13 January
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
BESSEY, CHARLES A.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company A, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: Near Elkhorn Creek, Wyo., 13 January 1877. Entered service at: - - - . Birth: Reading, Mass. Date of issue: 15 May 1890. Citation. While scouting with 4 men and attacked in ambush by 14 hostile Indians, held his ground, 2 of his men being wounded, and kept up the fight until himself wounded in the side, and then went to the assistance of his wounded comrades.
13 January 1962
OPERATION FARM GATE:
In the first Farm Gate combat missions, T-28 fighter-bombers are flown in support of a South Vietnamese outpost under Viet Cong attack. By the end of the month, U.S. Air Force pilots had flown 229 Farm Gate sorties. Operation Farm Gate was initially designed to provide advisory support to assist the South Vietnamese Air Force in increasing its capability.
The 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron arrived at Bien Hoa Airfield in November 1961 and began training South Vietnamese Air Force personnel with older, propeller-driven aircraft. In December, President John F. Kennedy expanded Farm Gate to include limited combat missions by the U.S. Air Force pilots in support of South Vietnamese ground forces. By late 1962, communist activity and combat intensity had increased so much that President Kennedy ordered a further expansion of Farm Gate.
In early 1963, additional aircraft arrived and new detachments were established at Pleiku and Soc Trang. In early 1964, Farm Gate was upgraded again with the arrival of more modern aircraft. In October 1965, another squadron of A-1E aircraft was established at Bien Hoa. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara approved the replacement of South Vietnamese markings on Farm Gate aircraft with regular U.S. Air Force markings.
By this point in the war, the Farm Gate squadrons were flying 80 percent of all missions in support of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). With the build up of U.S. combat forces in South Vietnam and the increase in U.S. Air Force presence there, the role of the Farm Gate program gradually decreased in significance. The Farm Gate squadrons were moved to Thailand in 1967, and from there they launched missions against the North Vietnamese in Laos.13 January 1846
MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR:
President James Polk dispatched General Zachary Taylor and 4,000 troops to the Texas Border as war with Mexico loomed. Mexico had severed relations with the United States in March 1845, shortly after the U.S. annexation of Texas. In September President Polk sent John Slidell on a secret mission to Mexico City to negotiate the disputed Texas border, settle U.S. claims against Mexico, and purchase New Mexico and California for up to $30,000,000. Mexican officials, aware in advance of Slidell's intention of dismembering their country, refused to receive him. When Polk learned of the snub, he ordered troops to occupy the disputed area between the Nueces and the Rio Grande rivers.
13 January 1942
OPERATION PAUKENSCHLAG (DRUM ROLL):
German U-Boats begin operations of the US East Coast. The move is called operation Paukenschlag (Drum Roll). Admiral Doenitz has faced arguments from his superiors in the German Navy who do not favor the operation, and he has had the difficulty that only the larger 740-ton U-Boats are really suitable for such long range patrols. When Doenitz gives the order for the attack to begin there are 11 U-Boats in position and 10 more en route. Together they sink more than 150,000 tons during the first month.
Intelligence sources have given reasonable warning of the attack but the U-Boats find virtually peace-time conditions in operation. Ship sail with lights on at night; lighthouses and buoys are still lit; there is no radio discipline - merchant ships often give their positions in plain text; there are destroyer patrols (not convoys with escorts) but these are regular and predictable and their crews are naturally inexperienced.TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY
13 January
◆858 Battle of Aclea: Danes defeat Wessex.
◆1099 Crusaders burn Mara, Syria.
◆1649 The Fronde rebels storm the Bastille.
◆1813 Captain Oliver Hazard Perry arrives in Presque Isle (Michigan) where he will supervise the construction of a flotilla. Two brigs, a schooner, and three gunboats will be constructed from materials transported overland and by inland waterway from Philadelphia, by way of Pittsburgh, in preparation for the naval battle for Lake Erie.
◆1838 Canadian rebels surrender their arms to US militamen along the Canadian frontier. Many rebels took refuge in the northern United States, where, with the help of American supporters, they formed secret friends called Hunters' Lodges to renew the rebellion. The lodges will conduct several raids across the border, leading to another short-lived rising in Lower Canada (Quebec).
◆1842 Battle of Gandamak: Afghans overwhelm the 44th Foot, completing the destruction of the British Army in their country.
◆1846 President James Polk dispatched General Zachary Taylor and 4,000 troops to the Texas Border as war with Mexico loomed. Mexico had severed relations with the United States in March 1845, shortly after the U.S. annexation of Texas. In September President Polk sent John Slidell on a secret mission to Mexico City to negotiate the disputed Texas border, settle U.S. claims against Mexico, and purchase New Mexico and California for up to $30,000,000. Mexican officials, aware in advance of Slidell's intention of dismembering their country, refused to receive him. When Polk learned of the snub, he ordered troops to occupy the disputed area between the Nueces and the Rio Grande rivers.
◆1865 After the failure of his December expedition against Fort Fisher, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler was relieved of command.
◆1929 Frontiersman Wyatt Earp died in LA, Ca., after an illustrious life in the West.
◆1937 The United States bars US citizens from serving in the Spanish Civil War.
◆1942 German U-Boats begin operations of the US East Coast. The move is called operation Paukenschlag (Drum Roll).★
◆1942 Japanese attacks on Bataan continue and, although they make progress on the east side of the peninsula, they are still held on the west.
◆1942 Allied representatives meeting in London announce that Axis war criminals will be punished after the war.
◆1943 US forces on Guadalcanal further develop their offensive, advancing westward along the north coast as well as attacking parallel to this advance further inland.
◆1943 General Eichelberger, an American, is given overall command of the fighting troops on New Guinea. 1945 Near the Philippines the escort carrier Salamaua is badly damaged in a Kamikaze attack. These are now becoming rare, however, because most of the Kamikaze aircraft have been lost and the rest withdrawn. Ashore, the US bridgehead is being extended and Damortis is taken.
◆1945 In the Ardennes, units of the US First Army and the British XXX Corps from the west reach the Ourthe River between Laroche and Houffalize. Third Army forces are also moving on Houffalize.
◆1952 Ten Okinawa-based Superfortresses dropped 396 high explosive 500-pound bombs on the railroad bridge east of Sinanju across the Chongchong River, rendering the bridge unserviceable.
◆1962 In the first Farm Gate combat missions, T-28 fighter-bombers are flown in support of a South Vietnamese outpost under Viet Cong attack.★
◆1964 USS Manley evacuates 54 American and 36 allied nationals after Zanzibar government is overthrown.
◆1965 Two U.S. planes were shot down in Laos while on a combat mission.
◆1967 Military coup in Togo.
◆1968 The U.S. reported shifting most air targets from North Vietnam to Laos.
◆1972 President Nixon announces that 70,000 U.S. troops will leave South Vietnam over the next three months, reducing U.S. troop strength there by May 1 to 69,000 troops. Since taking office, Nixon had withdrawn more than 400,000 American troops from Vietnam. With the reduction in total troop strength, U.S. combat deaths were down to less than 10 per week. However, Nixon still came under heavy criticism from those who charged that he was pulling out troops but, by turning to the use of air power instead of ground troops, was continuing the U.S. involvement in Vietnam rather than disengaging from the war. The last American troops would be withdrawn in March 1973 under the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords.
◆1980 The United States offered Pakistan a two-year aid plan to counter the Soviet threat in Afghanistan.
◆1993 American and allied warplanes raided southern Iraq.