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January 11th, 1943 saw the beginning of events that would place Amchitka Island in the hands of the allied forces.

January 28th, 1943 brought Jack Chennault and his squadron of P-40s to Amchitka's new airfield, with P-38s joining soon after. The 36th Bombardment Squadron also moved to Amchitka.

February 4, 1943 saw American P-40's strafing Japanese installations on Kiska, while five of Japan's bombers attacked American positions on Amchitka.

The first Japanese raid on the island of Amchitka brings forth a frantic burst of anti-aircraft fire. In this picture, a 37mm gun adjacent to the mess tent spits out a stream of lead at the invader, while his bombs explode geyser-like in the harbor.

On 11 March, 1943, CINCPAC made available three battleships, three heavy cruisers, three over-aged light cruisers, one escort carrier, nineteen destroyers, plus tenders, oilers, mine-sweepers, etc., and four attack transports. The Army commander was Commanding General 7th Division. The forces assigned Navy were Task Forces KING and ROGER. Army forces, assault, reserve, and initial occupation troops were as follows: Assault on Attu, 7th Division Combat Team, consisting of the 17th Infantry, one battalion field artillery, one battalion engineers for shore parties, one battery AA automatic weapons, three detachments 75th Special Signal Company, one company 7th Division Organic Combat Engineers, one medical collecting company, 7th Division. One Platoon 7th Division Medical Clearing Company, Detachment HQ 7th Division Battalion, detachment 7th Division Quartermaster Battalion, detachment 7th Division Organic Signal Company. For the initial occupation of the selected site in the Near Islands, 18th Combat Engineers from Adak, 4th Infantry Composite Regiment from Adak. The floating reserve was one regimental combat team consisting of the 32nd Infantry with reinforcements similar to those for the 17th Infantry indicated above. The garrisons for Attu and the selected site in the Near Islands are to be designated by the Commanding General Western Defense Command, and are to include 17th Infantry Combat Team, 32nd Infantry Combat Team, 78th CAAA and 2nd Battalion 51st CAAA. The target date is May 7th, 1943.

In early February of 1943 it was realized that since Japan knew of America's occupation of Amchitka, Japan would be taking countermeasures. There appeared to be an increase in Japanese forces and installations located at Holtz Bay and Chichagof Harbor areas of Attu. With a desire to remove the Japanese from the Aleutians, Rear Admiral McMorris's Task Group Mike was directed to isolate Attu and Kiska from Japan with a blockade formed by his seemingly inadequate fleet of old, incapable, and far too few ships, and to proceed with direct naval bombardment of these islands. Knowing he didn't have the resources to intimidate both Kiska and Attu at the same time, Adm. McMorris decided to concentrate on Attu. This way he could also blockade Japan's re-supply efforts of both Attu and Kiska. On the 18th of February the shelling of Attu began without opposition.

On March 26, 1943 Rear Admiral McMorris's Task Group Mike engaged the Japanese Northern Pacific Fleet which was attempting to re-supply the Japanese garrisons located on Attu and Kiska. This engagement, 150 miles west of Attu's Cape Wrangle, was to become known as the Battle of the Komandorskies. The defeat of the Japanese Northern Fleet by Task Group Mike ended Japan's attempts to gain a greater foothold in the Aleutians, and seemingly left the Japanese garrisons on Attu and Kiska to fend for themselves. U.S. airpower wasn't able to engage the Japanese during this skirmish as U.S. aircraft had been loaded with bombs with which to bomb Kiska. By the time the aircraft had changed-out their arsenal with weapons more suitable for naval engagements, the battle of the Komandorskies was over. This was the last pure navy fleet Vs. navy fleet battle to occur during WWII. Subsequent WWII naval engagements made heavy use of air power assisting the naval fleets to overcome the enemy. U.S. Bombers and fighters continued to bomb and strafe the islands of Kiska and Attu as the weather permitted. During March of 1943, 39 raids were made against Kiska.

On the 1st of April, 1943, a joint directive from CINCPAC and Commanding General Western Defense Command orders preparations for Operation LANDGRAB, the invasion of Attu Island.

In early April a spell of stormy weather with winds up to 108 m.p.h. grounded all planes for five days. Sixteen B-24, five B-25, and twelve P-38 sorties were ultimately flown against Kiska Island from Adak and Amchitka Islands. Antiaircraft fire damaged two bombers. During the month of April, the 73rd bombardment Squadron (Medium), 28th Composite Group with B-25s transferred from Elmendorf field, Anchorage, Alaska to Umnak Island.

On the 12th of April, 1943, 3 B-25's, 24 P-40's, and 13 P-38's flew 7 missions to Kiska. The fighters also strafe Little Kiska. AA fire damaged 1 P-40 and 1 P-38. The P-38 force-lands safely.

On the 13th of April, 1943, 15 B-24's 15 B-25's, 28 P-38's and 20 P-40's flew 11 attacks to Kiska; 43 tons of bombs were dropped. Fighters attacked the Main Camp causing large fires, and also strafed aircraft on the beach. Heavy AA fire damaged 2 P-38's, 1 of which later crashed into the sea, and 1 B-25.

The 14th of April, 1943 saw 30 P-40's 17 P-38's, 9 B-24's and 6 B-25's fly 10 missions to Kiska, bombing and strafing the runway, North Head area, installations, parked seaplanes, and facilities on Little Kiska.

The 16th of April, 1943 saw Kiska bombed and strafed 13 more times.

April 17th saw 7 B-24's bomb and score 8 direct hits on the runway and gun emplacements at Attu. One B-24 and 2 F-5A's abort due to weather. Four B-25's, 31 P-38's, and 14 P-40's hit Kiska 9 times, bombing installations and strafing gun emplacements and 3 parked airplanes.

On Sunday, April 18th, 1943 22 P-38's (some flown by Royal Canadian Air Force pilots) and 37 P-40's hit Kiska 9 times. The submarine base and gun emplacements on North Head were bombed and gun emplacements near the submarine base were silenced.

On Monday, April 19th, 1943 9 missions involving 14 B-24's, 12 B-25's, 32 P-40's, and 23 P-38's were flown to Kiska. The first mission was weathered out of the primary target, Attu, and directed to Kiska. Bombing and strafing concentrated on 4 grounded ships and the submarine base area where fires were started. One ship, believed to serve as a power station, was set on fire.

The 20th of April 1943 included 10 bombing and strafing missions by 15 B-24's, 16 B-25's, 10 P-38's, and 32 P-40's. They hit shipping in the harbor at Kiska and gun positions in North Head. Other targets included buildings in the Main Camp area and the runway.

By the 21st of April Kiska had been attacked 83 times.

Strong Naval reinforcements began to reach the Aleutians for the eventual assault on Attu. On Sunday, the 25th of April 1943, another naval bombardment was conducted against Attu. There were no signs of personnel or activity ashore. A number of small buildings and huts testified to the continuing presence of the Japanese. Fifteen B-24's, 12 B-25's, 32 P-40's, 23 P-38's, and 1 F-5A fly 12 missions to Kiska and Attu. Targets included Holtz Bay, North Head, South Head, the beach areas, the runway, shipping and the submarine base.

