Tag: Today in history

Today Is – National Anthem
NATIONAL ANTHEM DAY – March 3

National Day Calendar

NATIONAL ANTHEM DAY

National Anthem Day commemorates the day the United States adopted “The Star-Spangled Banner” as its National Anthem. Written by Francis Scott Key, the “Star-Spangled Banner” became the National Anthem in 1931.

#NationalAnthemDay

Oh Say Can You See Fort McHenry

The story behind “The Star-Spangled Banner” is as moving as the anthem itself. While an attorney, Key was serving in the Georgetown Light Field Artillery during the War of 1812. In 1814, his negotiation skills as a lawyer were called upon to release Dr. William Beane, a prisoner on the British naval ship, Tonnant. Early in September, Key traveled to Baltimore in the company of Colonel John Skinner to begin negotiations.

While Key and Skinner secured Beane’s release, the British navy had begun attacking Baltimore. The trio waited at sea to return to Georgetown.

Fort McHenry is built on a peninsula of the Patapsco River. Just across the Northwest Branch is the city of Baltimore. In 1814, the population of Baltimore was roughly 50,000 people, hardly the metropolis it is today. The country itself was still young, and often families of soldiers lived nearby, providing support to their soldiers.

The Rocket’s Red Glare

The British navy abandoned Baltimore and turned their full attention to Fort McHenry on September 13th. As the 190-pound shells began to shake the fort, mother nature brought a storm of her own. Thunder and rain pelted the shore along with the bombs and shells. Throughout the night, parents, wives, and children in their homes could hear and feel the bomb blasts across the way. There were reports of the explosions being felt as far away as Philadelphia. It was a long night of fear, worry, and providing comfort to one another.

At sea, Key had a similar night. Being a religious man, one who believed the war could have been avoided, he watched the bombs bursting in air over the water and steadily pummeling Fort McHenry. It was undoubtedly a sight to behold.

For 25 hours, the star-shaped fort manned by approximately 1,000 American soldiers endured over 1,500 cannon shots. The Fort answered with their own with almost no effect.

Does that Star-Spangled Banner Yet Wave

In the early morning of September 14th, after Major George Armistead’s troops stopped the British landing party in a blaze of gunfire, the major ordered the oversized American flag raised in all its glory over Fort McHenry. Sewn a few months before by Mary Pickersgill and her daughter, the enormous banner replaced the storm flag, which had flown during battle.

As Key waited at sea for dawn to break and smoke to clear, imagine the inspiring sight in the silence of the morning to see his country’s flag fully unfurled against the breaking of the day and the fort standing firm.

Key was so moved by the experience he immediately began penning the lyrics to a song which were later published by his brother-in-law as a poem titled “Defence of Fort M’Henry.”

HOW TO OBSERVE NATIONAL ANTHEM DAY
- Sing the Star-Spangled Banner.
- Fly the American flag.
- Visit Fort McHenry in Maryland.
- Visit Francis Scott Key Park in Washington, D.C.
- Did you know there are three more verses to the original song? As a challenge, try learning them all.
- Use #NationalAnthemDay to post on social media.
NATIONAL ANTHEM DAY HISTORY

Nearly 117 years passed after Key penned “Defence of Fort M’Henry” before it became the national anthem of the United States of America. “Hail Columbia” and “My Country’ Tis of Thee” held honorary places as patriotic songs. But, the United States didn’t have an officially declared anthem until a congressional resolution, signed by President Herbert Hoover, until “The Star-Spangled Banner” became the national anthem of the United States of America on March 3rd, 1931.

*Historical note: The spelling of “defence” in the original title of Key’s song is correct for the period.

National Anthem FAQ

Q. What melody did Francis Scott Key choose for the Star-Spangled Banner?
A. The melody that accompanies the lyrics for Key’s song is titled “To Anacreon in Heaven.” The song honoring Greek poet Anacreon was written by English composer John Stafford Smith about 30 years before Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner.

