to Vietnam… Also awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses for heroism, 18 Air Medals for valor, the Silver Star, Airmans Medal, and the Purple Heart… Flew over 200 missions on three tours in Vietnam… Hackney is considered to be the highest-decorated airman in Air Force history with over 70 medals… Retired in 1991 as a chief master sergeant… Departed 3 Sep. 1993.
In: Men of Valor · Tagged with: Air Force Cross, US Air Force, Vietnam War, Vietnam War Air Force Cross recipients
