Tag: us army

Landmark 1963 Army – Navy Game; JFK & Instant Replay

TODAY IN HISTORY, DECEMBER 7, 1963:

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a US Navy Veteran of the Second World War. He had served in the Pacific Theater, commanding PT-109, a “Patrol-Torpedo” boat about 77 feet in length. His boat was sunk in the Solomon Islands and he became a war hero for his efforts in his crew’s rescue. But that is another story.

As President it was his habit to attend the annual Army-Navy game to unabashedly root for Navy. He planned to attend the game on December 1, 1963. However he was cut down by an assassin’s bullet in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963.

Out of respect for their commander in chief the services postponed the game. Kennedy’s widow asked that the game be played in his honor.

On December 7 the game was held in Philadelphia. It would become a landmark game because when Army scored a touchdown, the producers decided to use a new technology for the very first time. They used their new machinery to instantly replay the touchdown for viewers. Their phones immediately lit up as viewers were confused as to whether Army had scored twice! Of course this technology has advanced markedly since and is frequently utilized to decide debated plays.

Navy Quarterback Midshipman Roger Staubach led “The President’s Team” to a 21-15 victory over Army. Staubach would receive the Heisman Trophy and go on to lead the Dallas Cowboys in a remarkable career.

NUTS!! Monty Shows His….Ego

Today in History, January 7, 1945:

The Battle of the Bulge.

After the American 101st Airborne held out against overwhelming German forces for days, refusing to surrender (Gen. Anthony McAuliffe replied Nuts! to a surrender command, confusing the hell out of the Germans); after American Gen. George S. Patton turned his entire 3rd Army 90 degrees and ran full tilt through winter conditions to reach his comrades; after American air power helped save the day when the weather cleared,

British Gen. Bernard Law Montgomery held a press conference during which he took credit for the hard won victory.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill had to address Parliament to assert the truth that The Battle of the Bulge was solely an American victory after the political fall-out of Montgomery’s typically arrogant statements.

The Flying Banana Goes to War

Today in History, December 11, 1961:

The first helicopters (H21C Shawnees) arrive in Vietnam, with the mission of transporting South Vietnamese troops into combat.

Helicopters had been used in Korea to transport wounded soldiers, but by Vietnam they had developed to the point that they could be used to move troops quickly into combat areas. This was a marked change in combat operations.

The decendants of the Shawnee would of course play an ever more important role in Vietnam and beyond.

Two American “Royals” Killed on the Same Day

Today in History, November 27, 1868:

His story could make him the 19th-Century version of Joe Kennedy, Jr or John F. Kennedy.  He was born in 1844 into a family filled with Secretaries of the Treasury and Secretaries of State, wealthy bankers, and his grandfather, Alexander Hamilton, was a Founding Father and the first Secretary of the Treasury in President Washington’s cabinet.  And of course, Alexander Hamilton lost his bright future in a duel, killed by Vice-President Aaron Burr in 1804.  Both the Hamiltons and the McLanes were well placed.

Louis McLane Hamilton had wealth, influence, a bright future, and according to his contemporaries, a high degree of character.  Joe and Jack Kennedy had used their influence to get INTO combat during WWII.  It cost Joe his life, and very nearly cost JFK his.  Likewise, young Louis Hamilton used his influence to get into combat during the Civil War when he was 17 and 18.  JFK had to use his father the former Ambassador’s influence to get an assignment in the Pacific.  Louis had a letter from President Lincoln himself to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton recommending his commission as an officer.  Louis didn’t waste what was given to him.  He fought with distinction during the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Siege of Petersburg and Appomattox Courthouse.

After the war Hamilton continued his service, serving as a Lieutenant and a Captain in the 7th Calvary under Colonel George Armstrong Custer.  Hamilton commanded Fort Lyon in Colorado for a time, and fended off an attack led by Chief Pawnee Killer.  