Q. Did Francis Scott Key serve in the military?
A. He did serve in the military, but only briefly. Key’s religious beliefs and moral opposition to the War of 1812 conflicted with serving.

Q. Is Fort McHenry still a military fort?
A. No. Fort McHenry served many military purposes through 1933 when it came under the control of the National Park Service and was soon designated a National Monument and Historic Shrine with many of its buildings preserved much as it was during the War of 1812. At the time it was established as a National Monument, Fort McHenry’s most recent use for military support was as an Army hospital in World War I. Then, during World War II, the U.S. Coast Guard conducted training on the grounds of Fort McHenry.

My selection for the National Anthem presentation is from the 2017 Army/Navy Game in a full snow storm.
3 March 2024
Blackhawk Down
On this day in 1993, the Battle of Mogadishu started. Also known as Maalintii Rangers, the Day of the Rangers in Somali, the day and a half gun battle started out as an operation to snatch Mohammed Farah Aidid’s foreign minister, Omar Salad Elmim and his top political advisor, Mohamed Hassan Awale.

The mission plan was a simple one, yet doomed from the start.

The 1st SFOD-D elements of Taskforce Ranger was to insert via MH-6 Little Birds and secure the targets inside the building. Four chalks of Rangers would fast-rope from UH-60 Blackhawks and create a 4 corner defensive perimeter around the target building. A 12 vehicle Ranger convoy was then to make its way to the target building and exfiltrate the entire team.

The mission kicked off around 1400 local time, with the first Little Birds hitting the target building at 1542. The Blackhawks carrying the Ranger chalks arrived shortly after and the first of the many instances of bad luck struck. Ranger PFC Todd Blackburn fell nearly 70 feet while fast-roping from Super six-seven. Blackburn’s injuries required him to be evacuated immediately, and a three vehicle convoy commanded by SGT Jeff Streucker was tasked. It was during that evac the first casualty occurred. SGT Dominick Pilla, assigned to Streucker’s HMMWV, was struck in the head by a bullet.

Things only got worse from there. At 1620 Blackhawk Super six-one was shot down by a somali RPG. CW3 Cliff “Elvis” Wolcott and CW3 Donovan “Bull” Briley were killed in the crash. Two of the crew chiefs, Staff Sgt. Ray Dowdy and Staff Sgt. Charlie Warren, were severely wounded. Staff Sergeant Daniel Busch and Sergeant Jim Smith, both Delta snipers, survived the crash and began defending the site. An MH-6, Star 41, piloted by CW3 Karl Maier and CW5 Keith Jones, landed nearby. Jones and Maier evacuated Busch and Smith. Busch later died of his injuries, having been shot four times while defending the crash site.

Super six-four, one of the UH-60 Blackhawk helos shot down by the somalis

Twenty minutes later a second Blackhawk, Super six-four was shot down by an rpg. Co-pilot CW04 Raymond “Ironman” Alex Frank and crew chiefs SSG William “Wild Bill” David Cleveland, Jr. and SSG Thomas “Tommie” J. Field were killed in the crash. Pilot CW03 Michael Durant survived the crash, but was badly injured. Delta snipers SFC Randy Shugart and MSG Gary Gordon, aboard Blackhawk Super six-two, requested permission to secure the site. They were finally granted permission after their third request. Despite the overwhelming odds, the pair managed to hold off the Somalis for about an hour. After Gordon was killed, Shugart collected his weapon and gave it to Durant, saying simply, “Gordon is gone”. Shugart held off the Somalis for another 10 minutes before he was killed. The somalis overran the crash site. They beat Durant nearly to death before taking him captive. Shugart and Gordon were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions that day.

Randy Shugart, l, and Gary Gordon

I am going to digress for a paragraph or two here before we continue the story. The mission did not have to go the way it did. Why do I say that? The snatch kicked off in the middle of the afternoon. That was a poor choice for a couple of reasons.

