Today’s post is in honor of Lance Cpl. Bradley M. Faircloth, who was killed by enemy action on this date in 2004 in Iraq’s Anbar province. Faircloth, 2o, of Mobile, Ala. had earned two Purple Hearts in the ten days prior to his passing in Fallujah. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.
1789: Pres. George Washington issues a proclamation declaring 26 November “to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.” This marks the first designated Thanksgiving Day by the United States government.
1862: Maj. William H. Powell leads twenty troopers on a cavalry charge against a 500-man Confederate encampment at Sinking Creek Valley (Va.). Powell and his men capture 114 Confederates and 200 guns without losing a single man. Powell is awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.
1941: After receiving an ultimatum from the US ordering Japan to vacate China or face further sanctions, the Japanese First Air Fleet, commanded by Adm. Chuichi Nagumo, departs for their attack on Pearl Harbor (featured image).
1943: Off the Algerian coast, a Luftwaffe Heinkel He 177A heavy bomber releases its Hs 293 radio-controlled glide bomb, which heads for the British transport ship HMT Rohna. The bomb impacts the side of the ship, knocking out electricity and setting Rohna ablaze. When the transport slips under the waves, she takes with her over 1,000 American troops. The sinking of the Rohna remains the greatest loss of life at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy.
1950: Chinese forces launch a massive counterattack against US and South Korean forces, driving them south and putting an end to any hopes of a quick conclusion to the Korean War.
1970: When a six-man reconnaissance patrol of Green Berets under heavy enemy fire radios for extraction, U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. James P. Fleming lands his UH-1 helicopter – which was low on fuel – in the middle of the firefight so that the Special Forces soldiers can be rescued. On their way to the chopper, the team shoots three Viet Cong just ten feet from the helicopter. Fleming is awarded the Medal of Honor for his dramatic rescue.
