1960s Timeline

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Nov 29, 2022

Army Tackles Staubach in Effigy

Nov. 29, 1962 - Army’s football squad left tonight for its traditional clash with Navy after an unusual ceremony. In the final practice session at Michie Stadium this afternoon, 13 seniors were called upon individually to tackle Roger Staubach (#12) of Navy in effigy. Each dashed through a lane of cheering cadets to smash a dummy wearing Navy blue and the number 12 of the midshipmen’s ace quarterback. Coach Paul Dietzel, who introduced the idea, said he hoped it would become

Aug 25, 2022

Medal of Honor Winner to Retire Sept. 1

Aug. 25, 1962 - A soldier who won the Medal of Honor in World War II for rushing into the fire of three German machine guns and destroying them with a submachine gun will retire in Fort Dix, N.J. on Sept. 1. The medal winner, Capt. Freeman V. Horner (pictured), will be honored at his retirement by a review of the Fourth Training Regiment on the post parade ground. Captain Horner, who is 40 and has been in the Army 20 years, lives with his wife and three children in Mount Holl

Jul 23, 2022

Hornung Will Train with Packers

July 23, 1962 - Private First Class Paul Hornung will be on his way to the Green Bay Packers’ training camp tomorrow. Hornung, the Packers’ star halfback, received notice today that he would be released from the Army tomorrow because his employment was seasonal. His reserve unit is scheduled for de-activation on Aug. 1. In the championship game last Dec. 31 against the Giants, which the Packers won 37-0, Hornung set the scoring record in an NFL title game with 19 points. #NFL

Jul 19, 2022

Nike Zeus Defense Missile Passes Test

July 19, 1962 - The Army’s Nike Zeus defense missile intercepted the nose cone of an Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile today high over Kwajalein Island in the Pacific. It marked the first time that an intercontinental missile had been intercepted by a U.S. antimissile missile. A Pentagon spokesman said the U.S. had no knowledge of a similar Soviet missile feat. Officials, while encouraged, remained unconvinced of the effectiveness of the Army’s controversial missile. I

Jul 12, 2022

JFK Remarks to Marines at D.C. Barracks

July 12, 1962 - President Kennedy address U.S. Marines at their barracks in Washington, D.C. #jfk #marines #semperfi #army #navy #airforce #military #veterans

Jun 10, 2022

(VIDEO) JFK Speaks at West Point

June 6, 1962 - JFK addresses the graduating cadets at West Point and pardons 20 from room confinement. #jfk #military #veterans #vietnam #army #navy #airforce #marines

Jun 6, 2022

June 6, 1962 - JFK at West Point (1/2)

June 6, 1962 - Here is a clip from President Kennedy's address today at West Point. #jfk #military #veterans #army #navy #airforce #marines

May 12, 2022

Gen. MacArthur Receives Thayer Award at West Point, Speaks to Cadets

May 12, 1962 - General of the Army Douglas MacArthur received the Sylvanus Thayer Award “for outstanding service to the nation” in ceremonies today at the United States Academy at West Point today. The 82-year-old general, still an imposing figure in a dark business suit and Homburg hat, inspected the Corps of Cadets in a Brigade Review on the historic ground known as The Plain. Future Army officers raised gleaming sabers to salute the old soldier in the brilliant sunshine.

May 12, 2022

May 12, 1962 - Gen. Douglas MacArthur at West Point: "Duty, Honor, Country"

May 12, 1962 - General Douglas MacArthur received the Sylvanus Thayer Award “for outstanding service to the nation” in ceremonies today at the U.S. Academy at West Point. Here is the conclusion of his acceptance speech. #army #Westpoint #WWII #military #veterans

Apr 18, 2022

President Kennedy Grants Clemency to Two Soldiers

Apr. 18, 1962 - Two Army Reservists charged with breaches of military discipline were granted clemency today by President Kennedy. The President announced at his news conference that he had asked the Army to cancel the court-martial of 24-year-old Larry D. Chidester, a National Guard private. The private had written his Senator a letter critical of Mr. Kennedy. “And in the same spirit of Easter Week,” the President added, he has directed the Army to remit the remainder of the

Apr 5, 2022

Former Gen. Edwin A. Walker Punches Reporter Outside Senate Caucus Room

Apr. 5, 1962 — As Edwin A. Walker left the Senate caucus room today after testifying about Secretary of State Dean Rusk’s role in an alleged “hidden control apparatus,” the former general punched Tom Kelly, a reporter for The Washington Daily News, who was trying to ask a question. Mr. Kelly, standing among the swarm of reporters outside the caucus room, started to ask Mr. Walker about a statement made yesterday by George Lincoln Rockwell, head of the American Nazi party, in

