March 6 in U.S. military history

1836: Following a two-week siege, the Alamo – commanded by Lt. Col. William Barret Travis – falls to Mexican forces after the Texas garrison puts up one of the most heroic defenses in American military history. The garrison of nearly 200 volunteers is wiped out to a man.

1942: The U.S. Army Air School at Tuskegee, Ala. graduates its first class of black aviators. Among the six new military pilots is Capt. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., who will go on to command the 99th Pursuit Squadron and later become the Air Force’s first black general.

992 “Tuskegee Airmen” will earn their wings, flying 1,578 missions during World War II and shooting down 261 enemy aircraft.

1944: One day after sinking the American submarine USS Grampus, the Japanese destroyers Murusame and Minegumo are themselves sunk in the Battle of Blackett Straight. Rear Adm. Aaron S. Merrill’s Task Force 68 use the Navy’s new radar fire control system to target the enemy warships.

Over Europe, nearly 700 B-17 and B-24 bombers conduct a daylight raid against Berlin – the first major American mission against the Nazi regime’s capital. 75 bombers are shot down.

1965: With Operation ROLLING THUNDER underway, the White House announces that 3,500 Marines will be deployed to South Vietnam to guard the air base at Da Nang. Task Force 76, consisting of the amphibious command ship USS Mount McKinley, attack transport USS Henrico, attack cargo ship USS Union, and the amphibious transport dock USS Vancouver will land two battalions of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade on the South Vietnamese beach in two days.

1990: An SR-71 Blackbird flown by Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and reconnaissance systems officer Lt. Col. Joseph T. Vida streak from Oxnard, Calif. to Washington D.C.’s Dulles Air Field in 1 hour and 8 minutes, a blistering 2,112.52 miles per hour. This record-setting flight is the last run for the Blackbird (#61-7972), which is headed to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum where it is now on display.