In the first half of June: Our Army has its birthday. A surrender ended the last battle of our nation’s Civil War. We invaded France during WWII. The Six Day war began in 1967 as Israel initiated attacks against the military forces of the Arab states surrounding Israel—before those armies could begin their attacks. This ultimately led to a peaceful relationship with several nations. Our forces fought in their first large-scale battle in WWI. And Frontlines of Freedom has its birthday.

On 2 June 1865, in an event that is generally regarded as marking the end of the Civil War, Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of Confederate forces west of the Mississippi, signed the surrender terms offered by Union negotiators. With Smith’s surrender, the

last Confederate army ceased to exist, bringing a formal end to the bloodiest four years in US history.

On 3 June 2007, the first weekend in June, Frontlines of Freedom broadcast it’s first show on WOOD Radio in Grand Rapids, MI.

On 4 June 1942, during WWII, the Battle of Midway–one of the most decisive US victories against Japan during WWII–began. During the 4-day sea-and-air battle, the outnumbered US Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own, the Yorktown, to the previously invincible Japanese navy.

When the Battle of Midway ended, Japan had lost four carriers, a cruiser and 292 aircraft, and suffered an estimated 2,500 casualties. The US lost the an aircraft carrier and a destroyer, 145 aircraft and suffered 300 casualties.

Japan’s losses hobbled its naval might–bringing Japanese and American sea power to approximate parity–and marked the turning point in the Pacific theater of WWII.

On 5 Jun 1967, the Six-Day War began. Israel responded to an ominous build-up of Arab forces along its borders by launching simultaneous attacks against Egypt and Syria. Jordan subsequently entered the fray, but the Arab coalition was no match for Israel’s proficient armed forces. In six days of fighting, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, the Golan Heights of Syria, and the West Bank and Arab sector of East Jerusalem, both previously under Jordanian rule. By the time the UN cease-fire took effect on June 11, Israel had more than doubled its size. The true fruits of victory came in claiming the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan. Many wept while bent in prayer at the Western Wall of the Second Temple.

The UN Security Council called for a withdrawal from all the occupied regions, but Israel declined, permanently annexing East Jerusalem and setting up military administrations in the occupied territories. Israel let it be known that Gaza, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai would be returned in exchange for Arab recognition of the right of Israel to exist and guarantees against future attack. Arab leaders, stinging from their defeat, met in August to discuss the future of the Middle East. They decided upon a policy of no peace, no negotiations, and no recognition of Israel, and made plans to defend zealously the rights of Palestinian Arabs in the occupied territories.

Egypt, however, would eventually negotiate and make peace with Israel, and in 1982 the Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in exchange for full diplomatic recognition of Israel. Egypt and Jordan later gave up their respective claims to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to the Palestinians, who opened “land for peace” talks with Israel beginning in the 1990s.

On 6 Jun 1918, the first large-scale battle fought by American soldiers in WWI began in Belleau Wood. In late May 1918, the third German offensive of the year penetrated the Western Front to within 45 miles of Paris. US forces under General John Pershing helped halt the German advance, and on June 6 Pershing ordered a counteroffensive to drive the Germans out of Belleau Wood. US Marines under General James Harbord led the attack against the four German divisions positioned in the woods and by the end of the first day suffered more than 1,000 casualties.

For the next three weeks, the Marines, backed by Army artillery, launched many attacks into the forested area, but German General Ludendorff was determined to deny the Americans a victory. Ludendorff continually brought up reinforcements from the rear, and the Germans attacked the

US forces with machine guns, artillery, and gas. Finally, on June 26, the Americans prevailed but at the cost of nearly 10,000 dead, wounded, or missing in action.