By the end of April, 1943, Adak, now the center of Army, Air Force, and Navy operations in the Aleutians, was maintaining a garrison of 19,067 Army personnel and 7,811 Navy. At Amchitka, where there were 10,260 Army and 903 Navy personnel, a 5,000-foot bomber strip had been completed during the month. This enabled America's air power to finally begin a significant presence in the war. Many of the buildings in the Main Camp area on Kiska, as well as part of the submarine base, had been destroyed, but despite the 1,000 sorties made by American planes during April, new construction on Kiska and Attu rapidly replaced damaged structures. By the end of the April 640 tons of bombs had been dropped.

In May of 1943 American Forces completed 35 strikes in 22 days with 17 of them against Kiska, 17 against Attu, and one directed at the Rat Islands. American Forces dropped 470 tons of bombs on the two major islands with a loss of 28 planes, only three of which were known to have been destroyed by enemy action, the remainder succumbed to the weather or other mishaps.

The Invasion of Attu

The battle of Attu was essentially an infantry battle. The climate greatly limited the use of air power as the island was shrouded in fog and experienced high winds almost every day. The terrain...steep jagged crags, knifelike ridges covered with snow, boggy tundra...made the use of mechanized equipment and of all motorized vehicles impracticable. The American GI, thus reduced to moving only on foot, had to blast his way to victory with only the weapons he could carry with him. The American troops, some trained and equipped for fighting in desert climates, some totally inexperienced in combat, had found a most formidable enemy in the Japanese who were fully equipped, thoroughly acclimated, and fanatically determined to hold their strong, well chosen, defensive positions.

The Attu attack force was originally scheduled to leave Cold Bay on May 3rd, but bad weather postponed sailing until the 4th of May, 1943. D-day was re-designated to be 8 May, 1943, then, again as a result of bad weather, D-day was postponed to 9 May, 1943, then to Tuesday, 11 May, 1943.

There were numerous "firsts" experienced by the U.S. Forces in the Aleutians. The American 7th Division had embarked on the first Allied sea-borne invasion of enemy-held territory. The 7th had trained in the Mojave Desert expecting eventually to fight the Germans in North Africa. Soon after the defeat of the German Army in North Africa, the 7th began to practice amphibious landings on San Clemente Island. With their training completed and plans in place, the 7th eventually shipped out of San Francisco, destination unknown. As the ships later set a northerly bearing, heading for the Aleutians once out to sea, the GIs were finally informed of their real destination. Cold weather uniforms were then issued to the men, including leather boots that would prove useless in the wet snow and mud soon to be encountered on Attu.

A J2F-4 refuels on the airfield at Dutch Harbor preparatory to taking off. The drab supply house stands in humble contrast to the distant mountains

The arrival of American forces off Attu was uneventful. A dense fog obscured the Island and surrounding area. The 7th Scout Co. had safely landed at Beach Scarlet, located on the northern shore of Attu, from their submarine transport. The Northern Force landing took place at 1450 hrs on Beach Red. The Southern Force landings at Massacre Bay proved difficult to the extreme. Some landing craft snagged on outcroppings of rock, sank, and dragged their crews to the bottom. A few landing craft collided with each other in the fog.

The northern force followed the island's coast-line, accompanied by a small flanking scout battalion to their right. The southern force finally pushed upwards from Massacre Bay through what was named Massacre Valley. The first wave of Americans found snow running all the way down the beach. The first artillery pieces promptly sank into the tundra after being fired. Air support from the nearby CVE Nassau was eliminated by 90% cloud cover over the island. Those fighters that were able to find their way to the island more often than not strafed friendly units. A flight of F4F Wildcats attempted an attack against the Japanese defenders. As they flew through what was to become known as Jarmin Pass, a williwaw blew two of the planes against the mountain. A thick ground fog persisted to a considerable altitude that, while preventing the American invaders from seeing the Japanese defenders, provided protection for the Japanese (invisible in their white clothing) who could clearly see American troop movements below them.

The beaches quickly jammed up with supplies and bogged-down vehicles. The 7th soon realized they wouldn't be able to get their artillery or tracked vehicles across the muskeg. It was apparent the battle would have to be fought by the foot soldiers themselves. Troops in the front lines began to suffer greatly from the effects of the bitter cold. Hundreds of GIs would eventually have their feet amputated as a result of frostbite and trench foot (roughly a quarter of all casualties would be traced to frostbite). American troops, lost in the fog, walked into enemy cross-fires and would be pinned down for hours with no reasonable shelter from the cold.

The American's continued to slug it out for eight days of nearly perpetual combat as the Japanese forged a bloody withdrawal. Finally, on the 18th of May, 1943, with the added help of the "Fighting Fourth," the American northern and southern forces linked up as per the original plan objective.

Badly outnumbered and sensing possible defeat, the Japanese now killed their own wounded by injecting them with morphine. To make sure the job was completed, they then threw hand grenades into their own medical tent.

On the 28th of May, 1943, Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki, commander of the Japanese forces on Attu, formed a plan that could possibly turn the tide of battle in favor of the Japanese. In the middle of the night he would lead his remaining force of 800 men (of an initial 2600) through a weak point in the American lines, capture an American Howitzer emplacement, then use it to pin down the Americans long enough to evacuate his surviving forces.

Seabees at Dutch harbor, Alaska

At 3:15 the following morning, Yamasaki's remaining troops took advantage of the lingering fog and managed to break through the American lines. Ten minutes later, with the artillery battery of Engineer Hill in sight, the Japanese commander ordered a Banzai attack. They killed several American patients in their field hospital and exploded a propane stove in the mess. The sleeping Americans quickly rallied their forces and threw the Japanese back into the fog after intense close combat. The failure to carry out their plan effectively destroyed the Japanese morale. Five hundred of the remaining Japanese committed mass suicide (gyokusai) with grenades held close to their stomachs, chests, and foreheads. Yamasaki attempted a final but fruitless charge later in the day with what remained of his force. During this charge he lost his own life to a .30-caliber bullet. The battle for Attu was over.

The casualties incurred during the invasion of Attu were appalling. The Americans suffered 3829 casualties, roughly 25% of the invading force, second only in proportion to Iwo Jima. Of these, 549 were killed; 1148 injured; 1200 with severe cold injuries; 614 with disease; and a remaining 318 to miscellaneous causes. On the Japanese side, 2351 men were counted by American burial parties, and hundreds more were presumed already buried. Total prisoners taken: 28 (none of whom were officers). The Japanese fought to virtually the last man.

By May 30th, 1943, unknown to the allied forces at the time, all organized Japanese Army resistance ended in the Aleutians.

On August 15th, 1943 the allied invasion of Kiska finally began. There was no opposition to the invasion of Kiska by the US and Canadian forces as there were no Japanese troops left on the island. The Japanese had been secretly removed from Kiska by I-class submarines and surface vessels prior to the allied attack. Allied casualties during the invasion nevertheless numbered close to 200, all from friendly fire, booby traps set out by the Japanese to inflict damage on the invading allied forces, or disease. There were seventeen Americans and four Canadians killed from either friendly fire or booby traps, fifty more were wounded as a result of friendly fire or booby traps, and an additional 130 men came down with trench foot.

The Japanese were finally ejected from the Aleutians only after 15 months of arduous operations hampered by shortages afloat, ashore, and in the air...not to mention the almost insuperable obstacles of weather and terrain.

