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On Oct. 2, 1969, Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel gets the call that a team of South Vietnamese are pinned down in Vietnam’s Kien Tuong Province, and the medevac pilot points heads to the rescue. As he circles overhead to rally the beleaguered troops while they prepared to be lifted out, enemy fire is so intense that his helicopter is driven away six times. Undeterred, Novosel – who would be wounded by close-range automatic weapons fire during the daring mission – performed 15 extractions under fire, saving 29 soldiers. This was Novosel’s second tour flying medevac helicopters in Vietnam....

1909: Construction begins on the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. when President (and former commander of the "Rough Riders") Theodore Roosevelt lays the cornerstone. 81 years later - to the day - work on the church is completed when the "final finial" is placed with Pres. (and former World War II torpedo bomber pilot) George H.W. Bush in attendance. 1918: During the opening days of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, a battalion of African-American soldiers serving under French command secures Sechault, France, but is quickly surrounded when the French units on their flanks retreat. German troops surround the "Hell Fighters from Harlem",...

[...] After being named a consensus All-American as a right end for the University of Oklahoma, leading the Sooners to their first-ever bowl game in 1939, Walter R. “Waddy” Young is drafted by the NFL’s Brooklyn Dodgers. When war breaks out, Young leaves behind his professional career and enlisted in the Army Air Forces, ultimately becoming a bomber pilot. Young racked up 9,000 combat hours flying his B-24 “Liberator” in Europe. Once the Nazis surrendered, Young transferred to the Pacific Theater and began flying the new B-29 “Superfortress” heavy bomber. After a raid on mainland Japan, a bomber in Waddy’s...

1860: During an insurrection on Panama, a landing party of Marines from the sloop-of-war USS St. Mary's land and take control of a railway station. 1941: At Baltimore Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt launches SS Patrick Henry - the first of what will be 2,710 "Liberty Ships." 13 more of the cost-effective and mass-produced cargo ships are launched this day, and the ships will carry millions of tons of supplies across the Atlantic during World War II. 1942: The Liberty Ship SS Stephen Hopkins becomes the only U.S. merchant ship to sink a vessel when she refuses to surrender to...

1777: Gen. Sir William Howe outmaneuvers Gen. George Washington's Continental Army and takes the American capital of Philadelphia. Historically, wars usually end when the capital city falls into enemy hands, but the American Revolution will continue for another six years. 1918: Though technically launched at 11:30 p.m., Sept. 25, with an intense artillery barrage; the Meuse-Argonne Offensive – the six-week long “greatest battle of World War I in which the Americans participated” – officially begins just before dawn when whistles are blown along the American trench-lines, and with fixed-bayonets, American soldiers clamber over the top and begin their assault against...

1775: A small force of American and Canadian militia led by Ethan Allen attempts to capture the British-held city of Montreal. British Gen. Guy Carleton quickly gathers a force of British regulars and Canadian militia, scattering Allen's troops and capturing the hero of Fort Ticonderoga and former commander of Vermont's famed "Green Mountain Boys." Allen will remain a prisoner in England until his exchange in 1778. That same day, Col. Benedict Arnold sets out with 1,000 men on a poorly planned expedition to Quebec. The trip takes far longer than anticipated, forcing the men to eat their shoes and other...

1776: When Gen. George Washington asks for volunteers to go behind enemy lines and report on British troop movements in New York City. Capt. Nathan Hale is the only man to step forward. A fire devastates the city shortly after falling into British hands, and Hale is one of some 200 Americans swept up in the aftermath. Legend states that before Hale is hung, he tells his audience that "My only regret is that I have but one life to lose for my country." 1927: One year after Gene "The Fighting Marine" Tunney defeats Jack Dempsey and becomes heavyweight champion,...

1780: After deliberately weakening the defenses of Fort Arnold (now known as West Point), Hudson River, and other areas under his command, Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans for the strategic fort. The Colonists will soon capture Maj. John André, Britain's top spy in the United States, foiling Arnold's plan to hand over West Point - which will become the U.S. Military Academy in 1802 and is the Army's oldest continually operating post. 1939: With war breaking out in Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asks Congress to relax neutrality laws - permitting the United States to arm...

1777: British Maj. Gen. Charles Grey launches a daring nighttime attack on Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne's Continental Army forces encamped near the Paoli Tavern near modern-day Malvern, Pa.. Grey orders his troops to only use bayonets, and has his men remove the flints from their rifles. The Redcoats catch the Americans completely by surprise, routing an entire division while only suffering 11 British casualties. 1797: The Continental Navy frigate Constitution is launched in Boston harbor. 220 years later, USS Constitution – known affectionately as “Old Ironsides” - is the "oldest ship in the American Navy," and continues serving in the...

1777: The Battle of Freeman's Farm — the first engagement in the Battle of Saratoga — opens between Continental forces under the command of Gen. Horatio Gates and British forces under Gen. John "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne. The Brits carry the day, but suffer heavy losses. 1863: On the border of Georgia and Tennessee, fighting begins in earnest between forces commanded by Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans and Gen. Braxton Bragg. After two days of fighting, the Confederate Army of Tennessee inflicts 18,000 casualties on the Army of the Cumberland, driving Rosecrans from the battlefield, but Union soldiers kill, wound, and capture...

