TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY
12 September
◆490 BCE Battle of Marathon: Athenians & Plataeans defeat the Persians. The Battle of Marathon took place during the first Persian invasion of Greece.★
◆1609 English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into the river that now bears his name. Hudson sailed for the Dutch East India Company in search of the Northwest Passage, a water route linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, when he sailed up the present-day Hudson River.
◆1786 Despite his failed efforts to suppress the American Revolution, Lord Cornwallis was appointed governor general of India.
◆1814 A British fleet under Sir Alexander Cochrane began the bombardment of Fort McHenry, the last American defense before Baltimore. Lawyer Francis Scott Key had approached the British attackers seeking the release of a friend who was being held for unfriendly acts toward the British. Key himself was detained overnight on September 13 and witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry from a British ship. As the sun rose, Key was amazed to see the American flag still flying over the battered fort. This experience inspired Key to write the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner" and adapt them to the tune of a well-known British drinking song. "The Star-Spangled Banner" was officially recognized as the national anthem in 1931.
◆1814 The Battle of North Point was fought near Baltimore during War of 1812.
◆1861 Confederate General Sterling Price continues his campaign to secure Missouri in the early days of the war by converging on a Union garrison at Lexington, Missouri.
◆1862 The Battle of Harpers Ferry took place in Virginia.
◆1860 William Walker (b.1824), US adventurer, was convicted and executed by the government of Honduras. The British had arrested him and turned him over to the government.
◆1916 First demonstration of automatic stabilization and direction gear in aircraft.
◆1917 General John J. Pershing selected the 7th Marine Company to guard his headquarters in France.
◆1918 During World War I, U.S. forces led by Gen. John J. Pershing launched an attack on the German-occupied St. Mihiel salient north of Verdun, France.
◆1919 Adolf Hitler joined the German Worker's Party. In 2004 Robert O. Paxton authored "The Anatomy of Fascism," on the rise and fall of Hitler and Mussolini.
◆1939 The US Navy begins regular neutrality patrols along the entire length of the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean.
◆1941 The US ship Busko captured the 1st German ship in WW II.
◆1942 On Guadalcanal, major attacks by the Japanese units, from General Kawaguchi's 35th brigade, begin. Fighting is heavy especially around the aptly named "Bloody Ridge". Reinforcements of aircraft are flown to the Americans from the USS Wasp.
◆1942 German U-boat U-156 sinks the passenger liner Laconia, just south of the equator, off the coast of Africa.
◆1943 German paratroopers took Benito Mussolini from the hotel where he was being held by Italian resistance forces. Waffen-SS troops under Otto Skorzeny freed Mussolini at Gran Sasso in the Abruzzi Mountains.
◆1944 During World War II, U.S. Army troops entered Germany for the first time, near Trier.
◆1944 Three groups of US Task Force 38, with 12 carriers, conduct air strikes on Japanese positions on the Visayas or central Philippine islands.
◆1945 Field Marshal Sugiyama, former Commander in Chief of the Japanese Home Army, commits suicide together with his wife. Meanwhile, General MacArthur orders the dissolution of the Black Dragon society (the secret terrorist organization which for many years played a prominent role in Japanese imperialist policies and had been responsible for many political assassinations) and the arrest of seven of its leaders.
◆1947 The Screen Actors Guild adopts a voluntary "loyalty oath," in which members must swear they are not members of the Communist Party. The oath was a defense against the House Un-American Activities Committee, which led extensive investigations into communism in Hollywood. Those directors and actors who refused to cooperate with the investigations were persecuted, blacklisted, and in some cases imprisoned for contempt of Congress. The Screen Actors Guild did not drop its oath until 1974.
◆1952 USS Coral Sea (CVB-43) took Marshall Josip Tito for a one-day cruise in the Adriatic Sea where he was shown flight operations.
◆1953 When the 6,000 ton ore carrier SS Maryland grounded off Marquette, Michigan, a Coast Guard helicopter, in the face of driving wind and rain that required the combined efforts of both pilots to hold the controls and stabilize the aircraft, removed 12 crew members with a breeches buoy without any casualties.
