List of Medal of Honor recipients educated at the United States Military Academy
Table:
Name

Class year

Notability

References

Douglas MacArthur

1903

General of the Army, Field Marshal in the Philippine Army; United States occupation of Veracruz; Second Battle of the Marne, Battle of Saint-Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne Offensive during World War I; commander of the 42nd Infantry Division; Superintendent of the United States Military Academy (1919–1922); brigade commander in the Philippine Division; commander of the Philippine Department; Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1930–1935); recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle of Bataan, commander of the South West Pacific Area during World War II; Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers during the Occupation of Japan; Korean War; grandson of Wisconsin Governor Arthur MacArthur, Sr.; son of Lieutenant General and Medal of Honor recipient Arthur MacArthur, Jr.

[64][65]

Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV

1906

General; recipient of the MOH for defense of te Bataan and Corregidor; also noted for leadership while a prisoner of war (POW); present on board USS Missouri (BB-63) for the surrender of Japan; returned to the Philippines to accept surrender of the local Japanese commander; his father, Robert Powell Page Wainwright, was member of the academy class of 1875

[66][67]

William H. Wilbur

1912

Brigadier general; recipient of the MOH for actions during the Allied landings in North Africa while attempting to negotiate a cease fire and leading combat actions against hostile forces

[66][68]

Demas T. Craw

1924

Colonel, United States Army Air Forces; posthumous recipient of the MOH for ground actions during the Allied landings in North Africa while attempting to negotiate a cease fire

[69][70]

Leon William Johnson

1926

General, United States Army Air Corps and United States Air Force; recipient of the MOH for actions in aerial combat during the raid on the Ploesti, Romania oilfields

[71][72]

Frederick Walker Castle

1930

Brigadier general, United States Army Air Forces; posthumous recipient of the MOH for actions in aerial combat while leading a bombing mission over Belgium

[69][73]

Robert G. Cole

1939

Lieutenant colonel; 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division; recipient of the MOH for leading his battalion in a bayonet charge at Carentan, France during the Battle of Normandy; later killed in Best, Netherlands

[69][74]

Leon Robert Vance, Jr.

1939

Lieutenant colonel, United States Army Air Corps; recipient of the MOH for actions in saving his bomber crew though he was severely wounded; Vance Air Force Base in his hometown of Enid, Oklahoma is named in his honor

[66][75]

Alexander R. Nininger

1941

Second lieutenant; recipient of the MOH for actions in Bataan, Philippines while a member of the Philippine Scouts, continued an attack even though wounded three times; first Army soldier awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II; First Division of Cadet Barracks at West Point is named in his honor

[64]

Michael J. Daly

1945 ex

Captain; dropped out of the academy after one year to enlist so he could fight in World War II; received a battlefield commission; awarded the MOH for assaulting several enemy positions

[69][76]

Considering the table as well as the supplementary paragraphs provided at the end.

State the answer to the question: Who was the recipient who was awarded the medal of honor along with Maj. Pierpont M. Hamilton ? Output only the correct answer as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}.

