20 December: Today in U.S. military history
Today’s post is in honor of Sgt. Steven Checo, who was killed during a firefight in Ivo Shkin, Afghanistan on this day in 2002. The 22-year-old soldier from Bronx, N.Y. was assigned to D Company, 2d Battalion, 504th Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, N.C..
1803: A mere three weeks after accepting the territory from the Spanish, the French officially hand over New Orleans, the colonial capital of Louisiana, to the Americans. For less than three cents per acre, the United States has doubled in size, adding 828,000 square miles of territory west of the Mississippi River.
1860: Delegates meeting in Charleston, S.C. unanimously adopt the ordinance to dissolve ties with the United States. South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the Union.
1862: Confederate forces under Gen. Earl Van Dorn attack the supply depot for Union General Ulysses S. Grant’s troops, derailing Grant’s plan to capture Vicksburg, Miss.
1941: Flying in support of the Nationalist Chinese in combat against the Japanese, the 1st American Volunteer Group – better known as the “Flying Tigers” – enters combat for the first time. Out of the ten Japanese bombers intercepted, nine are shot out of the sky by the AVG’s P-40 Warhawks. Thanks to innovative tactics skipper Claire Chennault learned from observing the more nimble Japanese fighters prior to America’s entry in the war, Flying Tigers would rack up an incredible 296 victories during the 18 months of combat, while only losing 14 pilots.
1943: 30,000 feet over the North Sea, Staff Sgt. Forrest L. “Woody” Vosler‘s B-17 is damaged and forced to leave the formation after a bombing raid on Bremen, Germany. Despite his own wounds, the radio operator left his station to man a machinegun when the tail gunner is wounded. Blinded by shrapnel, Vosler repairs his radio – by touch – in order to send a distress signal as the damaged plane was about to ditch in the frigid waters of the North Sea. For his life-saving actions, Vosler receives a promotion and is awarded the Medal of Honor.
1989: Less than a week after Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega declares that a state of war exists between his country and the United States, over 27,000 US troops and 300 aircraft invade Panama to protect American lives and overthrow Noriega. In two weeks, Noriega’s Panama Defense Forces are defeated, the country has a new (democratically elected) president, and Noriega surrenders to the U.S. military.
1992: During Operation RESTORE HOPE, 300 American Marines and Belgian paratroopers hit the beaches of the Somalian port city of Kismayo in the first combined amphibious assault since the Vietnam War.