On November 26th, 1868 he found himself assigned as “Officer of the Day”, an assignment which gave him responsibility for the 7th Cavalry’s supply train as Custer searched in Indian Territory for Southern Cheyenne warriors.  As Custer planned a pursuit, some of Hamilton’s command was taken to bolster the assault’s numbers.  True to his nature, Hamilton went to Custer and made his case…earnestly, insistently asking not to be left behind as his troops went into battle.  Custer was sympathetic to the request…he would make the same request before the Battle of the Little Bighorn.  Custer agreed to let Hamilton leave the wagon train and join his troops.

As a result, Captain Louis McLane Hamilton, Alexander’s grandson, was at the lead of his troops who, as it happened, were the first to attack Chief Black Kettle’s village along the Washita River.

“Keep cool, fire low, and not too rapidly” was the last thing Hamilton was heard to say before being shot in the chest, killed instantly, by one of the defenders firing from within a wigwam.  Hamilton the first person killed in the battle.

Elsewhere on the battlefield was Chief Black Kettle and his wife.  Not much is known about Chief Black Kettle prior to the mid 1850’s, but what is known that this leader in the Southern Cheyenne tribe often worked hard to keep the peace.  In 1864 he and his band were in Colorado when some settlers had been attacked.  The Governor declared any Indians who did not report to a military post would be considered hostile.  Chief Black Kettle led his band to Fort Lyon and came to an agreement with the commander there for his Southern Cheyenne to camp along Sand Creek in eastern Colorado.  This agreement didn’t prevent Colorado Militia Colonel Chivington, ambitious and about to lose his troops to the end of their enlistment, from attacking the peaceful encampment, which was complete with an American flag flying.  Many were killed, but Black Kettle and his wife managed to survive.

He was encamped with his people along the Washita River in present day Oklahoma for much the same reason, with the same results.  But this time his luck ran out.  As he and his wife fled, they were shot down and killed.

An Unfairly Ignominious End to a Brilliant Career

 

Today in History, October 31, 1861:

76-year-old Gen. Winfield Scott steps down as commander of the Union armies due to his age and poor health; 300+ pounds and suffering from gout, Scott could no longer mount a horse without assistance, much less be effective in the field.  He was all but run out of the US Army he loved by a much younger, ambitious officer, Gen. George McClellan.  McClellan was also a brilliant officer, but did not have Scott’s leadership qualities.

However Scott had been a hero; a soldier since 1808, he fought in the War of 1812, wrote many of the rules and regulations for the fledgling American Army, and used brilliant tactics in the Mexican War.  Much of what the US Army has become, is because of Winfield Scott, who in his youth struck an imposing figure.

Most interesting to me is that although he retired in bad shape, Scott had trained and led most of the senior commanders on both sides of the Civil War throughout the years and during the Mexican War. Grant, Lee and many others honed their skills under his tutelage.

When the war began, General Scott had a plan which he called “The Anaconda Plan”, designed to encircle the Confederacy and exert pressure from all sides at once.  McClellan rejected this idea, and fought a losing piecemeal war for years.  Ironically, the war was won in the end when President Lincoln and Gen. Grant used tactics putting pressure on all sides of the South at once.  General Scott had been correct all along.

US Army War College

Today in History, November 27: 1901 – The US Army War College is established at Washington Barracks, Washington, DC by Secretary of War Elihu Root. Look at the War College as a Masters program for command level military officers. Surprisingly to me, the US Navy had beaten the Army by 17 years, the US Naval War College was established in 1884.

Iconic. Legendary. Colt Model 1911

Today in History, March 29: 1911 – The Colt Model M1911 .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol is adopted as the official sidearm of the US Army. The Navy and Marine Corps would follow suit in 1913. The legend had begun. The pistol would demonstrate it’s remarkable reliability in WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam, and all of the smaller conflicts between. The M1911 and it’s variants didn’t go out of general service until 1985, and is still used by many units.