Military History Anniversaries 1 thru 31 MAR
Significant events in U.S. Military History for the next 30 days are:
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Mar 01 1916 – WWI: Germany begins attacking ships in the Atlantic.
Mar 01 1941 – WW2: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact under threat of a German invasion,
allying itself with the Axis powers
Mar 01 1942 – WW2: 3 day Battle of Java Sea ends. US suffers a major naval defeat.
Mar 01 1944 – WW2: American and Australian troops win the Battle of Sio (5 Dec – 1 Mar) in
New Guinea. Casualties and losses: US/AUS 169 – JP 3695.
Mar 01 1945 – WW2: U.S. infantry regiment captures Mönchengladbach, Germany.
Mar 01 1950 – Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by disclosing
top secret atomic bomb data.
Mar 01 1954 – Cold War: The Castle Bravo, a 15–megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on
Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by
the United State.
The Shrimp (code name Castle Bravo) device in its shot cab
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Mar 01 1961 – Cold War: President John F. Kennedy issues an executive order establishing the
Peace Corps. It proved to be one of the most innovative and highly publicized Cold War
programs set up by the United States.
Mar 01 1965 – Vietnam: Ambassador Maxwell Taylor informs South Vietnamese Premier Phan
Huy Quat that the United States is preparing to send 3,500 U.S. Marines to Vietnam to protect the
U.S. airbase at Da Nang.
Mar 01 2002 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan
lasting until 6 Mar.. Casualties and losses: U.S. 97 - Taliban 23 confirmed KIA.
Mar 02 1776 – American Revolution: Patriot militia units arrest the Royal Governor of Georgia
James Wright and attempt to prevent capture of supply ships in the Battle of the Rice Boats.
Mar 02 1836 – Texas Revolution: Declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from
Mexico.
Mar 02 1941 – WW2: First German military units enter Bulgaria after it joined the Axis Pact.
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Mar 02 1943 – WW2: Battle of the Bismarck Sea – U.S. and Australian forces sink Japanese
convoy ships.
Mar 02 1965 – Vietnam: The US and South Vietnamese Air Force begin Operation Rolling
Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam that eventually became the most
intense air/ground battle waged during the Cold War period.
Mar 02 1991 – Gulf War: Battle at Rumaila Oil Field brings end to the 1991 Gulf War.
Mar 02 2002 – Iraq War: U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins (ending on
March 19 after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, with 11 Western troop fatalities).
Mar 02 2004 – Iraq War: Al Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre killing 170 and wounding
over 500.
Mar 03 1776 – American Revolution: The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine
Corps begins the Battle of Nassau.
Mar 03 1779 – American Revolution: The Continental Army is routed at the Battle of Brier Creek
near Savannah, Georgia. Casualties and losses: US 377 – GB 16.
Mar 03 1863 – Civil War: U.S. Congress passes a conscription act that produces the first wartime
draft of U.S. citizens in American history.
Mar 03 1918 – WWI: Germany, Austria and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending
Russia's involvement in World War I, and leading to the independence of Finland, Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
Mar 03 1931 – The United States adopts The Star–Spangled Banner as its national anthem.
Mar 03 1942 – WW2: Ten Japanese warplanes raid the town of Broome Western Australia
killing more than 100 people.
Mar 03 1942 – WW2: USS Perch (SS–176) scuttled after severe damage from Japanese
destroyers Ushio and Sazanami. 60 POWs, 6 later died
Mar 03 1943 – WW2: In London, England, 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter
an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station.
Mar 03 1945 – WW2: The RAF accidentally bombs the Bezuidenhout neighborhood in The
Hague, Netherlands, killing 511 people.
Mar 03 1945 – WW2: The American and Filipino troops liberate Manila, Philippines after 30
days of fighting.
Mar 03 1980 – The USS Nautilus is decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel
Register.
Mar 03 1994 – Somalia: American soldiers completely withdraw 28 days earlier than expected.
Other nations, such as Belgium, France and Sweden, also decided to withdraw at this time.
Mar 04 1776 – American Revolution: The Americans capture "Dorchester Heights" dominating
the port of Boston Massachusetts.
Mar 04 1776 – American Revolution: The Continental Army fortifies Dorchester Heights with
cannon, leading the British troops to abandon the Siege of Boston.