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on February 17:
1444 Rudolf Agricola [Roelof Huysman], Dutch humanist/organist
1490 Charles de Bourbon officer/governor (Lombardy)
1519 François de Guise [Balafré], French general strategist (Calais)
1583 J Henry Alting Dutch theologist
1653 Arcangelo Corelli Fusignano Italy, violinist/composer (Concerto Grosso)
1667 Georg Bronner composer
1675 Johann Melchior Conradi composer
1696 Baron Ernst Gottlieb composer
1697 Louis-Maurice de La Pierre composer
1699 Hans Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff German architect (Sanssouci)
1723 Tobias Mayer "method of lunars" for longitude determination
1740 Horace B de Saussure Swiss physicist/geologist
1747 Narciso Casanovas composer
1752 Friedrich M Klinger German playwright (Wirrwarr)
1754 Jan Jachym Kopriva composer
1758 John Pinkerton Scottish historian
1774 Raphaelle Peale US, painter (After the Rain-1823)
1781 René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laënnec France, inventor (stethoscope)
1796 Giovanni Pacini composer
1804 Samuel Read Anderson Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1883
1816 Friedrich Wilhelm Markull composer
1817 Frederick Douglass famous African-American
1820 Henri Vieuxtemps Verviers Belgium, composer/teacher (Brussels Cons)
1824 William Farrar "Baldy" Smith Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1903
1831 Francisco Salvador Daniel composer
1837 Francis Jay Herron Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1902
1837 Sam[uel] van Houten Dutch (Liberal) minister (child labor laws)
1844 A Montgomery Ward founded mail-order business (Montgomery Ward)
1849 Selwyn Image Bodiam Sussex, painter
1850 Anton Urspruch composer
1850 Ludwig Bonvin composer
1853 Jaroslav Vrchlicky [Emil Frída], Czechoslovakian poet (1 night on Karlstein)
1854 Friedrich A Krupp German arms manufacturer
1855 Otto Liman von Sanders German general in Turkey (WWI)
1857 Samuel Sidney McClure Irish-American newspaper editor/publisher
1858 Ernest Ford composer
1862 Edward German (Jones) Whitchurch Shropshire, British composer
1862 Mori Ogai [Mori Rintarô) Japanese author (Maihime/Gan)
1864 Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson New South Wales Australia, poet (Waltzing Matilda)
1867 William Cadbury England, chocolate manufacturer (Cadbury)
1870 Louis de Raet Belgian economist/founder (Flemish People's Party)
1874 Thomas J Watson Sr US, representative/founder (IBM)
1877 Henri Vandeputte Belgian author/poet (L'homme Jeune)
1879 Dorothy Canfield Fisher US, novelist (Book-of-the Month-Club)
1880 Alvaro Obregon General/President of Mexico (1920-24)
1882 Kurt Schindler composer
1882 Noah Beery Smithville AR, actor (Story of Esther, Mark of Zorro)
1884 Arthur Vanderpoorten Flemish minister of Internal affairs (1940)
1887 Leevi Antti Madetoja composer
1888 Henrietta P "Hetty" Beck actress (Bouwmeester Award)
1888 Otto Stern German/US physicist (Stern-Gerlach-experiment, Nobel 1943)
1888 Ronald Aburthnott Knox English priest/writer (Viaduct Murder)
1889 H[aroldson] L Hunt Texas oil multi-millionaire
1891 Georg Britting writer
1892 Theodor Plievier German writer (Des Kaisers Kulis, Stalingrad)
1895 Anita Stewart New York, actress (South of Hell Mountain)
1895 Edna Park Edwards PA
1897 Johan[nes A] Kaart Dutch actor/stage manager (My Fair Lady)
1898 Tom Lowry cricketer (New Zealand batsman in seven Tests & their 1st Test captain)
19-- Christine Pickles Yorkshire England, actress (Helen-St Elsewhere)
1902 Marian Anderson Philadelphia PA, operatic contralto (banned by D A R)
1903 Johannes Linthorst Homan director of the queen in Groningen
1904 Albert Kuyle [Louis Kuitenbrouwer], Dutch writer (Jesus' Robe)
1906 Galo Plaza Lasso President of Ecuador (1948-52), head of OAS (1968-75)
1906 Ramon Tapales composer
1907 Alec Wilder Rochester NY, composer (1973 ASCAP award)
1907 Charles B Timmer Dutch translator/writer (Russia Black on White)
1908 Walter L "Red" Barber Mississippi, sports announcer (Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees)
1908 Staats Cotsworth Oak Park IL, actor (Peyton Place)
1909 Marjorie Lawrence Australia, soprano (Venus-Tannhäuser)
1909 Joseph "Poeske" Scherens Belgian cyclist (champion sprinter 1932-37)
1910 Ai Qing poet
1910 Marc Lawrence New York NY, actor (Man With Golden Gun)
1911 Arthur Hunnicutt Gravelly AR, actor (Big Sky, Apache Uprising)
1912 Andre [Alice Mary] Norton Cleveland OH, science fiction writer (Beast Master, Stand & Deliver)
1913 Joséphine F "Fietje" van Anrooy Dutch actress/director
1913 Oskar Danon composer
1913 Rene Leibowitz composer
1914 Arthur Kennedy Worcester MA, actor (Fantastic Voyage, Peyton Place)
1914 [Bert de] Wayne Morris Los Angeles CA, WWII-pilot/actor (Paths of Glory)
1914 Albert Westerlinck [José J M Aerts], Flemish literary
1914 Per-Jakez Helias writer/teacher
1915 Homer Keller composer
1916 Don Tallon cricketer (perhaps Australia's greatest wicket-keeper)
1916 Raf Vallone Tropea Italy, actor (El Cid, 2 Women, Greek Tycoon)
1918 Charles A Hayes (Representative-D-IL, 1983- )
1918 Olive Gibbs peace campaigner
1919 Kathleen Freeman Chicago IL, actress (Beverly Hillbillies)
1919 Jock Mahoney Chicago IL, actor (Dallas, Yancy Derringer, Day of Fury)
1919 Joseph R Hunt tennis champion (US Open-1943)
1920 Colin Franklin doctor
1920 Paul Fetler composer
1920 Trevor Oswald Ling religious studies professor
1922 Tommy Edwards rock vocalist (It's All in the Game)
1923 Alden Winship Clausen Hamilton IL, banker (President of World Bank)
1924 Margaret Truman Missouri, president's daughter/writer (Murder at FBI)/pianist
