1863: Union forces scale the slopes of Lookout Mountain under cover of fog, capturing high ground and breaking the Confederate siege of Chattanooga, Tenn. Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s Military Division of the Mississippi defeats Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee in the Battle of Lookout Mountain. Three Union soldiers were awarded the Medal for actions in the engagement: Pvt. Peter Kappesser and 1st Sgt. Norman F. Potter (for capturing Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg’s flag) and Sgt. John Kiggins (for waving colors to save the lives of troops being fired at by friendly artillery batteries – drawing concentrated enemy fire).
Battlefield of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee
1943: The Japanese submarine I-75 torpedoes the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay during the Battle of Makin Island, detonating the aircraft bomb magazine and engulfing the ship in flames. 23 minutes later, the carrier sinks, taking over 700 sailors and officers with her to the bottom. Among the dead are Rear Adm. Henry M. Mullinnix and Petty Officer Doris “Dorie” Miller, one of the “first U.S. heroes of Pearl Harbor, as the first black sailor ever awarded the Navy Cross.
Rear Adm. Henry M. Mullinnix
1944: 111 U.S. B-29 bombers of the 73rd Bombardment Wing, flying out of Saipan, attack the Nakajima Aircraft engine plant near Tokyo in the first attack on the Japanese mainland since Doolittle’s 1942 raid.
1950: Gen. Douglas MacArthur launches the “Home by Christmas” offensive against Chinese and North Korean forces. The attack meets heavy resistance and a Chinese counterattack would drive UN forces from North Korea by December.
1951: Near Kowang-San, Korea, Pvt. 1st Class Noah O. Knight spots enemy soldiers entering a friendly position. Having previously exhausted his ammunition while stemming an enemy advance and causing heavy enemy casualties, Knight rushed the soldiers, neutralizing two with his rifle butt, but was mortally wounded when the third enemy soldier detonated his explosives. For his actions, he is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
1963: (Featured Image) Two days after assassinating Pres. John F. Kennedy, former Marine Lee Harvey Oswald is himself shot and killed by Jack Ruby – formerly a mechanic in the Army Air Forces, who served during World War II.