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Mar 04 1814 – War of 1812: Americans defeat the British at the Battle of Longwoods near
Wardsville, in present-day Southwest Middlesex, Ontario. Casualties and losses: US 7 – UK 67.
Mar 04 1941 – WW2: Operation Claymore. The United Kingdom launches its first large scale
British Commando raid on Norway’s Lofoten Islands. Casualties and losses: UK 1 – Ger 228 +
10 ships sunk.
Mar 04 1943 – WW2: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea in the South West Pacific comes to an end.
Casualties and losses: US/Aus 13 + 2 Bombers & 4 Fighters – JP 2,890 + 8 Transport, 5
Destroyers, & 20 Fighters.
Mar 04 1944 – WW2: 1st US bombing of Berlin - After the success of Big Week, the USAAF
begins a daylight bombing campaign of Berlin
Mar 04 2002 – Afghanistan: Seven American Special Operations Forces soldiers are killed as
they attempt to infiltrate the Shahi Kot Valley on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission.
Mar 05 1770 – Boston Massacre. British troops kill 5 American and a boy a in crowd. Crispus
Attackus becomes 1st black man to die for American freedom. The event contributes to the
outbreak of the American Revolutionary War five years later. At a subsequent trial the soldiers
are defended by future U.S. president John Adams.
Mar 05 1927 – 1,000 US marines land in China to protect American property
Mar 05 1942 – WW2: US Navy's Mobile Construction Battalions "SEABEES" officially formed
and placed in action in New Caledonia an island in the southwest Pacific as they landed and
began construction of base facilities.
Mar 05 1944 – WW2: The Red Army begins the Uman-Botoshany Offensive in the western
Ukrainian SSR. Casualties and losses: SU 270,000 – Ger 130,000.
Mar 05 1945 – WW2: Allies bomb The Hague, Netherlands. During the 128 raids casualties
amounted to 884 killed and a further 631 wounded.
Mar 05 1945 – WW2: US 7th Army Corps capture Cologne, Germany.
Mar 05 1946 – Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognizes Vietnam as an
autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.
Mar 051946 – Cold War: Winston Churchill coins the phrase "Iron Curtain" in his speech at
Westminster College, Missouri.
Mar 06 1836 – Texas Revolution: Battle of the Alamo – After a thirteen day siege by an army of
3,000 Mexican troops, the 187 Texas volunteers, including frontiersman Davy Crockett and
colonel Jim Bowie, defending the Alamo are killed and the fort is captured. Mexican losses are
about 600.
Mar 06 1865 – Civil War: Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida. Casualties and losses: US 148 CSA 26.
Mar 06 1943 – WW2: Battle at Medenine (a.k.a. Operation Capri) North–Africa: Rommel’s
assault attack which was abandoned at dusk on the same day after the loss of 52 German tanks.
Mar 06 1944 – WW2: U.S. heavy bombers staged the first full–scale American raid on Berlin.
Mar 06 1945 – WW2: Cologne Germany is captured by American Troops.
Mar 06 1991 – Following Iraq's capitulation in the Persian Gulf conflict Pres Bush told Congress
that "aggression is defeated. The war is over"
Mar 07 1862 – Civil War: Union forces defeat Confederate troops at Pea Ridge in northwestern
Arkansas. Casualties and losses: US 1,384 - CSA 2,000.
Mar 7 1936 -– WW2 (Prelude to): In violation of the Locarno Pact and the Treaty of Versailles,
Germany reoccupies the Rhineland.
Mar 07 1942 – WW2: Japanese troops land on New Guinea.
Mar 07 1945 – WW2: American troops seize the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River at
Remagen, Germany.
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Mar 07 1951 – Korean War: Operation Ripper - United Nations troops led by General Matthew
Ridgeway begin an assault against Chinese forces in an offensive to straighten out the U.N. front
lines against the Chinese.
Mar 07 1968 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Saigon begun on the day of the Tet Offensive ends.
Mar 07 1968 – Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnamese military begin Operation
Truong Cong Dinh to root out Viet Cong forces from the area surrounding My Tho.
Mar 07 1971 – Vietnam War: A thousand U.S. planes bomb Cambodia and Laos.
Mar 08 1777 – American Revolution: Regiments from Ansbach and Bayreuth Germany, sent to
support Great Britain in the War, mutiny in the town of Ochsenfurt.