1862: Following the bloody Battle of Antietam, Gen. George B. McClellan blows an opportunity to capture Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, – perhaps ending the Civil War. Lee abandons his invasion of Maryland as McClellan allows the significantly outnumbered Confederates to withdraw his significantly outnumbered forces to Virginia without pursuit. 1906: As revolution sweeps Cuba, the auxiliary cruiser USS Dixie (AD-1) disembarks a battalion of Marines at Cienfuegos to help protect American-owned plantations. 1941: In preparation for World War II, 19 divisions of soldiers – 400,000 troops – participate in a massive exercise in Louisiana. In light...

1901: Eight days after being shot by the assassin Leon Czolgoszan, President William McKinley dies of his wounds, and Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as the 26th President of the United States. Before being named vice president, Roosevelt served as McKinley’s Assistant Secretary to the Navy until USS Maine explodes in Havana, inspiring Roosevelt to form the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment – the “Rough Riders.” Following McKinley’s assassination, Congress tasks the U.S. Secret Service with protecting the president. 1939: At the controls of his Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 prototype, Igor Sikorsky makes a 10-second tethered flight – the first successful flight...

1847: "From the halls of Montezuma..." Gen. Winfield Scott's army of Marines and soldiers begin their attack on the castle Chapultepec, sitting 200 feet above in Mexico City. During the battle, 90 percent of Marine commissioned and non-commissioned officers are killed by snipers, memorialized by the "blood stripe" on the Marine Corps' Dress Blue trousers. Participating in the engagement are many young officers - such as Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson - who will face each other in the Civil War. 1918: The Battle of Saint-Mihiel, the first and only U.S.-led and executed operation of...

1776: After the British capture Long Island, Continental Congressional delegates Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge meet with British Adm. Lord Richard Howe for a peace conference at Staten Island. Hoping to bring a quick end to the conflict, King George granted Howe the authority to discuss peace terms, but not including the recognition of American independence. When Howe states that the loss of America would be like losing a brother, Franklin replies that "we will do our utmost endeavors to save your lordship that mortification." 1814: New York is saved from a possible invasion by British forces when...

1740: Some 800 volunteers from the American colonies board transports to take part in the disastrous British/American colonial expedition to capture the Spanish territory of Cartagena (modern-day Colombia). 1781: 2,000 Continental soldiers commanded by Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene meet with Lt. Col. Alexander Stewart's 2,200-man force of British troops near present-day Eutawville, S.C.. Although both sides claim victory in the Battle of Eutaw Springs, the British must abandon much of their previously gained ground in the south. 1863: When the Union attempts an amphibious invasion in Texas to prevent the Mexican government from supplying the Confederacy, well-trained artillerymen at Fort...

As U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War escalated after the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964, U.S. Army general William Westmoreland knew he would be simultaneously fighting two different types of enemies on the ground — the main battle force of the North Vietnamese Army and the guerilla insurgency of the Viet Cong in South Vietnam. Westmoreland, who served as commander of Military Assistance Command Vietnam in the early years of the war, considered the North Vietnamese Army the greater threat. However, he could not ignore the Viet Cong, a versatile and resilient fighting force guided by...

1776: Sgt. Ezra Lee silently makes his way down the Hudson River in an 8-ft. long submersible named Turtle towards British Adm. Richard Howe's flagship, HMS Eagle, anchored just south of Manhattan. Turning two hand cranks for propulsion, Lee reaches the ship but is unable to drill into the hull in order to attach a "torpedo." While Lee's attack is unsuccessful, the craft designed by inventor David Bushnell marks the first-ever submarine attack. 1864: As he prepares for his March to the Sea, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman orders an evacuation of Atlanta. When the mayor protests, Sherman replies with...

1918: U.S. Navy railroad artillery crews conduct their first attack - a German rail center in Tergnier. The five massive 14"/50cal Mark 4 guns, normally mounted to a battleship, are transported by train and can hit targets well over 20 miles downrange. 1972: During the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, Palestinian terrorists storm the apartment housing Israeli athletes, killing two and taking nine hostage. The terrorists demand the release of over 200 Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners, but the Israelis refuse to negotiate. Five terrorists - and all hostages - are killed when German police attempt to ambush the kidnappers at the...

1781: The Royal Navy fleet commanded by Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Grave's Royal fleet clashes with Comte de Grasse's French armada at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. The navies fight each other at close range for two hours before the British disengage and sail for New York. The French victory traps Lt. Gen. Lord Corwallis' army at Yorktown, preventing their reinforcement or evacuation and ultimately contributing to Cornwallis' surrender in October. 1813: Off the coast of Maine, the brig USS Enterprise spots HMS Boxer and the two vessels begin maneuvering to attack. Boxer's captain Samuel Blyth declares "We are...

1925: As Cmdr. John Rodgers attempts a long-distance flight from California to Hawaii, his PN-9 flying boat runs out of fuel several hundred miles short of the goal. Rogers' four-man crew turns the airplane into a sailboat, and despite not having any food and very limited water, sails the remaining 450 miles to the island of Kauai. Although the plane did not reach its intended target, Rogers' flight still sets a record for flying a seaplane 1,992 miles non-stop. 1939: Three waves of Luftwaffe Ju 87 B "Stuka" dive bombers cross Germany's border with Poland at 4:40 a.m., destroying most...