1942: While Japanese reinforcements depart Truk to join the fighting on Guadalcanal, American P-40 “Lightnings” with the 49th Fighter Group shoot down 15 Japanese fighters and bombers attempting to target the air base in Darwin, Australia.
1944: When Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army reaches the Seine River, Adolf Hitler orders Gen. Hans Speidel to destroy all bridges in Paris – which Speidel ignores, as well as another order days later to target Paris with V-1 and V-2 flying bombs. Speidel’s garrison will surrender in two days and the 28th Infantry Division will parade through the streets of Paris, ending four years of Nazi occupation.
Gen. Hans Speidel (middle)
1950: Over 70,000 Army Reservists are ordered to report for duty during the Korean War.
1954: A Lockheed YC-130 prototype takes off for its first flight – a 61-minute trip from the Lockheed plant in Burbank, Calif., to Edwards Air Force Base. 63 years later, the amazingly versatile C-130 “Hercules” remains in production, providing transportation, air assault, special operations, gunship, search and rescue, aerial refueling, aerial firefighting, and numerous other capabilities to the United States Armed Forces and dozens of other nations.
Lockheed Martin YC-130
1990: As American forces continue deployment to the Persian Gulf for Operation “Desert Shield”, 46,000 Reservists are called up.
1996: (Featured Image) Osama bin Laden issues his first fatwa, declaring war on the United States for, among other reasons, maintaining a military presence in Saudi Arabia. The founder of the terrorist group al-Qaeda’s message isn’t taken seriously until bombs kill over 200 people at American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya two years later.