Mar 08 1782 – American Revolution: Gnadenhütten massacre - Ninety-six Native Americans in
Gnadenhutten, Ohio, who had converted to Christianity are killed by Pennsylvania militiamen in
retaliation for raids carried out by other Indians.
Mar 08 1862 – Civil War: On the second day of the Battle of Pea Ridge Confederate force
including some Indian troops under General Earl Van Dorn surprise Union troop but the Union
troops win the battle. Casualties & losses: US 1384 - CSA 2000.
Mar 08 1862 - Civil War: The iron-clad CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) is launched at
Hampton Roads, Virginia.
Mar 08 1942 – WW2: Japanese troops capture Rangoon Burma
Mar 08 1943 – WW2: Japanese forces attack American troops on Hill 700 in Bougainville. The
battle will last five days.
Mar 08 1965 – Vietnam: More than 4,000 Marines land at Da Nang in South Vietnam and
become the first U.S. combat troops in Vietnam
Mar 09 1847 – Mexican American War: The first large–scale amphibious assault in U.S. history
is launched in the Siege of Veracruz. Casualties & losses: US 60 - Mex 400
Mar 09 1862 – Civil War: The USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fight to a draw in the Battle of
Hampton Roads the first fight between two ironclad warships.
Mar 09 1916 – Pancho Villa leads nearly 500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus,
New Mexico.
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Mar 09 1944 – WW2: Japanese troops counter–attack American forces on Hill 700 in
Bougainville in a battle that would last five days.
Mar 09 1945 – WW2: Operation Meeting House - U.S. B–29 bombers launched incendiary
bomb attacks against Tokyo Japan. Resulting conflagration kills more than 100,000 people,
mostly civilians. It was later estimated to be the single most destructive bombing raid in history
Charred remains of Japanese civilians after the firebombing of Tokyo
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Mar 09 1966 – Vietnam: The North Vietnamese capture a Green Beret camp at Ashau Valley.
Mar 09 1968 – Vietnam: General William Westmoreland asks for 206,000 more troops in
Vietnam.
Mar 10 1848 – Mexican*American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the
United States Senate, ending the War.
Mar 10 1953 – Korean War: North Korean gunners at Wonsan fire on the USS Missouri. The
ship responds by firing 998 rounds at the enemy position.
Mar 10 1968 – Vietnam War: Battle of Lima Site 85, concluding the 11th with largest single
ground combat loss of United States Air Force members (12) during that war.
Mar 10 1970 – Vietnam War: Captain Ernest Medina is charged by the U.S. Military with My Lai
war crimes
Mar 10 1975 – Vietnam: The North Vietnamese Army attacks the South Vietnamese town of
Ban Me Thout the offensive will end with total victory in Vietnam.
Mar 11 1863 – Civil War: Union troops under General Ulysses S. Grant give up their
preparations to take Vicksburg after failing to pass Fort Pemberton north of Vicksburg.
Mar 11 1865 – Civil War: Union General William Sherman and his forces occupy Fayetteville
N.C.
Mar 11 1916 - USS Nevada (BB-36) is commissioned. The first US Navy "super-dreadnought".
Mar 111941 – WW2: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law,
allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.
Mar 11 1942 – WWI: General Douglas MacArthur leaves Bataan Philippines for Australia.
Mar 11 1945 – WW2: The Imperial Japanese Navy attempts a large-scale kamikaze attack on the
U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Ulithi atoll in Operation Tan No. 2.
Mar 11 1945 – WW2: The Empire of Japan established the Empire of Vietnam, a short-lived
puppet state, with Bảo Đại as its ruler.
Mar 11 1946 – WW2 Postwar: Rudolf Höss, the first commandant of Auschwitz concentration
camp, is captured by British troops.
Mar 12 1864 – Civil War: The Red River Campaign begins as a US Navy fleet of 13 Ironclads
and 7 Gunboats and other support ships enter the Red River.
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Mar 12 1920 – USS H–1 (SS–28) foundered and sunk off Santa Margarita Island, California. 4
died
Mar 12 1947 – Cold War: The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of
Communism. Historians often consider it as the start of the Cold War.
Mar 13 1862 – Civil War: The U.S. federal government forbids all Union army officers to return
fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for
the Emancipation Proclamation.
