Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*CRAIG, GORDON M.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Reconnaissance Company, 1st Cavalry Division. Place and date: Near Kasan, Korea 10 September 1950. Entered service at. Brockton, Mass. Born: 1 August 1929, Brockton, Mass. G.O. No.: 23, 25 April 1951. Citation: Cpl. Craig, 16th Reconnaissance Company, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. During the attack on a strategic enemy-held hill his company's advance was subjected to intense hostile grenade mortar, and small-arms fire. Cpl. Craig and 4 comrades moved forward to eliminate an enemy machine gun nest that was hampering the company's advance. At that instance an enemy machine gunner hurled a hand grenade at the advancing men. Without hesitating or attempting to seek cover for himself, Cpl. Craig threw himself on the grenade and smothered its burst with his body. His intrepid and selfless act, in which he unhesitantly gave his life for his comrades, inspired them to attack with such ferocity that they annihilated the enemy machine gun crew, enabling the company to continue its attack. Cpl. Craig's noble self-sacrifice reflects the highest credit upon himself and upholds the esteemed traditions of the military service.
TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY
10 September
◆1608 English adventurer John Smith is elected council president of Jamestown, Virginia--the first permanent English settlement in North America.
◆1776 George Washington asked for a spy volunteer and Nathan Hale volunteered.
◆1813 In the first defeat of a British naval squadron in history, U.S. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry leads a fleet of nine American ships to victory over a squadron of six British warships at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.The battle was closely contested for hours, and Perry's flagship Lawrence was reduced to a defenseless wreck. He then transferred to the Niagara and sailed directly into the British line, firing broadsides and forcing the British to surrender. Perry had won a complete victory at the cost of 27 Americans killed and 96 wounded; British casualties were 40 dead and 94 wounded. After the battle, Perry sent a famous dispatch to U.S. General William Henry Harrison that read, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours." The Battle of Lake Erie forced the British to abandon Detroit, ensuring U.S. control over Lake Erie and the territorial northwest.
◆1836 Joseph Wheeler II, Maj. Gen. of the Confederacy, Cavalry, Army of Tennessee, was born.
◆1914 Battle of the Marne: The Germans begin falling back, ending the six-day fight.
◆1919 New York City welcomed home Gen. John J. Pershing and 25,000 soldiers who had served in the U.S. First Division during World War I.
◆1925 Submarine R-4 rescues crew of PN-9 10 miles from their destination of Hawaii.
◆1939 The government of Canada declares war on Germany. The Canadians are the last of the great Dominions to declare war, however, the few days of hesitation permits the accelerated delivery from the US of large amounts of war goods which are now barred under American neutrality laws.
◆1942 Following the example of several European nations, President Franklin D. Roosevelt mandated gasoline rationing in the U.S. as part of the country's wartime efforts. Gasoline rationing was just one of the many measures taken during these years, as the entire nation was transformed into a unified war machine: women took to the factories, households tried to conserve energy, and American automobile manufacturers began producing tanks and planes. The gasoline ration was lifted in 1945, at the end of World War II.
◆1943 On the Salerno beachhead, the forces of the American 6th Corps advance inland. The forces of the British 10th Corps occupy Montecorvino airfield and Battipaglia. German counterattacks by local divisional forces recapture the British gains before nightfall.
◆1943 There is heavy fighting on Arundel island. More American reinforcements are sent to the island.
◆1944 Troops of the US 1st Army (part of US 12th Army Group) enter Luxembourg.
◆1944 The 2nd Ranger Battalion captures Kerlogue. After 2nd Ranger Battalion's assault on Point du Hoc, they moved inland on several small unit missions. The Rangers were part of the capture of Grand Camp, the Avranches breakthrough, and the clearance of Le Conquent Peninsula. Rangers forced the surrender of the German commander and his 814 soldier garrison at Le Conquet. Then the Rangers captured Kerlogue. This enabled Rangers and allied forces to advance on Landerneau where they captured 1600 Germans and freed 400 allied Prisoners of War.
◆1944 General Eisenhower, commanding the AEF, accepts a proposal by Field Marshal Montgomery (commanding British 21st Army Group) to conduct a series of airborne assaults to capture bridges in Holland and allow a rapid advance to the Rhine River (Operation Market Garden).
◆1944 The US 2nd Corps (part of US 5th Army) attacks toward Futa and Il Giogo Passes to the north of Florence.
◆1944 Three groups of US Task Force 38, with 12 carriers, conduct air strikes on Japanese airfields on Mindanao Island.
◆1945 General MacArthur orderS the dissolution of the Imperial general headquarters and imposes censorship of the printed press and radio.
◆1948 Mildred Gillars, accused of being Nazi wartime radio broadcaster "Axis Sally," was indicted in Washington, D.C., on treason charges. She was later convicted, and served 12 years in prison.
◆1963 Maj. Gen. Victor Krulak, USMC, Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Joseph Mendenhall of the State Department report to President John F. Kennedy on their fact-finding mission to Vietnam.
◆1964 Following the Tonkin Gulf incidents, in which North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked U.S. destroyers, and the subsequent passage of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution empowering him to react to armed attacks, President Lyndon Johnson authorizes a series of measures "to assist morale in South Vietnam and show the Communists [in North Vietnam] we still mean business."
◆1997 The $250 million Mars Global Surveyor successfully went into orbit around Mars for its 2 year mapping mission.
◆2000 The space shuttle Atlantis docked with the international space station.