TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY
23 September
◆480 BCE Battle of Salamis [Alt]. The Battle was fought between an Alliance of Greek city-states and the Persian Empire in the straits between the mainland and Salamis, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens.★
◆1459 Battle of Blore Heath: the Earl of Salisbury's Yorkists beat Lord Audley's Lancastrians.
◆1642 Battle of Powick Bridge: Prince Rupert of theRhine defeats Col John Brown & the Earl of Essex.
◆1776 Continental Marines were ordered to reinforce General George Washington in New York.
◆1779 During the American Revolution, the U.S. ship Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, wins a hard-fought engagement against the British ships of war Serapis and Countess of Scarborough off the east coast of England.★
◆1780 British spy John Andre was captured along with papers revealing Benedict Arnold's plot to surrender West Point to the British.
◆1805 Lieutenant Zebulon Pike paid $2,000 to buy from the Sioux a 9-square-mile tract at the mouth of the Minnesota River that would be used to establish a military post, Fort Snelling.
◆1806 Amid much public excitement, American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark return to St. Louis, Missouri, from the first recorded overland journey from the Mississippi River to the Pacific coast and back.
◆1846 Mexican uprising against American occupation at Los Angeles.
◆1864 Confederate and Union forces clashed at Mount Jackson, Front Royal and Woodstock in Virginia during the Valley campaign.
◆1864 Battle of Athens, Va.
◆1931 LT Alfred Pride pilots Navy's first rotary wing aircraft, XOP-1 autogiro, in landings and takeoffs on board USS Langley while underway.
◆1938 British premier Neville Chamberlain flew to Munich.
◆1941 US President Roosevelt announces the possibility of arming American merchant vessels against German attacks.
◆1942 The Australians go on the offensive as more American reinforcements arrive at Port Moresby. The Australian Commander in Chief, General Blamey, takes personal charge. His orders from General Douglas MacArthur are to intensify and invigorate the campaign.
◆1942 At Auschwitz Nazis began experimental gassing executions.
◆1943 The British 10th Corps (part of the US 5th Army) begins attacks to clear the passes to Naples. The German defenders amount to little more than a regiment.
◆1944 To the north of Palau Islands, part of the US 81st Division occupies Ulithi Atoll after naval reconnaissance suggests it is not in use by the Japanese. Work begins on converting the atoll into a major American naval base.
◆1944 USS West Virginia (BB-48) reaches Pearl Harbor and rejoins the Pacific Fleet, marking the end of the salvage and reconstruction of 18 ships damaged at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
◆1944 US 5th Army attacks clear the Futa Pass through the Appenine Mountains, to the north of Florence.
◆1945 The first American died in Vietnam during the fall of Saigon to French forces.
◆1949 In a surprisingly low-key and carefully worded statement, President Harry S. Truman informs the American people that the Soviets have exploded a nuclear bomb.★
◆1950 Congress adopted the Internal Security Act, which provided for registration of communists. The Act was ruled later unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. US Sen. Pat McCarran (Nevada) legislated the Internal Security Act, which included a jumble of restrictions on speech and association. Pres. Truman attempted an unsuccessful veto of the McCarran Act, which gave the government unprecedented powers.
◆1950 IX Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General John R. Coulter, became operational at Miryang with the 2nd and 25th Infantry Divisions attached. This brought the total number of corps in Korea to three.
◆1950 A 160-person Red Cross field hospital unit from Sweden arrived in Pusan as part of the U.N. commitment to the war.
◆1950 US Mustangs accidentally bombed British troops on Hill 282 Korea, 17 killed.
◆1990 Two Hospital ships (USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort) steam together for first time in Arabian Gulf.
◆1996 Space shuttle Atlantis left Russia's orbiting Mir station with astronaut Shannon Lucid, who ended her six-month visit with tender goodbyes to her Russian colleagues.
◆1999 The $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter was presumed lost after it hit the Martian atmosphere. The crash was later blamed on navigation confusion due to 2 teams using conflicting English and metric units.
◆2001 NASA reported that its Deep Space I craft took pictures of the comet Borrelly.
◆2002 The United States military gives President George Bush a highly detailed military plan for ousting Saddam Hussein.
◆2004 US warplanes fired on insurgent targets in the east Baghdad slum of Sadr City.Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day
FERRARI, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company D, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red Creek, Ariz., 23 September 1869. Entered service at: Montgomery County, Ohio. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 23 November 1869. Citation: Gallantry in action.
HARRIS, CHARLES D.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company D, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red Creek, Ariz., 23 September 1869. Entered service at:------. Birth: Albion, N.Y. Date of issue: 23 November 1869. Citation: Gallantry in action.
WALKER, JOHN
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Red Creek, Ariz., 23 September 1869. Entered service at: ------. Birth: France. Date of issue: 23 November 1869. Citation: Gallantry in action with Indians.
SLATON, JAMES D.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, 157th Infantry, 45th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Oliveto, Italy, 23 September 1943. Entered service at: Gulfport, Miss. Born: 2 April 1912, Laurel, Miss G.O. No.: 44, 30 May 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy in the vicinity of Oliveto, Italy, on 23 September 1943. Cpl. Slaton was lead scout of an infantry squad which had been committed to a flank to knock out enemy resistance which had succeeded in pinning 2 attacking platoons to the ground. Working ahead of his squad, Cpl. Slaton crept upon an enemy machinegun nest and, assaulting it with his bayonet, succeeded in killing the gunner. When his bayonet stuck, he detached it from the rifle and killed another gunner with rifle fire. At that time he was fired upon by a machinegun to his immediate left. Cpl. Slaton then moved over open ground under constant fire to within throwing distance, and on his second try scored a direct hit on the second enemy machinegun nest, killing 2 enemy gunners. At that time a third machinegun fired on him 100 yards to his front, and Cpl. Slaton killed both of these enemy gunners with rifle fire. As a result of Cpl. Slaton's heroic action in immobilizing 3 enemy machinegun nests with bayonet, grenade, and rifle fire, the 2 rifle platoons which were receiving heavy casualties from enemy fire were enabled to withdraw to covered positions and again take the initiative. Cpl. Slaton withdrew under mortar fire on order of his platoon leader at dusk that evening. The heroic actions of Cpl. Slaton were far above and beyond the call of duty and are worthy of emulation.