US Military History Throughout The Years

Short bits of history you know and some you may not!

• USS San Francisco: Saturday, January 8, 2005 – While conducting operations near Guam, the USS San Francisco collided with an undersea mountain. The submarine was traveling with outdated maps that did not indicate the mountain was there and would crash into it at full speed, at a depth of around 525 feet. The collision nearly sank the sub, with the front ballast tanks being destroyed and there was a desperate struggle to gain positive buoyancy to surface the ship. Over 90 crew members were injured in the crash, with one dying of his injuries the next day from a head wound. After the sub surfaced it was able to make it to Guam, being accompanied by several other ships.
• Be All You Can Be: Thursday, January 11, 2001 – In an unexpected move the US Army unveils its newest slogan. After criticism of only advertising during male only televised sports, the Army broadcast its newest commercial during the airing of a new Friends episode. The move was to engage a wider audience, and to help shake to image of an all male fighting force. The new slogan ” An Army of One” would replace “Be All You Can Be” and would only last till 2006. It would be replaced with “Army Strong”, which would be the slogan for over a decade.
• Operation Chopper: Friday, January 12, 1962 – In the first helicopter assault of the Vietnam War, and the first time US Troops would be involved in a combat mission in the war, over 1,000 South Vietnamese paratroopers were dropped into combat by 33 CH-21C Shawnee transport helicopters. The paratroopers were inserted near a Viet Cong stronghold 10 miles west of Saigon and would soundly defeat the enemy with complete surprise. The helicopters were part of a growing concept formed during the Korean War and would become a new sort of calvary in the US Military. While much was learned by the US during the operation, the enemy would quickly learn much as well and both would use those lessons learned to great effect later in the war.
• End Notes: Tuesday, January 17, 1961 – President Dwight D Eisenhower addresses the nation in his farewell address as his presidency ended. In the speech he warned the nation against the growing military-industrial complex, and that the nation should guard itself against it. He would also show his concern with the dangers of massive government spending, the domination of science in the government. His presidency was marked by a large American economic expansion, even as the Cold War gained traction, he was the only American general to be elected to office in the 20th century and he was also the oldest president in a century at the time. He would hand off the presidency to the youngest elected president, John F Kennedy.

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