1817: Maj. Gen. Edmund P. Gaines dispatches soldiers to attack the Seminole camp at Fowltown, Fla., formally beginning the First Seminole War.
1868: (Featured Image) Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s Seventh Cavalry attacks a peaceful Cheyenne encampment near present-day Cheyenne, Okla. The Battle of Washita River – more of a massacre – would be the first substantial “victory” in the Indian Wars.
George Armstrong Custer and Alfred Pleasanton
1909: Following the execution of two American mercenaries in Nicaragua, U.S. forces land in Bluefields to prepare for an invasion.
1942: Adm. Jean de Laborde orders the destruction of the French fleet anchored at Toulon, to avoid falling into German hands. Three battleships, six cruisers, one aircraft transport, 30 destroyers, and 16 submarines are sunk. Three submarines sail for Allied-controlled Algiers, and only one falls into German hands.
1950: Near Ipsok, Korea, Army Capt. Reginald B. Desiderio charges into the enemy, inflicting heavy casualties before being killed himself by enemy fire. Prior to his one-man assault, which ultimately repelled the fanatical enemy attack, Desiderio had been wounded twice and refused evacuation. Desiderio’s replacement as company commander, Capt. Lewis L. Millett, will also be awarded the Medal of Honor – for a historic bayonet charge in February.
Army Capt. Reginald B. Desiderio
1951: A “Nike” anti-aircraft missile shoots down a QB-17 “Flying Fortress” target drone over White Sands Missile Range, becoming the first successful surface-to-air missile test. The Army will begin putting Nike systems in the field in 1953.
Nike Ajax Surface to Air Missile
1965: The Pentagon tells Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson that, in order to have success in his military objectives, the troop commitment in Vietnam would have to be increased nearly four times – from 120,000 troops to 400,000.
