August And Our Veterans: Some Dates Lest we forget (as Lt. James EMO Tichacek, USN (Ret) and Wikipedia never do). 0801 - USS Enterprise defeated the 14-gun Tripolitan corsair Tripoli after a fierce but one-sided battle (1801) 0801 - Ensign Henry C. White sinks U-166 as it approaches the Mississippi River, first U-boat sunk by the U.S. Coast Guard (1942) 0802 - Iraq invades Kuwait, Operation Desert Shield became Desert Storm (01/17/91) when it became clear they would not leave (1990) 0803 - First nuclear submarine USS Nautilus passes under the North Pole (1958) 0804 - Coast Guard Day - Revenue Cutter Service, forerunner of the Coast Guard established by Alexander Hamilton (1790) 0805 - Congress adopts the nations first income tax to finance the Civil War (1861) 0805 - Admiral David Farragut exclaimed "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead," ran minefield & captured Confederate ships (1864) 0806 - Paul Tibbets, commander Enola Gay, drop first atomic bomb on Hiroshima (1945) 0807 - Purple Heart day - General George Washington authorizes award of the Purple Heart for soldiers wounded in combat (1782) 0807 - Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, allowing president to use military force to prevent attacks on U.S. forces (1964) 0807 - Battle of Guadalcanal (1942) 0807 - Operation Desert Shield (1990) 0809 - B-29 bomber Bocks Car drops second atomic bomb on Nagasaki (1945) 0810 - President Harry S. Truman calls National Guard to active duty to fight in Korean War (1950) 0811 - Last U.S. ground forces withdraw from Vietnam (1972) 0812 - Spanish American War officially ends after three months and 22 days of hostilities (1898) 0814 - Empire of Japan surrendered to Allied forces, ending World War II (1945) 0814 - United States ends "secret" bombing of Cambodia (1973) 0814 - Navajo Code Talkers Day 0815 - Japanese submarine departs with floatplane to be assembled upon arriving West Coast & used to bomb U.S. forests (1942) 0819 - USS Constitution earns nickname "Old Ironsides" during battle off Nova Scotia that saw her defeat HMS Guerriere (1812) 0822 - Free French parachute into southern Indochina, after successful coup by communist guerilla Ho Chi Minh (1945) 0823 - Up to 77,000 members U.S. Army Reserve Corps called involuntarily to active duty to fight Korean War (1950) 0825 - Paris Liberated (1944) 0825 - Washington, D.C. is burned and White House is destroyed by British forces (1814) 0825 - U.S., which never ratified Versailles Treaty ending World War I, finally signs peace treaty with Germany (1921) 0826 - First black Marine (Howard Perry) entered first recruit training camp (Montford Point, NC) for black Marines (1942) 0827 - British defeat Americans in Battle of Long Island (1776) 0829 - Battle of Bull Run, VA - Manassas, Gainesville, Bristoe Station (1862) 0829 - Congress creates US Naval Reserve (1916) 0829 - Saddam Hussein declares America can't beat Iraq (1990) --- Regards, Walt Schmidt