1925 Hal Holbrook Cleveland OH, actor (All the President's Men, Mark Twain)
1925 Fritz Behrendt German/Dutch cartoon character (The Slogan)
1926 Lee Hoiby Madison Wisconsin, composer (1957 Arts & Letters)
1926 Friedrich Cerha composer
1929 Chaim Potok New York NY, novelist (The Promise)
1929 Yasser Arafat PLO-leader (Achille Lauro, Nobel 1994)
1930 Usko Merilainen composer
1932 Buck Trent Spartanburg SC, banjoist/singer (Hee Haw)
1933 Bobby Lewis rocker (Tossin' & Turnin')
1933 Craig Thomas (Representative-R-WY)
1934 Alan Bates Allestree England, actor (Zorba the Greek, Unmarried Woman)
1934 Barry Humphries Australia TV host (Dame Edna Everage)
1934 Buddy Ryan NFL coach (Philadelphia Eagles, Phoenix Cardinals)
1935 Johnny Bush country singer
1936 Barry Jarman cricketer (Australian wicket-keeper in 60's)
1936 Jim Brown Georgia, NFL full back (Cleveland Browns)/actor (Dirty Dozen)
1936 Peter Walker cricket all-rounder (Glamorgan did little for England 1960)
1937 Mickey McGill US vocalist (Dells-Love is Blue)
1938 Mary Frances Berry educator/head (US Commission on Civil Rights)
1939 Mary Ann Mobley Biloxi MS, Miss America-1959/actress (Diff'rent Strokes)
1940 Dennis Gamsy cricketer (South African bat in 2 Tests vs Australia 1970)
1941 Heidi Biebi German Federal Republic, downhill skier (Olympics-gold-1960)
1941 Gene Pitney Hartford CT, singer/songwriter (Town Without Pity)
1942 Huey Newton Black Panther leader
1944 Bernie Grant British politician (Labour)
1945 Patricia Morrow actress (Rita-Peyton Place)
1945 Brenda Fricker Dublin Ireland, actress (My Left Foot)
1945 Willie J L Swildens-Rozendal Dutch MP (PvdA)
1946 André Dussollier Annecy France, actor (3 Men & a Cradle)
1946 Valdemar Bandolowski Denmark, yachting (Olympics-gold-1976, 80)
1946 Zina Bethune New York NY, actress (Nurses, Who's That Knocking at My Door)
1947 Ben Cramer Dutch vocalist (Clown)
1947 Dallas Adams British actor/painter/writer (Terror From Within)
1947 Dodie Stevens [Geraldine Ann Pasquale] Chicago IL, actress (Mary Hartman!)
1949 Fred Frith English guitarist/violinist/bassist (Skeleton Crew)
1950 Rick Medlocke rock guitarist/vocalist (Blackfoot)
1952 Guillermo Vilas tennis player (1977 US Open)
1952 Insook Bhushan Seoul Korea, US US table tennis player (Olympics-92)
1953 Janice Dickinson Brooklyn NY, model (Vogue)
1954 Rene Russo actress (Ransom)
1958 Heidi Hagman actress (Linda-Archie Bunker's Place)
1958 Karen Lende O'Connor Concord MA, equestrian 3-day (Olympics-silver-96)
1959 Ambrose "Rowdy" Gaines US, 100 meter swimmer (Olympics-gold-1984)
1959 Daniel Ray "Danny" Ainge basketball & football star
1959 Richard Karn Seattle WA, actor (Al-Home Improvement)
1961 Deb[ra] Richardson Minneapolis MN, beach volleyballer (Olympics-96)
1961 Guy McIntyre NFL guard (Philadelphia Eagles)
1962 David McComb Australia, vocalist/songwriter (Triffids)
1962 Hennie Meijer soccer player (Cambuur L, FC Heerenveen)
1962 Lou Diamond Phillips Philippines, actor (La Bamba, Stand & Deliver)
1962 Tony Blain cricketer (New Zealand Test wicket-keeper)
1963 Michael "Air" Jordan Brooklyn NY, NBA guard/forward (Chicago Bulls)
1963 Dan Reed rocker/actor (HOTS, Lake Consequence)
1964 Mike Campbell Seattle WA, pitcher (Chicago Cubs)
1965 Clayton Prince Philadelphia PA, actor (Dark Justice, Reuben-Another World)
1965 Jim Bowie Japanese/US baseball infielder (Oakland Athletics)
1966 Melissa Brooke-Belland rocker (Voice of the Beehive-Let it Bee)
1966 Luc Robitaille Montréal, NHL left wing (New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins)
1967 Gary Shuchuk Edmonton, NHL center (Los Angeles Kings)
1967 Michelle Forbes Austin TX, actress (Ensign Ro-Star Trek Next Generation)
1968 Bryan Cox NFL linebacker (Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears)
1968 Celita Schutz Riverdale NJ, half-middleweight judoka (Olympics-96)
1968 Patrick Uterwijk pop guitarist (Pestilence, Consuming Impulse)
1969 David Klingler NFL quarterback (Oakland Raiders, Cincinnati Bengals)
1969 Joel Steed NFL nose tackle (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1969 Levon Kirkland NFL linebacker (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1969 Traci Adell New Orleans LA, playmate (July, 1994)
1970 Tommy Moe Anchorage AK, nordic skier (Olympics-gold/silver-1994)
1972 Billie Joe Armstrong singer/musician (Green Day)
1972 Lloy Ball Ft Wayne IN, volleyball setter (Olympics-96)
1972 Richard MacQuire Melbourne VIC Australia, canoeist (Olympics-96)
1972 Stephen Robinson Arlington VA, rower (Olympics-1996)
1972 Tony Lawson NSA Australia, diver (Olympics-96)
1972 Vladimir Vujtek NHL forward (Team Czechoslovakia Olympics-gold-1998, Tampa Bay)
1972 William Floyd full back (San Francisco 49ers)
1973 Chris Robinson NBA guard (Vancouver Grizzlies)
1973 Drew Barry NBA guard (Atlanta Hawks)
1973 Frank Sanders NFL wide receiver (Arizona Cardinals)
1973 Raymond Jackson NFL defensive back (Buffalo Bills)
1974 Jerry O'Connell New York NY, actor (Scream 2, Sliders, Andrew Clements-My Secret Identity)
1974 Valeria Mazza Rosario Argentina, model (Cosmopolitan-July 1995)
1975 Sung-Hee Park Pusan Korea, tennis star (1993 Futures-Seoul)
1975 Todd Harvey Hamilton, NHL center (Dallas Stars)
1975 Vaclav Prospal NHL forward (Team Czechoslovakia Olympics-gold-1998, Philadelphia)
1980 Shanyn MacEachern Brampton Ontario, gymnast (Olympics-96)
1981 Donielle Thompson Wheatridge CO, gymnast (World-bronze-95, Olympics-96)
1981 Lisa Skinner Queensland Australia, gymnast (Olympics-96)
1982 Joseph Gordon-Levitt actor (Tommy Solomon-Third Rock From the Sun)

