[Featured image: RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters sitting on the deck of USS Nimitz prior to taking off for Operation EAGLE CLAW. Several helicopters experienced failures en route, forcing Col. Charles Beckwith to cancel the mission.]
1781: A 2,500-man force of British and Hessian troops led by Gen. William Phillips lands at City Point (Va.). They are joined by the “American Legion,” a militia outfit consisting of Loyalist deserters from the Continental Army and commanded by the famous turncoat Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold.
The next morning, the combined force marches towards Petersburg, which is defended by Virginia militiamen under the command of Prussian Maj. Gen. Friederich Wilhelm von Steuben. After putting up several hours of fierce resistance, the outnumbered Americans disengage and Petersburg falls to the British.
1862: Adm. David Farragut’s squadron of 43 Union vessels fight past Confederate batteries at Forts Jackson and St. Philip in the Mississippi River at New Orleans and destroy most of the Confederate fleet upriver. The Union captures the crucial port city the following day – one of the worst setbacks for the Confederacy during the Civil War.
1942: With the Burma Road now cut off by the Japanese, the Allies have no choice but to airlift supplies and ammunition from India to China. On this date the first of what will soon be many B-29 bombers fly “over the hump” – the treacherous Himalayan Mountains.
Hundreds of aircraft will be lost over the 42-month airlift. Without navigational aids and fighting abominable and unpredictable weather, American airmen would deliver 650,000 tons of ammunition and supplies to nationalist Chinese forces and to American air bases in China.
B-29s of the 46th Reconnaissance Group in 1946.
In June, Army Air Force bombers will begin bombing the Japanese mainland from forward air bases in China, but the “India-China Ferry” aircraft must fly seven transport missions over the hump for just one bombing raid.
1951: When a wave of Chinese soldiers charged his machine gun position, Army Cpl. Hiroshi Miyamura told his crew to cover him as he fixed his bayonet and advanced into the enemy force, killing ten in hand to hand combat and scattering the attackers. Upon returning to his position, Miyamura ordered his men to withdraw as he manned the machine gun and covered their retreat. He killed some 50 communist fighters before running out of ammunition and becoming severely wounded. Miyamura’s position was overrun and he would spend the next 28 months as a prisoner of war.
President Dwight Eisenhower awarding Miyamura the Medal of Honor
Miyamura would become the first Medal of Honor recipient whose citation was classified “Top Secret,” out of fears for his safety. He would be publicly recognized upon his repatriation 28 months later.
1980: Following a string of glitches from missed deadlines to malfunctioning helicopters, a U.S. operation aimed at freeing American hostages in Iran is aborted at a remote staging area – code-named “Desert One” – some 200 miles from Tehran. As the rescue force begins to withdraw, one of the helicopters operating in night black-out conditions accidentally hovers into a C-130 transport aircraft. A terrific explosion follows, killing five U.S. airmen and three Marines.
Though an operational disaster, America’s enemies will be stunned by the fact that such a mission in adverse conditions was nearly carried out so far from American shores. Moreover, the disaster will force military planners to ramp up and retool U.S. special operations forces, establishing a special warfare capability that is today the envy of foreign militaries worldwide.
1990: An Air Force C-130H “Hercules”, flying 60 miles off the coast of Peru gathering intelligence on drug cartels is intercepted by two Peruvian Air Force Sukhoi Su-22 fighters. Despite being unarmed and flying above international waters, the planes open fire on the C-130, injuring six of the 14 crewmembers and killing Master Sgt. Joseph C. Beard, Jr.