There is a reason the 160th SOAR are called the Nightstalkers. The combat arms branches of the US military do a lot, and I mean a lot, of night time training. They do it for a reason. So we can own the night. Had the raid gone off in the middle of the night, much of what happpened wouldn’t have, couldn’t have happened.

There was/is also a little thing called khat. I don’t have the time or inclination to explain exactly what it is, but a quick google search will give you all the info you need and more. Suffice to say it is a narcotic plant that grows wild in the area and was/is in common use in Mogadishu. Mid to late afternoon is the peak of the Khat cycle. So in otherwords, the mission kicked off just when the militiamen were high as kites.

Now back to our story. . .

While all this was going on, an international relief column was being organized. It wouldn’t roll until nearly 0100 on the 4th, as the on scene commanders wanted to move out into the city in force. The relief force consisted of 2 companies of 10th mountain division infantry, Malaysian Condor APCs, Pakistani M-48 tanks and other vehicles.

The convoy arrived at the first crash site at 0200 and the evac began. It wouldn’t be complete until 0630.

Before we end this story, I have to tell you about the “Mogadishu Mile”. It did not happen as it was portrayed in the movie. The troops involved, Delta, Rangers and 10th Mountain, did not run all the way to the stadium but instead moved in tactical formation to a rally point about a mile from the crash site. What is true is that the vehicles were supposed to provide cover for the troops but instead sped away.

The immediate aftermath of the battle was horrific. Images of the bodies of US servicemen being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu and the videos of Michael Durant while in captivity were all over the news. It took 11 days to get Durant released and several more days to get the bodies of the fallen US troops back. All of the bodies had been defiled in some way, and one came back without a head, which has never been recovered.

Below is a list of those killed during the battle, or of wounds sustained during the battle.

Operators of the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta:
- MSG Gary Ivan Gordon 33, Killed defending Super Six-Four’s crew, Medal of Honor, Purple Heart
- SFC Randy Shughart 35, Killed defending Super Six-Four’s crew, Medal of Honor, Purple Heart
- SSG Daniel D. Busch 25, Crashed on Super Six-One, mortally wounded defending the downed crew Silver Star, Purple Heart
- SFC Earl Robert Fillmore, Jr. 28, Killed moving to the first crash site, Silver Star, Purple Heart
- MSG Timothy “Griz” Lynn Martin 38, Mortally wounded by an RPG on the Lost Convoy, died while en route to a field hospital in Germany, Silver Star, Purple Heart.
- SFC Matthew Loren Rierson 33, Killed by stray mortar shell that landed near him Oct. 6, 2 days after the initial raid, Silver Star, Bronze star, Purple heart.
Soldiers of the 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment
- CPL James “Jamie” E. Smith 21, Killed around crash site one, Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device and Oak leaf cluster, Purple Heart
- SPC James M. Cavaco 26, Killed on the Lost Convoy, Bronze Star with Valor Device, Purple Heart
- SGT James Casey Joyce 24, Killed on the Lost Convoy, Bronze Star with Valor Device, Purple Heart
- CPL Richard “Alphabet” W. Kowalewski, Jr. 20, Killed on the Lost Convoy by an RPG, Bronze Star with Valor Device, Purple Heart
- SGT Dominick M. Pilla 21, Killed on Struecker’s convoy, Bronze Star with Valor Device, Purple Heart
- SGT Lorenzo M. Ruiz 27, Mortally wounded on the Lost Convoy, died en route to a field hospital in Germany, Bronze Star with Valor Device, Purple Heart
Pilots and Crew of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment
- SSG William “Wild Bill” David Cleveland, Jr. 34, Crew chief on Super Six-Four, Silver Star ,Bronze Star, Air Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart
- SSG Thomas “Tommie” J. Field 25, Crew chief on Super Six-Four, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Air Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart
- CW4 Raymond “Ironman” Alex Frank 45, Super Six-Four’s copilot, Silver Star, Air Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart
- CW3 Clifton “Elvis” P. Wolcott 36, Super Six-One’s pilot, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Air Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart
- CW3 Donovan “Bull” Lee Briley 33, Super Six-One’s copilot, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Air Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart
Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division
- SGT Cornell Lemont Houston, Sr. 31, 1st Platoon, C Company, 41st Engr BN,Member of the “Lost Platoon”, Bronze Star with Valor Device, de Fleury Medal, Purple Heart
- PFC James Henry Martin, Jr. 23, Member of 2nd Squad, 2nd Platoon, Company A. Killed on the rescue convoy by a bullet to the head. Purple Heart
3 October 2023