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur ( 26 January 1880 - 5 April 1964 ) was an American five-star general and Field Marshal of the Philippine Army . He was Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II . He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines Campaign , which made him and his father Arthur MacArthur Jr. the first father and son to be awarded the medal . He was one of only five to rise to the rank of General of the Army in the US Army , and the only one conferred the rank of field marshal in the Philippine Army . Raised in a military family in the American Old West , MacArthur was valedictorian at the West Texas Military Academy where he finished high school , and First Captain at the United States Military Academy at West Point , where he graduated top of the class of 1903 . During the 1914 United States occupation of Veracruz , he conducted a reconnaissance mission , for which he was nominated for the Medal of Honor . In 1917 , he was promoted from major to colonel and became chief of staff of the 42nd ( Rainbow ) Division . In the fighting on the Western Front during World War I , he rose to the rank of brigadier general , was again nominated for a Medal of Honor , and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross twice and the Silver Star seven times . From 1919 to 1922 , MacArthur served as Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point , where he attempted a series of reforms . His next assignment was in the Philippines , where in 1924 he was instrumental in quelling the Philippine Scout Mutiny . In 1925 , he became the Army 's youngest major general . He served on the court-martial of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell and was president of the American Olympic Committee during the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam .
General of the Army ( abbreviated as GA ) is a five-star general officer and the second highest possible rank in the United States Army . A General of the Army ranks immediately above a general and is equivalent to a fleet admiral and a General of the Air Force . The General of the Army insignia consisted of five 3/8th inch stars in a pentagonal pattern , with points touching . The insignia was paired with the gold and enameled United States Coat of Arms on service coat shoulder loops . The silver colored five-star metal insignia alone would be worn for use as a collar insignia of grade and on the garrison cap . Soft shoulder epaulettes with five 7/16th inch stars in silver thread and gold-threaded United States Coat of Arms on green cloth were worn with shirts and sweaters . The rank of General of the Army has had two incarnations . The rank was introduced in 1866 , the year after the American Civil War . It was reserved for the Commanding General of the United States Army , was a four-star rank , and was held by three different individuals from 1866 to 1888 . The rank was revived as the modern five-star rank during World War II , and may be awarded to more than one serving officer at a time . It was held by five different individuals from 1944 to 1981 . A special rank of General of the Armies , which ranks above General of the Army , exists but has been conferred only twice , to World War I 's John J. Pershing , and posthumously to George Washington , by proclamation 177 years after his death .
Field Marshal of the Philippines was a rank created in 1936 to be held by Douglas MacArthur .
The Philippine Army ( PA ; Filipino : Hukbong Katihan ng Pilipinas ) ( Castellano/Español : Ejército de Filipinas ) is the main , oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines ( AFP ) responsible for ground warfare . The Commanding General of the Philippine Army , its professional and overall head , is Lieutenant General Gilbert I. Gapay , who took office on December 6 , 2019 . Its main headquarters is located at Fort Bonifacio , Metro Manila .
The United States occupation of Veracruz began with the Battle of Veracruz and lasted for seven months , as a response to the Tampico Affair of April 9 , 1914 . The incident came in the midst of poor diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States , and was related to the ongoing Mexican Revolution .
The Second Battle of the Marne ( French : Seconde Bataille de la Marne ) ( 15 July - 6 August 1918 ) was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during the First World War . The attack failed when an Allied counterattack , supported by several hundred tanks , overwhelmed the Germans on their right flank , inflicting severe casualties . The German defeat marked the start of the relentless Allied advance which culminated in the Armistice with Germany about 100 days later .
The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was a major World War I battle fought from 12-15 September 1918 , involving the American Expeditionary Forces ( AEF ) and 110,000 French troops under the command of General John J. Pershing of the United States against German positions . The U.S. Army Air Service played a significant role in this action . This battle marked the first use of the terms D-Day and H-Hour by the Americans . The attack at the Saint-Mihiel salient was part of a plan by Pershing in which he hoped that the Americans would break through the German lines and capture the fortified city of Metz . It was the first and only offensive launched mainly by the United States Army in World War I , and the attack caught the Germans in the process of retreating . This meant that their artillery was out of place and the American attack , coming up against disorganized German forces , proved more successful than expected . The Saint-Mihiel attack established the stature of the U.S. Army in the eyes of the French and British forces , and again demonstrated the critical role of artillery during World War I and the difficulty of supplying such massive armies while they were on the move . The U.S. attack faltered as artillery and food supplies were left behind on the muddy roads . The attack on Metz was not realized , as the Supreme Allied Commander Ferdinand Foch ordered the American troops to march towards Sedan and Mézières , which would lead to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive .
The Meuse-Argonne offensive ( also known as the Meuse River-Argonne Forest offensive , the Battles of the Meuse-Argonne , and the Meuse-Argonne campaign ) was a major part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire Western Front . It was fought from September 26 , 1918 , until the Armistice of November 11 , 1918 , a total of 47 days . The Meuse-Argonne offensive was the largest in United States military history , involving 1.2 million American soldiers . It is the second deadliest battle in American history , resulting in over 350,000 casualties including 28,000 German lives , 26,277 American lives and an unknown number of French lives . U.S. losses were worsened by the inexperience of many of the troops , the tactics used during the early phases of the operation and the widespread onset of the global influenza outbreak called the Spanish Flu . Meuse-Argonne was the principal engagement of the American Expeditionary Force ( AEF ) during World War I . It was one of a series of Allied attacks known as the Hundred Days Offensive , which brought the war to an end . It was the largest and bloodiest operation of World War I for the AEF even if , given the scale of other battles on the Western Front , its size was limited and the operation itself secondary as it was far from the main offensive axis .
World War I ( often abbreviated as WWI or WW1 ) , also known as the First World War or the Great War , was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918 . Contemporaneously described as the war to end all wars , it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel , including 60 million Europeans , making it one of the largest wars in history . It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history , with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war , while resulting genocides and the resulting 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide . On 28 June 1914 , Gavrilo Princip , a Bosnian Serb Yugoslav nationalist , assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo , leading to the July Crisis . In response , on 23 July , Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia . Serbia 's reply failed to satisfy the Austrians , and the two moved to a war footing . A network of interlocking alliances enlarged the crisis from a bilateral issue in the Balkans to one involving most of Europe . By July 1914 , the great powers of Europe were divided into two coalitions : the Triple Entente - consisting of France , Russia , and Britain - and the Triple Alliance of Germany , Austria-Hungary , and Italy ( the Triple Alliance was only defensive in nature , allowing Italy to stay out of the war until April 1915 , when it joined the Allied Powers after its relations with Austria-Hungary deteriorated ) . Russia felt it necessary to back Serbia and , after Austria-Hungary shelled the Serbian capital of Belgrade on the 28 July , approved partial mobilisation . Full Russian mobilisation was announced on the evening of 30 July ; on the 31st , Austria-Hungary and Germany did the same , while Germany demanded Russia demobilise within twelve hours . When Russia failed to comply , Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August in support of Austria-Hungary , with Austria-Hungary following suit on 6 August ; France ordered full mobilisation in support of Russia on 2 August . German strategy for a war on two fronts against France and Russia was to rapidly concentrate the bulk of its army in the West to defeat France within six weeks , then shift forces to the East before Russia could fully mobilise ; this was later known as the Schlieffen Plan .
The 42nd Infantry Division ( 42ID ) ( Rainbow ) is a division of the United States Army National Guard . The 42nd Infantry Division has served in World War I , World War II and the Global War on Terrorism ( GWOT ) . The division is currently headquartered at the Glenmore Road Armory in Troy , New York . The division headquarters is a unit of the New York Army National Guard . The division currently includes Army National Guard units from fourteen different states , including Connecticut , Maine , Maryland , Massachusetts , New Hampshire , New Jersey , New York , Rhode Island , and Vermont . As of 2007 [ update ] , 67 percent of 42ID soldiers are located in New York and New Jersey .
The Superintendent of the United States Military Academy is its commanding officer . This position is roughly equivalent to the chancellor or president of an American civilian university . The officer appointed is , by tradition , a graduate of the United States Military Academy , commonly known as West Point . However , this is not an official requirement for the position . The Superintendency had often been a stepping stone to higher prominence in the Army . Four Superintendents became Chief of Staff of the Army : Hugh Lenox Scott , Douglas MacArthur , Maxwell Davenport Taylor , and William Westmoreland . The list of Superintendents includes five Medal of Honor recipients : Oliver Otis Howard , Douglas MacArthur , Albert Leopold Mills , John McAllister Schofield , John Moulder Wilson . Many Superintendents later became Commanding Generals , such as Joseph Gardner Swift . The post is now a terminal assignment in the Army ; as a condition for detail to the position , officers are required by law to acknowledge that they will retire at the end of their appointment . This formulation was meant to secure the independence of Superintendents from unlawful command influence ; however , in practice the resulting lame duck status restricts their power and influence in the Army . There has been discussion about reverting to the previous system or recalling a retired officer to fill the post . The billet carries the rank of lieutenant general , and is not counted against the Army 's statutory limit on the number of active-duty officers above the rank of major general .
