1898: Following the Battle of Manila Bay, Marines from the cruisers USS Baltimore (C-3) and USS Raleigh (C-8) raise the Stars and Stripes for the first time in the Philippines over Cavite, the historical capital.
1923: 26 hours and 50 minutes after taking off in New York, Army Air Corps First Lieutenants Oakley Kelly and John Macready touch down at Rockwell Field, San Diego, becoming the first aviators to fly non-stop across the United States. The specially modified Fokker T-2 passenger plane averaged a blistering 92 mph.
Fokker T-2 that Army Air Corps First Lieutenants Oakley Kelly and John Macready piloted becoming the first aviators to fly non-stop across the United States
1942: The first air-naval battle in history takes place between American and Japanese carriers in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Aircraft carriers used aircraft to fight each other instead of the ships directly engaging each other with guns. 66 American and 70 Japanese warplanes are shot down.
1946: Prosecution of 28 Japanese military and political leaders begin at the War Ministry Office in Tokyo. After two-and-a-half years, 25 of the 28 high-ranking officials (one is determined mentally unfit and two die during the trial) are found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Seven are executed, including the prime minister and Gen. Iwane Matsui, who oversaw the Japanese military’s Rape of Nanking.
1951: The Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees begin closed-session hearings into the dismissal of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. The five-star general served as Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Command in Korea until being relieved of command in April for his insubordination and disrespect to President Harry Truman. MacArthur will retire – for a second time – after 52 years of military service.
General Douglas MacArthur
1952: Air Force Lt. Col Joseph O. Fletcher, piloting a C-47 with skis for landing gear – along with fellow USAF Lt. Col. William P. Benedict and scientist Dr. Albert P. Crary – become the first Americans to land at the geographic North Pole. That day, Crary becomes the first person to have stood on both the North and South Poles.
1965: Lead elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade depart Okinawa for South Vietnam, becoming the first Army ground combat units deployed in the Vietnam War. The “Sky Soldiers” will make the only major combat parachute jump of the war in February 1967 during Operation Junction City – the mission to locate the North Vietnamese political and military headquarters for South Vietnam.
“Sky Soldiers”, February 1967, Operation Junction City
1975: USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is commissioned at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. by President Gerald R. Ford. Although slightly shorter than the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the new Nimitz Class carriers are the largest warships ever built – displacing over 100,000 tons. Pres. Ford, who served as a Naval Reserve officer aboard an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Theater during World War II, states “Only in America can we build this machine; there’s nothing else like it in the world.”