Deaths which occurred on February 17:
0364 Flavius Jovianus Christian emperor of Rome (363-64), dies at about 32
0956 Hugo the Great earl of Paris/duke of Francia, dies at about 55
1600 Giordano Bruno advocate of Copernican theory & plurality of worlds, burned at stake by the Inquisition in Rome
1612 Ernst of Bayern prince/bishop of Luik/archbishop of Cologne, dies at 57
1612 Jodocus Hondius Flemish cartoonist/mathematician, dies at 48
1652 Gregorio Allegri Italian singer/composer (Miserere), dies at about 67
1654 Michael Lohr composer, dies at 62
1673 Jean Baptiste Poquelin French author & dramatist, dies
1673 Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] French playwright (Learned Lady), dies in Paris at 51
1688 Reverend James Renwick hanged in Scotland for being a Presbyterian
1715 Antoine Galland French interpreter, dies at 68
1732 Louis Marchand composer, dies at 63
1796 James Macpherson poet, dies
1803 Louis R E prince de Rohan-Guémené archbishop of Straatsburg, dies at 68
1804 Christian Ernst Graf composer, dies at 80
1815 Franz Gotz composer, dies at 59
1827 Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Swiss educator, dies at 81
1841 Ferdinando Carulli composer, dies at 70
1847 William Collins landscape painter, dies
1852 Micha Joseph Levenson Hebrew poet, dies
1854 Hugues F R de Lamennais French priest/writer, dies at 71
1856 Heinrich Heine German poet, dies at 58 in Paris
1856 John Braham singer/composer, dies at 81
1874 [Lambert] Adolphe J Quetelet Belgian astronomer/sociologist, dies at 77
1875 Luís Varela Brazilian romantic poet, dies at 33
1878 José Amador de los Ríos Spanish historian/poet, dies at 59
1883 Napoleon Coste composer, dies at 76
1901 Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin composer, dies at 38
1903 Joseph Parry composer, dies at 61
1905 Serge Alexandrovich Governor-General Moscow, murdered
1907 Henry Steel Olcott US co-founder (Theosophist Society-Madras), dies at 74
1908 Geronimo Apache chief, dies at about 79
1912 Aloys von Aerenthal foreign minister (Austria-Hungary), dies at 57
1912 L Oates British explorer (Antarctica), dies
1917 Edmund Bishop English Secretary of Thomas Carlyle, dies at 70
1918 Wilfrid Laurier Canadian PM (1896-1911), dies
1924 Oskar Merikanto composer, dies at 55
1929 John Read cricketer (batted in 17 Tests for England for 463 runs), dies
1932 Frans Gailliard Belgian painter/graphic artist (Egina), dies at 70
1933 Henri[cus A] Viotta Dutch composer (Handbook of Music), dies at 84
1934 Albert I LCMM von Saksen-Coburg king of Belgium (1909-34), dies at 58
1936 Erich Schaeder German theologist (Theozentrische), dies at 74
1944 Fausto Agnelli Swiss painter, dies at 64
1951 Nikoghayos Fadeyi Tigranyan composer, dies at 94
1954 Evert Gorter children's artist (Kindergeneeskunde), dies at 72
1955 Otto J Gombosi Hungarian/US musicologist, dies at 52
1959 Tim Mara co-founder of NFL's New York Giants, dies
1959 Kathryn Adams actress (Meet the Chump, 5th Avenue Girl), dies
1961 Nita Naldi actress (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde), dies of heart attack at 63
1962 Joseph Kearns actor (George-Dennis the Menace), dies at 55
1962 Bruno Walter symphony conductor (New York Philharmonic), dies at 85
1966 Frank Pettingell actor (Becket, Up the Creek), dies at 75
1966 Gail Kane actress (White Sister, Arizona), dies at 81
1966 Hans Hofmann German/US painter (Search for the Real), dies at 85
1968 Donald Wolfit actor (Lawrence of Arabia), dies of heart ailment at 65
1970 Agnon [SJ Czaczkes], Hebrew writer (Nobel 1966), dies at 81
1970 Alfred Newman US composer, dies at 69
1970 Schmuel J Agnon novelist (Nobel 1966), dies
1971 Teddy Hart actor (3 Men on a Horse), dies at 73
1972 Gavril Nikolayevich Popov composer, dies at 67
1972 Shunryu Suzuki Roshi founder (San Francisco Zen Center), ½ ashes buried
1976 Jean Servais Belgian actor (Every Man is My Enemy), dies at 65
1976 Johan[nes A] Card actor/stage manager (My Fair Lady), dies at 78
1977 Quincy Howe newscaster (CBS Weekend News), dies at 76
1979 William Gargan actor (Rain, Bells of St Mary), dies at 73
1980 Jerry Fielding orchestra leader (Bewitched, Hogan's Heroes, Lively Ones), dies at 57
1980 Graham Sutherland painter, dies
1982 Lee [Israel] Strasberg father of method acting/actor (And Justice for All), dies of a heart attack at 80
1982 Theolonious S Monk US, jazz pianist/composer (Blue Monk), dies at 64
1984 Lucille Benson actress (Lilly-Bosom Buddies), dies at 69
1985 Wanda Perry actress (Roberta, Death of a Salesman), dies at 67
1986 Jiddu Krishnamurti Indian philosopher (Kingdom Happiness), dies at 90
1986 Paul Stewart actor (Opening Night, In Cold Blood, Window), dies
1987 Hal K Dawson actor (Another Language, Wells Fargo), dies
1987 Verree Teasdale actress (Skyscraper Souls), dies
1989 Lefty Gomez New York Yankee pitching great, dies at 80
1990 Erik Rhodes actor (Top Hat), dies of pneumonia at 84
1990 Frans Kellendonk Dutch writer (Good for Nothing), dies at 39
1990 Keith Haring US graffiti-artist, dies at 31
1990 Marc Clement actor (Career Opportunities, Sluggers Wife), dies
1991 Enrique Bermudez commandant (Contra), dies
1993 Alfredo de Leon leader (Philippines Red Scorpio Gang), killed
1993 George E Wilburn film editor, dies of emphysema at 77
1993 Leslie Townsend cricket all-rounder (England in 4 Tests 1930-34), dies
1994 Randy Shilts US journalist (And the band played on), dies of AIDs at 41
1995 Jan Bart Klaster music editor (The Slogan), dies at 50
1995 Thelma Hulbert painter, dies at 81
1995 Timothy Hugh Brown theatre critic, dies at 52
1995 Uta Graf singer/teacher, dies at 80
1996 [Elsie] Evelyn Laye actress/singer (Sun Child), dies at 95
1996 Bentley Bridgewater British Museum secretary, dies at 84
1996 Henry Guinness missionary, dies at 87
1996 Jean Writer-Pierre Herve Bazin dies at 84
1996 Michael Raptis writer/revolutionary, dies at 84
1998 Ernst Juenger German writer, dies at 102

