Here are some of the significant things that happened in August: Wars began and ended: WWI started and WWII and the Spanish American War ended. Iran invaded Kuwait and the last US combat troops left South Vietnam. Japan got hit with two nuclear bombs and the Berlin Wall went up.

 

On 7 Aug 1782, in Newburgh, NY, General George Washington, the commander in chief of the Continental Army, created the “Badge for Military Merit,” a decoration consisting of a purple, heart-shaped piece of silk, edged with a narrow binding of silver, with the word Merit stitched across the face in silver. The badge was to be presented to soldiers for “any singularly meritorious action” and permitted its wearer to pass guards and sentinels without challenge. The honoree’s name and regiment were also to be inscribed in a “Book of Merit.” This award is now the Purple Heart.

 

On 15 Aug 1845, the US Naval Academy was established at Annapolis, MD on former site of Fort Severn.

 

On 12 Aug 1898, the brief and one-sided Spanish-American War came to an end when Spain formally agreed to a peace protocol on US terms: the cession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Manila in the Philippines to the US pending a final peace treaty. The Spanish-American War had its

origins in the rebellion against Spanish rule that began in Cuba in 1895. The repressive measures that Spain took to suppress the guerrilla war, such as herding Cuba’s rural population into disease-ridden garrison towns, were graphically portrayed in U.S. newspapers and enflamed public opinion. In January 1898, violence in Havana led US authorities to order the battleship USS Maine to the city’s port to protect American citizens. On February 15, a massive explosion of unknown origin sank the Maine in the Havana harbor, killing 260 of the 400 American crewmembers aboard. An official Naval Court of Inquiry ruled in March, without much evidence, that the ship was blown up by a mine but did not directly place the blame on Spain. Much of Congress and a majority of the American public expressed little doubt that Spain was responsible and called for a declaration of war. In April, Congress adopted a joint congressional resolution demanding a Spanish withdrawal from Cuba and authorizing President William McKinley to use force. On April 23, President McKinley asked for 125,000 volunteers to fight against Spain. The next day, Spain declared war. We declared war on April 25.

 

 

On 2 Aug 1909, what would become the Army Air Corps formed as the Army Signal Corps took its 1st delivery from the Wright Brothers.

 

On 1 Aug 1914, WWI began. Four days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Germany and Russia declare war against each other, France ordered a general mobilization, and the first German army units cross into Luxembourg in preparation for the German invasion of France. During the next three days, Russia, France, Belgium, and Great Britain all lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and the German army invaded Belgium. The “Great War” that ensued was one of unprecedented destruction and loss of life, resulting in the deaths of some 20 million soldiers and civilians. On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, was shot to death by Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbian government. On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. On July 29, Austro-Hungarian forces began to shell the Serbian capital, and Russia, Serbia’s ally, ordered a troop mobilization against Austria-Hungary. France, allied with Russia, began to mobilize and France and Germany declared war against each other on August 3. After crossing through neutral Luxembourg, the Germany army invaded Belgium, prompting Great Britain, Belgium’s ally, to declare war against Germany.

In 1918, the infusion of American troops and resources finally tipped the scale in the Allies’ favor. Bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with an imminent invasion, Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in November 1918. WWI was known as the “war to end all wars” because of the great slaughter and destruction it caused. Unfortunately, the peace treaty that officially ended the conflict forced punitive terms on Germany that destabilized Europe and laid the groundwork for WWII.

 

On 4 Aug 1914, as WWI erupted in Europe, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the neutrality of the US; a position a vast majority of Americans favored. However, Wilson’s hope that America could be “impartial in thought as well as in action” was soon compromised by Germany’s attempted quarantine of the British Isles. Britain was one of America’s closest trading partners, and tension arose between the US and Germany when several US ships traveling to

Britain were damaged or sunk by German mines. In February 1915, Germany announced unrestricted warfare against all ships, neutral or otherwise, that entered the war zone around Britain. In late March, Germany sunk four more US merchant ships, and on April 2 President Wilson appeared before Congress and called for a declaration of war against Germany. America formally entered WWI.

