[Featured image: USS Growler, 1943]
1943: The submarine USS Growler (SS-215) spots the supply ship Hayasaki and begins a nighttime battle. The Japanese ship turns to ram the sub and rakes Growler‘s bridge with machine gun fire, wounding the skipper, Commander Howard W. Gilmore.
Unable to get off the bridge, Gilmore orders the crew to “Take her down,” sacrificing his life to save his men. For his actions, Gilmore is awarded the Medal of Honor – the first of seven sub commanders to earn the nation’s top award for valor during World War II.
Meanwhile, the Imperial Japanese Navy completes Operation “Xe” – the evacuation of nearly 1,800 remaining troops from Guadalcanal. After six months of brutal fighting, nearly 15,000 Americans killed or wounded, and over 600 aircraft and dozens of ships lost, the island is now completely in American hands.
1965: North Vietnamese sappers attack the Camp Holloway helicopter base , killing eight, wounding over 100, and destroying over a dozen helicopters and planes. The attack prompts Pres. Lyndon Johnson to strike back by ordering the bombing of military targets along the de-militarized zone and in North Vietnam. However, the Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin is in Hanoi during the attacks, and the Soviet Union uses the timing of Johnson’s retaliation as an opportunity to increase military aid to North Vietnam.
NASA astronaut (and former Naval aviator) Bruce McCandless becomes the first human to “walk” untethered in space
1984: Space Shuttle Challenger astronauts Bruce McCandless (Capt., USN) and Robert L. Stewart (Brig. Gen., USA) are the first humans to “walk” untethered in space, using nitrogen-powered Manned Maneuvering Units. Stewart, a helicopter pilot with over 1,000 hours combat experience before joining NASA, becomes the first soldier to receive the Astronaut Badge.