On this day...
1370 Battle at Rudau Germany beats Lithuania
1568 Holy Roman Emperor agrees to pay annual tribute to Sultan for peace
1598 Boris Godunov chosen tsar of Russia
1621 Miles Standish appointed 1st commander of Plymouth colony
1634 William Prynne tried in Star Chamber for publishing "Histriomastix"
1670 France & Bavaria sign military assistance treaty
1676 Kings Charles II & Louis XIV sign secret treaty
1691 Thomas Neale granted British patent for American postal service
1714 Parliament of Paris accepts Pope Clemens XI's "Unigenitus" degree
1772 1st partition of Poland-Russia & Prussia, joined later by Austria
1776 1st volume of Gibbon's "Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire" published
1791 Messier catalogs M83 (spiral galaxy in Hydra)
1795 Thomas Seddal harvests 8.3-kg potato from his garden Chester, England
1801 House breaks electoral college tie, chooses Jefferson President over Burr
1817 1st US city lit by gas (Baltimore)
1818 Baron Karl von Drais de Sauerbrun patents "draisine" (early bicycle)
1836 HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin leaves Tasmania
1841 Dutch ex-king Willem I marries Henriette d'Oultremont de Wégimont
1848 Toscane gets liberal Constitution
1854 British recognize independence of Orange Free State (South Africa)
1859 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Un Ballo in maschera" premieres at the Apollo Theatre in Rome
1864 Confederate sub "HL Hunley" sinks Union ship "Housatonic" (1st submarine to sink an enemy ship)
1865 Columbia SC burns down during the Civil War
1865 Battle of Charleston SC
1867 1st ship passes through Suez Canal
1867 Gyula Andressy becomes premier of Hungary
1870 Mississippi becomes 9th state re-admitted to US after Civil War
1870 Esther Morris appointed 1st female judge
1876 Sardines 1st canned (Julius Wolff-Eastport ME)
1878 1st telephone exchange in San Francisco opens with 18 phones
1880 Tsar Alexander II of Russia survives an assassination attempt
1882 1st Test Cricket match played at Sydney Cricket Ground
1883 A Ashwell patents free-toilet in London
1885 Bismarck gives Carl Peters' firm management of East-Africa
1896 London Country Councils' Muzzling Order becomes effective
1897 National Congress of Parents & Teachers (PTA) organizes (Washington DC)
1904 Giacomo Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly" premieres in Milan
1905 Frances Willard becomes 1st woman honored in National Statuary Hall
1906 Theodore Roosevelt's daughter Alice marries in the White House
1911 1st amphibian flight to & from a ship, by Glenn Curtiss, San Diego
1913 New York Armory Show introduces Picasso, Matisse, Duchamp to US public
1913 1st minimum wage law in US takes effect (Oregon)
1915 Edward Stone, 1st US combatant to die in WWI, is mortally wounded
1916 Romberg/Hanley/Atteridge/Smith' musical premieres in New York NY
1921 Arthur Honegger's "Pastorale D'été" premieres
1923 Ottawa Senator Cy Denneny becomes NHL's all time scorer (143 goals)
1924 Johnny Weissmuller sets 100-yard freestyle record (52.4 seconds)
1926 Tennis star Suzanne Lenglen beats Helen Wills in their only match
1926 Avalanche buries 75 in Sap Gulch Bingham UT, 40 die
1930 French government of Tardieu, falls
1931 1st telecast of a sporting event in Japan (baseball)
1931 Hockey's Hershey Bears (now with AHL) 1st game
1932 Irving Berlin's musical "Face the Music" premieres in New York NY
1933 Blondie Boopadoop marries Dagwood Bumstead; Dagwood's father promptly disinherits him
1933 1st issue of "Newsweek" magazine published
1933 Marinus van der Lubbe arrives in Glindow, at Potsdam
1933 US Senate accept Blaine Act ending prohibition
1934 1st high school auto driving course offered (State College PA)
1936 "The Phantom" cartoon strip by Lee Falk debuts
1936 -58º F (-50º C), McIntosh SD (state record)
1936 S[amuel] N[athaniel] Behrman's "End of Summer" premieres in New York NY
1938 1st public experimental demonstration of Baird color TV (London)
1939 Katwijk soccer team forms
1940 Bradman scores 135 in a non-Shield match for South Africa vs West Australia
1940 British destroyers board German Altmark off Norway
1941 Joe Louis KOs Gus Dorazio in 2 for heavyweight boxing title
1943 Dutch churches protest at Seyss-Inquart against persecution of Jews
1943 General-Major Bradley flies to Washington DC
1943 Hitler visits field marshal von Mansteins headquarters in Zaporozje
1943 New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio, enlists into the US army
1944 Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins; US victory on Feb 22
1944 US begins night bombing of Truk
1946 Humanistic Covenant forms in Amsterdam
1947 Voice of America begins broadcasting to USSR
1947 Dutch Roman Catholic bishops publish manifest against "godless communism"
1949 Chaim Weizman elected 1st President of Israel
1949 Ice Pairs Championship at Paris won by Andrea Kékessy/Ede Király of Hungary
1949 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Paris won by Alena Vrzanova of Czechoslovakia
1949 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Paris won by Richard Button USA
1950 31 die in a train crash in Rockville Center, New York
1953 Baseball star/pilot Ted Williams uninjured as plane shot down in Korea
1953 DSB soccer team forms in Eindhoven
1955 Mike Souchak sets PGA 72-hole record of 257
1955 Ice Dance Championship at Vienna Austria won by J Westwood/Demmy Great Britain
1955 Ice Pairs Championship at Vienna won by Frances Dafoe & Bowden of CAN
1955 KTVF TV channel 11 in Fairbanks AK (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting
1955 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Vienna won by Tenley Albright US
1956 Ice Dance Championship at Garmisch won by Pamela Weight/P Thomas Great Britain
1956 Ice Pairs Championship at Garmisch won by Schwarz & Oppelt of Austria
1956 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Garmisch won by Carol Heiss USA
1956 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Garmisch won by H A Jenkins USA
1957 Suez Canal reopens
1957 Fire in Warreton MO, kills 72
1957 Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA St Petersburg Golf Open
1958 Comic strip "BC" 1st appears
1958 WETV (now WPBA) TV channel 30 in Atlanta GA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1959 1st weather satellite launched, Vanguard 2, 9.8 kg
1962 Wilt Chamberlain of NBA Philadelphia Warriors scores 67 points vs St Louis
1962 Beach Boys introduced a new musical style with their hit "Surfin"
1962 Storm in Hamburg, kills 265
1963 Toru Terasawa runs world record marathon (2 15 15.8
1964 101st member elected to baseball's hall of fame (Luke Appling)
1964 US House of Reps accept Law on the civil rights
1964 US Supreme court rules - 1 man 1 vote (Westberry vs Sanders)
1964 WMEM TV channel 10 in Presque Isle ME (PBS) begins broadcasting
1965 US Ranger 8 launched, will transmit 7,137 lunar pictures
1965 US-Japan baseball relations suspended over Masanori Murakami dispute
1966 French satellite Diapason D-1A launch into Earth orbit
1967 Beatles release "Penny Lane" & "Strawberry Fields"
1967 Kosmos 140 (Soyuz test) launches into Earth orbit
1968 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield MA, opens
1969 Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash record an album (never released)
1969 Golda Meir sworn in as Israel's 1st female prime minister
1970 Jeffrey McDonald slices up his wife & daughter
1970 Joni Mitchell's final concert (Royal Albert Hall)
1970 Robert Marasco's "Child's Play" premieres in New York NY
1971 England regains cricket Ashes with a 2-0 series win
1972 President Nixon leaves Washington DC for China
1972 British Parliament votes to join European Common Market
1973 Rodney Redmond scores 107 on debut vs Pakistan, his only Test Cricket
1974 49 die in stampede for seats at soccer match, Cairo, Egypt
1974 Carol Mann wins LPGA Naples Lely Golf Classic
1976 Organic statute makes Macao autonomous
1976 "Rockabye Hamlet" opens at Minskoff Theater NYC for 7 performances
1976 Macau adopts constitution (Organic Law of Macau)
1976 New Zealand scores their 1st innings win in Test Cricket, vs India
1976 Richard Hadlee takes 7-23 vs India, his 1st match-winning spell
1979 China invades Vietnam
1979 Eric Heiden equals skating world record 1000 meter (1:14.99)
1980 Buddy Baker wins Daytona 500 (177.6 MPH/285.8 kph)
1980 Dot Germain wins LPGA S&H Golf Classic
1981 Chrysler Corp reports largest corporate losses in US history
1982 Commencement of Sri Lanka's 1st Test Cricket match, vs England
1983 Bob Bourne fails on 8th Islander penalty shot
1983 Netherlands adopts constitution
1983 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1985 1st class postage rises from 20¢ to 22¢
1985 3rd person to receive an artificial heart (Murray Haydon)
1985 1st day/night game at the MCG, Australia vs England
1985 Hein Vergeer becomes world champion skater
1985 Laffit Pincay Jr is third to ride 6,000th winners at Santa Anita
1986 1st Francophone Summit convenes at Versailles
1986 Johnson & Johnson announces it no longer sells capsule drugs
1986 Howard Stern radio show returns to NYC morning radio (WXRK 92.3 FM)
1986 Libyan bombers attack N'djamena Airport in Chad
1987 Don Mattingly wins highest salary arbitration ($1,975,000 per year)
1987 Michelle Renee Royer, 21, (Texas), crowned 36th Miss USA
1988 US Lieutenant Colonel William Higgins kidnapped by Lebanese terrorists & later killed
1989 6-week study of Arctic atmosphere shows no ozone "hole"
1989 Former baseball player/manager Leo Durocher injured in a car crash
1989 Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia & Libya form common market
1989 Orel Hershiser, Dodger pitcher signs record $7.9M-3 year contract
1989 Whitesnake's rocker David Coverdale weds actress Tawny Kitaen
1989 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1991 US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldredge
1993 Haitian ferry boat capsize in storm, 800-2,000 die
1993 Mark Foster swims world record 50 meter free style (21.60 seconds)
1995 11th Soap Opera Digest Awards
1995 Colin Fergusson found guilty of killing 6 people on the Long Island Railroad in New York
1995 Federal judge allows lawsuit claiming US tobacco makers knew nicotine was addictive & manipulated its levels to keep customers hooked
1995 Tiger manager Sparky Anderson takes unpaid leave due to baseball strike
1996 1st full ODI for the Netherlands vs New Zealand, cricket World Cup Nolan Clarke makes ODI debut for Netherlands at age 47
1997 Carl Sagan Public Memorial at Pasadena CA
1997 Weekly Standard shows evidence Larry Flint sex abused his daughter
1998 Diane Zamora, 20, Naval Academy cadet convicted of capital murder
1998 Larry Wayne Harris & Bill Levitt arrested for possession of anthrax