◆1959 North Vietnamese Premier Pham Van Dong tells the French Consul: "You must remember we will be in Saigon tomorrow." In November, he would tell the Canadian Commissioner: "We will drive the Americans into the sea." The U.S. Embassy in Saigon eventually passed these remarks along to Washington as evidence of the deteriorating situation in South Vietnam. The United States had taken over from the French in the effort to stem the tide of communism in Southeast Asia. When President John F. Kennedy took office in 1961, he was faced with a dilemma in Laos and Vietnam. He decided that the line against communism had to be drawn in Vietnam and therefore he increased the number of military advisers to President Ngo Dinh Diem's government in Saigon. By the time of his assassination in November 1963, there would be more than 16,000 U.S. advisers in South Vietnam. Under his successor, Lyndon Johnson, there would be a steady escalation of the war that ultimately resulted in the commitment of more than half a million U.S. troops in South Vietnam.
◆1960 Marine Corps Museum opened at Quantico.
◆1966 Launch of Gemini 11, piloted by CDR Charles Conrad Jr., USN and LCDR Richard F. Gordon Jr., USN. Their mission lasted 2 days and 23 hours and included 44 orbits at an altitude of 1368.9 km.. Recovery was by HS-3 helicopter from USS Guam (LPH-9).
◆1967 Operation Coronado V began in Mekong Delta.
◆1970 US professor Timothy Leary, LSD proponent, escaped from a California jail. Leary escaped from the State Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo with the help of his third wife, Rosemary and the Weather Underground. He went to Algiers and joined Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver, who kidnapped the Learys after a political disagreement. They soon escaped and made their way to Afghanistan. In 1974 he was caught and revealed his collaborators to the FBI.
◆1991 The space shuttle Discovery blasted off on a mission to deploy an observatory designed to study the Earth's ozone layer.
◆1990 Representatives from the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union sign an agreement giving up all occupation rights in Germany.
◆2001 Pres. Bush called Tuesday’s terrorist attacks "acts of war." Stunned rescue workers continued to search for bodies in the World Trade Center's smoking rubble a day after a terrorist attack that shut down the financial capital, badly damaged the Pentagon and left thousands dead. The US began building a broad int’l. coalition for a possible military retaliation against those responsible for the terrorist attacks on Sep 11. Federal authorities said followers of Osama bin Laden were responsible for airline hijackings directed at NYC and the Pentagon. The US air system remained grounded and financial markets closed.
◆2001 In Afghanistan Mohammad Omar, the Taliban leader, went into hiding. The Taliban military repositioned weaponry in anticipation of a US strike.Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
CHAPMAN, AMOS
Rank: Scout (Civilian). Born: 15 May 1839, Kalamazoo, Mich. Organization: 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place: Washita River, Texas. Date: 12 September 1874. Issue date: 4 November 1874. Citation: Gallantry in action. (In 1916, the general review of all Medals of Honor deemed 900 unwarranted. This recipient was one of them. In June 1989, the U.S. Army Board of Correction of Records restored the medal to this recipient.)
DIXON, WILLIAM
Rank: Scout. Born: 25 October 1850, Ohio County, West Virginia. War: Indian Campaigns. Organization: 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place: Wichita River, Texas. Action date: 12 September 1874. Issue date: 4 November 1874. Citation: Gallantry in action. (In 1916, the general review of all Medals of Honor deemed 900 unwarranted. This recipient was one of them. In June 1989, the U.S. Army Board of Correction of Records restored the medal to this recipient.)
HARRINGTON, JOHN
Rank and organization: Private, Company H, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Wichita River, Tex., 12 September 1874. Entered service at:------. Birth: Detroit, Mich. Date of issue: 4 November 1874. Citation: While carrying dispatches was attacked hy 125 hostile Indians, whom he and his comrades fought throughout the day. He was severely wounded in the hip and unable to move. He continued to fight, defending an exposed dying man.
