Military History by Month for December
Historian’s Report
https://americanlegionpost642.com/index.php?id=102
National Days and Months:
There is a neat description of December here with regard to the National Days where the rest of these links can be found. https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/december
NATIONAL REPEAL DAY - December 5 – End of Prohibition
SAINT NICHOLAS DAY - December 6 recognizes the third-century saint who became an inspiration for the modern-day Santa Claus including leaving gold in the shoes of daughters of poor men for dowries. https://youtu.be/3jLO6A2NpPU?si=5BLlWbrVJzLVyciw
NATIONAL PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE DAY - December 7 https://youtu.be/X872ODCGht8?si=JB9McjB1AzmzwPhk
CHRISTMAS CARD DAY - December 9 – Remember to get your cards out to make sure they get there in time.
NATIONAL GUARD BIRTHDAY - December 13 – History note listed in section below.
https://youtu.be/1gFU_qHrdCQ?si=OEUTBor8JZ90B40S
BILL OF RIGHTS DAY - December 15
https://youtu.be/SHEbA6vCaw8?si=Zh3KGiSHuDxP94Y3
NATIONAL WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA DAY - Changes Annually – check 1st Vice notes.
WRIGHT BROTHERS DAY - December 17 commemorates the first successful flights in a heavier than air, mechanically propelled airplane. Orville and Wilbur Wright made that first successful flight on December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. https://youtu.be/pTac5ApoHGA?si=xEpSl-D-l12V6CsU
https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-flashlight-day-day-of-winter-solsticeYULE - Day of Winter Solstice
FOREFATHERS' DAY - December 22 (Unless on Sunday, Then Following Monday) commemorates the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on December 21, 1620. https://youtu.be/SHEbA6vCaw8?si=Zh3KGiSHuDxP94Y3
Military History Notes: National Guard which leads to the Continental Army
December
Dec. 1
1941: The Civil Air Patrol is established. Originally intended for reconnaissance, civilian planes are eventually fitted with bombs and depth charges when German submarines begin attacking U.S. shipping on the east coast. During the war, CAP pilots would log half a million hours, spotting 173 submarines, hitting 10 and sinking two - at the cost of 64 pilots.
Dec. 4
1783: Nine days after the British evacuate New York City, Gen. George Washington bids farewell to his fellow Continental Army officers over a turtle feast at Fraunces Tavern. Washington tells them that "With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable."
1964: President Lyndon Johnson presents Army Capt. Roger H.C. Donlon (http://www.victoryinstitute.net/blogs/utb/2000/07/roger-h-c-donlon-medalof-honor-citation) the first Medal of Honor of the Vietnam War in ceremonies at the White House. Capt. Donlon led a Green Beret team as they defended against a reinforced Viet Cong battalion near Laos on July 6, 1964. https://youtu.be/UtWdC8cis2w?si=bHzR_U8EI0IHfmtK
Dec. 6
1950: American forces — primarily leathernecks of the now-famous 1st Marine Division, a few American soldiers, and a handful of British commandos — begin their epic "fighting withdrawal" from Hagaru-ri to Koto-ri and on to Hamnung, during the breakout from the Chosin Reservoir, Korea. At Koto-ri, a few officers express concern that their vastly outnumbered, bloodied, freezing, near-starving columns might not survive the final trek to Hamnung. As the UN orders communist forces to halt at the 38th Parallel, U.S. and Australian planes kill an estimated 2,500 enemy troops.
Dec. 7
1941: At 3:57 a.m. the minesweeper USS Condor spots a periscope at the entrance to Pearl Harbor. The ship signals the nearby destroyer USS Ward, whose crew begins searching for the unidentified vessel. At 6:37 a.m., Ward spots the periscope as a two-man Japanese mini sub attempts to follow a U.S. cargo ship into the harbor and sinks the enemy warship - the first U.S. shots of World War II.