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Sri Lanka : Maha Shivaratree
US : Presidents' Day (formerly Washington's Birthday)-legal holiday - - - - - ( Monday )

Religious Observances
Ancient Rome : Quirinalia-Feast of Quirinus (a d xiij Kal Mar)
Christian : Feast of St Silvinus
Christian : Commemoration of Flight into Egypt
Roman Catholic : Memorial of 7 Holy Founders of the Servite Order (opt)
Cyprus, Greece : Green (or Clean) Monday (1st Monday of Lent-movable)

Religious History
1741 English revivalist George Whitefield advised in a letter: 'Be content with no degree of sanctification. Be always crying out, "Lord, let me know more of myself and of thee."'
1815 In deciding the legal case "Terrett v. Taylor," the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional an act of the Virginia Legislature which denied property rights to Protestant Episcopal churches in the state. The Court ruled that religious corporations, like other corporations, have rights to their property.
1816 Birth of Edward Hopper, American Presbyterian clergyman. He is remembered today as author of the hymn, "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me."
1889 Billy Sunday, 27, baseball player-turned-preacher, made his first appearance as an evangelist in Chicago. A strong fundamentalist, Sunday preached temperance and opposed scientific evolution. Over 100 million are estimated to have heard Sunday preach before his death in 1935.
1969 Russian-born, Milwaukee-raised Golda Meir (n‚e Mabovitch [Myerson]), 70, was sworn in as Israel's first female prime minister. (She would hold the office for five embattled years.)

Thought for the day :
"Be silent as to services you have rendered, but speak of favours you have received."

Today's classic warship, USS William D. Porter (DD-579)

Fletcher class destroyer
Displacement. 2,060 t.
Lenght. 376'6"
Beam. 39'4"
Draft. 17'9"
Speed. 35.5 k.
Complement. 273
Armament. 5 5", 4 40mm., 4 20mm., 10 2;" tt., 2 dct., 6 dcp.

USS William D. Porter (DD-579) was laid down on 7 May 1942 at Orange, Tex., by the Consolidated Steel Corp.; launched on 27 September 1942; sponsored by Miss Mary Elizabeth Reeder; and commissioned on 6 July 1943, Lt. Comdr. Wilfred A. Walter in command.

William D. Porter departed Orange shortly after being commissioned. After stops at Galveston, Tex., and Algiers, La., the destroyer headed for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on 30 July for shakedown. She completed shakedown a month later and, following a brief stop at Bermuda, continued on to Charleston, S.C., where she arrived on 7 September. William D. Porter completed post-shakedown repairs at Charleston and got underway for Norfolk, Va., at the end of the month. For about five weeks, the warship operated from Norfolk conducting battle practice with Intrepid (CV-11) and other ships of the Atlantic Fleet.

On 12 November, she departed Norfolk and the following day rendezvoused with Iowa (BB-61). That battleship was on her way to North Africa carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Cairo and Teheran Conferences. During battle drills on the afternoon of the 14th, William D. Porter inadvertently fired a live torpedo at lowa. However, the destroyer signaled Iowa in plenty of time to allow the battleship to turn hard to starboard, parallel to the torpedo's wake. The torpedo exploded some 3,000 yards astern of the mighty man-of-war. William D. Porter completed her part in the mission and steamed west to Bermuda, where she arrived on 16 November.

A week later, she returned to Norfolk and prepared for transfer to the Pacific. She got underway for that duty on 4 December, steamed via Trinidad, and reached the Panama Canal on the 12th. After transiting the canal, the destroyer set a course for San Diego, where she stopped between 19 and 21 December to take on cold weather clothing and other supplies necessary for duty in the Aleutian Islands.

On 29 December, William D. Porter arrived in Dutch Harbor, on the island of Unalaska, and joined TF 94. Between 2 and 4 January 1944, she voyaged from Dutch Harbor to Adak, whence she conducted training operations until her departure for Hawaii on the 7th. The warship entered Pearl Harbor on 22 January and remained there until 1 February at which time the destroyer put to sea again to escort Black Hawk (AD9) to Adak. The two ships arrived at their destination nine days later and William D. Porter began four months of relatively uneventful duty with TF 94. She sailed between the various islands in the Aleutians chain, serving primarily as an antisubmarine escort.

On 10 June, the destroyer stood out of Attu and headed for the Kuril Islands. She and the other ships of TF 94 reached their destination early on the morning of the 13th. They started to shell their target, the island of Matsuwa, at 0513. After 20 minutes, William D. Porter's radar picked up an unidentified surface vessel, closing her port quarter at a speed in excess of 55 knots. Her radar personnel tentatively identified the craft as an enemy PT-type boat, and the warship ceased fire on Matsuwa to take the new target under fire. Soon thereafter, the craft's reflection disappeared from the radar screen, presumably the victim of TF 94's gunfire. Not long afterward, the task force completed its mission and retired from the Kurils to refuel at Attu.