ROTH, PETER
Rank and organization: Private, Company A, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Wichita River, Tex., 12 September 1874. Entered service at:------. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 4 November 1874. Citation: While carrying dispatches was attacked by 125 hostile Indians, whom he and his comrades fought throughout the day.
*SMITH, GEORGE W.
Rank and organization: Private, Company M, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Wichita River, Tex., 12 September 1874. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Greenfield, N.Y. Date of issue: 4 November 1874. Citation: While carrying dispatches was attacked by 125 hostile Indians, whom he and his comrades fought throughout the day. Pvt. Smith was mortally wounded during the engagement and died early the next day.
WOODALL, ZACHARIAH
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company I, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Wichita River, Tex., 12 September 1874. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Alexandria, Va. Date of issue: 7 November 1874. Citation: While in command of S men and carrying dispatches, was attacked by 125 Indians, whorr, he with his command fought throughout the day, he being severely wounded.
*WICKERSHAM, J. HUNTER
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 353d Infantry, 89th Division. Place and date. Near Limey, France, 12 September 1918. Entered service at: Denver, Colo. Birth: New York, N.Y. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: Advancing with his platoon during the St. Mihiel offensive, he was severely wounded in 4 places by the bursting of a high-explosive shell. Before receiving any aid for himself he dressed the wounds of his orderly, who was wounded at the same time. He then ordered and accompanied the further advance of his platoon, although weakened by the loss of blood. His right hand and arm being disabled by wounds, he continued to fire his revolver with his left hand until, exhausted by loss of blood, he fell and died from his wounds before aid could be administered.
CLARK, FRANCIS J.
Rank and organization: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company K, 109th Infantry, 28th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Kalborn, Luxembourg, 12 September 1944; near Sevenig, Germany, 17 September 1944. Entered service at: Salem, N.Y. Birth: Whitehall, N.Y. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: He fought gallantly in Luxembourg and Germany. On 12 September 1944, Company K began fording the Our River near Kalborn, Luxembourg, to take high ground on the opposite bank. Covered by early morning fog, the 3d Platoon, in which T/Sgt. Clark was squad leader, successfully negotiated the crossing; but when the 2d Platoon reached the shore, withering automatic and small-arms fire ripped into it, eliminating the platoon leader and platoon sergeant and pinning down the troops in the open. From his comparatively safe position, T/Sgt. Clark crawled alone across a field through a hail of bullets to the stricken troops. He led the platoon to safety and then unhesitatingly returned into the fire-swept area to rescue a wounded soldier, carrying him to the American line while hostile gunners tried to cut him down. Later, he led his squad and men of the 2d Platoon in dangerous sorties against strong enemy positions to weaken them by lightning-like jabs. He assaulted an enemy machinegun with hand grenades, killing 2 Germans. He roamed the front and flanks, dashing toward hostile weapons, killing and wounding an undetermined number of the enemy, scattering German patrols and, eventually, forcing the withdrawal of a full company of Germans heavily armed with automatic weapons. On 17 September, near Sevenig, Germany, he advanced alone against an enemy machinegun, killed the gunner and forced the assistant to flee. The Germans counterattacked, and heavy casualties were suffered by Company K. Seeing that 2 platoons lacked leadership, T/Sgt. Clark took over their command and moved among the men to give encouragement. Although wounded on the morning of 18 September, he refused to be evacuated and took up a position in a pillbox when night came. Emerging at daybreak, he killed a German soldier setting up a machinegun not more than 5 yards away. When he located another enemy gun, he moved up unobserved and killed 2 Germans with rifle fire. Later that day he voluntarily braved small-arms fire to take food and water to members of an isolated platoon. T/Sgt. Clark's actions in assuming command when leadership was desperately needed, in launching attacks and beating off counterattacks, in aiding his stranded comrades, and in fearlessly facing powerful enemy fire, were strikingly heroic examples and put fighting heart into the hard-pressed men of Company K.
TOMINAC, JOHN J .
