15 APRIL-31 OCTOBER 1980 MARIEL BOATLIFT The Cuban economy took a nosedive in the 1970s. Housing shortages and joblessness fueled popular dissent, yet Fidel Castro’s harsh restrictions on emigration appeared to condemn Cubans to a life of struggle. Faced with possible Read More
29 APRIL 1777 INTERCEPTING THE SUGAR FLEET In the earliest days of our nation, the Marine Committee of the Continental Congress was not hesitant to give tactical direction to our naval forces afloat. On this day, the Committee instructed that an Read More
22 APRIL 1864 THE LOSS OF PETREL To bolster Union naval forces patrolling the Mississippi in the Civil War, our Navy purchased a total of 63 existing sternwheel and sidewheel riverboats. Protection was added to their upper works in the form Read More
15 APRIL 1862 RADM CHARLES HENRY DAVIS Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote, commander of the Civil War Western Gunboat Flotilla supporting US Army operations in the upper Mississippi River, was in poor health. He had been struck in this foot with shrapnel Read More
11 APRIL 2005 “INDIA” 3/2’S STAND AT HUSAYBAH The Marines of Company India, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, had been posted to Camp Gannon, near secluded Husaybah, on Iraq’s border with Syria. There they became accustomed to Read More
7 APRIL 1954 THE DOMINO THEORY In March 1938, (then) LCOL Dwight D. Eisenhower watched Hitler convince the Austrians to join an Anschluss (alliance) with Nazi Germany. Seven months later Hitler annexed the Sudetenland (eastern Czechoslovakia). The whole of Czechoslovakia fell Read More
3-4 APRIL 1933 ADMIRAL MOFFETT AND AKRON RADM William A. Moffett was one of our most energetic and determined Naval aviators, whose particular interest was the rigid-framed lighter-than-air (LTA) ship. Moffett faced an uphill battle however, as zeppelins were widely thought Read More
31 MARCH 1917 THE VIRGIN ISLANDS World War I had been tearing Europe apart since the summer of 1914. Here, we struggled to stay neutral, despite the sinkings of American merchant ships carrying cargoes to the Allies. To most Americans, WWI Read More
26 MARCH 1945 USS HALLIGAN The bloody and bitter fight for Iwo Jima had barely begun to quiet before the next target on the relentless march toward Japan was determined–Okinawa. Here the Marines expected yet another tenacious fight to the death Read More
19 MARCH 1917 THE YEOMANETTES By the Spring of 1917 the “Great War” had been raging in Europe for several years and a yet neutral America was being drawn ever closer to the fray. Noting the gathering war clouds, Congress had Read More