A monthly update from the desk of:

Bob Hogan

Director of Burlington’s Office of Veterans Services

July

The month of July was a busy month in military history. 

Back on July 28, 1931, General Douglas MacArthur defeated the Bonus Army in a grim police action in Washington D.C. After the D.C. police failed to disperse the veterans who were in Washington to collect cash bonuses from Congress for the adjusted compensation certificates, President Hoover called in Federal Troops. MacArthur mounted his horse and took personal command of four Cavalry units, one column of Infantry and six tanks. These forces easily ousted the veterans and their families from their encampment. MacArthur’s troops set fire to the shanty town, killing a small baby.

During World War 2, the Army Air Force got it’s first sure “Kill” of the war. On July 7, 1942, a B-18 of the 396th Bombardment Squadron sank a German submarine near Cherry Point, North Carolina.

The battle of Kula Gulf occurred on July 6, 1943. The U.S. Navy won the first victory of the South Pacific offensive. Rear Adm. W.L. Ainsworth’s forces of three cruisers and four destroyers fought a night action against 10 destroyers at the cost of one American Destroyer. Due to this action, the Japanese were unable to reinforce their troops on Munda, New Georgia.

On July 10th of that same year, Allied Forces invaded Sicily in one of the largest amphibious landings of the war. Paratroopers, who had landed the night before, delayed the main German forces in the western portion of the island while Generals Patton and Montgomery landed their troops in Southern Sicily. Eleven days after the invasion, Patton reached Palermo, marching through the streets crowded with people yelling, “Down with Mussolini.”

In July of 1944, Guam and Tinian Islands became the focus of U.S. attention. On the 21st, the Third Marine Division, the First Marine Brigade, with reinforcements by the 77th Army Infantry Division, began a bloody three week campaign that when completed, secured the Marianas for the United States. On the 24th of the month, 20,000 Marines in a masterful assault on Tinian, in the Marianas, caught the Japanese off guard. The battle lasted for two weeks and was a perfect amphibious operation. 

National Archives Photo
U.S. Marines crouching in the dense underbrush as Japanese snipers open fire.  Tinian, Marianas Islands

On July 10, 1945, the U.S. Navy began the final assault in a series of heavy carrier strikes at Japan’s industrial centers and remaining airfields. These attacks continued until the Japanese surrendered in August.

The first Atomic Bomb testing took place on July 16, 1945. The explosion at Alamogordo, New Mexico gave the United States a short lived but important monopoly on Atomic weapons, and thus a great deal of leverage in post-war negotiations.

On July 26th of that same year, the Big Three at Potsdam presented the “Unconditional Surrender”, ultimatum to the Japanese. Truman, Stalin and Churchill signed the agreement that stated, “the alternative for Japan is complete and utter destruction.”

During the Korea War, on July 3, 1950, U.S. Carrier planes saw their first combat action in Korea when aircraft from the U.S.S. Valley Forge raided transportation and supply facilities in Pyongyang. The Navy fighters from Fighter Squadron 51 also recorded the first “Kill” of the war when they shot down a YAK - 9 aircraft.

Korea was the first shooting war for the newly independent US Air Force. The war saw the first large-scale combat use of jet aircraft. Within Months of the war’s outbreak, Korea produced the first ever jet to jet combat.

In July of 1950, President Truman appointed General MacArthur, Commander of United Nations Forces in Korea, and General Walton “Johnnie” Walker became Commander of all U.S. ground troops in Korea.

According to the VFW magazine, on the morning of July 25, 1950, the 757 men of the 3rd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, marched toward a low pass on the road near Hadong, South Korea. A small group of North Korean soldiers were spotted, and the Americans pursued them. The 29th Infantry Division ceased to exist that day.

Artillery gun crew waits for the signal to fire on the enemy, Korea, July 1950 (click on pic to enlarge) 

The 29th Infantry was an undermanned, unremarkable regiment assisting with the occupation of Okinawa. Most of the men were performing clerical work. Many were fresh from Basic Training. Most were still teenagers.  But the young men of the 29th were soldiers, and America desperately needed soldiers, any soldiers, to help halt the North Korean southward march. More than 300 were killed, and more the 100 were captured. It is not known how many of the remaining men were wounded, but few men of the 29th came out unscathed.

The first of several  Armistice negotiations began on July 10, 1951 at Kaesong. These negotiations continued with several interruptions until July 23, 1953. Four days later, on July 27, 1953, the Korean Cease Fire went into effect at 10:00pm. The two grim delegations met finally at Ponmunjon, where the agreement was signed at separate tables.

During the Vietnam War, the first U.S. Air Force air to air combat victory occurred on July 10, 1966. Two

F-4C aircrews of the 45th Tactical Fighter Squadron shot down two communist Mig-17 jet fighters over North Vietnam.

F-4C Phantoms of the USAF http://www.soft.net.uk/entrinet/us_aircraft8.htm

Mid-air photo of view of Mig-17 being hit, as seen from from scope (click on pic to enlarge) http://www.airwar.ru/photo/mig15-4.html

July 8, 1969 saw the first withdrawal of troops from Vietnam. 25,000 troops were airlifted from Vietnam to McChord Air Force Base, Washington. 

Every Vietnam Vet counted the days until it was time to board that Freedom Bird back home (click on pic to enlarge)

http://www.skytroopers.org/newsartc.htm

And on July 9, 1971, American troops completed the DMZ turnover. About 500 American troops at Fire Base Charlie 2, four miles below the Demilitarized Zone, turned over the stronghold to South Vietnamese troops, thus completing the transfer of defense responsibilities for the border area.

Bob Hogan is the Burlington & Bedford Director of Veterans Services. He can be contacted by calling 781-270-1959 in Burlington, MA and 781-275-1328 in Bedford, MA.

From:  www.veteransinfo.net

Burlington Veterans Services

Town Hall

Burlington, MA  01803

Office: 781 270-1959

E-Mail:  Veterans@BurlMass.org