1776: After Gen. George Washington’s famous crossing of the icy Delaware River the night before and a eight-mile forced march, 2,500 Continental Army soldiers and militia catch the Hessian (German mercenaries fighting for the British) garrison at Trenton, N.J. completely by surprise. Washington’s force captures 900 soldiers along with weapons and supplies, incredibly without losing a single American soldier to combat. Lt. (and future president) James Madison is one of the few soldiers wounded during the battle.
1943: (Featured Image) Following a naval and air bombardment, the 1st Marine Division lands at Cape Gloucester in their first combat operation since Guadalcanal. Dense jungles, horrible weather, and near-impassable mud welcomed the invaders, but the Marines “adapt, improvise, and overcome,” capturing the island from the Japanese in just over a week.
Marines landing at Cape Gloucester
1944: Elements of the U.S. 4th Armored Division – the spearhead of George Patton’s Third Army – break the German Army’s siege of Bastogne relieving the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division. The grateful but proud Airborne soldiers insist they are only being “relieved,” not “rescued.”
1972: Under cover of darkness, approaching from different headings, and flying at different altitudes, seven waves of B-52s – 120 bombers total – attack Hanoi and Haiphong. After just 15 minutes, 8,000 bombs have pounded North Vietnamese targets; in the largest raid of Operation “Linebacker II”, and the largest single combat launch in Strategic Air Command history.
B-52’s during Linebacker II
That same day, Harry S. Truman passes away. The future president enlisted in the Missouri National Guard as an artilleryman prior to World War I, and would fight in Alsace and the Meuse-Argonne campaign. By war’s end, Truman had been promoted to captain, and he remained in the Reserve Officer Corps – ultimately achieving the rank of colonel in 1938.
President Harry S. Truman
1998: A week after the four-day bombing and cruise missile attack against targets in Iraq known as Operation “Desert Fox”, Saddam Hussein announces that his military will target U.S. and British aircraft patrolling the “no-fly zones”. The dictator will offer up a $14,000 reward to anyone that shoots down an American plane, but the Iraqi military can’t come through.
2006: Former president Gerald Ford passes away. After the Pearl Harbor attacks, Ford enlisted in the Navy. The former University of Michigan football star receives his commission, serving as a navigator, antiaircraft battery officer, and athletic officer aboard the light carrier USS Monterrey in the Pacific Theater. Lt. Commander Ford will remain on the inactive reserve list until 1963.
President Gerald Ford