The Battle Of Mogadishu

On this day in 1993, the Battle of Mogadishu started. Also known as the Day of the Rangers, the day and a half gun battle started out as an operation to snatch Mohammed Farah Aidid’s foreign minister, Omar Salad Elmim and his top political advisor, Mohamed Hassan Awale.

The mission plan was a simple one, yet doomed from the start.

The 1st SFOD-D elements of Taskforce Ranger was to insert via MH-6 Little Birds and secure the targets inside the building. Four chalks of Rangers would fast-rope from UH-60 Blackhawks and create a 4 corner defensive perimeter around the target building. A 12 vehicle Ranger convoy was then to make its way to the target building and exfiltrate the entire team.

The mission kicked off around 1400 local time, with the first Little Birds hitting the target building at 1542. The Blackhawks carrying the Ranger chalks arrived shortly after and the first of the many instances of bad luck struck. Ranger PFC Todd Blackburn fell nearly 70 feet while fast-roping from Super six-seven. Blackburn’s injuries required him to be evacuated immediately, and a three vehicle convoy commanded by SGT Jeff Streucker was tasked. It was during that evac the first casualty occurred. SGT Dominick Pilla, assigned to Streucker’s HMMWV, was struck in the head by a bullet.

Things only got worse from there. At 1620 Blackhawk Super six-one was shot down by a somali RPG. CW3 Cliff “Elvis” Wolcott and CW3 Donovan “Bull” Briley were killed in the crash. Two of the crew chiefs, Staff Sgt. Ray Dowdy and Staff Sgt. Charlie Warren, were severely wounded. Staff Sergeant Daniel Busch and Sergeant Jim Smith, both Delta snipers, survived the crash and began defending the site. An MH-6, Star 41, piloted by CW3 Karl Maier and CW5 Keith Jones, landed nearby. Jones and Maier evacuated Busch and Smith. Busch later died of his injuries, having been shot four times while defending the crash site.

Super six-four, one of the UH-60 Blackhawk helos shot down by the somalis

Twenty minutes later a second Blackhawk, Super six-four was shot down by an rpg. Co-pilot CW04 Raymond “Ironman” Alex Frank and crew chiefs SSG William “Wild Bill” David Cleveland, Jr. and SSG Thomas “Tommie” J. Field were killed in the crash. Pilot CW03 Michael Durant survived the crash, but was badly injured. Delta snipers SFC Randy Shugart and MSG Gary Gordon, aboard Blackhawk Super six-two, requested permission to secure the site. They were finally granted permission after their third request. Despite the overwhelming odds, the pair managed to hold off the somalis for about an hour. After Gordon was killed, Shugart collected his weapon and gave it to Durant, saying simply, Gordon is gone. Shugart held off the somalis for another 10 minutes before he was killed. The somalis overran the crash site. They beat Durant nearly to death before taking him captive. Shugart and Gordon were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions that day.

I am going to digress for a paragraph or two here before we continue the story. The mission did not have to go the way it did. Why do I say that? The snatch kicked off in the middle of the afternoon. That was a poor choice for a couple of reasons.

There is a reason the 160th SOAR are called the Nightstalkers. The combat arms branches of the US military do a lot, and I mean a lot, of night time training. They do it for a reason. So we can own the night. Had the raid gone off in the middle of the night, much of what happpened wouldn’t have, couldn’t have happened.

