May 30 in U.S. military history
“Handsome Jack” and “Black Jack”
1866: “Decoration Day” – the predecessor to Memorial Day – is first observed by order of U.S. Army Gen. John A. Logan, who designated the day “for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country.” Maj. Gen. (future U.S. pres.) James A. Garfield presides over ceremonies at Arlington Cemetery (the former estate of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee), and approximately 5,000 participants decorate the graves of both Union and Confederate dead — about 20,000 of them — buried on the grounds.
1904: As seven warships of the European and South Atlantic squadrons sit anchored off the North African coast, Marines from the armored cruiser USS Brooklyn (ACR-3), commanded by Capt. John T. “Handsome Jack” Myers, land at Tangiers, Morocco to reinforce the guard force at the American Consulate. The outlaw Raisuli had captured Greek-American expatriate Ion Perdicaris, holding him for ransom, raising tensions between Raisuli and the Sultan.
1942: The B-17F “Flying Fortress” bomber makes its first flight. The Boeing B-17 entered service back in 1935, but the “F” model has several hundred improvements to the airframe. Over 3,000 are built.
That same day, the U.S. Army accepts delivery of the world’s first production helicopter – the Sikorsky R-4. Designer Igor Sikorsky flew the R-4 over 700 miles in a record-setting cross-country trip from the factory in Connecticut to Wright Field (modern-day Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) in Dayton, Ohio. Pilots use the new aircraft to rescue several downed aircrews and sailors in addition to support roles during World War II.
And in the Pacific, Rear Adm. Frank J. “Black Jack” Fletcher’s Task Force 17 departs Pearl Harbor following 72 hours of frantic repairs to USS Yorktown (CV-5). Damaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea, original estimates said that Yorktown required months of repairs to place the warship back in full service. But the Navy needs all the flattops it can get for the upcoming battle at Midway, so the ships sail west (as crews continue their repairs) to join Rear Adm. Raymond A. Spruance’s task force with Enterprise and Hornet already enroute .
1943: After a last-ditch bonsai charge led by Col. Yasuyo Yamasaki, resulting in fierce hand-to-hand fighting, U.S. and Canadian forces have secured the Alaskan island of Attu. Only 28 of the original 8,000-man Japanese occupation force are captured alive. There will be another amphibious landing at Kiska Island in August, but the troops find the island deserted. The brutally cold Aleutian Campaign is over.