This Month in Military History

A monthly update from the desk of:

Bob Hogan

Director of Burlington’s Office of Veterans Services

December

            There were two very significant events that occurred during the month of December in World War II. the first was the event that got us into the war, and the other was towards the end of the war, and was one of the most important and costliest battles of the war.

            At 0755 hours local time on December 7, 1941, Japanese carrier aircraft attacked the main base of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese sent six carriers, Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, Soryu, Zuikaku, and Shokaku with a total of 423 planes in the attack.

            It was not Admiral Isoroky Yamamoto’s intention to launch a sneak attack. Although strict protocol was to be observed according to the Geneva Convention, had everything gone according to plan in Washington, the United States would still have had only about an hour’s notice before Japan commenced hostilities.

            It was a day of real heroism for the Americans stationed at Pearl Harbor. It was a day America paid a heavy price, lost it’s innocence, and took it’s place on the world stage.

            Slow decoding in the Japanese embassy of the message breaking diplomatic relations with the United States resulted in the message being delivered to the Secretary of State Cordell Hull by Ambassador Saburo Kurusu and Kichisaburo Momuro almost an hour after the first Japanese planes hit Pearl Harbor.

            After an hour and forty five minutes, all eight battleships and been knocked out of action, along with nine cruisers and a number of destroyers. !88 planes on the ground had also been destroyed. 2,330 men American military personnel died in that ninety minute attack.

            Upon learning of this, Yamamoto was horrified. “I can think of nothing that would infuriate the Americans more. I fear that all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” Time would prove him right.

            Also on December 7th, the Japanese attacked Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippines, Wake Island, and on the morning of the 8th, they attacked Midway Island.

            Also in December of 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. This came on the heels of our declaration of war against Japan. And on the 20th of that same month, the Japanese attacked Wake Island. Outnumbered Marines repulsed the first landing, but succumbed to a second on December 23rd.

            On Christmas eve in 1943, the Eighth Army Air Force made the first major raid on German secret weapons targets. Six hundred seventy B-17s and B-24s bombed

 V-weapon sites near Pas de Calais.

            The other  major event that I mentioned that took place in December, occurred in 1944. The Battle of The Bulge began on December 16th and lasted for 42 days. Marshal von Rundstedt in a daring assault that shocked the world, sent his army surging forward punching a bulge in the line about 45 miles wide and a 100 miles deep, surrounding the town of Bastogne, in the great German counteroffensive of the Ardennes Campaign. General Eisenhower sent an airborne division under Major General Anthony McAuliffe to hold the strategic town of Bastogne. They were outgunned, outmanned harassed, and fought bravely and bitterly.

            Then, he ordered Patton’s Third Army north while keeping General Omar Bradley in place along the front. As Patton’s tanks churned forward to relieve Bastogne, McAuliffe held on in the face of devastating odds. “Nuts” was his reply to German demands for the surrender of Bastogne. By December 24, American planes were striking German supply lines regularly, and by the 26th, the German drive had ground to a halt. The Battle of the Bulge cost the United States more than 77,000 of it’s finest young men, in casualties.

            In December of 1950, during the Korean War, a Massachusetts man, performed his duties in such conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty, that he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Thomas J. Hudner is a former Commissioner of Veterans Services for the State of Massachusetts and presently resides in Concord Massachusetts.

            In 1950 he was a pilot with Fighter Squadron 32, attached to the U.S.S. Leyte, while attempting to rescue a squadron mate whose plane, struck by antiaircraft fire and trailing smoke, was forced down behind enemy lines in the Chosin Reservoir of Korea on December 4.

            Quickly maneuvering to circle the downed pilot and protect him from enemy troops infesting the area, Lt. Hudner risked his life to save the injured pilot who was trapped alive in the burning wreckage. Fully aware of the extreme danger in landing on the rough mountainous terrain, and the scant hope of escape or survival in subzero temperatures, he put his plane down skillfully in a delicate wheels-up landing in the presence of enemy troops.

            With his bare hands he packed snow around the fuselage of the burning plane, trying to keep the flames away from the trapped pilot, and struggled to pull him free. He returned to his plane to radio for support planes and a helicopter to bring help. He then remained on the spot despite the continuing danger from enemy action. When help arrived, with the assistance of the rescue pilot, he renewed a desperate but unavailing battle against time, cold and flames.

            Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Thomas Hudner’s exceptionally valiant action and selfless devotion to a shipmate, sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

            Also in December of 1950, MacArthur points to prohibitions on air strikes in Manchuria while explaining to U.S. News and World Report. Also UN Forces are evacuated from Pyongyang. General Johnnie Walker, 8th Army Commander, was killed in a jeep accident two days before Christmas.

            President-elect Eisenhower tours Korea in December 1952 and meets with MacArthur, who submits plans for victory.

            Late in the Vietnam War, on December 16, 1970, peace negotiations broke down. After two more trips to the Paris Peace Talks with Vietnam’s Special Advisor Le Duc Tho, Henry Kissinger announced at a White House news conference that the negotiations had failed.

            Two days later, on December 18th, Full scale bombing and mining of North Vietnam resumed north of the 20th parallel after a halt of nearly two months. The White House  warned that the bombings would continue until such time as a peace settlement is arrived at. Most observers conceded that the bombing caused the North Vietnamese to resume serious negotiations.

            On December 21, 1988, Libyan agents bombed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie Scotland, killing 189 people, of which 16 were U.S. Military personnel returning home for the holidays.

            On December 15, 1989, Panama’s National Assembly declares that Panama is in a state of war with the United States. Five days later, Operation Just Cause is launched, with 25,750 U.S Troops involved in the largest nighttime mission since World War II. Panamanian Dictator Manuel Noriega was finally captured on January 3, 1990.

If you would like to talk to Bob Hogan, The Director of Veterans Services can be reached by calling 270-1960 in Burlington.