There was/is also a little thing called khat. I don’t have the time or inclination to explain exactly what it is, but a quick google search will give you all the info you need and more. Suffice to say it is a narcotic plant that grows wild in the area and was/is in common use in Mogadishu. Mid to late afternoon is the peak of the Khat cycle. So in otherwords, the mission kicked off just when the militiamen were high as kites.

Now back to our story. . .

While all this was going on, an international relief column was being organized. It wouldn’t roll until nearly 0100 on the 4th, as the on scene commanders wanted to move out into the city in force. The relief force consisted of 2 companies of 10th mountain division infantry, Malaysian Condor APCs, Pakistani M-48 tanks and other vehicles.

The convoy arrived at the first crash site at 0200 and the evac began. It wouldn’t be complete until 0630.

Before we end this story, I have to tell you about the “Mogadishu Mile”. It did not happen as it was portrayed in the movie. The troops involved, Delta, Rangers and 10th Mountain, did not run all the way to the stadium but instead moved in tactical formation to a rally point about a mile from the crash site. What is true is that the vehicles were supposed to provide cover for the troops but instead sped away.

The immediate aftermath of the battle was horrific. Images of the bodies of US servicemen being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu and the videos of Michael Durant while in captivity were all over the news. It took 11 days to get Durant released and several more days to get the bodies of the fallen US troops back. All of the bodies had been defiled in some way, and one came back without a head, which has never been recovered.

Below is a list of those killed during the battle, or of wounds sustained during the battle.

Name	Age	Action	Medal(s) Awarded (Posthumously)
Operators of the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta
MSG Gary Ivan Gordon	33	Killed defending Super Six-Four‘s crew	Medal of Honor, Purple Heart^[27]
SFC Randy Shughart	35	Killed defending Super Six-Four‘s crew	Medal of Honor, Purple Heart^[27]
SSG Daniel Darrell Busch	25	Sniper on crashed UH-60 Helicopter Super Six-One, mortally wounded defending the downed crew	Silver Star, Purple Heart^[61]
SFC Earl Robert Fillmore, Jr.	28	Killed moving to the first crash site	Silver Star, Purple Heart^[64]
MSG Timothy Lynn Martin	38	Mortally wounded by an RPG on the Lost Convoy, died while en route to a field hospital in Germany	Silver Star, Purple Heart.^[65]
SFC Matthew Loren Rierson	33	Killed by stray mortar shell that landed near him Oct. 6, 2 days after the initial raid	Silver Star, Bronze star, Purple Heart.^[66]
Soldiers of the 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment
CPL James “Jamie” E. Smith	21	Killed around crash site one	Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device and Oak leaf cluster, Purple Heart^[67]
SPC James M. Cavaco	26	Killed on the Lost Convoy	Bronze Star with Valor Device, Purple Heart^[68]
SGT James Casey Joyce	24	Killed on the Lost Convoy	Bronze Star with Valor Device, Purple Heart^[68]
CPL Richard “Alphabet” W. Kowalewski, Jr.	20	Killed on the Lost Convoy by an RPG	Bronze Star with Valor Device, Purple Heart^[69]
SGT Dominick M. Pilla	21	Killed on Struecker’s convoy	Bronze Star with Valor Device, Purple Heart^[69]
SGT Lorenzo M. Ruiz	27	Mortally wounded on the Lost Convoy, died en route to a field hospital in Germany	Bronze Star with Valor Device, Purple Heart^[69]
Pilots and Crew of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment
SSG William “Wild Bill” David Cleveland, Jr.	34	Crew chief on Super Six-Four, killed	Silver Star, Bronze Star, Air Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart^[70]
SSG Thomas “Tommie” J. Field	25	Crew chief on Super Six-Four, killed	Silver Star, Bronze Star, Air Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart
CW4 Raymond “Ironman” Alex Frank	45	Super Six-Four‘s copilot, killed	Silver Star, Air Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart^[71]
CW3 Clifton “Elvis” P. Wolcott	36	Super Six-One‘s pilot, died in crash	Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Air Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart^[70]
CW3 Donovan “Bull” Lee Briley	33	Super Six-One‘s copilot, died in crash	Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Air Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart^[72]
Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division
SGT Cornell Lemont Houston, Sr. 1st Platoon, C Company, 41st Engr BN	31	Member of the “Lost Platoon”. Wounded by shrapnel from an RPG whilst recovering a severely wounded Malaysian soldier on the rescue convoy.^[73] Also shot in the leg and chest.^[74] Died of wounds at Landstuhl Army Regional Medical Center.^[75]	Bronze Star with Valor Device, de Fleury Medal, Purple Heart^[76]
PFC James Henry Martin, Jr.	23	Member of 2nd Squad, 2nd Platoon, Company A.^[77] Killed on the rescue convoy by a bullet to the head.^[74]	Purple Heart^[78]