Mar 13 1865 – Civil War: The Confederate States of America agree to the use of African
American troops.
Mar 13 1943 – WW2: In Bougainville, Japanese troops end their assault on American forces at
Hill 700.
Mar 13 1943 – WW2: The Holocaust: German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków,
Poland sending most of its inhabitants to Belzec extermination camp & Plaszów slave-labor
camp, and Auschwitz concentration camp for extermination.
Deportation of Jews from the Ghetto, March 1943
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Mar 14 1780 – American Revolution: Spanish forces capture Fort Charlotte in Mobile, Alabama,
the last British frontier post capable of threatening New Orleans in Spanish Louisiana.
Mar 14 1864 – Civil War: Union troops occupy Fort de Russy, Louisiana.
Mar 14 1915 – WWI: Cornered off the coast of Chile by the Royal Navy after fleeing the Battle
of the Falkland Islands, the German light cruiser SMS Dresden is abandoned and scuttled by her
crew.
Mar 14 1916 – WWI: Battle of Verdun – German attack on Mort–Homme ridge West of Verdun.
Mar 14 1947 The United States signs a 99–year lease on naval bases in the Philippines.
Mar 14 1951 – Korean War: U.N. forces recapture Seoul for the second time during the Korean
War.
Mar 14 1954 – The Viet Minh launch an assault against the French Colonial Forces at Dien Bien
Phu.
Mar 14 1945 - World War II: The R.A.F.'s first operational use of the Grand Slam bomb,
Bielefeld, Germany.
Mar 15 1781 – American Revolution: Battle of Guilford Court House, SC 1,900 British troops
under General Charles Cornwallis defeat an American force numbering 4,400. Casualties and
losses: US 1,272 - GB 538.
Mar 15 1783 - In an emotional speech in Newburgh, New York, George Washington asks his
officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy. The plea is successful and the threatened coup
d'état never takes place.
Mar 15 1864 - Civil War: The Red River Campaign - U.S. Navy fleet arrives at Alexandria,
Louisiana.
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Mar 15 1916 – President Woodrow Wilson sends 4,800 United States troops over the U.S.–
Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa.
Mar 15 1939 – WW2: German troops occupy the remaining part of Bohemia and Moravia;
Czechoslovakia ceases to exist.
Mar 15 1943 – WW2: Third Battle of Kharkov - The last great victory of German arms in the
eastern front. In a series of battles the German counterstrike led to the destruction of
approximately 52 Soviet divisions and the recapture of the cities of Kharkov and Belgorod.
Casualties and losses: SU 86,469 – Ger 11,500
Mar 15 1943 – WW2: USS Triton (SS–201) sunk either by Japanese destroyer Satsuki or
submarine chaser Ch 24 north of Admiralty Islands. 74 killed.
Mar 15 1944 – WW2: Battle of Monte Cassino - Cassino, Italy is destroyed by Allied bombing.
Mar 15 1989 – VA elevated to a Cabinet–level agency under Public Law 100–527Mar 16 1802 –
The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate West Point Academy.
Mar 16 1802 – The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate West Point
Academy.
Mar 16 1935 – Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Versailles Treaty.
Mar 16 1942 – WW2: The first V–2 rocket test launch. It explodes at liftoff.
Mar 16 1945 – WW2: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends but small pockets of Japanese resistance
persist. Casualties and losses: US 26,038 - JP 22,060
Mar 16 1968 – Vietnam: In the My Lai massacre, between 350 and 500 Vietnamese villagers:
men, women, and children are killed by American troops.
Mar 17 1776 – American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, ending the Siege of Boston,
after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.
Mar 17 1780 – American Revolution: George Washington grants the Continental Army a holiday
"as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence".
Mar 17 1942 – WW2: Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lviv Ghetto (western Ukraine) are
gassed at the Belzec death camp (eastern Poland).
Mar 17 1945 – WW2: The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany collapses, ten days after its
capture.
Mar 17 1947 –First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber.
Mar 17 1960 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council
directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs
Invasion.
Mar 17 1966 – Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a
missing American hydrogen bomb.
Mar 17 1968 – Cold War: As a result of nerve gas testing in Skull Valley, Utah, US, over 6,000
sheep are found dead.
