TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY
17 December
◆1750 Deborah Sampson, was born. She fought in the American Revolution as a man under the alias Robert Shurtleff.
◆1777 George Washington's army returned to winter quarters in Valley Forge, Pa.
◆1777 France recognized American independence.
◆1812 Battle of the Mississinewa: U.S. troops defeat a village of friendly Lenape Indians.
◆1846 Ships under Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry capture Laguna de Terminos during Mexican War.
◆1861 The Stonewall Brigade began to dismantle Dam No. 5 of the C&O Canal near
◆1863 Lieutenant Commander Fitch, U.S.S. Moose, reported that he had sent landing parties ashore at Seven Mile Island and Palmyra, Tennessee, where they had destroyed distilleries used by Con-federate guerrilla troops.
◆1900 Ellis Island immigration center re -opened following an 1897 fire.
◆1903 Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.★
◆1925 Col. William "Billy" Mitchell was convicted of insubordination at his court -martial. Mitchell was found guilty of conduct prejudicial to the good of the armed services. He was awarded the Medal of Honor 20 years after his death.
◆1927 U.S. Secretary of State Kellogg suggested a worldwide pact renouncing war.
◆1940 President Roosevelt gives a press conference outlining a scheme which he plans to introduce to bring further aid to Britain which he will call Lend-Lease. His argument is that if a neighbor's house is on fire it is only sensible to lend him a hose to stop the fire spreading to your own house, and that it would be stupid to think of asking for payment in such circumstances.
◆1941 Admiral Chester W. Nimitz named Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, to relieve Admiral Husband Kimmel.
◆1941 17 SB 2U-3s of Marine Scout Bomber Squadron 281 flew 1,137 miles, the longest massed flight over water.
◆1942 The Navy credited the CGC Ingham with attacking and sinking the submerged U-boat U-626 south of Greenland.
◆1942 Heavy US air attacks continue on Tunis and Gabes and other German air bases in Tunisia.
◆1943 Some German forces withdraw from San Pietro and other positions further north. The US 5th Army capture Monte Sammucro.
◆1944 Eisenhower releases the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions from AEF reserve to reinforce American troops in the Ardennes. Other infantry and armored forces from US 12th Army Group are also being redeployed to meet the German offensive. Meanwhile, German forces capture 9000 Americans at Echternach, on the extreme right flank of the attack. Soldiers of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich kill some 71 American POWs near Malmedy.
◆1944 During World War II, U.S. Major General Henry C. Pratt issues Public Proclamation No. 21, declaring that, effective January 2, 1945, Japanese American "evacuees" from the West Coast could return to their homes.
◆1944 The Germans renewed their attack on the Belgian town of Losheimergraben against the American Army during the Battle of the Bulge.
◆1944 On Mindoro, American forces capture San Jose Airfield. On Leyte, parts of US 10th and 24th Corps record advances against Japanese positions.
◆1950 U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Bruce H. Hinton, commander of the 336th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, earned the distinction of becoming the first F-86 Sabre fighter pilot to shoot down a MiG-15 during the Korean War.
◆1957 The United States successfully test -fired the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.
◆1969 The U.S. Air Force closed its Project "Blue Book" by finding no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings.
◆1971 Cambodian government positions in Prak Ham, 40 miles north of Phnom Penh, and the 4,000-man base at Taing Kauk are the targets of continuous heavy bombardment by communist forces.
◆1981 Red Brigade terrorists kidnapped Brigadier General James Dozier, the highest -ranking U.S. NATO officer in Italy.
◆1990 President Bush pledged “no negotiation for one inch” of Kuwaiti territory would take place as he repeated his demand for Iraq’s complete withdrawal.
◆1991 After a long meeting between Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin, a spokesman for the latter announces that the Soviet Union will officially cease to exist on or before New Year's Eve.
◆1993 2/14 Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, departs Somalia.1998 US and British forces launched more missiles on the 2nd day of attacks against Iraq. The strikes included some 100 cruise missiles with 2,000 pound warheads. Pres. Boris Yeltsin withdrew the Russian ambassador from Washington and demanded an immediate end to military action. France and Italy expressed strong opposition while Germany rallied to support the US and Britain. A stray US missile hit Khorramshahr, Iran. The US later apologized.