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 from Bronx, N.Y. was serving with the 504th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
1860: Delegates meeting in Charleston, S.C. unanimously adopt an ordinance dissolving ties with the United States.
South Carolina has become the first state to secede from the Union.
1941: (Featured Image) Flying in support of the Nationalist Chinese in combat against the Japanese, the 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) – 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 the innovative tactics skipper Claire Chennault learned from observing the more nimble Japanese fighters prior to America’s entry in the war, Flying Tigers rack up an incredible 296 victories during 18 months of combat, while only losing 14 pilots.
Across the Pacific, the battleships USS Pennsylvania, USS Maryland, and USS Tennessee depart Pearl Harbor for a nine-day journey to shipyards on the West Coast to repair damage suffered during the Pearl Harbor attack.
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 tailgunner 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 lifesaving 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 Force is 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.
