Douglas MacArthur (26 January 1880 – 5 April 1964)

Gen. Douglas MacArthur delivered his farewell address to
Congress on this day in history, April 19, 1951, uttering the
famous line, "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away."

Eight days before the speech, MacArthur had been relieved
of his duties as general of the U.S. Army by President Harry
S. Truman — putting an end to his storied military career. 

President Harry S Truman (left) relieved General
Douglas MacArthur (right) as commander of
United Nations forces in Korea on April 11, 1951.
 

The United States launched a massive invasion of the Japanese
home island of Okinawa, with an initial landing of 60,000 soldiers
and marines, on this day in history, April 1, 1945.

The Battle of Okinawa proved the last major engagement of World
War II and the largest battle of the entire war in the Pacific Theater. 

Okinawa has been a critical strategic location for the United States Armed Forces since the Battle of Okinawa and the end of World
War II. The island was under American administration until 1972,
and today hosts around 26,000 US military personnel, about half
of the total complement of the United States Forces Japan,
spread among 32 bases and 48 training sites.

Naha, Okinawa, Japan today.

March 29, 1973: Two months after the signing of the Vietnam
peace agreement, the last U.S. combat troops left South
Vietnam as Hanoi freed many of the remaining American
prisoners of war held in North Vietnam. America’s direct
eight-year intervention in the Vietnam War was at an end.

In Saigon, some 7,000 U.S. Department of Defense civilian
employees remained behind to aid South Vietnam in
conducting what looked to be a fierce and ongoing war
with communist North Vietnam.

ED DANAHUE

On March 13, 1942, the Quartermaster Corps (QMC) of the United
States Army began training dogs for the newly established War
Dog Program, or “K-9 Corps.”

Well over a million dogs served on both sides during World War
I, carrying messages along the complex network of trenches and
providing some measure of psychological comfort to the soldiers.