This Week in American Military History
From W. Thomas Smith, Jr.’s series at Human Events:
Mar. 8, 1965: The lead elements of 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines begin coming ashore at Da Nang, South Vietnam. Within hours, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines will arrive aboard transport aircraft at the nearby airbase. The Marines of 3/9 and 1/3 – both part of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade – are the first of America’s ground-combat forces destined for offensive operations against the enemy in Southeast Asia, once again putting teeth in the Marine Corps’ claim that it is “first to fight.”
Mar. 9, 1847: Thousands of American soldiers and a company-sized force of Marines (though referred to as a battalion) under the overall command of U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott and “Home Squadron” Commodore David E. Conner begin landing at Collado Beach, Mexico, just south of Vera Cruz.
In what will prove to be “a model” for future amphibious operations, the landings are unprecedented: The largest American amphibious operation to date, conducted in less than five hours without a single loss of life.
A portion of Conner’s dispatch to the Secretary of the Navy reads:
“Gen. Scott has now with him upwards of 11,000 men. At his request, I permitted the Marines of the squadron, under Capt. [Alvin] Edson, to join him, as a part of the 3rd Regiment of artillery. The general-in-chief landed this morning, and the army put itself in motion at an early hour, to form its lines around the city. There has been some distant firing of shot and shells from the town and castle upon the troops as they advanced, but without result.”
Though the landings are bloodless, grim fighting will continue in the Mexican-American War.
(more…)
In: Military History · Tagged with: American Revolution, Civil War, Flying Tigers, Mexican-American War, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Vietnam War, W. Thomas Smith Jr.
This Week in US Military History
From W. Thomas Smith, Jr.’s series at Human Events:
Mar. 2, 1943: Elements of the U.S. Army Air Forces and Royal Australian Air Force intercept and all-but-destroy an entire Japanese troop-transport convoy in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Several enemy ships, scores of enemy aircraft, and thousands of enemy soldiers will be sent to the bottom. Gen. Douglas MacArthur will remark that Bismarck Sea “cannot fail to go down in history as one of the most complete and annihilating combats of all time.” Japanese Navy Capt. Tameichi Hara will refer to the battle as “shocking” and “unbelievable.”
Mar. 3, 1776: A force of 250 Continental Marines and sailors under the command of Marine Capt. (future major) Samuel Nicholas land on New Providence in the British-held Bahamas and quickly seize Fort Montague in the first amphibious operation in American military history. The landing – largely unopposed (the British garrison spiking their own guns and fleeing) – nets for the Americans much-needed powder, shot, nearly 50 serviceable cannon, and a few mortars.
An avid foxhunter and the highest-ranking leatherneck in the American Revolution, Nicholas will lead Marines alongside Army forces in the future battles of (second) Trenton and Princeton. He is considered to be the first commandant of the Marine Corps.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Alamo, American Revolution, Ballad of the Green Berets, Barbary Wars, Boston Massacre, John Adams, Seabees, Star Spangled Banner, Tuskegee Airmen, US Army, US Army Air Forces, US Marine Corps, US Navy, W. Thomas Smith Jr., World War II
Update: 4 of the Fort Jackson 5 discharged
While calling for the government to end their policy forbidding the mention or consideration of Islam or jihad, I pointed out the incident at South Carolina’s Fort Jackson, where 09L translators were being investigated for possibly poisoning the food supply. Not only was the credibility of my sources questioned, my integrity was also questioned merely for reporting an alleged incident.
Just because the perpetrator of a crime may be of a certain religion is no reason to dismiss threats.
Today W. Thomas Smith, Jr. writes at Family Security Matters:
The State newspaper and WIS TV, both based in Columbia, S.C., are reporting tonight that four of the Fort Jackson Five – the Muslim soldiers allegedly involved in a plot to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson, S.C. – have been removed from active duty.
According to The State, U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson – a member of the House Armed Services Committee – “disclosed for the first time that four of the Muslim soldiers had been ‘administratively separated’ from the Army, a military designation that means they were discharged with neither honorable nor dishonorable status.”
WIS TV adds, “for petty crimes.”
No mention of what the crimes were.
The fifth soldier has been removed from active service, but returned to his unit in the Virginia National Guard.
What are we not being told and why?
In: Military, National Security · Tagged with: Fort Jackson Five, W. Thomas Smith Jr.
This Week in American Military History
Feb. 10, 1763: The Treaty of Paris is signed ending the Seven Years War, known as the French and Indian War in the North American colonies. For America – militarily speaking – the war strengthens Great Britain’s territorial dominance and strategic supremacy in North America. The war also serves as the conflict prior to the American Revolution in which many future Continental Army commanders cut their teeth.
Feb. 10, 1962: In a dramatic Cold War prisoner swap between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for Soviet spy Rudolph Ivanovich Abel on the Glienecker Bridge between West Berlin and Potsdam in East Germany.