On 6 June 1944, now known as D-Day, Gen Dwight Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied Expeditionary Forces in WWII, implemented the massive invasion of Europe called Operation Overlord. By the first week of June 1944, Nazi Germany controlled most of Western Europe. Allied forces, numbering 156,000, were poised to travel by ship or plane over the English Channel to attack the German army dug in at Normandy, France, on June 5. Eisenhower had a window of only four days of decent weather in which an invasion would be possible. When bad weather hit the channel on June 4, Eisenhower wrestled with the idea of postponing Operation Overlord. Weather conditions were predicted to worsen over the next two weeks, and he had thousands of personnel and thousands of tons of supplies that were in his words, hanging on the end of a limb. After a promising but cautious report from his meteorologist at 9:45 pm on June 5, Eisenhower told his staff let’s go. Meanwhile, back at the White House on the afternoon of June 5, President Roosevelt waited for word of Operation Overlord’s commencement. Roosevelt wrote the speech he planned to deliver once the invasion began. At his daughter and son’s suggestion, Roosevelt turned the speech into a prayer entitled Let Our Hearts be Stout. At 3 am Eastern time on June 6, Roosevelt received the call that the invasion had commenced. He notified the nation by radio that night, saying at this poignant hour I ask you to join with me in a prayer.

On June 8, 1944, after years of planning, preparation and placating egos among his military peers, Eisenhower was able to report that the Allies had made a harrowing and deadly, but ultimately successful, landing on the beaches of Normandy.

On 9 June 1863, the largest cavalry battle of the Civil War was fought at Brandy Station, Virginia. After the Confederate victory in Chancellorsville, Virginia, in early May, Confederate General Robert E. Lee began to prepare for another invasion of the North by placing General J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry at Brandy Station, just east of Culpeper, to screen the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia as it started toward the Blue Ridge mountains. Stuart used this time at Brandy Station to stage a grand parade in order to boost morale and show off his dashing troopers to local residents.

Unbeknownst to Stuart, his pompous display was observed by uninvited Union cavalry and infantry under the command of General Alfred Pleasonton, who lurked across the Rappahannock River. On June 9, Pleasonton struck the surprised Rebels in a two-pronged assault. After initially falling back, the Confederates eventually rallied, and the battle raged all day.

The battle’s key moment came when Union troops headed to seize Fleetwood Hill, an elevation from which the Yankees could shell the entire battlefield. Confederate Lieutenant John Carter struggled to mount a cannon on the hill and fired a single shot that stopped the Union troopers in their tracks. The Yankee officer leading the charge suspected the Confederates had a line of guns sitting just over the top of the hill, when in fact it was a single gun with barely enough powder for a single shot. Carter’s heroic act saved the day for Stuart. The move bought time for the Confederates, and they held the hill.

The battle continued until late afternoon, with many spectacular cavalry charges and saber fights in addition to hand-to-hand combat by dismounted cavalry. In the end, Stuart’s forces held the field. Although it was technically a Rebel victory, the battle demonstrated how far the Union

cavalry had come since the beginning of the war. Stuart’s cavalry had been the master of their Union counterparts, but its invincibility was shattered on that muggy Virginia day.

On 14 June 1775, Congress adopted “the American continental army” after reaching a consensus position in The Committee of the Whole. This procedure and the desire for secrecy account for the sparseness of the official journal entries for the day. The record indicates only that Congress undertook to raise ten companies of riflemen, approved an enlistment form for them, and appointed a committee (including Washington and Schuyler) to draft rules and regulations for the government of the army. Happy Birthday, US Army.

On 14 June 1777, during the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” The national flag, which became known as the “Stars and Stripes,” was based on the “Grand Union” flag, a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red and white stripes. According to legend, Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross designed the new canton for the Stars and Stripes, which consisted of a circle of 13 stars and a blue background, at the request of General George Washington. Historians have been unable to conclusively prove or disprove this legend.

With the entrance of new states into the US after independence, new stripes and stars were added to represent new additions to the Union. In 1818, however, Congress enacted a law stipulating that the 13 original stripes be restored and that only stars be added to represent new states. June 14th is now celebrated as Flag Day.

Coming Up On Frontlines Of Freedom

On the weekend of June 1,2 we celebrate the show’s 17th anniversary: Gen Paul Vallely will discuss Stand Up America US. Cohost Skip Coryell will interview the host about his time in combat.

And on the weekend of June 8,9 Vietnam vet Dave Hearn will discuss his career and his book. Ben Sanderson will present Gun Owners of America and threats to veterans. And Navy vet Theresa Robinson will introduce another female veteran.