Military History by Month for August 2025
Historian’s Report
https://americanlegionpost642.com/index.php?id=102
National Days and Months:
There is a neat description of August here about the National Days and also where the rest of these links can be found. https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/August Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and South Carolina were all admitted to the Union in August. There are also quite a few culinary days since August is National Sandwich Month and hosts Famers Market Week, and there is also National IPA Day and Beer in general, along with Chop Suey Day and Toasted Marshmallow Day. There is also Elvis Week, who was a proud Army Veteran.
NATIONAL DOG MONTH – August https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-dog-month-august/ (Includes Assistance Dogs Week which includes service dogs for PTSD, etc.)
NATIONAL WELLNESS MONTH – August https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-wellness-month-august/
https://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/resources/publications/hbco/hbco_additional_health_programs.asp
(The VA can help with this and Medicalert below)
MEDICALERT AWARENESS MONTH – August https://nationaldaycalendar.com/medicalert-awareness-month-august/ https://www.va.gov/files/2023-06/MVAHCS_VA_Benefits_and_community_resources_for_aging_Veterans_and_their_caregivers.pdf
INTERNATIONAL PEACE MONTH – August https://nationaldaycalendar.com/international-peace-month-august/ (A month which the American Legion takes to heart with our missions.)
August 04 Friday
National Coast Guard Day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-coast-guard-day-august-4/ https://youtu.be/FBfpv7hH7YA
August 05 Saturday
National Vfr Day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-vfr-day-first-saturday-in-august/ (Veteran and First Responder Mental Health Day. A lot of military join police, fire and EMT) https://youtu.be/3VLJO-izWPA
August 07 Monday
Purple Heart Day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/purple-heart-day-august-7/ https://youtu.be/NVA-7TqQT9w
National Lighthouse Day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-lighthouse-day-august-7/ (This service also is under the Coast Guard ) https://youtu.be/9IMJPub0i_I
August 10 Thursday Agent Orange Awareness Day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/agent-orange-awareness-day-august-10/ https://youtu.be/r4LicCz4w-A (There are many more videos on VA SITREP site)
August 13 Sunday
National Spirit Of ’45 Day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-spirit-of-45-day-second-sunday-in-august/ https://youtu.be/FH6H11mo2s8
August 14 Monday
National Navajo Code Talkers Day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-navajo-code-talkers-day-august-14/ https://youtu.be/yFLu73qKA8k
National V-j Day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-v-j-day/ https://youtu.be/66EOCMdEqCI
August 15 V-j Day (europe) https://nationaldaycalendar.com/v-j-day-europe-august-15/
August 16 National Airborne Day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-airborne-day-august-16/ https://youtu.be/T2aNgykxAOI
August 18 National Pinot Noir Day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-pinot-noir-day-august-18/ One of several days this month for Cathy and Arturo.
August 19 National Aviation Day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-aviation-day-august-19/ For our Post Aviation Guys. I am pretty sure this day sets off Aviation Week.
August 25 National Park Service Founders Day https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-park-service-founders-day-august-25/ https://youtu.be/vKBBgq5Fjcc Members of the Military, Veterans, and Gold-Star families are eligible for FREE park passes that provide access to more than 2,000 federal recreation areas including the national parks.
Military History Notes:
Aug. 1
1943: In the Solomon Islands, the Japanese destroyer Aragiri rams the motor torpedo boat PT-109. Two sailors are killed by the nighttime collision. Lieutenant junior grade John F. Kennedy and his remaining 11-man crew swim over three miles to a nearby deserted island and are rescued days late. The future president is awarded the Purple Heart and the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for gallantry.
1944: Gen. George Patton's Third Army becomes operational and forms the right flank of the Allied force sweeping across France.
Aug. 2
1776: Although the Continental Congress voted to establish "the thirteen united [sic] States of America" on July 2 and adopted Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence two days later, congressional delegates sign the Declaration on this date. The most famous inscription belongs to John Hancock, the president of Congress, who is said to have declared, "There, I guess King George will be able to read that without his spectacles," after adding his rather substantial signature.
