1927: Little-known Air Mail pilot and U.S. Air Service Reserve Corps captain Charles A. Lindbergh touches down at Paris’ Le Bourget Aerodrome after his treacherous nonstop 33 1/2 hour flight over the Atlantic Ocean – a feat made even more remarkable considering Lindbergh made the flight using dead reckoning, since there were no navigational aids. 150,000 French citizens are on-hand to witness perhaps the most famous flight in history.
The race to perform the first nonstop Transatlantic flight had recently claimed the lives of three air crews: French Col. René Fonck (the all-time Allied “ace of aces”), the U.S. Navy’s Lt. Stanton Wooster and Lt. Cmdr. Noel Davis, and French war heroes Capt. Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli.
1944: As the U.S. military prepares for the invasion of the Mariana Islands, a massive explosion wipes out six landing ships and crews work frantically for 24 hours to control the blaze. The government orders a press blackout of the disaster. The event was classified and to this day, not much is known of the West Loch Disaster. 196 are killed and hundreds are wounded, but the actual number of casualties could be much higher.
1945: Desmond Doss becomes the only conscientious objector to earn the Medal of Honor. Already wounded four times and a two-time recipient of the Bronze Star with Valor device for actions on Guam and the Philippines, the medic had famously carried 75 wounded soldiers to safety on Hacksaw Ridge just days before. On this day during intense fighting on Okinawa’s Shuri Line, Doss was hit badly and was in the process of being carted off the battlefield when he spots a more seriously injured solder. Doss crawls off the litter and instructs his fellow soldiers to treat the other soldier instead. He ties a rifle to his shattered arm and painfully crawls 300 yards to the aid station.
Doss standing atop Hacksaw Ridge
He will be awarded the Medal of Honor and his actions inspire the 2016 film Hacksaw Ridge.
1951: Private First Class Joseph C. Rodriguez engaged in a “whirlwind assault” against a fortified hostile force on a hill near Munye-ri, Korea. Taking fire from the front and left flank, Rodriguez charges up the rocky hill through heavy fire, knocking out machine guns and foxholes with grenades as he drives forward. When the dust settles, the enemy is broken and 15 bodies lay dead from his “whirlwind assault.”
After he is awarded the Medal of Honor by Pres. Harry S. Truman, Rodriguez remains in the Army. After serving in Vietnam, he retires as a colonel in 1980.
1957: 30 years to the day after Lindbergh’s famous ride, Air Force major and Korean War jet ace Robbie Risner flies the same route taken by “Lucky Lindy.” Risner’s F-100 Super Sabre completes the trip in just 6 hours and 38 minutes, setting a transatlantic speed record.
1966: During an intense firefight that had claimed the lives of several of his fellow cavalry troopers, David C. Dolby’s dying platoon leader ordered him to lead the unit’s withdrawal. Dolby evacuates the wounded – carrying one to safety through enemy fire – and organizes covering fire. He neutralizes several enemy machine guns with his rifle and then crawls forward to mark the positions of bunkers for air strikes. He remained in an exposed position to call in artillery support. For his selfless actions, Dolby is awarded the Medal of Honor and will return for four more tours in Vietnam.
1969: During a search-and-clear operation near South Vietnam’s Tam Ky region, Spec. 4 Santiago J. Erevia charged forward through intense enemy fire from four bunkers pinned down his platoon. He crawls forward to the first position, killing the enemy with a grenade, and repeats the act on a second and third. Out of grenades, he moves to the last bunker, eliminating the last position with point-blank rifle fire. Erevia is awarded the Medal of Honor in 2014.
Nuhman, the “King of Diamonds” in the deck of cards featuring the most-wanted members of the Hussein regime. (Photo by the author.)
2003: U.S. forces capture Aziz Salih Nuhman – the “King of Diamonds” from the deck of most wanted Iraqis playing cards- in Baghdad, Iraq. Nuhman was one of Saddam Hussein’s “dirty dozen,” wanted for brutal murder and torture of Iraqis prior to the U.S. invasion. He will be returned to Iraq in 2011 and is executed.
