1920 – The 16th Marine Regiment organized at Philadelphia for duty in Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
1942 – The Air Medal was authorized by President Roosevelt by Executive Order 9158 and established the award for “any person who, while serving in any capacity in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard of the United States subsequent to September 8, 1939, distinguishes, or has distinguished, himself by meritorious achievement while participating in an aerial flight.” Executive Order 9242-A, dated 11 September 1942 amended the previous Executive Order to read “in any capacity in or with the Army”. The Air Medal is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the Armed Forces of the United States, shall have distinguished himself/herself by meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Awards may be made to recognize single acts of merit or heroism, or for meritorious service. Award of the Air Medal is primarily intended to recognize those personnel who are on current crew member or non-crew member flying status which requires them to participate in aerial flight on a regular and frequent basis in the performance of their primary duties. However, it may also be awarded to certain other individuals whose combat duties require regular and frequent flying in other than a passenger status, or individuals who perform a particularly noteworthy act while performing the function of a crew member but who are not on flying status. These individuals must make a discernible contribution to the operational land combat mission or to the mission of the aircraft in flight. Examples of personnel whose combat duties require them to fly include those in the attack elements of units involved in air-land assaults against an armed enemy and those directly involved in airborne command and control of combat operations. Involvement in such activities, normally at the brigade/group level and below, serves only to establish eligibility for award of the Air Medal; the degree of heroism, meritorious achievement or exemplary service determines who should receive the award. Awards will not be made to individuals who use air transportation solely for the purpose of moving from point to point in a combat zone.
1943 – The US 7th Division (commanded by General Brown) lands on Japanese occupied Attu Island. Admiral Kinkaid’s Task Force 16 supports the operation. The supporting naval forces include 3 battleships, 1 escort carrier and numerous cruisers and destroyers. Once ashore, the American troops encounter difficulties advancing inland due to Japanese resistance and difficult terrain.
1943 – Hermann Goering division in Tunisia surrendered.
1944 – The US 5th Army launches new attacks against the German-held Gustav Line. The preparatory bombardment begins just before midnight. It is followed up by infantry advances. The US 2nd Corps, the Polish 2nd Corps, the British 13th Corps and the French Expeditionary Corps are engaged. Attacking Allied forces amount to 12 divisions plus reserves. The German defenders have 6 divisions, including reserves. The commanders of the German 10th Army (Vietinghoff) and the 76th Panzer Corps (Senger) are both absent from their headquarters at the start of the offensive. Meanwhile, Allied warships bombard German heavy artillery batteries around Gaeta. The Gustav Line represented a stubborn German defense, built by Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, that had to be broken before the Italian capital could be taken; the attack on the line was also part of a larger plan to force the Germans to commit as many troops to Italy as possible in order to make way for an Allied cross-Channel assault-what would become D-Day. With the Eighth Army’s 1,000 guns, the Fifth Army’s 600, and more than 3,000 aircraft, the Allied forces opened fire in a barrage of artillery from Cassino to the Mediterranean Sea. It took seven days before the Gustav Line could be broken, with the Polish Corps occupying the famed Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino. The Germans withdrew, to the Hitler Line, but that too was penetrated. The Allies would be in Rome by June 4.
1944 – The US 9th Air Force begins a series of raids on airfields around Caen.
1944 – The Japanese begin to assemble most of their remaining heavy warships at Tawitawi. Admiral Ozawa commands the forces. The build up is in anticipation of the American offensive against the Mariana Islands to the northeast.
1945 – On Okinawa, American forces conduct a coordinated attack on the Japanese held Shuri Line. The forces deployed include the US 3rd Amphibious Corps on the right of the line and the US 24th Corps on the left. Only minor gains are achieved. At sea, Kiyoshi Ogawa, Japanese pilot, crashed his plane into the US carrier Bunker Hill near Okinawa. 496 Americans died with him and the ship was knocked out of the war. Two destroyers are also damaged by kamikaze attacks.
1945 – Four days after Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, the Coast Guard-manned destroyer escorts USS Vance and USS Durant, underway off the Azores escorting their last convoy to the Mediterranean, sighted a light ahead of the convoy. They closed to investigate. The Durant illuminated the target, which was the surfaced German submarine U-873, which had been at sea for 50 days. Vance, while screened by Durant, hailed the “erstwhile enemy” over her public address system, established her identity, and then ordered her to heave to. On board were seven officers and 52 enlisted men. Vance placed a 21-man prize crew on board the captured U-boat and delivered their prize at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 16 May 1945.