Powers is a former U.S. Air Force officer who had been flying U-2s for the CIA when he was shot down over the Soviet Union and captured in May 1960. Abel, a KGB colonel, had been arrested in New York in 1957 and convicted of espionage activities against the United States.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Adm. William F. "Bull" Halsey, Civil War, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Francis Gary Powers, French and Indian War, Guadalcanal, Medal of Honor, USS Batfish, Vietnam War, W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Military Milestones from Shay’s Rebellion to Looking Glass
From W. Thomas Smith, Jr.‘s “This Week in American Military History”:
Jan. 31, 1974: The first of three U.S. Army Ranger battalions since World War II is activated.
Yes, there were post-war Rangers and Ranger units of varying sizes, but the modern battalion-organization is launched in 1974 by Gen. Creighton Abrams, who proclaims: “The Ranger battalion is to be an elite, light and [the] most proficient infantry battalion in the world; a battalion that can do things with its hands and weapons better than anyone. The battalion will contain no hoodlums or brigands, and if the battalion is formed of such persons it will be disbanded. Wherever the battalion goes it will be apparent that it is the best.”
Feb. 1, 1800: The frigate USS Constellation (the first of four so-named American warships) under the command of Capt. Thomas Truxtun defeats the French frigate La Vengeance under Capt. F.M. Pitot in a night battle lasting several hours. The engagement, fought during America’s Quasi War with France, is — according to Truxtun — “as sharp an action as ever was fought between two frigates.”
Feb. 1, 1862: Julia Ward Howe’s poem “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which begins “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,” is published in the Atlantic Monthly. It will become a Union Army ballad. Today, the ballad is a martial hymn sung in American military chapels worldwide and by descendents of Union and Confederate soldiers alike.
Feb. 1, 1961: The Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) — the first three-staged, solid-fueled ICBM — is launched for the first time in a successful “all systems” test.
Minuteman I is the first missile in the still-operational Minuteman family. Minuteman IIIs are still deployed. The name “Minuteman” comes from the famous “minutemen” of America’s colonial militia.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Army Rangers, Capt. John Paul Jones, US Air Force, US Navy, W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Military Milestones from Archie Henderson to Audie Murphy
From W. Thomas Smith, Jr.’s This Week in American Military History Series:
Jan. 26, 1945: U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Audie L. Murphy’s B Company, 15th Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division is positioned on the outskirts of Holtzwihr, France, when suddenly the company is attacked by six tanks and at least 250 snow-white camouflaged German infantrymen – members of the elite 2nd Gebirgsjaeger (Mountain Hunter) Division.
Murphy, the ranking officer (previous fighting had decimated the officer ranks), immediately orders his men to fall back. He remains forward on the command post telephone directing artillery fire against the enemy. When an officer on the other line asks how close the advancing enemy is to Murphy’s position. Murphy replies, “If you just hold the phone a minute, I’ll let you talk to one of the bastards.”
According to his subsequent citation for the Medal of Honor, “With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2nd Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer [the tank destroyer located behind Murphy which had just taken a direct hit], which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from three sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver.”
The fighting continues for at least an hour. Murphy is wounded. At one point the Germans close to within 10 yards of his position. When his ammunition is exhausted, Murphy leaps off the tank destroyer (the vehicle explodes shortly thereafter), limps and crawls back to his company, organizes a counterattack, and drives the remaining enemy from the field.
For his actions, Murphy is awarded the Medal of Honor. That and previous decorations make him one of the most-decorated American soldiers in history (He is widely recognized as “the most decorated American soldier of World War II.”). Murphy becomes a post-war Hollywood film star, and is killed in a plane crash in 1971.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Audie L. Murphy, Tet Offensive, Vietnam War, W. Thomas Smith Jr., World War II
Military Milestones from Golden Hill to Desert Storm
From W. Thomas Smith, Jr.’s This Week in American Military History Series:
Jan. 17, 1991: Two-hundred-ten years to the day after the Battle of Cowpens (see last week); American, British, and French forces — this time all three on the same team — kick off what Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein predicted would be “the Mother of all Battles” with a series of blistering air attacks aimed at destroying the Iraqi Air Force, Iraq’s air-defense forces and overall command and control. It is day one of Operation Desert Storm.
Jan. 18, 1911: Flying over San Francisco Bay in his Curtiss Pusher Model “D” aircraft, pioneer aviator Eugene B. Ely approaches the anchored cruiser USS Pennsylvania and manages to land onto a special platform fitted with a makeshift tailhook system aboard the ship. Upon landing, he purportedly says, “It was easy enough. I think the trick could be successfully turned nine times out of ten.”
Ely’s landing is the first-ever airplane landing aboard a ship. Ely already had become the first man to take off from a ship in November. In July, he will be commissioned a second lieutenant in the California National Guard. In October, he will be killed in a crash during an aerobatic demonstration in Macon, Georgia.
Jan. 19-20, 1770: The little-known but historically significant Battle of Golden Hill erupts in New York City between a group of angry Manhattan patriots and a contingent of British soldiers.
The clash begins when members of the patriot organization “Sons of Liberty” snatch a few of the King’s men, who are cutting down wooden “liberty poles” (symbols of resistance against British rule) which had been erected by the “Sons.” The redcoats also were reportedly posting bills condemning the Sons of Liberty as “the real enemies of society.” A struggle ensues. Redcoats from the nearby barracks respond, and a bayonet charge is ordered. Several are wounded on both sides, and one civilian is killed.