Philippine Division , or from 1946-1947 the 12th Infantry Division , was the core U.S. infantry division of the United States Army 's Philippine Department during World War II . On 31 July 1941 , the division consisted of 10,473 troops , mostly enlisted Filipinos , known as the Philippine Scouts who formed the 45th and 57th US Infantry Regiments . All of the division 's enlisted men , with the exception of the 31st Infantry Regiment , and various military police and headquarters troops , were Philippine Scouts . In October 1941 , as part of the U.S. Army Forces Far East , plans were made to triangularize the division . The 34th Infantry was detached from the 8th Infantry Division and moved to a port of embarkation in December 1941 , along with two battalions of 105mm field artillery . The Philippine Division was to have two complete U.S. regimental combat teams in place by January 1942 to provide General Douglas MacArthur with a modern , trained mobile reaction force , while freeing up Philippine Scouts for rounding out other units . The outbreak of war in December 1941 , however , isolated the Philippines and prevented implementation of the plan . It was briefly reconstituted as the 12th Infantry Division in 1944-45 .
The Philippine Department ( Filipino : Kagawaran ng Pilipinas/Hukbong Kagawaran ng Pilipinas ) was a regular United States Army unit whose mission was to defend the Philippine Islands and train the Philippine Army . On 9 April 1942 , during World War II , the unit surrendered to the Japanese . The Department and its sub-units were predominantly under the command of American officers , including an American general , while the majority of the troops were enlisted Filipinos , known as the Philippine Scouts ( PS ) . The primary force of this Department was the Philippine Division . Of the 22,532 troops , 10,473 were members of the Philippine Division itself .
The Chief of Staff of the Army ( CSA ) is a statutory office ( 10 U.S.C . § 3033 ) held by a four-star general in the United States Army . As the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army , the CSA is the principal military advisor and a deputy to the Secretary of the Army . In a separate capacity , the CSA is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( 10 U.S.C . § 151 ) and , thereby , a military advisor to the National Security Council , the Secretary of Defense , and the President of the United States . The CSA is typically the highest-ranking officer on active-duty in the U.S. Army unless the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are Army officers . The Chief of Staff of the Army is an administrative position based in the Pentagon . While the CSA does not have operational command authority over Army forces proper ( which is within the purview of the Combatant Commanders who report to the Secretary of Defense ) , the CSA does exercise supervision of army units and organizations as the designee of the Secretary of the Army . The 40th and current Chief of Staff of the Army is General James C. McConville .
The Medal of Honor is the United States of America 's highest and most prestigious personal military decoration that may be awarded to recognize U.S. military service members who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor . The medal is normally awarded by the President of the United States in the name of the U.S. Congress . Because the medal is presented in the name of Congress , it is often referred erroneously as the Congressional Medal of Honor . However , the official name of the current award is Medal of Honor . Within the United States Code the medal is referred to as the Medal of Honor , and less frequently as Congressional Medal of Honor . U.S. awards , including the Medal of Honor , do not have post-nominal titles , and while there is no official abbreviation , the most common abbreviations are MOH and MH . There are three versions of the medal , one each for the Army , Navy and Air Force . Personnel of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard receive the Navy version while members of the Space Force receive the Air Force version . The Medal of Honor was introduced for the Navy in 1861 , soon followed by an Army version in 1862 . The Medal of Honor is the oldest continuously issued combat decoration of the United States ' armed forces . The President typically presents the Medal at a formal ceremony intended to represent the gratitude of the U.S. people , with posthumous presentations made to the primary next of kin . According to the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States , there have been 3,525 Medals of Honor awarded to 3,506 individuals since the decoration 's creation , with over 40% awarded for actions during the American Civil War .
The Battle of Bataan ( Filipino : Labanan sa Bataan ) ( 7 January - 9 April 1942 ) was a battle fought by the United States and the Philippine Commonwealth against Japan during World War II . The battle represented the most intense phase of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II . In January 1942 , forces of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy invaded Luzon along with several islands in the Philippine Archipelago after the bombing of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor . The commander-in-chief of all U.S. and Filipino forces in the islands , General Douglas MacArthur , consolidated all of his Luzon-based units on the Bataan Peninsula to fight against the Japanese army . By this time , the Japanese controlled nearly all of Southeast Asia . The Bataan Peninsula and the island of Corregidor were the only remaining Allied strongholds in the region . Despite a lack of supplies , American and Filipino forces managed to fight the Japanese for three months , engaging them initially in a fighting retreat southward . As the combined American and Filipino forces made a last stand , the delay cost the Japanese valuable time and prevented immediate victory across the Pacific . The American surrender at Bataan to the Japanese , with 76,000 soldiers surrendering in the Philippines altogether , was the largest in American and Filipino military histories , and was the largest United States surrender since the American Civil War 's Battle of Harper 's Ferry . Soon afterwards , U.S. and Filipino prisoners of war were forced into the Bataan Death March .