Having achieved total tactical and strategic surprise, Vice Adm. Chuichi Nagumo's 1st Air Fleet begins their attack on Pearl Harbor. The strike is conducted in two waves: The first wave of 183 enemy aircraft strikes just before 8:00 a.m. The second wave of 170 planes hits a little after 8:30 a.m. Of the ships anchored at Pearl Harbor, five of the eight battleships, three destroyers, and seven other ships were either sunk or severely damaged. By day's end, 2,718 American sailors, 582 soldiers (including Army Air Forces personnel), 178 Marines, and 103 civilians will be dead, dying or wounded. Japanese losses were minimal: 30 planes, five minisubs, 65 killed, and one Japanese sailor captured. All but two of the battleships - Arizona and Oklahoma - are raised to fight again.
Dec. 13
1636: The Massachusetts General Court in Salem orders the creation of a militia, requiring all able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 60 join, to defend the colony if necessary. Three regiments are created: the North Regiment - today's 181st and 182nd Infantry Regiments; the East Regiment - today's 101st Engineer Battalion; and the South Regiment - today's 101st Field Artillery Regiment. The National Guard is born.
Dec. 15
0 1944: A plane carrying Maj. Glenn Miller, leader of the world-famous "Glenn Miller Orchestra" prior to World War H, disappears in bad weather over the English Channel. Miller volunteered for service and led the Army Air Force
Band from 1942 until his disappearance. https://youtu.be/6Twqm0aRD-k?si=Tjn3nyAZeGGpWqGB
1967: During a firefight in South Vietnam's Binh Dinh province, Specialist Allen J. Lynch (http://www.victoryinstitute.net/blogs/utb/2000/12/allen-jlynch-medal-of-honor-citation/) crosses a kill zone multiple times, killing numerous enemies, in order to carry three wounded comrades to safety. As his company withdraws from the numerically superior enemy, Lynch remains behind with the wounded - after crossing the kill zone several more times to carry the casualties to a safer location, and then single-handedly defends the position for two hours until another company mounts a counterattack and the men are evacuated. https://youtu.be/mFedNF7qMZs?si=8ZvWVzzz4rF7RWqp
Dec. 16
1944: A massive German Army force composed of SS Panzer (SS armored units), Volksgrenadier (infantry), Panzergrenadier (armored infantry), and Fallschirmjager (paratroopers) burst through the snow-covered Ardennes
Forest and smash headlong into the weakest stretch of the Allied frontlines in Belgium. The attack which will become known as the Battle of the Bulge (because of the temporary bulging salient the German thrust will create in the Allied lines) is a last ditch gamble on the part of the Germans, a surprise counteroffensive aimed at cutting American and British forces in half; crossing the Meuse River; encircling, isolating, and destroying Allied armies west of the Meuse; and perhaps reaching the North Sea. It is not to be. Despite the initial shock along a 60-to-70-mile front and a 50-mile-deep Penetration German forces will quickly find themselves running up against giants of men like Gen. Anthony McAuliffe's diehard paratroopers of the crack 101st Airborne Division, who though surrounded, outnumbered, outgunned, freezing, and nearly starving to death refuse to surrender the strategically vital highway hub at Bastogne. The battle, which will last until Jan. 28, 1945, will prove to be the largest land battle in western Europe during World War II, and it will be a decisive American victory. But it will not be without heavy losses: 19,000 American soldiers will be killed out of 81,000 total U.S. casualties in five weeks. https://youtu.be/DZmPM9s1mTs?si=3MqtDmshqOXN6_Ka
Dec. 17
1903: Brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright pilot the first heavier than air machine. The Wright Flyer travels 120 feet in the air over the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, N.C., staying aloft for 12 seconds. The aviators will make three more flights that day. The modem aviation age is born.
Dec. 19
1777: 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia, Gen. George Washington's Continental Army establishes its winter camp at Valley Forge. 2,500 of the original force of 12,000 would not survive the winter thanks in part to harsh weather conditions, disease, supply shortages, and malnutrition. Over the winter, the Prussian drillmaster - later, Washington's Chief of Staff – Baron Friedrich von Steuben drills the Americans, greatly increasing their combat effectiveness and morale. https://youtu.be/0pUSiVep0RU?si=Ai1Rvoq3-CM3gFM4
2001: Fires that had been burning for over three months under the rubble of the World Trade Center are finally declared to be extinguished.