3 October 2021

Operation Red Dawn

Samir, a 34-year-old Iraqi-American military interpreter who helped find Saddam and pull him from his hideaway in December 2003.

Red Dawn was the operation launched to capture or kill Saddam Hussein in 2003. Named after the 1984 movie that started Patrick Swayze.

Background

Hussein disappeared from public view soon after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The American military labelled him “High Value Target Number One” (HVT1) and began one of the largest manhunts in history. Between July and December 2003, JSOC’s Task Force 121 carried out twelve unsuccessful raids to find Saddam Hussein, together with 600 other operations against targets, including 300 interrogations.

On 12 December 2003, a raid on a house in Baghdad that was being used as an insurgent headquarters captured Muhammed Ibrahim Omar al-Musslit, Saddam’s right-hand man. Early the next morning he revealed where Saddam may be found.

The Raid

Operation Red Dawn was launched after gaining actionable intelligence identifying two likely locations of Saddam’s whereabouts code-named Wolverine 1 and Wolverine 2, near the town of ad-Dawr, south of Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit. The site names of “Wolverine 1” and “Wolverine 2” are also a reference to the American insurgent group in the movie, The Wolverines.

C squadron of 1st SFOD-D, ISA operators under Task Force 121 and the First Brigade Combat team of the 4th ID, conducted the operation. The forces cleared the two objectives but initially did not find the target. Then, as the operators were finishing and the helicopters called in to extract them, one assaulter kicked a piece of flooring to one side, exposing a spider hole; he prepared to throw a fragmentation grenade into it – in case it led to an insurgent tunnel system, when suddenly Hussein appeared. The Delta operator struck him with the stock of his M4 Carbine and disarmed him of a Glock 18C.

Hussein surrendered and offered no real resistance; he was exfiltrated by the 160th SOAR to the Tikrit Mission Support Site where he was properly identified. After proper identification, he was then taken by helicopter from 160th SOAR from Tikrit to Baghdad and into custody at Baghdad International Airport.

There were no casualties in the operation.

Reaction and Aftermath

International reaction to the capture of Hussein was overwhelmingly positive, even in the Arab world.

Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi ambassador to the United States, stated that “Saddam Hussein was a menace to the Arab world.”

A Jordanian government spokeswoman said they hoped that a page has been turned and that the Iraqi people would be able to assume their responsibilities as soon as possible and build their future according to their will. The first and last word concerning the capture of Saddam Hussein or his fate must be given to the Iraqi people.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said, “I don’t think anyone will be sad over Saddam Hussein. His arrest does not change the fact that his regime was finished, and it is the natural consequence of the regime’s fall. The Iraqi regime had harmed the Iraqi people, and had pulled the Arab region into several storms.”

Unfortunately, not all the news was good. Shortly after Saddam’s capture, a long term insurgency wreaked havoc across that country. Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took full advantage of Hussein’s capture by launching a shia uprising without fear if reprisal from the Sunni Ba’athists of Saddam’s regime.

Saddam himself was executed by hanging at Camp Justice, an Iraqi army base in Kadhimiya, a neighborhood of northeast Baghdad by Iraqi authorities on 30 Dec 2006.

13 December 2020