On 24 June, the destroyer left Attu with TF 94 for her second mission in the Kurils. Following two days at sea in steadily increasing fog, she arrived off Paramushiro on the 26th. In a dense fog with visibility down to about 200 yards, she delivered her gunfire and then departed with TF 94 to return to the Aleutians. A month of training exercises intervened between her second and third voyages to the Kurils. On 1 August, she cleared Kuluk Bay for her final bombardment of the Kurils. On the second day out, an enemy twin-engine bomber snooped the task force and received a hail of fire from some of the screening destroyers. That proved to be the only noteworthy event of the mission, because the following day the bombardment was canceled due to poor weather and the enemy reconnaissance plane. William D. Porter dropped anchor in Massacre Bay at Attu on 4 August.

After a month of antisubmarine patrol, the warship departed the Aleutians for a brief yard period at San Francisco preparatory to reassignment to the western Pacific. She completed repairs and stood out of San Francisco on 27 September. She reached Oahu on 2 October and spent the ensuing fortnight in training operations out of Pearl Harbor. On the 18th, she resumed her voyage west, and, 12 days later, the warship pulled into Seeadler Harbor at Manus in the Admiralty Islands. She departed Manus early in November to escort Alshain (AK-55) via Hollandia to Leyte.

Though William D. Porter arrived in the western Pacific too late to participate in the actual invasion at Leyte, combat conditions persisted there after her arrival in San Pedro Bay. Soon after she anchored there, Japanese planes swooped in to attack the ships in the anchorage. The first plane fell to the guns of a nearby destroyer before reaching William D. Porter's effective range. A second intruder appeared, however and the destroyer's 5-inch guns joined those of the assembled transports in bringing him to a fiery end in mid-air.

For the remainder of the year, William D. Porter escorted ships between Leyte, Hollandia, Manus, Bougainville, and Mindoro. On 21 December, while steaming from Leyte to Mindoro, she encountered enemy air power once again. Two planes made steep glides and dropped several bombs near the convoy. The destroyer opened up with her main battery almost as soon as the enemies appeared but to no avail. Their bombs missed their targets by a wide margin, but the two Japanese aircraft apparently suffered no damage and made good their escape. Not long thereafter, four more airborne intruders attacked. William D. Porter concentrated her fire on the two nearest her, one of which fell to her antiaircraft fire. The second succumbed to the combined efforts of other nearby destroyers, and the remaining two presumably retired to safety. From then until midnight, enemy aircraft shadowed the convoy, but none displayed temerity enough to attack. Before dawn the following morning, she encountered and destroyed a heavily laden, but abandoned, enemy landing barge. After completing her screening mission to Mindoro, William D. Porter returned to San Pedro Bay on 26 December to begin preparations for the invasion of Luzon.

For the Lingayen operation, William D. Porter was assigned to the Lingayen Fire Support Group of Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf's Bombardment and Fire Support Group (TG 77.2). The destroyer departed San Pedro Bay on 2 January 1945 and joined her unit in Leyte Gulf the following day. The entire group then passed south through the Surigao Strait, thence crossed the Mindanao Sea, rounded the southern tip of Negros, and then proceeded generally north along the western coasts of Negros, Panay, Mindoro, and finally, Luzon.

By the time the unit reached the southwestern coast of Luzon, it came within the effective range of Luzon based aircraft. Beginning on the morning of 5 January, enemy planes including kamikazes brought the force under attack. William D. Porter saw no action during the first stage of those attacks, because the group's combat air patrol (CAP) provided an effective protective blanket. However, the last raid broke through the CAP umbrella at 1650 and charged to the attack. William D. Porter took three of those planes under fire at about 1713, but growing darkness precluded evaluation of the results of that engagement. During that raid, cruiser Louisville (CA-28) and escort carrier Manila Bay (CVE-61) suffered extensive damage from kamikaze crashes.

Before dawn on the 6th, the destroyer moved into Lingayen Gulf with her unit to begin preinvasion bombardment. Throughout the day, enemy planes made sporadic attacks upon the bombarding ships. That evening, William D. Porter began firing on shore batteries guarding the approaches to the landing beaches. At 1738, her attention was diverted to a lone plane; and her antiaircraft battery brought it down handily. Twenty minutes later, a twin-engine "Betty" ran afoul of the destroyer's gunners who splashed this one neatly as well. William D. Porter then returned to her primary mission, shore bombardment.

After the 9 January landings. the destroyer's mission changed to call fire and night harassing fire in support of the troops. Then, from 11 to 18 January, she stood off Lingayen Gulf with TG 77.2 to protect the approaches from incursion by enemy surface forces. On the 18th, she reentered the gulf to resume support duty for forces ashore and to contribute to the anchorage's air and antisubmarine defenses. On 3 February, the warship bombarded abandoned enemy barges to assure that they would not be used against the invasion force or as evacuation vehicles. She then resumed her antisubmarine and air defense role until 15 February, when she departed Lingayen Gulf to escort Lindenwald (LSD-6) and Epping Forest (LSD-4) to Guam.

After returning briefly to Lingayen Gulf, William D. Porter moved on to Leyte to prepare for the assault on Okinawa. She remained at Leyte during the first half of March; then joined the gunfire support unit attached to the Western Islands Attack Group for a week of gunnery practice at Cabugan Island. She departed the Philippines on 21 March, reached the Ryukyu Islands on the morning of the 25th, and began supporting the virtually unopposed occupation of Kerama Retto. Between 25 March and 1 April, she provided antiaircraft and antisubmarine protection for the ships in the Kerama roadstead, while performing some fire support duties in response to what little resistance the troops met ashore on the islets of Kerama Retto.

However, by the time the main assault on Okinawa began on the morning of 1 April, she had been reassigned to TF 54, Rear Admiral Morton L. Deyo's Gunfire and Covering Force. During her association with that task organization, William D. Porter rendered fire support for the troops conquering Okinawa, provided antisubmarine and antiaircraft defenses for the larger warships of TF 54, and protected minesweepers during their operations. Between 1 April and 5 May, she expended in excess of 8,500 rounds of 5-inch shells both at shore targets and at enemy aircraft during the almost incessant aerial attacks on the invasion force. During that period, she added five additional plane kills to her tally.

The constant air raids launched from Kyushu and Formosa prompted the Americans to establish a cordon of radar picket ships around Okinawa, and it was to this duty that William D. Porter switched in early May. Between 5 May and 9 June, she stood picket duty, warned the fleet of the approach of enemy air raids, and vectored interceptors out to meet the attackers. She brought down another enemy plane with her own guns; and fighters under her direction accounted for seven more.

On 10 June 1945, William D. Porter fell victim to a unique though fatal kamikaze attack. At 0815 that morning, an obsolete "Val" dive-bomber dropped unheralded out of the clouds and made straight for the warship. The destroyer managed to evade the suicide plane, and it splashed down close aboard her. Somehow, the explosive-laden plane ended up directly beneath William D. Porter before it exploded. Suddenly the warship was lifted out of the water and then dropped back again. She lost power and suffered broken steam lines. A number of fires also broke out. For three hours, her crew struggled courageously to put out the fires, repair the damage, and keep the ship afloat. The crew's efforts, however, availed nought, and, 12 minutes after the order to abandon ship went out, William D. Porter heeled over to starboard and sank by the stern. Miraculously, her crew suffered no fatal injuries. The warship's name was struck from the Navy list on 11 July 1945.

William D. Porter received four battle stars for her service in World War II.