Dec. 21
1861: President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill creating a "Medal of Honor" for enlisted sailors and Marines who "distinguish themselves by their gallantry and other seamanlike qualities during the present war." The Army version of the medal is signed into law the following summer.
1944: German troops from the 5th Panzer Army have surrounded the 101st Airborne at Bastogne, Belgium. Nearby, Pvt. Francis S. "Frank" Currey (http://www.victoryinstitute.net/blogs/utb/2000/12/francis-s-frank-curreymedal-of-honor-citation/) ignores heavy incoming fire, killing one German tank, disabling three others, and forcing an enemy unit to retreat after inflicting heavy casualties with an effective combination of fire from his automatic rifle, a bazooka, a halftrack, and anti-tank grenades. Five soldiers that had been pinned down for hours by enemy infantry and the now-empty tanks are able to escape. For his actions, Currey is awarded the Medal of Honor.
1950: Airmen from the Fifth Air Force conduct "Operation Kiddy Car," the evacuation of nearly 1,000 Korean War orphans to the island of Cheju-do to escape approaching communist forces.
Dec. 22
1775: The Continental Congress creates the Continental Navy. Esek Hopkins, Esq. is named commander-in-chief of the fleet, four captains are commissioned, as well as five first lieutenants (including future hero John Paul Jones), five second lieutenants, and three third lieutenants.
1944: Having surrounded the 101st Airborne at Bastogne, Belgium, German General Heinrich Freiherr von Liittwitz issues a surrender ultimatum to Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe, the acting commander for the 101st. Clement's one word response: "NUTS!" Despite being heavily outnumbered, the 101st was able to hold out until the 4th Armored Division relieved them on Dec. 26th. Meanwhile, German commanders recommend ending the Rundstedt Offensive (Battle of the Bulge) due to a lack of significant progress. And on this day near Kalterherberg Germany, Tech. Sgt. Peter J. Dalessondro http://www.victoryinstitute.net/blogs/utb/2000/12/peter-j-dalessondro-medalof-honor-citation/)
Dec. 23
1944: The heavy cloud cover and winter weather which had been kept American warplanes grounded during the Battle of the Bulge finally breaks after a week. Nearly 3,000 heavy bombers and fighters of the Eighth Air Force take off from England for the largest strike mission of the war to relieve the troops on the ground. Brig. Gen. Frederick W. Castle (MOH), commanding the 3rd Combat Bomb Wing, assigns himself as co-pilot of the lead bomber for this vital mission.
1950: An armada of ships and aircraft evacuate over 100,000 U.S. and South Korean troops, along with their equipment and 91,000 Korean refugees from the North Korean port of Hungnam, in what has become known by historians as the "greatest evacuation movement by sea in U.S. military history."
1972: A North Vietnamese Mig-21 Fishbed fighter closes in on the B-52 Diamond Lil while the bombers approach their target of a railyard at Thai Nguyen. Tail gunner Airman First Class Albert E. Moore fires three bursts of fire from the B-52's quad .50 cal machine guns, shooting down the MiG and scoring the last-ever tail gun kill - and saving his bomber crew. Today, the Diamond Lil is on display at the Air Force Academy with a red star painted on the rear of the plane commemorating Moore's victory.
Dec. 28
1941: After the execution of civilian construction contractors who fought alongside the Marines on Wake Island until their capture by the Japanese, the Navy's Chief of Bureau of Yards and Docks, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell, requests that Naval construction battalions be created. The teams would be capable of building anything, anywhere, under any conditions, at any time, and - if necessary - picking up weapons and fighting. The famous Seabees have been born. In the Pacific Theater alone, they construct 111 major air fields, over 300 bases, and countless roads, bridges, and facilities. Just two years after their founding, Admiral Ernest King will write that "Your ingenuity and fortitude have become a legend in the naval service." https://youtu.be/myIGI_Tb4Mk?si=kyQAFqpcLtbaqsX1