November 20, 1943 - United States Marines, supported by the United States Navy launch Operation Galvanic - The Battle of Tarawa.  The attacking Marines suffer heavy casualties from Japanese artillery and machinegun fire as they land on the small atoll in the Gilbert Islands.  The battle lasted three days and marked the second time the United States had been on the offensive in the Pacific Campaign (the first being Guadalcanal).

The island was garrisoned by 2,619 Japanese troops supported by 2,217 Japanese and Korean laborers.  At the battles end, 17 Japenese soldiers and 127 Korean laborers were all that survived of the 4800+ defenders.  The U.S. suffered 1,687 killed and 2,296 wounded.

November 20, 1945 - Trials against twenty four Nazi war criminals begin at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Germany

November 20, 1962 - The Cuban Missile Crisis comes to a peaceful end.  United States President John F. Kennedy discontinues the naval blockade and quarantine of Cuba following the Soviet Union agreeing to remove strategic missiles from the Caribbean island nation.  The crisis marked possibly the closest the world had come to the realization of nuclear war as the two superpowers postured and threatened in the deadly game of brinkmanship.

October 3, 1942 - This date marks the first successful launch of a V-2 rocket from Test Stand VII in Peenemünde, Germany.  This is also the first man-made object to reach space.

October 3, 1990 - After years of communist rule following the end of World War II, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) ceases to exist and becomes a part of the Federal Republic of Germany.  The day is celebrated as German Unity Day.

October 3, 1993 - Battle of Mogadishu (The Day of the Rangers): In an attempt to capture officials of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid’s organization in Mogadishu, Somalia, 19 US Soldiers and about 1,000 Somalis are killed in heavy fighting.  The battle took place as part of Operation Gothic Serpent and utilized Task Force Ranger which included members of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta (Delta Force) and aviation support from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) “The Night Stalkers“. 

After one soldier misses the fastrope and falls from his MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and two other Black Hawks are shot down by Somalis with RPGs the mission changes dramatically and would only end the following day after a drawn out gunfight pitting the training of the American soldiers against the shear weight of numbers and drug induced fervor arrayed against them.  The event would come to be immortalized in a book and movie both titled Black Hawk Down.

I personally was in uniform serving stateside when this battle took place.  I have since read the book, seen the movie and had the good fortune of working as a civilian with a veteran of this battle.  I have nothing but the utmost respect and reverence for those soldiers who fought in Somalia.  Their experiences are not unlike those of American soldiers in any war on any continent and in any era.  Their bravery, fortitude and dedication to their purpose and to each other is admirable and worthy of high respect.

October 1, 1947 - First flight of the North American Aviation F-86 Sabre jet fighter which will become famous as a MiG killer in the skies above Korea inwhat will come to be known as MiG Alley.

October 1, 1958 - NASA is formed to replace the former NACA as the United States’ organization governing space travel and exploration as well as research into air and space craft.

October 1, 1969 - The Concorde Supersonic Transport (SST) travels faster than the speed of sound for the first time.  The aircraft would go on to be the only successful supersonic passenger aircraft and serve under the livery of Air France and British Airways until its retirement in 2003 due to fiscal and environmental impact concerns.

September 18, 1947 - After years as a branch of the Army, known as the U.S. Army Air Corps and later the U.S. Army Air Forces, the United States Air Force is formally founded as a seperate and autonomous Military Service.  The USAF falls under the Department of Defense and is the most recent branch of the United States Military to be formed. 

The National Security Act of 1947 states that the purpose of the Air Force is:

In general the United States Air Force shall include aviation forces both combat and service not otherwise assigned. It shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The Air Force shall be responsible for the preparation of the air forces necessary for the effective prosecution of war except as otherwise assigned and, in accordance with integrated joint mobilization plans, for the expansion of the peacetime components of the Air Force to meet the needs of war.

This purpose is further defined in §8062 of Title 10 US Code (10 USC 8062) as:

• To preserve the peace and security, and provide for the defense, of the United States, the Territories, Commonwealths, and possessions, and any areas occupied by the United States;
• To support national policy;
• To implement national objectives;
• To overcome any nations responsible for aggressive acts that imperil the peace and security of the United States.

The stated mission of the USAF today is to “deliver sovereign options for the defense of the United States of America and its global interests — to fly and fight in Air, Space, and Cyberspace“.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

September 17, 1787 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the 35 men who will come to be known as this country’s framers adopt and sign the Constitution of the United States of America.  This document is the supreme legal foundation of the United States Government.  It defines the three main branches of the Government - Legislative, Executive and Judicial.

The United States Constitution does not grant, but rather identifies and guarantees certain “inalianable” rights that the framers believed all men possess from birth.  It sets the rights and responsibilities of the Federal Government as well as defining the limits of the Governments powers.

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18, Mrs. Powel (wife of Philadelphia’s mayor at that time) anxiously awaited the results, and as this nation’s elder statesman Benjamin Franklin emerged from Independance Hall, asked him directly: “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”  Franklin responded “A republic if you can keep it”.

I am certain that I am not alone in my gratitude to these wise and brave men who formed this nation in drafting this living Constitution.  These men were leaders, directing the course of our young country with foresight and consideration for the future needs of the people.  Their work has been the foundation for the subsequent constitutions of several other nations as many strive to obtain some measure of the freedoms enjoyed within the United States.  Freedoms made possible and protected by this Constitution.

I strongly urge you to read the United States Constitution for yourself.  Do not let others tell you what it says or what it means, educate yourself.  This document belongs to each and every one of us.

