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 another clip from President Kennedy's address today at West Point in which he references the events of D-Day -- 18 years ago today. #JFK #westpoint #military #veterans

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

June 6, 1962 - U.S. Ambassador James M. Gavin (pictured in 1944), who landed in France 18 years ago as a paratroop general, led ceremonies today commemorating the D-Day invasion and the 10,000 American soldiers buried in France. Ambassador Gavin visited the military cemetery near the invasion beaches and laid a cornerstone for an American Forces museum at Sainte-Mere-Eglise, the first French village to be liberated. On June 6, 1944, he was deputy commander of the 82nd Airborn

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

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 20, 1961 - General of the Army Douglas MacArthur returned to the White House for the first time in seven years. He said it was good "to feel a part of the current scene." The 81-year-old general, who commanded U.S. forces in the Pacific in World War II and later in Korea, had lunch with President Kennedy, Vice President Johnson, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and members of Congress and the Administration. Afterward General MacArthur emerged from the White House wear

July 20, 1961 - First castings have been announced for Darryl F. Zanuck's production of "The Longest Day," the Cornelius Ryan book on the D-Day landings, which Twentieth Century-Fox will release. Pre-production work has begun, with Mr. Zanuck using Paris as a base of operations. Signed for the French segment of the film were Jean Louis Barrault (as a priest), Christian Marquand (as head of the French Commandos) and Daniel Gelin (as a paratrooper sergeant). The production will