June 7 in U.S. military history
1830: Following nearly four years at sea, the sloop of war USS Vincennes arrives at New York, becoming the first United States warship to circumnavigate the globe.
1912: At College Park, Md., U.S. Army Capt. Charles D. Chandler fires the first machine gun ever mounted to an aircraft. The plane is a Wright Model B flown by Lt. Roy C. Kirtland (the namesake of Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico). While The “Lewis Gun,” designed by Col. Isaac N. Lewis is not picked up by the United States military, the weapon sees extensive service during World War I with both the British and French.
1942: While the Japanese are defeated at Midway, they land troops and occupy the Alaskan islands of Attu and Kiska. 25 American soldiers are killed on Attu and the inhabitants of both islands are relocated and placed in internment. Less than a year later, U.S. and Canadian troops will wipe out the Japanese occupying force nearly to a man.
1944: (D-Day Plus 1) The soldiers of 2d Ranger Battalion, which scaled the 100-ft. cliffs at Pointe du Hoc under fire, have taken 50 percent casualties including their commander Lt. Col. James Rudder, who has been shot twice. The Rangers will endure numerous counter-attacks and won’t be relieved until tomorrow. The Allies have air superiority and pound enemy armor and vehicles moving towards the beaches. The 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions make slow progress expanding the beachhead at Omaha Beach, where casualties are heavier than all other sectors combined. On UTAH Beach, the 4th Infantry Division begins linking up with the heavily scattered paratroopers (only ten percent landed in their drop zones) of the 82d and 101st Airborne Divisions. Meanwhile, construction begins on harbors that will deliver soldiers, vehicles, and materiel to the new Western Front.
1959: (Featured image) 100 miles east of Jacksonville, Fla., the Balao-class submarine USS Barbero (SSA-317) fires a Regulus cruise missile loaded with 3,000 pieces of mail towards the Naval Air Station at Mayport, Fla. 22 minutes later, the first-ever “missile mail” arrives.
2006: Intelligence officials finally pinpoint the location of Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, at a safe house near Baqubah, Iraq. Zarqawi and several other terrorist leaders are killed when an Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon levels the building with two 500-lb. bombs. While Iraq’s most wanted man, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Iraqis is dead, his terrorist group lives on and will eventually become the Islamic State.