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company I, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Saulx de Vesoul, France, 12 September 1944. Entered service at: Conemaugh, Pa. Birth: Conemaugh, Pa. G.O. No.: 20, 29 March 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty on 12 September 1944, in an attack on Saulx de Vesoul, France 1st Lt. Tominac charged alone over 50 yards of exposed terrain onto an enemy roadblock to dispatch a 3-man crew of German machine gunners with a single burst from his Thompson machinegun after smashing the enemy outpost, he led 1 of his squads in the annihilation of a second hostile group defended by mortar, machinegun automatic pistol, rifle and grenade fire, killing about 30 of the enemy. Reaching the suburbs of the town, he advanced 50 yards ahead of his men to reconnoiter a third enemy position which commanded the road with a 77-mm. SP gun supported by infantry elements. The SP gun opened fire on his supporting tank, setting it afire with a direct hit. A fragment from the same shell painfully wounded 1st Lt. Tominac in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. As the crew abandoned the M-4 tank, which was rolling down hill toward the enemy, 1st Lt. Tominac picked himself up and jumped onto the hull of the burning vehicle. Despite withering enemy machinegun, mortar, pistol, and sniper fire, which was ricocheting off the hull and turret of the M-4, 1st Lt. Tominac climbed to the turret and gripped the 50-caliber antiaircraft machinegun. Plainly silhouetted against the sky, painfully wounded, and with the tank burning beneath his feet, he directed bursts of machinegun fire on the roadblock, the SP gun, and the supporting German infantrymen, and forced the enemy to withdraw from his prepared position. Jumping off the tank before it exploded, 1st Lt. Tominac refused evacuation despite his painful wound. Calling upon a sergeant to extract the shell fragments from his shoulder with a pocketknife, he continued to direct the assault, led his squad in a hand grenade attack against a fortified position occupied by 32 of the enemy armed with machineguns, machine pistols, and rifles, and compelled them to surrender. His outstanding heroism and exemplary leadership resulted in the destruction of 4 successive enemy defensive positions, surrender of a vital sector of the city Saulx de Vesoul, and the death or capture of at least 60 of the enemy.
*ZUSSMAN, RAYMOND
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 756th Tank Battalion. Place and date: Noroy le Bourg, France, 12 September 1944. Entered service at: Detroit, Mich. Birth: Hamtramck, Mich. G.O. No.: 42, 24 May 1945. Citation: On 12 September 1944, 2d Lt. Zussman was in command of 2 tanks operating with an infantry company in the attack on enemy forces occupying the town of Noroy le Bourg, France. At 7 p.m., his command tank bogged down. Throughout the ensuing action, armed only with a carbine, he reconnoitered alone on foot far in advance of his remaining tank and the infantry. Returning only from time to time to designate targets, he directed the action of the tank and turned over to the infantry the numerous German soldiers he had caused to surrender. He located a road block and directed his tanks to destroy it. Fully exposed to fire from enemy positions only 50 yards distant, he stood by his tank directing its fire. Three Germans were killed and 8 surrendered. Again he walked before his tank, leading it against an enemy-held group of houses, machinegun and small arms fire kicking up dust at his feet. The tank fire broke the resistance and 20 enemy surrendered. Going forward again alone he passed an enemy-occupied house from which Germans fired on him and threw grenades in his path. After a brief fire fight, he signaled his tank to come up and fire on the house. Eleven German soldiers were killed and 15 surrendered. Going on alone, he disappeared around a street corner. The fire of his carbine could be heard and in a few minutes he reappeared driving 30 prisoners before him. Under 2d Lt. Zussman's heroic and inspiring leadership, 18 enemy soldiers were killed and 92 captured.