September 17, 1944 - Allied airborne troops parachute into The Netherlands in the “Market” portion of Operation Market Garden.  The operation combined airborne and ground armor and infantry units in an attempt to capture key bridges across the Muess and Rhine rivers to outflank the Siegfried Line and allow rapid advancement of Allied troops into the Ruhr Area of Germany.

September 17, 1976 - NASA unveils Enterprise, the first Space Shuttle.

September 11, 1941 - Ground is broken for the construction of the United States War Department’s new home:  The Pentagon.  The oddly shaped building situated in Arlington, Virginia across the Potomac River from Washington, DC, will become the largest office building in the world and serve as headquarters for the U.S. Military.

September 11, 2001 - Members of the Islamic terrorist organization Al-Qaeda hijack four commercial aircraft with the intent of crashing them into targets within the United States.  Two of these aircraft impact and destroy the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.  One aircraft is flown into the west side of The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The hijckers of the fourth plane, intending to crash into the US Capital building,  are overcome by the passengers and the plane crashes in empty fields near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  The day would see the deaths of 2,998 innocent people (not including the 19 hijackers) and awaken the righteous resolve of the American people.

There is little that we can say that has not already been said by people more elloquent than me.  While part of America was roused by this action, a part of America died as well. Not only her people died, but a touch of her innocence perished as well.  At Flightline Fabrications our hearts go out to all whose lives have been touched by the events of this tragic and infamous day and the legacy which continues even now, seven years later.

September 11, 2007 - Russia tests the worlds largest conventional weapon, the “Father of all Bombs”.  The weapon, dropped from a Tupolev Tu-160 heavy bomber is reported to be four times as powerful as the U.S. military’s GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB) or “Mother of all Bombs”.  The weapon is designed to replace small nuclear weapons in the Russian arsenal.  

September 7, 1940 - On the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing, 300 German bombers raid London.  The bombing attack which will continue until May 1941 is called the “Blitz“, short for the german word “blitzkrieg” (lightning war).

On this first night of the Blitz, 337 tons of explosives are dropped mainly on he London docks though several errant bombs fell on the poorer neighborhoods in London’s East End.  As a whole the Blitz was designed to soften the British resolve and prepair the way for Operation Sealion - the invasion of the British Isles by German forces.  The plan failed, England’s resolve held firm and the invasion never happened.

September 7, 1997 - The first flight of the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor takes place.

August 29, 1958 - The United States Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado and begins educating qualified college freshmen to become officers.  Graduates of the school’s four-year program receive a Bachelor of Science degree and most are commissioned as Second Lieutenants in the United States Air Force (USAF).  Students, called “cadets” receive both a world class education as well as military training to prepare them for uniform service.

August 29, 1995 - NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force a sustained air campaign conducted  to undermine the military capability of the Bosnian Serb Army who threatened and attacked UN-designated “safe areas” in Bosnia. The operation involved 400 aircraft and 5000 personnel from 15 nations.

During the campaign, a total of 3515 sorties were flown against 338 individual targets. Aircraft involved in the campaign operated out of Italy and from the U.S. aircraft carriers USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS America. 68% of the bombs used in this campaign were precision-guided munitions. The Bosnian Serb integrated air defence network, comprising of aircraft and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), presented a high-threat environment to the allied air operations. A French Mirage 2000 was shot down by a Serbian SAM on August 30,1995. As a counter to the operation approximately 400 UNPROFOR peacekeepers were seized by the Bosnian Serb Army and used as human shields at key Bosnian Serb sites.

The air attacks increased the international pressure on Serbia/Yugoslavia to take part in negotiations that resulted in the Dayton Peace Agreement.

August 20, 1998 - In response to August 7th terrorist bombings of U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and under orders given by President WIlliam Jefferson Clinton, the United States military launches cruise missiles against alleged Al-Qaida (Al-Qaeda) camps in Afghanistan in an attempt to neutralize Osama bin Laden whos followers were responsible for the attacks. 

In the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, the Al Shifa Pharmaceutical Industries factory, which U.S. officials say was housing chemical weapons, was also attacked and destroyed.

The Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from U.S. Navy ships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea.

The Sudanese government reacted angrily to the attack stating that “We have no checmical weapons factory in our country”.  The attempt to kill Osama bin Laden failed, leaving him alive and well to plan and carry out subsequent terrorist activies including the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

August 15, 1945- With the receipt of Japan’s surrender declaration, America celebrates the end of World War II.  At a little past noon local time (Japan), Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration to the Japanese people.  The same message was conveyed to President Truman via the Swiss diplomatic mission in Washington DC.

Despondent over what was felt to be a humiliating defeat, many Japanese soldiers committed suicide, over 100 American prisoners of war held by the Japanese were executed and many British and Australian prisoners in Borneo were similarly illegally executed.

While the formal surrender would be signed on September 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, and President Truman would declare that day as the official VJ Day,  August 15 marks the end of large scale hostilities between the last of the axis powers and the allied nations.

The war over, allied troops at home and abroad began to celebrate the end of a long and bloody war.  The war had been more costly in terms of material and human lives than any other conflict before or since.  While an exact number will never be known, estimates range between 39,963,700 - 72,771,500 dead on all sides, military and civilian.  A horribly high price to pay for a mad man’s hateful ambition, failures of diplomacy, economic greed, paranoia and racism.  Let us all pray it never happens again on such a horrific scale.