 

On 6 Aug 1945, Hiroshima, Japan, was struck with the uranium bomb, Little Boy, from the B-29 bomber, Enola Gay. The atom bomb killed an estimated 140,000 people in the first use of a nuclear weapon in warfare. The bomb was a uranium fission weapon with a yield of about 20,000 tons on TNT. Sixty percent of the city was destroyed in the blast and the firestorm that followed. About 80,000 Japanese are killed. Many more were severely burned, and others become ill later, from exposure to radiation. It wasn’t the most devastating bombing attack of the war but the sending of only one plane on a mission to destroy a city showed only too well the complete change in military and political thinking which had begun.

 

On 8 Aug 1945, President Harry Truman signed the UN Charter, and the US became the first nation to complete the ratification process and join the new international organization. Although hopes were high at the time that the UN would serve as an arbiter of international disputes, the organization also served as the scene for some memorable Cold War clashes.

 

On 9 Aug 1945, a second atom bomb was dropped on Japan, at Nagasaki, resulting finally in Japan’s unconditional surrender. The devastation wrought at Hiroshima was not sufficient to convince the Japanese War Council to accept the Potsdam Conference’s demand for unconditional surrender. The explosion unleashed the equivalent force of 22,000 tons of TNT. The hills that surrounded the city did a better job of containing the destructive force, but the number killed was estimated at between 60,000 and 80,000. The Emperor of Japan gave his permission for unconditional surrender

 

14 Aug 1945 – At a government meeting with Emperor Hirohito, the emperor stated that the war should end. He recorded a radio message to the Japanese people saying that they must “bear the unbearable.” During the night, beginning about 2300 hours, a group of army officers led forces number over 1000 in an attempt to steal the recording and prevent it being broadcast but fail to overcome the guards at the Imperial Palace. Coup leader, Major Kenji Hatanaka, who killed the commander of the imperial guard, commited suicide after its failure. The Japanese decision to surrender was transmitted to the Allies.

 

On 15 Aug 1945, celebrations marked the end of WWII — VJ Day (Victory over Japan). A two-day holiday was proclaimed for all federal employees.

 

On 10 Aug 1949, President Harry Truman signed the National Security Bill, which establishing the Department of Defense. As the Cold War heated up, the Department of Defense became the cornerstone of America’s military effort to contain the expansion of communism. In 1947, the National Security Act established the Cabinet-level position of secretary of defense, which oversaw a rather unwieldy umbrella military-defense agency known as the National Military Establishment.

 

On 1 Aug 1957, the US and Canada reached agreement to create the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).

 

On 15 Aug 1961, two days after sealing off free passage between East and West Berlin with barbed wire, East German authorities begin building a wall–the Berlin Wall–to permanently close off access to the West. For the next 28 years, the heavily fortified Berlin Wall stood as the most tangible symbol of the Cold War–a literal “iron curtain” dividing Europe.

 

On 11 Aug 1972, the last US ground combat unit in South Vietnam, the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, departed for the US. The unit had been guarding the US air base at Da Nang. This left only 43,500 advisors, airmen, and support troops left in-country. This number did not include the sailors of the Seventh Fleet on station in the South China Sea or the air force personnel in Thailand and Guam.

 

On 2 Aug 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, seizing control of the oil-rich emirate. The day came to be known in Kuwait as “Black Thursday.” 330 Kuwaitis died during the occupation and war. Sadam Hussein, leader of Iraq, took over Kuwait. Pres Bush led an inter-national coalition for sanctions and a demand for withdrawal. The Iraqis were later driven out in Operation Desert Storm.

 

 

 

 

 

Humor/Puns:

 

An Aphorism is a statement of truth or opinion expressed in a concise and witty manner. The term is often applied to philosophical, moral and literary principles.

 

*I read that 4,153,237 people got married last year. Not to cause any trouble, but shouldn’t that be an even number?

*I find it ironic that the colors red, white, and blue stand for freedom until they are flashing behind you.

*Relationships are a lot like algebra. Have you ever looked at your X and wondered Y?

*America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won’t cross the street to vote.

*You know that tingly little feeling you get when you love someone? That’s your common sense leaving your body.

*Money talks … all mine ever says is good-bye.

*You’re not fat, you’re just easier to see.

*If you think nobody cares whether you’re alive, try missing a couple of payments.

*The location of your mailbox shows you how far away from your house you can go in a robe before you start looking like a mental patient.

*Money can ‘ t buy happiness, but it keeps the kids in touch!

 

Now, don ‘ t you feel better knowing what an aphorism is?

 

 

 

 

 

The Frontlines of Freedom Newsletter is published twice monthly; the dates of publication each month depend on the events and history of that month.