*MAUSERT, FREDERICK W., III
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.) Place and date: Songnap-yong, Korea, 12 September 1951. Entered service at: Dresher, Pa. Born: 2 May 1930, Cambridge, N.Y. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a squad leader in Company B, in action against enemy aggressor forces. With his company pinned down and suffering heavy casualties under murderous machine gun, rifle, artillery, and mortar fire laid down from heavily fortified, deeply entrenched hostile strongholds on Hill 673, Sgt. Mausert unhesitatingly left his covered position and ran through a heavily mined and fire-swept area to bring back 2 critically wounded men to the comparative safety of the lines. Staunchly refusing evacuation despite a painful head wound sustained during his voluntary act, he insisted on remaining with his squad and, with his platoon ordered into the assault moments later, took the point position and led his men in a furious bayonet charge against the first of a literally impregnable series of bunkers. Stunned and knocked to the ground when another bullet struck his helmet, he regained his feet and resumed his drive, personally silencing the machine gun and leading his men in eliminating several other emplacements in the area. Promptly reorganizing his unit for a renewed fight to the final objective on top of the ridge, Sgt. Mausert boldly left his position when the enemy's fire gained momentum and, making a target of himself, boldly advanced alone into the face of the machine gun, drawing the fire away from his men and enabling them to move into position to assault. Again severely wounded when the enemy's fire found its mark, he still refused aid and continued spearheading the assault to the topmost machine gun nest and bunkers, the last bulwark of the fanatic aggressors. Leaping into the wall of fire, he destroyed another machine gun with grenades before he was mortally wounded by bursting grenades and machine gun fire. Stouthearted and indomitable, Sgt. Mausert, by his fortitude, great personal valor, and extraordinary heroism in the face of almost certain death, had inspired his men to sweep on, overrun and finally secure the objective. His unyielding courage throughout reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
*RAMER, GEORGE H.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company I, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Korea, 12 September 1951. Entered service at: Lewisburg, Pa. Born: 27 March 1927, Meyersdale, Pa. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as leader of the 3d Platoon in Company I, in action against enemy aggressor forces. Ordered to attack and seize hostile positions atop a hall, vigorously defended by well-entrenched enemy forces delivering massed small-arms mortar, and machine gun fire, 2d Lt. Ramer fearlessly led his men up the steep slopes and although he and the majority of his unit were wounded during the ascent, boldly continued to spearhead the assault. With the terrain becoming more precipitous near the summit and the climb more perilous as the hostile forces added grenades to the devastating hail of fire, he staunchly carried the attack to the top, personally annihilated 1 enemy bunker with grenade and carbine fire and captured the objective with his remaining 8 men. Unable to hold the position against an immediate, overwhelming hostile counterattack, he ordered his group to withdraw and single-handedly fought the enemy to furnish cover for his men and for the evacuation of 3 fatally wounded marines. Severely wounded a second time, 2d Lt. Ramer refused aid when his men returned to help him and, after ordering them to seek shelter, courageously manned his post until the hostile troops overran his position and he fell mortally wounded. His indomitable fighting spirit, inspiring leadership and unselfish concern for others in the face of death, reflect the highest credit upon 2d Lt. Ramer and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
*SUDUT, JEROME A.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company B, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Kumhwa, Korea, 12 September 1951. Entered service at: Wisconsin. Birth: Wausau, Wis. G.O. No.: 31, 21 March 1952. Citation: 2d Lt. Sudut distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. His platoon, attacking heavily fortified and strategically located hostile emplacements, had been stopped by intense fire from a large bunker containing several firing posts. Armed with submachinegun, pistol, and grenades, 2d Lt. Sudut charged the emplacement alone through vicious hostile fire, killing 3 of the occupants and dispersing the remainder. Painfully wounded, he returned to reorganize his platoon, refused evacuation and led his men in a renewed attack. The enemy had returned to the bunker by means of connecting trenches from other emplacements and the platoon was again halted by devastating fire. Accompanied by an automatic-rifleman 2d Lt. Sudut again charged into close-range fire to eliminate the position. When the rifleman was wounded, 2d Lt. Sudut seized his weapon and continued alone, killing 3 of the 4 remaining occupants. Though mortally wounded and his ammunition exhausted, he jumped into the emplacement and killed the remaining enemy soldier with his trench knife. His single-handed assaults so inspired his comrades that they continued the attack and drove the enemy from the hill, securing the objective. 2d Lt. Sudut's consummate fighting spirit, outstanding leadership, and gallant self-sacrifice are in keeping with the finest traditions of the infantry and the U.S. Army.