Mar 17 1970 - My Lai Massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing
information related to the incident.
Mar 17 1973 – Vietnam: First POWs are released from the "Hanoi Hilton" in Hanoi, North
Vietnam.
Mar 18 1766 – American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act.
Mar 18 1865 – Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States adjourns for the last time.
Mar 18 1915 – WWI: During the Battle of Gallipoli, three battleships are sunk during a failed
British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
Mar 18 1940 – WW2: Axis Powers - Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass
in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
Mar 18 1942 – WW2: The War Relocation Authority is established in the United States to take
Japanese Americans into custody.
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Mar 18 1945 – WW2: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.
Mar 18 1969 – Vietnam: The United States begins secretly bombing the Sihanouk Trail in
Cambodia, used by communist forces to infiltrate South Vietnam.
Mar 19 1863 – Civil War: The SS Georgiana, said to have been the most powerful Confederate
cruiser, is destroyed on her maiden voyage with a cargo of munitions, medicines and merchandise
then valued at over $1,000,000.
Mar 19 1865 – Civil War: The Battle of Bentonville begins. By the end of the battle two days
later, Confederate forces had retreated from Four Oaks, North Carolina. Casualties and losses:
US 1,527 - CSA 2,606
Mar 19 1941 – WW2: The 99th Pursuit Squadron also known as the Tuskegee Airmen, the first
all–black unit of the Army Air Corp, is activated.
Mar 19 1944 – WW2: Nazi forces occupy Hungary.
Mar 19 1945 – WW2: Adolf Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military
installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany to be
destroyed.
Mar 19 1945 – WW2: Adolf Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military
installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany to be
destroyed.
Mar 19 1945 – WW2: Off the coast of Japan, a dive bomber hits the aircraft carrier USS Franklin,
killing 724 of her crew. Badly damaged, the ship is able to return to the U.S. under her own
power.
Mar 19 1965 – The wreck of the SS Georgiana, valued at over $50,000,000 and said to have been
the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is discovered by teenage diver and pioneer underwater
archaeologist E. Lee Spence, exactly 102 years after its destruction.
Mar 19 2002 – Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda ends (started on March 2) after killing 500
Taliban and al Qaeda fighters with 11 allied troop fatalities.
Mar 19 2003 – Iraq: United States President George W. Bush orders the start of war against Iraq.
Mar 20 1922 – The USS Langley (CV–1) is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft
carrier.
Mar 20 1942 – Holocaust: in Rohatyn, western Ukraine, the German SS murder 3,000 Jews,
including 600 children, annihilating 70% of Rohatyn's Jewish ghetto.
Mar 20 1942 – WW II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his
famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: "I came out of Bataan and I
shall return".
Mar 20 1944 – WW II: Four thousand U.S. Marines made a landing on unoccupied Emirau Island
in the Bismarck Archipelago to develop an airbase as part of Operation Cartwheel for the
encirclement of the major Japanese base at Rabaul.
Mar 20 1945 – WW2: USS Kete (SS–369) missing. Most likely sunk by a mine or a Japanese
submarine (perhaps RO 41) east of Okinawa. 87 killed
Mar 20 1952 – The United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.
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Mar 20 1969 – Vietnam: U.S president Nixon proclaims he will end Vietnam war in 1970.
Mar 20 2003 – Iraq: Invasion of Iraq by American and British led coalition (the UK, Australia
and Poland) begins without United Nations support and in defiance of world opinion.
Mar 21 1918 – WWI: The German Army opened the Spring Offensive with Operation Michael
(First Battle of the Somme) attempting to break through the Allied lines and to seize ports on the
English Channel.
Mar 21 1943 – WW2: Wehrmacht officer Rudolf von Gersdorff plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler
by using a suicide bomb, but the plan falls through. Von Gersdorff is able to defuse the bomb in
time and avoid suspicion.
Mar 21 1945 – WW2: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma.
Mar 21 1945 – WW2: Operation Carthage: Royal Air Force planes bomb Gestapo headquarters in
Copenhagen, Denmark. They also hit a school and 125 civilians are killed.
Mar 21 1945 – WW2: Bulgaria and the Soviet Union successfully complete their defense of the
north bank of the Drava River as the Battle of the Transdanubian Hills concludes. Casualties and
losses: Unknown
Mar 21 1945 – WW2: 1st Japanese flying bombs (ochas) attack Okinawa.
Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka
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Mar 21 1971 – Vietnam: Two U.S. platoons in Vietnam refuse their orders to advance.
Mar 22 1713 – The Tuscarora War comes to an end with the fall of Fort Neoheroka, effectively
opening up the interior of North Carolina to European colonization.
Mar 22 1939 – WW2: Germany takes Memel from Lithuania.
Mar 22 1942 – WW2: In the Mediterranean Sea, the Royal Navy confronts Italy's Regia Marina
in the Second Battle of Sirte.
Mar 22 1942 – WW2: Heavy German and Italian assault interrupts badly needed resupply of food
and ammunition leaving conditions on Malta critical.
Mar 22 1943 – WW2: The entire population (149 people, including 75 children) of Khatyn in the
Republic of Belarus near Minsk is burnt alive by the German 118th Schutzmannschaft Nazi
battalion occupation force.
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Mar 22 1945 – WW2: U.S. 3rd Army crosses Rhine at Nierstein.
Mar 22 1965 – Vietnam: U.S. confirms its troops used chemical warfare against the Vietcong.
Mar 23 1775 – Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech "Give me Liberty, or give
me Death!" at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia.
Mar 23 1862 – Civil War: The First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia:- It marked the start of
Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Although his only defeat throuhout the war, the
engagement distracts Federal efforts to capture Richmond. Casualties and losses: US 500 - CSA
718
Mar 23 1942 – WW2: Japanese forces occupy Andaman Islands in Indian Ocean.
Mar 23 1942 – WW2: U.S. move native–born of Japanese ancestry into detention centers.
Mar 23 1945 – WW2: Largest operation in Pacific war, 1,500 US Navy ships bomb Okinawa.
Mar 23 1951 – Korea: U.S. paratroopers descend from flying boxcars in a surprise attack in
Korea.
C-119 in flight
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Mar 23 1994 – A United States Air Force (USAF) F–16 aircraft collides with a USAF C–130 at
Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground. This
later became known as the Green Ramp disaster.
Mar 23 2003 – Iraq War: In Nasiriyah, 11 soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company as well as
18 U.S. Marines are killed during the first major conflict of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 654 Iraqi
combatants are also killed.
Mar 24 1765 - American Revolution: The Kingdom of Great Britain passes the Quartering Act
that requires the Thirteen Colonies to house British troops.
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Mar 24 1944 – WW2: In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 prisoners
begin breaking out of Stalag Luft III.
Mar 24 1944 – WW2: German occupation troops killed 335 people in Rome as a reprisal for a
partisan attack conducted on the previous day magainst the SS Police Regiment Bozen.
Mar 24 1999 - Kosovo War: NATO commences aerial bombardment against Yugoslavia,
marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.
Mar 25 1865 – Civil War: In Virginia, Confederate forces temporarily capture Fort Stedman from
the Union.
Mar 25 1915 – 1st submarine disaster. USS F–4 (SS–23) sunk after a battery explosion off
Honolulu, Hawaii. 21 died.
Mar 25 1941 – WW2: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers with the signing of the
Tripartite Pact.
Mar 25 1953 – Korean War: The USS Missouri fires on targets at Kojo, North Korea, the last
time her guns fire until the Persian Gulf War of 1992.
Mar 25 1971 – Vietnam: The Army of the Republic of Vietnam abandon an attempt to cut off the
Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos.
Mar 25 1975 – Vietnam: The former imperial capital of Hue fell to North Vietnamese troops
along with the entire Thua Thien Province.
Mar 26 1917 – WWI: First Battle of Gaza - Attempting to advance into Palestine, British were
defeated by Ottoman troops. Casualties and losses: GB 3,967 – OE/Ger/AH 1,691
Mar 26 1942 – WW2: The first female prisoners arrive at Auschwitz concentration camp in
German-occupied Poland.
Mar 26 1944 – USS Tullibee (SS–284) accidentally sunk by circular run of own torpedo off Palau
Islands. 79 died
Mar 26 1945 – WW2: Kamikazes attack U.S. battle fleet near Kerama Retto.
Mar 26 1945 – WW2: U.S. 7th Army crosses Rhine at Worms Germany.
