29 June 1945– President Truman approves plans detailing the invasion of the Japanese islands during WW2. Operation Downfall would never take place, as the two atomic bombs and Soviet declaration of war would put an end to the Japanese war effort. Operation Downfall was a plan of epic proportions. Component Operations Olympic and Operation Coronet would have involved an estimated 6,000,000 American and British troops. Japanese plans to arm a significant portion of their population would bring the enemy force opposing the invasion to nearly 36,000,000. Of that force only around 4,000,000 would be members of the Japanese military.
30 June 1834– Under the Act for the Better Organization of the Marine Corps, the USMC is placed as a department of the Navy by Congress. This was a victory for the USMC as over the years, and still to this day at times, the USMC’s existence as a independent brach has been challenged. At this time President Jackson was attempting to combine and integrate the USMC with the Army.
30 June 1876– Survivors of the massacred 7th Calvary Regiment are rescued by the steamboat Far West. Curley, a scout for the Regiment, would convey the events from the Battle of Little Bighorn, two days prior, to the captain of the Far West. The steamboat would race the 52 wounded Soldiers to Fort Lincoln and share the news of the battle to the nation. The massacre was the beginning of the end of the Indian Wars fought in the west with the Native American tribes in the area dispersing among the plains after the battle. The US government would take a stronger stand on forcing the Native Americans to cede their land and come under control of the government.
2 July 1775– Weeks after being appointed as Commander in Chief of the army of the United Colonies, General George Washington arrived at Cambridge, Massachusetts. He had been ordered by Congress to take charge of the Siege of Boston and arrived soon after the Patriot defeat at Bunker Hill. Upon inspection of the army he found it to be poorly equipped and undisciplined. He soon implemented reforms, suggested by Benjamin Franklin, which included imposing strict discipline and military drilling. He would struggle to maintain the fledging army and it would not be until the next March, with the help of Henry Knox, that he would force the British out of Boston.
4 July 1776– Independence Day! Keep your eye out for our 4th of July facts email!