At a news conference, President Richard Nixon said that the
Vietnam War is coming to a “conclusion as a result of the
plan that we have instituted.”
Nixon had announced at a conference in Midway in June that
the United States would be following a new program he termed “Vietnamization.”
On December 6, 1884, in Washington, D.C., workers placed
a nine-inch aluminum pyramid inscribed with "Laus Deo,"
meaning praise (be) to God, atop a tower of white marble,
completing the construction of an impressive monument to
the city’s namesake and the nation’s first president, George
Washington (below).
Illustration depicts the construction of the Washington Monument, "on the baseball ground, near the White
House" (according to the caption) in Washington, D.C.
(circa 1875)
A city law passed in 1910 restricted the height of new buildings
to ensure that the monument will remain the tallest structure in Washington, D.C.—a fitting tribute to the man known as the
“Father of His Country.”
On December 6, 1961, Syracuse running back Ernie Davis
became the first Black player to win the Heisman Trophy—
college football’s top individual award—beating Ohio State
fullback Bob Ferguson.
Earlier in day, Davis met with President John Kennedy at
the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. "I never thought
I’d ever be shaking the hand of the President of the United
States," he says.
As a senior in 1961, Davis rushed for 823 yards and scored 14 touchdowns. The previous season, he rushed for 877 yards.
Davis was the first pick in the 1962 NFL draft, by Washington,
which traded him to the Cleveland Browns. But he never
played in the NFL. Davis was diagnosed with leukemia later
in 1962, and died on May 18, 1963. He was 23.
Ernie Davis Statue, Syracuse University.
The first Medal of Honor awarded to a U.S. serviceman for
action in Vietnam was presented to Capt. Roger Donlon
of Saugerties, New York, for his heroic action earlier in
the year.
Captain Donlon and his Special Forces team were manning
Camp Nam Dong, a mountain outpost near the borders of
Laos and North Vietnam.
Just before two o’clock in the morning on July 6, 1964, hordes
of Viet Cong attacked the camp. He was shot in the stomach,
but Donlon stuffed a handkerchief into the wound, cinched up
his belt, and kept fighting.
He was wounded three more times, but he continued fighting,
manning a mortar, throwing grenades at the enemy, and
refusing medical attention.
President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Captain Roger
Donlon the Medal of Honor.
