1960s Timeline

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

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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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

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, 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

Aug. 9, 1961 - Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff in Europe during World War II, died of a heart attack today at Walter Reed Hospital. He was 65. Gen. Smith was involved in negotiating the armistice between Italy and the Allies in 1943, which he signed on behalf of Gen. Eisenhower. In 1944, he negotiated successfully for food and fuel aid to be sent through German lines for the cold and starving Dutch civilian population. In May 1945, Gen. Smith m

Aug. 3, 1961 - Hercules Korgis, the Greek-born American Army hero who won military honors during World War I, died today in a Michigan Veterans Administration hospital. He was 72. As a sergeant, Mr. Korgis single-handedly captured 256 Germans at Chateau-Thierry in 1918. He and three other soldiers had been placed at an outpost where no attack was expected. The Germans surprised them, killed his three companions, and wounded him in the leg and neck. Mr. Korgis told his German

July 3, 1961 - General Douglas MacArthur returned today to the Philippines, a land he has long known and a people he loves. Nearly 2 million Filipinos turned out to greet their World War II liberator, who is on a 10-day sentimental journey to scenes of some of his famous battles. "I have returned," he told a huge crowd that welcomed him at Manila International Airport today, paraphrasing his famous pledge, "I shall return." General MacArthur received the Medal of Honor