Posted on 08/28/2018 7:13:26 AM PDT by fugazi
Today’s post is in honor of Sgt. Edgar E. Lopez of the 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, II Marine Expeditionary Force. On this day in 2004, the 27-year-old native of Los Angeles was killed by enemy action in Iraq’s Babil Province.
1862: One year after the Confederacy’s “glorious but dear-bought victory” over the Union in the First Battle of Bull Run, the two (significantly larger) armies meet again on the same battleground. 70,000 soldiers of Union Maj. Gen. John Pope’s Army of Virginia engage Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s 50,000-man Army of Northern Virginia, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. Maj. Gen. James Longstreet’s five divisions (25,000 men) execute the largest mass assault of the war, smashing their opponents’ left flank and forcing and the Union to once again withdraw.
1944: Army Air Force pilots Maj. Joseph Myers and 2nd Lt. Manford Croy, Jr., flying P-47 Thunderbolts, become the first fighter pilots to score a victory over a jet aircraft when they shoot down German pilot Hieronymus Lauer’s Me 262.
Meanwhile, the First Army crosses the Marne River in France just days after the liberation of Paris, and to the south, the coastal towns of Marseilles and Toulon surrender to the Allies.
1945: An advance party of 150 soldiers – the first American troops to set foot in Japan – land at the naval airfield at Atsugi to prepare for the 11th Airborne Division’s arrival in two days.
1952: Off the Korean coast, USS Boxer launches the first
(Excerpt) Read more at victoryinstitute.net ...
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Interesting
Thanks
Also on this day, President Richard Nixon announces that the military draft will end by July of 1973.
I think this was a bad idea. After that, American teenage/young adults have realistically no exposure to other countries and cultures. This is part of why we have so many folks decrying America, and saying we were never great, that there is no such thing as American exceptionalism.
Like Pete Rose or Shoeless Joe belonging in the Hall of Fame, I could argue for and against both sides of this. Ultimately, I think that the draft isn’t the problem, society is. There have been plenty of periods of American history where we haven’t had a draft and there were plenty of patriotic, hard-working Americans. Would you want some snowflake sitting next to you in a foxhole? I sure as heck wouldn’t. I want someone there that wants to be there, not some draftee that can’t do a pushup and would rather be playing Minecraft in mom’s basement. There are benefits though, but I think the problem with American society has grown larger than what a draft could possibly fix.
Maybe there should be a division in every branch - those who volunteered, and those who were drafted. A logistical nightmare, and maybe impossible, but it would put like-minded soldiers in the same foxhole.
“A logistical nightmare, and maybe impossible, but it would put like-minded soldiers in the same foxhole.”
Bad idea.
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Thanks for the ping...great history, and heroes!
Yeah, I understand. I think two years in peace corp, military, SOMETHING should be required. Heck, even volunteering at food bank, homeless shelter, something, just so everyone SEES the world a bit more clearly.
And, maybe that way, this “democratic socialism” thing (whatever THAT is), will die a quick, painful death.
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