Nov. 24 in U.S. military history

1863: Union forces scale the slopes of Lookout Mountain under cover of fog, capturing the objective and breaking the Confederate siege of Chattanooga, Tenn.

1944: 111 U.S. Army Air Forces B-29 bombers based in Saipan attack the Nakajima Aircraft engine plant near Tokyo in the first attack on the Japanese mainland since Doolittle’s 1942 raid.

1950: Gen. Douglas MacArthur launches the “Home by Christmas” offensive against Chinese and North Korean forces. The attack meets heavy resistance and a Chinese counterattack would drive UN forces from North Korea by December.

Medal of Honor: Three Union soldiers were awarded the Medal for actions in the Battle of Lookout Mountain: Pvt. Peter Kappesser and 1st Sgt. Norman F. Potter (for capturing Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg’s flag) and Sgt. John Kiggins (for waving colors to save the lives of troops being fired at by friendly artillery batteries – drawing concentrated enemy fire).

In Korea, 1951, PFC Noah O. Knight discovered enemy soldiers entering a friendly position. He had previously depleted his ammunition, stemming an enemy advance and causing heavy enemy casualties. PFC Knight rushed the soldiers, neutralizing two with his rifle butt, but was mortally wounded when the third enemy soldier detonated his explosives.

Adapted (and abridged) in part from “This Week in US Military History” by W. Thomas Smith Jr. at Human Events.