Apr 5, 2022

Former Gen. Edwin A. Walker Challenges Secretary Rusk's Loyalty

Apr. 5, 1962 - Edwin A. Walker, who resigned from the Army to take up the cause of “Constitutional” conservatism, challenged today the loyalty of Secretary of State Dean Rusk. The former major general said he questioned Mr. Rusk’s dedication to the security, sovereignty, and constitutional system of the United States. He linked the Secretary to a “hidden control apparatus” that he contended was dictating a “no-win” policy toward the world Communist conspiracy. Testifying for

Jan 26, 2022

General MacArthur Celebrates 82nd Birthday

Jan. 26, 1962 - General of the Army Douglas MacArthur celebrated his 82nd birthday in New York today, saying that he had “reached an age when every new birthday is something of a triumph.” As he greeted a delegation of cadets from the U.S. Military Academy, the general said that of all the honors he had received during his career he “prized most highly” that of being a graduate of West Point. General MacArthur, who is on the active list of the Army without command, spent the

Jan 26, 2022

Extended-Tour Army Men To Be Released by July

Jan. 26, 1962 - Secretary of the Army Elvis J. Stahr Jr. (pictured far right) told Congress today that regular Army men whose duty tours had been involuntarily extended as part of the build-up in the Berlin crisis would be released by July 31. Mr. Stahr gave no indication of the release date for the Reservists and National Guard men who have been called to active duty. Some sources said August was a target. The Pentagon said 84,000 enlisted men had had their duty tours extend

Dec 11, 2021

U.S. Army Helicopters Arrive in South Vietnam

Dec. 11, 1961 - Two U.S. Army helicopter companies arrived in Saigon today. The helicopters, to be flown and serviced by U.S. troops, are the first direct military support by the U.S. for South Vietnam’s war against Communist guerrilla forces. At least 33 H-21C twin-rotor helicopters and their pilots and ground crews, an estimated total of 400 men, arrived aboard the Military Sea Transportation Service aircraft ferry Core. In the anti-guerrilla operations in the mountains, he

Nov 3, 2021

NFL Star Paul Hornung Found Fit for Army Duty

Nov. 3, 1961 - Paul Hornung (pictured #5), the Green Bay Packer halfback and leading scorer in the NFL, was found physically fit today and ordered to Army duty. He will be able to play the next two Sundays against the Baltimore Colts and Chicago Bears. Fifth Army Headquarters announced that a series of tests Hornung took at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station this week had established that he was fit for service. He was ordered by the XIV Army Corps Headquarters at Minneap

Nov 2, 2021

General Walker Resigns from Army

Nov. 2, 1961 - Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker made known today his decision to resign from the Army. The general was formally admonished and removed from command of the 24th Infantry Division in Europe last April on charges that he had engaged in partisan political activity. An inspector general’s report said he attempted to influence the voting of his troops in the elections of 1960 through anti-Communist troop-indoctrination courses. “I must be free from the power of little men

Oct 27, 2021

NFL: Packers Star Paul Hornung Directed by Army to Take Second Physical

Oct. 27, 1961 - Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers, originally scheduled for active Army duty next Monday, was directed today to take another physical examination requiring a ten-day hospital stay. Hornung, 26 years old and unmarried, previously was scheduled to report Monday for active Army duty at Fort Riley, Kan. He has suffered from a pinched neck nerve, which has sidelined him several times. The Army’s summoning of Hornung, Ray Nitschke, and Boyd Dowler of the Green B

Sep 26, 2021

Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger Dead at 75, Commanded Eighth Army

Sept. 26, 1961 - General Robert L. Eichelberger (pictured in New Guinea during World War II), retired American commander of the Eighth Army in the Pacific during World War II, died in Asheville, N.C. today. He was 75 years old. American troops under Eichelberger inflicted on the Japanese their first land defeat of the war at Buna, New Guinea. The general's stamina and perseverance against the Japanese in the sweltering, slime-coated jungles of New Guinea became legend. Few fi

Aug 25, 2021

Pentagon Orders 76,500 Reservists to Active Duty

Aug. 25, 1961 - The Pentagon today ordered to active duty 76,500 members of the reserve military forces - 46,500 in the Army, 23,600 in the Air Force, and 6,400 in the Navy. Most of the reservists will be called to report by Oct. 1. No Marine reservists were called because the Marine Corps is meeting its increased manpower goals through voluntary enlistments and service extensions. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara (second from left) would not say whether any of the res