South West Pacific Area [ note 1 ] ( SWPA ) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II . It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War . SWPA included the Philippines , Borneo , the Dutch East Indies ( excluding Sumatra ) , East Timor , Australia , the Territories of Papua and New Guinea , and the western part of the Solomon Islands . It primarily consisted of United States and Australian forces , although Dutch , Filipino , British and other Allied forces also served in the SWPA . General Douglas MacArthur was appointed as the Supreme Commander , Southwest Pacific Area , on its creation on 18 April 1942 . He created five subordinate commands : Allied Land Forces , Allied Air Forces , Allied Naval Forces , United States Army Forces in Australia ( USAFIA ) , and the United States Army Forces in the Philippines . The last command disappeared when Corregidor surrendered on 6 May 1942 , while USAFIA became the United States Army Services of Supply , Southwest Pacific Area ( USASOS SWPA ) . In 1943 United States Army Forces in the Far East was reformed and assumed responsibility for administration , leaving USASOS as a purely logistical agency . Both were swept away in a reorganisation in 1945 . The other three commands , Allied Land Forces , Allied Air Forces and Allied Naval Forces , remained until SWPA was abolished on 2 September 1945 .
World War II ( often abbreviated to WWII or WW2 ) , also known as the Second World War , was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945 . The vast majority of the world 's countries - including all the great powers - eventually formed two opposing military alliances : the Allies and the Axis . A state of total war emerged , directly involving more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries . The major participants threw their entire economic , industrial , and scientific capabilities behind the war effort , blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources . World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history , marked by 70 to 85 million fatalities , most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China . It included massacres , the genocide of the Holocaust , strategic bombing , premeditated death from starvation and disease , and the only use of nuclear weapons in war . Japan , which aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacific , was at war with China by 1937 , [ b ] though neither side had declared war on the other . World War II is generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939 , with the invasion of Poland by Germany and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom . From late 1939 to early 1941 , in a series of campaigns and treaties , Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe , and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan . Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939 , Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours , Poland , Finland , Romania and the Baltic states . Following the onset of campaigns in North Africa and East Africa , and the Fall of France in mid 1940 , the war continued primarily between the European Axis powers and the British Empire . War in the Balkans , the aerial Battle of Britain , the Blitz , and the long Battle of the Atlantic followed .
The Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers ( SCAP ) ( originally briefly styled Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers ) was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the Allied occupation of Japan following World War II . It issued SCAP Directive ( alias SCAPIN , SCAP Index Number ) to the Japanese government , aiming to transform it into a non-terrorist nation . In Japan , the position was generally referred to as GHQ ( General Headquarters ) , as SCAP also referred to the offices of the occupation , including a staff of several hundred US civil servants as well as military personnel . Some of these personnel effectively wrote a first draft of the Japanese Constitution , which the National Diet then ratified after a few amendments . Australian , British , Indian , and New Zealand forces under SCAP were organized into a sub-command known as British Commonwealth Occupation Force . These actions led MacArthur to be viewed as the new Imperial force in Japan by many Japanese political and civilian figures , even being considered to be the rebirth of the shōgun-style government:341 which Japan was ruled under until the start of the Meiji Restoration . American biographer William Manchester argues that without MacArthur 's leadership , Japan would not have been able to make the move from an imperial , totalitarian state , to a democracy . At his appointment , MacArthur announced that he sought to restore security , dignity and self-respect to the Japanese people .
The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by General Douglas MacArthur , the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers , with support from the British Commonwealth . Unlike in the occupation of Germany , the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan . This foreign presence marks the only time in Japan 's history that it has been occupied by a foreign power . At MacArthur 's insistence , Emperor Hirohito remained on the imperial throne . The wartime cabinet was replaced with a cabinet acceptable to the Allies and committed to implementing the terms of the Potsdam Declaration , which among other things called for the country to become a parliamentary democracy . Under MacArthur 's guidance , the Japanese government introduced sweeping social reforms and implemented economic reforms that recalled American New Deal priorities of the 1930s under President Roosevelt . The Japanese constitution was comprehensively overhauled and the Emperor 's theoretically-vast powers , which for many centuries had been constrained by conventions that had evolved over time , became strictly limited by law . The occupation , codenamed Operation Blacklist , was ended by the San Francisco Peace Treaty , signed on September 8 , 1951 , and effective from April 28 , 1952 , after which Japan 's sovereignty - with the exception , until 1972 , of the Ryukyu Islands - was fully restored . According to John Dower , in his book Cultures of War : Pearl Harbor/Hiroshima/9-11/Iraq , the factors behind the success of the occupation were :