1945 – On Luzon, elements of US 1st Corps make contact on Kapintalan Ridge. The US 25th Division advances on Santa Fe. On Mindanao, elements of US 40th Division advance to hills overlooking Del Monte airfield. Units of Filipino guerrillas liberate Cagayan. The US 24th Division mops up the area northeast of the Talomo river, near Mintal. On Samar, a small American contingent is landed to spot Japanese artillery sites firing on Davao on Mindanao. Fighting continues in the western mountains on Negros.
1945 – Units of the Soviet 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts eliminate most of the German resistance in Czechoslovakia and make contact with American forces at Pilsen.
1947 – The B.F. Goodrich Company of Akron, Ohio, announced the development of a tubeless tire.
1951 – Communist forces conducted a massive shift eastward, completing the move and commencing a new attack on May 16.
1957 – President Diem and President Eisenhower issue a joint communique which declares that both countries will work toward a ‘peaceful unification’ of Vietnam and reaffirms the United States’ continuing assistance to South Vietnam in its stand against Communism.
1961 – President Kennedy approves sending 400 Special Forces troops and 100 other U.S. military advisers to South Vietnam. On the same day, he orders the start of clandestine warfare against North Vietnam to be conducted by South Vietnamese agents under the direction and training of the CIA and U.S. Special Forces troops. Kennedy’s orders also called for South Vietnamese forces to infiltrate Laos to locate and disrupt communist bases and supply lines there.
1962 – US sent troops to Thailand.]
1962 – Secretary of Defense McNamara makes the first of many trips to Vietnam and meets with Diem. After 48 hours in the country he concludes, ‘every quantitative measurement…shows that we are winning the war.’
1963 – Racists detonate bombs in Birmingham, Alabama to disrupt nonviolent protests in the Birmingham civil rights campaign and precipitate a crisis involving federal troops.
1965 – U.S. destroyers deliver first shore bombardment of Vietnam War.
1965 – General Westmoreland and Deputy Premier Nguyen Van Thieu make a parachute jump together.
1965 – The 1st marine Aircraft Wing flies in to establish its advance headquarters at Danang.
1967 – In Vietnam the siege of Khe Sanh ended, with the base still in American hands.
1967 – Civilian-operated pacification programs in South Vietnam are handed over to the US military command. The projects are aimed at re-establishing South Vietnamese government control over rural villages and hamlets.
1968 – US and North Vietnamese negotiators complete procedural arrangements for the formal talks. They agree that, for the time being, participation will be limited to representatives of the United States and North Vietnam.
1969 – U.S. and South Vietnamese forces battle North Vietnamese troops for Ap Bia Mountain (Hill 937), one mile east of the Laotian border. The battle was part of Operation Apache Snow, a 2,800-man Allied sweep of the A Shau Valley. The purpose of the operation was to cut off North Vietnamese infiltration from Laos and enemy threats to Hue and Da Nang. U.S. paratroopers pushing northeast found the communist forces entrenched on Ap Bia Mountain. In fierce fighting directed by Maj. Gen. Melvin Zais, the mountain came under heavy Allied air strikes, artillery barrages, and 10 infantry assaults. The communist stronghold was captured on May 20 in the 11th attack, when 1,000 troops of the 101st Airborne Division and 400 South Vietnamese soldiers fought their way to the summit of the mountain. During the intense fighting, 597 North Vietnamese were reported killed and U.S. casualties were 56 killed and 420 wounded. Due to the bitter fighting and the high loss of life, the battle for Ap Bia Mountain was dubbed “Hamburger Hill” by the U.S. media.
1973 – Charges against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the Pentagon Papers case were dismissed by Judge William M. Byrne, who cited government misconduct.
1975 – The Cambodian government seized an American merchant ship, the Mayaguez.
1987 – Former National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane began testifying at the Iran-Contra hearings.
1989 – President Bush ordered nearly 2,000 troops to invade Panama.
1991 – President Bush dispatched an amphibious task force with thousands of Marines and dozens of helicopters to help cyclone-ravaged Bangladesh with disaster relief efforts.
1995 – A United Nations conference indefinitely extended the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which was originally set to expire after 25 years.
1996 – A ValuJet DC-9 with 109 [110] passengers caught fire shortly after takeoff 1999 – In Beijing, protests outside the US Embassy over NATO’s bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade eased after state-run television aired US and NATO apologies for the attack.
1999 – NATO bombings continued in Serbia with strikes against radio and TV towers, oil storage tanks, bridges and army barracks.
1999 – US and British warplanes bombed air defense targets in northern and southern Iraq after they were targeted by radar.
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