1862: The brass approves the plan by Maj. Jonathan Letterman, Medical Director for the Army of the Potomac, to establish an ambulance corps. Letterman is considered the "Father of Battlefield Medicine" for
revolutionizing the way casualties are handled; soldiers now had first aid stations at the regimental level where they could be treated and triaged. Those more seriously wounded could be sent - by ambulance - to field hospitals at the division and corps level.
During the Peninsula Campaign, one out of every three Army of the Potomac casualties would die prior to implementing Letterman's system. But after, just 2 percent of soldiers wounded Battle of Gettysburg died.
1909: After a successful demonstration for the military by Orville Wright, the Army Signal Corps purchases a Wright Flyer for $30,000 (the equivalent of $800,000 today). The two-seat "Signal Corps Airplane No. 1" will train America's first military pilots at College Park, Md. and Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio over the next two years - crashing several times - before it's retirement. Today, the legendary aircraft hangs in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.
1934: Upon the death of German president Paul von Hindenberg, Chancellor Adolf Hitler begins his "thousand-year Reich," assuming full dictatorial powers as Reichsfiihrer. Also on this date, Hitler changes the military oath so that the Wehrmacht swears allegiance to him instead of Germany.
1944: Convoy HX 300, the largest convoy of World War II, safely crosses the Atlantic, bringing over 1 million tons of supplies to ports in the United Kingdom. 32 escort vessels protected the 155 cargo ships, and the formation spanned nine miles across and four miles long. Not a single ship was attacked by a Gelman submarine.
I
1950: As the North Korean Army bears down on the American and UN forces occupying the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula, the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade lands at Pusan and mans the Pusan Perimeter's left flank.
1964: The destroyer USS Maddox (DD-731), supporting South Vietnamese covert operations against the North in the Gulf of Tonkin, is attacked by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin Within days, Congress would pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, paving the way for full-scale conflict in Vietnam.
1990: At 2 a.m., several divisions of the Iraqi military's elite Republican Guards pour across the border into Kuwait, beginning a seven-month occupation of the neighboring state. The United States will lead a 35-nation
coalition to liberate Kuwait in January.
Aug. 3
1804: During the First Barbary War, Commodore Edward Preble's Mediterranean Squadron begins his first bombardment of Tripoli Harbor. Commanding a division of ships is Stephen Decatur, the youngest sailor ever
to be promoted to captain in U.S. Naval history. When Decatur's brother is killed while boarding a Tripolitan gunboat, Decatur hands over command of his ship and, along with a small crew, boards the enemy vessel and engages the much-larger force in fierce hand-to-hand combat. When the captain responsible for his brother’s death attempts to behead Decatur, Daniel Fraser throws himself over Decatur receiving the lethal blow. Decatur then shoots and kills the captain avenging his brother.
1943: As American, British, and Canadian troops drive across Sicily, Axis forces begin evacuating the island. While visiting soldiers awaiting evacuation at Nicosia, Gen. George S. Patton, commanding the Seventh Army, slaps a soldier suffering from battle fatigue and orders him back to the front lines. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower reprimands Patton for the incident and the legendary general will not command another combat force for 11 months.
1950: Eight F4U-4B "Corsairs" of Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF) 214 take off from the deck of USS Sicily (CVE-118) and attack enemy installations at Chengu, marking the first Marine aviation sortie of the Korean War. During World War II, the "Black Sheep" of VMF-214 destroyed hundreds of Japanese aircraft, sank several vessels, and earned the Presidential Unit Citation under Medal of Honor recipient and former "Flying Tiger" Maj. Greg "Pappy" Boyington - the Marine Corps' top ace, with 28 aerial victories.
Congress initiates an involuntary recall of former enlisted soldiers, ordering 30,000 men to report for duty in September. That same day in Southeast Asia, the first members of the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group members arrive in Saigon. The 35-man group will supervise the allocation of military aid to the French military in Vietnam, and later act as military trainers.
Aug. 4
1790: Congress approves Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton's proposal to "build ten cutters to protect the new nation's revenue," establishing the Revenue Cutter Service — first of the predecessor services of the modern Coast Guard.