The Korean War ( in South Korean Korean : 한국전쟁 ; Hanja : 韓國戰爭 ; RR : Hanguk Jeonjaeng , Korean War ; in North Korean Korean : 조국해방전쟁 ; Hanja : 祖國解放戰爭 ; MR : Choguk haebang chŏnjaeng , Fatherland Liberation War ; 25 June 1950 - 27 July 1953 ) [ b ] was a war between North Korea ( with the support of China and the Soviet Union ) and South Korea ( with the support of the United Nations , principally from the United States ) . The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea . At the end of World War II , the Soviet Union and the United States liberated Korea from imperial Japanese colonial control on 15 August 1945 . After the war had ended , Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into two zones of occupation , the Soviets administered the northern half and the Americans administered the southern half . With the border set at the 38th parallel in 1948 , two sovereign states were established as a result of geopolitical tensions of the Cold War ( between the Soviet Union and the United States ) . A socialist state was established in the north under the communist leadership of Kim Il-sung and a capitalist state in the south under the anti-communist leadership of Syngman Rhee . Both governments of the two new Korean states claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea , and neither accepted the border as permanent . The conflict escalated into warfare when North Korean military ( KPA ) forces - supported by the Soviet Union and China - crossed the border and advanced into South Korea on 25 June 1950 . The United Nations Security Council authorized the formation of the United Nations Command and the dispatch of forces to Korea to repel what was recognized as a North Korean invasion . Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force , with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel . After the first two months of war , South Korean Army ( ROKA ) and the US forces rapidly dispatched to Korea were on the point of defeat . As a result , the ROKA and US troops retreated to a small area behind a defensive line known as the Pusan Perimeter .
Wisconsin ( /wɪˈskɒnsɪn/ ( listen ) ) is a U.S. state located in the north-central , Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the country . It is bordered by Minnesota to the west , Iowa to the southwest , Illinois to the south , Lake Michigan to the east , Michigan to the northeast , and Lake Superior to the north . Wisconsin is the 23rd largest state by total area and the 20th most populous . The state capital is Madison , and its largest city is Milwaukee , which is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan . The state is divided into 72 counties . Wisconsin 's geography is diverse , having been greatly impacted by glaciers during the Ice Age with the exception of the Driftless Area . The Northern Highland and Western Upland along with a part of the Central Plain occupies the western part of the state , with lowlands stretching to the shore of Lake Michigan . Wisconsin is second to Michigan in the length of its Great Lakes coastline . During the 19th and early 20th centuries , many European settlers entered the state , many of whom emigrated from Germany and Scandinavia . Like neighboring Minnesota , the state remains a center of German American and Scandinavian American culture . The state is one of the nation 's leading dairy producers and is known as America 's Dairyland ; it is particularly famous for its cheese . Manufacturing ( especially paper products ) , information technology ( IT ) , cranberries , ginseng , and tourism are also major contributors to the state 's economy .
Arthur MacArthur , Sr. , ( January 26 , 1815 - August 26 , 1896 ) was a Scottish American lawyer and judge . He was the fourth Governor of Wisconsin and was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia . He was the father of General Arthur MacArthur , Jr. , and the grandfather of General Douglas MacArthur .
Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur , Jr. , ( June 2 , 1845 - September 5 , 1912 ) was a United States Army general . He became the military Governor-General of the American-occupied Philippines in 1900 but his term ended a year later due to clashes with the civilian governor , future-U.S. President William Howard Taft . His son , Douglas MacArthur , was one of only five men promoted to the five-star rank of General of the Army during World War II . In addition to their both being promoted to the rank of general officer , Arthur MacArthur , Jr. , and Douglas MacArthur also share the distinction of having been the first father and son to each be awarded a Medal of Honor .
Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV ( August 23 , 1883 - September 2 , 1953 ) was a career American army officer and the Commander of Allied forces in the Philippines at the time of their surrender to the Empire of Japan during World War II . Wainwright was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his courageous leadership during the fall of the Philippines .
