Today in U.S. military history: the births of the U.S. Army and the "Stars and Stripes"

Unto the Breach ^ | June 14, 2017 | Chris Carter

[fugazi]

1775: Following the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental Congress establishes the Continental Army. The force is disbanded after the American Revolution, but in 1792, President George Washington forms the Legion of the United States - the nation's first "professional" fighting force - renamed the United States Army in 1796.

1777: Congress formally declares the "Stars and Stripes" as the official flag of the thirteen United States. The declaration resolves that it consists of "thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."

1863: Days after bragging that he could hold the town of Winchester (Va.) against a Confederate force of any size, Maj. Gen. Robert H. Milroy's garrison is surrounded and defeated by a corps led by Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell. The Rebels capture 4,000 Union troops, hundreds of wagons and horses, and 23 artillery pieces at the cost of only some 250 casualties in the Second Battle of Winchester.

1940: The German Sixth Army capture the French capital of Paris unopposed. The Nazi flag will fly over the Arc de Triomphe for four years until Free French forces and the American 4th Infantry Division take the city back.

1944: 75 B-29 "Superfortress" heavy bombers take off from forward air bases in China, targeting the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata, Japan - the first bombing raid on the Japanese mainland since the Doolittle Raid in 1942.

1945: While soldiers and Marines mop up Japanese resistance on Okinawa, the Joint Chiefs of Staff direct Gens. Douglas MacArthur, Omar Bradley, and Adm. Chester Nimitz to prepare plans to occupy Japan in case they suddenly surrender.

1954: Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower, five-star general and Supreme Commander of the

[fugazi]

Don't forget to put out your flag - today is Flag Day

[NEMDF]

I put it out every day, but today, it was storming. Pouring rain, thunder, & lightning, and I went out through the garage and FORGOT. Have texted my husband to ask him to put it out.

Will be playing a little STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER (Sousa), a little later. Thanks for this thread.

[smokingfrog]

This We’ll Defend

[longfellow]

Maybe play a little grand old flag by james cagney.

[oh8eleven]

While soldiers and Marines mop up Japanese resistance on Okinawa
Mop up, are kidding me? "14,009 Allied deaths and 77,417 Japanese " ... is not mopping up.