Mar 26 1945 – WW2: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends as the island is officially secured by American
forces.
Mar 26 1970 – 500th nuclear explosion announced by the U.S. since 1945.
Mar 26 1982 – A groundbreaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in
Washington, D.C.
Mar 27 1794 – The U.S. establishes a permanent navy and authorizes the building of 6 frigates.
Mar 27 1814 – War of 1812: In central Alabama, U.S. forces under General Andrew Jackson
defeat the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
Mar 27 1836 – Texas Revolution: Goliad massacre – Antonio López de Santa Anna orders the
Mexican army to kill about 400 Texas POWs at Goliad, Texas.
Mar 27 1846 – Mexican–American War: Siege of Fort Texas.
Mar 27 1886 – Apache Wars: Famous Apache warrior, Geronimo, surrenders to the U.S. Army,
ending the main phase of the Apache Wars.
Geronimo, 1898
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Mar 27 1943 – World War II: Battle of the Komandorski Islands - In the Aleutian Islands the
battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese attempting to reinforce a
garrison at Kiska.
Mar 27 1945 – WW2: Gen Eisenhower declares German defenses on Western Front broken.
Mar 27 1945 – WW2: Iwo Jima occupied, after 22,000 Japanese & 6,000 US killed.
Mar 27 1945 – WW2: Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways
begins.
Mar 27 1952 Korea: Elements of the U.S. Eighth Army reach the 38th parallel.
Mar 27 1814 – War of 1812: In central Alabama, U.S. forces under General Andrew Jackson
defeat the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
Mar 28 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Glorieta Pass – in New Mexico, Union forces stop
the Confederate invasion of New Mexico territory. The battle began on March 26. Casualties and
losses: US 125 - CSA 123
Mar 28 1945 – WW2: Germany launches the last of its V–2 rockets against England.
Peenemünde Museum replica of V-2
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Mar 28 1945 – WW2: USS Trigger (SS–237) sunk by Japanese patrol vessel Mikura, Coast
Defense Vessel No.33, and Coast Defense Vessel No. 59 in the Nansei Soto. 89 killed.
Mar 28 1946 – Cold War: The United States State Department releases the Acheson-Lilienthal
Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.
Mar 28 1999 – Kosovo War: Serb paramilitary and military forces kill 146 Kosovo Albanians in
the Izbica massacre.
Mar 28 2003 – In a friendly fire incident, two A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft from the United
States Idaho Air National Guard's 190th Fighter Squadron attack British tanks participating in the
2003 invasion of Iraq, killing British soldier Matty Hull.
Mar 29 1847 – Mexican-American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take
Veracruz after a siege.
Mar 29 1865 – Civil War: Federal forces under Major General Philip Sheridan move to flank
Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee as the Appomattox Campaign begins.
Mar 29 1911 – The M1911 .45 ACP pistol becomes the official U.S. Army side arm.
Mar 29 1942 – WW2: The Bombing of Lübeck is the first major success for the RAF Bomber
Command against Germany and a German city.
Mar 29 1944 – WW2: Allied bombing raid on Nuremberg. Along the English eastern coast 795
aircraft are dispatched, including 572 Lancasters, 214 Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitoes. The bombers
meet resistance at the coasts of Belgium and the Netherlands from German fighters. In total, 95
bombers are lost, making it the largest Bomber Command loss of World War II.
Mar 29 1945 – WW2: The German 4th Army is almost destroyed by the Soviet Red Army.
Mar 29 1945 – WW2: Last day of V-1 flying bomb attacks on England.
Mar 29 1951 – Korea: The Chinese reject Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s offer for a truce in Korea.
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Mar 29 1971 – Vietnam: My Lai massacre. Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of
premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.
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Mar 29 1973 – Vietnam: Last U.S. combat soldiers leave, 9-years after Tonkin Resolution.
Mar 30 1944 – WW2: The U.S. fleet attacks Palau, near the Philippines.
Mar 30 1972 – Vietnam: The Easter Offensive begins with Hanoi launching its heaviest attack in
four years, crossing into the DMZ.
Mar 31 1941 – WW2: Germany begins a counter offensive in Africa.
Mar 31 1965 – Vietnam: U.S. ordered the 1st combat troops to Vietnam.
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[Source: Various Feb 2015 ++]
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