This week in U.S. military history

[Louis of PA]

from Humanevents.com

Military Milestones from Washington’s Purple Heart to the Horror of Hiroshima
by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Posted 08/05/2009 ET
Updated 08/05/2009 ET

Aug. 3, 1958: U.S.Nautilus -- the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine and the U.S. Navy’s sixth so-named vessel -- becomes the first “ship” to cross the North Pole. The submarine’s simple transmission: “Nautilus 90 North.”

Aug. 4, 1790: Congress approves Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton's proposal to “build ten cutters to protect the new nation's revenue,” establishing the Revenue Cutter Service -- first of the predecessor services of the modern Coast Guard. Thus today will become the officially recognized birthday of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Aug. 5, 1864: One of the great makers of Naval tradition, Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, commanding a strike force of 14 wooden warships and a handful of ironclads, attacks and decisively defeats Confederate Naval forces under Adm. Franklin Buchanan and the Confederate forts defending Mobile Bay, Ala. It is during this action that Farragut (see Farragut’s Raiders) purportedly utters the command, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!,” or the more likely command, “Damn the torpedoes! Four bells. Captain [Percival] Drayton, go ahead! [Lt. Commander James] Jouett, full speed!”

Aug. 6, 1945: A single American B-29 bomber, Enola Gay, flying from the island of Tinian drops the first-ever atomic bomb used in war on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

At 8:15 a.m., the bomb, codenamed Little Boy, detonates nearly 2,000 feet above the city center instantly killing between 80,000 and 140,000 people, and seriously wounding another 100,000. According to Hiroshima & Nagasaki Remembered, “The blast wave shattered windows for a distance of ten miles and was felt as far away as 37 miles. Hiroshima had disappeared under a thick, churning foam of flames and smoke. The co-pilot, Captain Robert Lewis, commented, ‘My God, what have we done?’”

In three days, Nagasaki will suffer the same fate.

Japan’s ability to wage war is finished.

In time, the bombings will be decried as cruel and excessive in terms of the lives lost; as if to suggest all war is not both cruel and excessive to the vanquished. Indeed, nuclear weapons are horrible. What is incalculable, however, is the number of American lives saved by decisively ending the war with the bombs before having to invade the Japanese mainland.

Aug. 7, 1942: Exactly eight months to the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, elements of the soon-to-be-famous 1st Marine Division -- under the command of Maj. Gen. Alexander Archer “Sunny Jim” Vandegrift (a future Marine Corps commandant) -- begin landing on Guadalcanal in the southern Solomon islands, launching America’s first large-scale ground offensive of World War II.

Simultaneous landings take place on the nearby islets of Tulagi, Gavutu, Tanambogo, and Florida Island. The landings are the first decisive ground actions aimed at eating away at the Japanese who have extended their lines deep into the Western Pacific and threaten Australia.

Vandegrift is destined to receive the Medal of Honor, and he will become the first Marine officer on active duty to attain four-star rank.

Aug. 7, 1964: Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which “approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.”

The Vietnam War is officially on.

Aug. 7, 1782: Gen. George Washington creates two badges of distinction for enlisted soldiers and noncommissioned officers: The first is a chevron signifying three years of service (two chevrons for six years) “with bravery, fidelity, and good conduct.” The second is a medal -- the Badge of Military Merit -- for “any singularly meritorious action.”

According to The U.S. Army Center of Military History, the badge was the “‘figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk edged with narrow lace or binding.’ This device was affixed to the uniform coat above the left breast and permitted its wearer to pass guards and sentinels without challenge and to have his name and regiment inscribed in a Book of Merit. The badge specifically honored the lower ranks, where decorations were unknown in contemporary European Armies.”

Though the standards for recipients have changed, the medal exists today as the Purple Heart, and is awarded to “any member of an Armed Force who, while serving with the U.S. Armed Services after 5 April 1917, has been wounded or killed, or who has died or may hereafter die after being wounded.”

Aug. 8, 1918: Cpl. (future Sgt.) Alvin York captures "the whole damned German Army" -- actually 132 German soldiers -- in an action for which he will receive the Medal of Honor.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: “This Week in American Military History,” appears every week as a feature of HUMAN EVENTS.

Let's increase awareness of American military tradition and honor America’s greatest heroes by supporting the Medal of Honor Society's 2010 Convention to be held in Charleston, S.C., Sept. 29 – Oct. 3, 2010 (for more information, click here).

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[0311Shooter]

Re: The Purple Heart ...

And on the date of December 2, 1968, from the book "Unfit for Command", John Kerry "...experiences first intense combat, receives first combat related injury."

He thereby makes a mockery of Gen. George Washington's Badge of Military Merit.

The rest, is history.

[Dave]

In relation to the "horrible" dropping of the bomb, no-body ever brings up the fire raids on Tokeo, killing more people then either bomb.

[Armorkav]

Did the Army not do Anything in August?

[John Sukey (Deceased)]

[QUOTE=0311Shooter;72338]Re: The Purple Heart ...

And on the date of December 2, 1968, from the book "Unfit for Command", John Kerry "...experiences first intense combat, receives first combat related injury."

He thereby makes a mockery of Gen. George Washington's Badge of Military Merit.

Kerry's First purple heart.
A tiny splinter in his finger that he managed to keep in place overnight. Treatment? A pair of tweezers to remove it and a band-aid.
No, I didn't make that up!
Kerry's second or maybe his third purple heart.
He and another officer used grenades to destroy a VC rice cache. Kerry didn't duck fast enough and got some splinters in his butt. However he claimed it actualy occurred as a result of enemy action later in the day. An action that earned him his Silver Star, as the result of the after-action report HE wrote up, taking credit for the tactics used and the subsequent actions of other boats in rescuing the crew of a disabled boat. the only thing he did was pick up one officer out of the water, while the other boats rescued the crew and salvaged their boat.

Of course we all know he threw his medals over the white house fence to protest the war, or was it his ribbons, or was it someone else's medals since his are framed on the wall of his office.

For His trip to Hanoi while still in the Navy reserve and while the war was still in progress I would like to nominate him for the Benedict Arnold decoration.

OH, while I am at it, his second in command of Veterans against the war NEVER got any closer to Vietnam than HAWAI! Actualy spending most of his service in the CONUS training C-130 crews.

I can understand why his parents sent him to school in Switzerland. They probably couln't stand him either

[Cecil]

from Humanevents.com

Military Milestones from Washington’s Purple Heart to the Horror of Hiroshima

Also on 6 Aug 1945 our highest scoring Fighter Ace of WWII Richard Ira Bong was killed during a flight test at Edwards Air Force Base. He had been pulled out of combat so he would be safe and given the task of flight testing our fist jet. He bailed out but was to low.

[Carl R]

On this date in 1969 at Fort Dix, NJ, I fired an M-14 for the first time during basic training. Forty years later I was at our local range acting as range supervisor and put ten rounds through my M-14 (semi-auto version) to commemorate that event. Carl

[JimW in OR]

7Aug43 I was born and my dad went to basic training after getting to hold me.

Future 1SG USAR.

[stonewall56]

Happy birthday, Jim!

[JimW in OR]

Thank you Stonewall