Less than seven weeks before the Boston Massacre, the Battle of Golden Hill is considered by some historians as the first armed clash of the American Revolution.
In: Military History · Tagged with: American Revolution, Desert Storm, W. Thomas Smith Jr., World War II
Military Milestones from Cowpens to ‘Gratitude’
From W. Thomas Smith, Jr.‘s This Week in American Military History Series:
Jan. 12, 1945: Warplanes from the U.S. Navy’s carrier Task Force 38 under the command of Vice Adm. John Sidney McCain Sr. (father of Adm. John S. McCain Jr. and grandfather of Sen. John S. McCain III), attack enemy convoys and bases along the coast of Japanese-held French Indochina (Vietnam) in the Battle of the South China Sea.
Codenamed “Operation Gratitude,” the attacks are wildly successful. Despite rough seas and high winds from a dangerously close typhoon, Japanese bases at Saigon, Cape Saint Jacques (Vung Tau), Cam Ranh Bay, Qui Nhon, and Tourane Bay (Da Nang) are hit hard, resulting in the destruction of docks, barracks, weapons depots, hangars, and scores of Japanese seaplanes and other aircraft, as well as the sinking of more than 40 enemy ships.
Adm. McCain – who Adm. William “Bull” Halsey refers to as “”not much more than my right arm” – will die of a heart attack on Sept. 6, 1945, four days after witnessing the Japanese surrender ceremony aboard USS Missouri. He is posthumously awarded a fourth star.
Jan 13, 1865: U.S. soldiers, sailors, and Marines under the joint command of Maj. Gen. Alfred Howe Terry and Rear Adm. David Dixon Porter begin landing operations – in what will prove to be the largest American amphibious operation until World War II – aimed at seizing Fort Fisher, N.C., a Confederate stronghold near the port city of Wilmington.
The fort — commanded by Confederate Col. William Lamb (the fort’s ultimate responsibility was that of Gen. Braxton Bragg, and yes, Fort Bragg, N.C. is named in his honor) – will fall to Union forces within two days.
More than 50 Medals of Honor will be awarded to those who participated in the assault.
Jan. 14, 1784: The U.S. Congress, temporarily meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, ratifies the Treaty of Paris, officially ending America’s War of Independence.
In: Military History · Tagged with: American Revolution, Civil War, Medal of Honor, W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Robert Howard’s Medal of Honor and the Birth of the SEALs
In W. Thomas Smith, Jr.‘s latest article in his “This Week in American Military History” series at Human Events today, Smith writes about the late Colonel Robert Howard’s actions that earned the Medal of Honor in Dec. 30-31, 1968. Amazingly, Howard had been nominated for the nation’s highest decoration twice before within the last year.
U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret) Sergeant First Class Robert L. Howard is operating deep in the South Vietnamese backcountry (some sources say Cambodia) when suddenly his 40-man hatchet platoon is attacked by a force of some 250 North Vietnamese soldiers.
As the attack unfolds, Howard and his lieutenant are struck by an exploding claymore. Howard is knocked unconscious. He comes to, but with blood in his eyes, he initially believes he has been blinded. Momentarily he can see, but he quickly realizes his body is riddled with shrapnel, his weapon is destroyed, and the enemy is all around him.
Howard manages to toss a grenade at an enemy soldier who is burning the bodies of Howard’s dead comrades with a flamethrower. Howard then crawls under heavy fire to his wounded lieutenant, and drags the officer toward a position of relative safety. Howard survives a second blast when his lieutenant’s ammunition pouch is struck and detonates. Despite his shredded hands, Howard manages to shoot several enemy soldiers with a pistol. He is then shot in the foot and no longer able to walk. Nevertheless, he organizes what’s left of the platoon into a defensive position, then crawls from one man to the next, tending to the wounded and dying, shouting encouragement to the living and fighting, and directing airstrikes on the attacking enemy. Though surrounded, Howard successfully repels attack-after-attack, saves his platoon, and ultimately receives the Medal of Honor.
Retired as a colonel in 1992, Howard is the only soldier to be nominated three times for the Medal of Honor for three separate actions over a period of just over a year.
Unfortunately, Col. Howard passed away last month. He was a great man – the 70 year-old found time to visit U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo and elsewhere this past year. I was looking forward to meeting him in the upcoming Medal of Honor convention in South Carolina this September.
Also Smith writes that SEAL Teams One (Coronado, Calif.) and Two (Little Creek, Va.) were established on Jan.1, 1962 to the horror of Communists and evil-doers worldwide.
[Originally published at Blackfive]
In: Military History · Tagged with: Col. Robert L. Howard, Green Berets, Medal of Honor, Navy SEALs, SEAL Team 1, SEAL Team 2, Special Forces, Vietnam War, W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Featured in Human Events
W. Thomas Smith, Jr. asked a few folks (including me) what kind of weapons they carry in a piece today in Human Events‘ Guns and Patriots section.
In: Society · Tagged with: Human Events, W. Thomas Smith Jr.