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the army , and in some nations ' air forces or marines . [ a ] The term general is used in two ways : as the generic title for all grades of general officer and as a specific rank . It originates in the 16th century , as a shortening of captain general , which rank was taken from Middle French capitaine général . The adjective general had been affixed to officer designations since the late medieval period to indicate relative superiority or an extended jurisdiction . Today , the title of general is known in some countries as a four-star rank . However , different countries use different systems of stars or other insignia for senior ranks . It has a NATO code of OF-9 and is the highest rank currently in use in a number of armies , air forces and marine organizations .
Bataan ( /bɑːtɑːˈɑːn/ ; Tagalog : Lalawigan ng Bataan IPA : [ bataʔan ] ; Kapampangan : Lalauígan ning Bataan ) is a province situated in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines . Its capital is the City of Balanga . Occupying the entire Bataan Peninsula on Luzon , Bataan is bordered by the provinces of Zambales and Pampanga to the north . The peninsula faces the South China Sea to the west and Subic Bay to the north-west , and encloses Manila Bay to the east . The Battle of Bataan is famous in history as one of the last stands of American and Filipino soldiers before they were overwhelmed by the Japanese forces in World War II . The Bataan Death March was named after the province , where the infamous march started .
Corregidor Island ( Tagalog : Pulo ng Corregidor [ kɔˈɾɛhidɔr ] ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines . Due to this location , Corregidor has historically been fortified with coastal artillery to defend the entrance of Manila Bay and Manila from attacks by enemy warships . Located 48 kilometres ( 30 mi ) inland , Manila has been the largest city and the most important seaport in the Philippines for centuries , from the colonial rule of Spain , Japan and the United States , to the establishment of the Philippines in 1946 . Corregidor ( Fort Mills ) is the largest of the islands that formed the harbor defenses of Manila Bay , together with El Fraile Island ( Fort Drum ) , Caballo Island ( Fort Hughes ) and Carabao Island ( Fort Frank ) , which were all fortified during the American colonial period . The island was also the site of a small military airfield , as part of the defense . During World War II , Corregidor played an important role during the invasion and liberation of the Philippines from Japanese forces . The island was heavily bombarded during the latter part of the war , and the ruins serve as a military memorial to American , Filipino and Japanese soldiers who served or lost their lives on the battlefield . Corregidor is one of the important historic and tourist sites in the country .
A prisoner of war ( POW ) is a non-combatant - whether a military member , an irregular military fighter , or a civilian - who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict . The earliest recorded usage of the phrase prisoner of war dates back to 1610 . Belligerents hold prisoners of war in custody for a range of legitimate and illegitimate reasons , such as isolating them from enemy combatants still in the field ( releasing and repatriating them in an orderly manner after hostilities ) , demonstrating military victory , punishing them , prosecuting them for war crimes , exploiting them for their labour , recruiting or even conscripting them as their own combatants , collecting military and political intelligence from them , or indoctrinating them in new political or religious beliefs .
USS Missouri ( BB-63 ) ( Mighty Mo or Big Mo ) is an Iowa-class battleship and was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named after the U.S. state of Missouri . Missouri was the last battleship commissioned by the United States and is best remembered as the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan , which ended World War II . Missouri was ordered in 1940 and commissioned in June 1944 . In the Pacific Theater of World War II she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands , and she fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 . She was decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets ( the Mothball Fleet ) , but reactivated and modernized in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan , and provided fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January/February 1991 . Missouri received a total of 11 battle stars for service in World War II , Korea , and the Persian Gulf , and was finally decommissioned on 31 March 1992 after serving a total of 17 years of active service , but remained on the Naval Vessel Register until her name was struck in January 1995 . In 1998 , she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor .
The Philippines ( /ˈfɪləpiːnz/ ( listen ) ; Filipino : Pilipinas [ ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs ] or Filipinas [ ˌfɪlɪˈpinɐs ] ) , officially the Republic of the Philippines ( Filipino : Republika ng Pilipinas ) , [ a ] is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia . Situated in the western Pacific Ocean , it consists of about 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south : Luzon , Visayas and Mindanao . The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City , both part of Metro Manila . Bounded by the South China Sea on the west , the Philippine Sea on the east and the Celebes Sea on the southwest , the Philippines shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north , Japan to the northeast , Vietnam to the west , Palau to the east , and Malaysia and Indonesia to the south . The Philippines ' location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons , but also endows it with abundant natural resources and some of the world 's greatest biodiversity . The Philippines is the world 's 5th largest island country with an area of 300,000 km2 ( 120,000 sq mi ) . As of 2015 , it had a population of at least 100 million . As of January 2018 [ update ] , it is the eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world . Approximately 10 million additional Filipinos lived overseas , comprising one of the world 's largest diasporas . Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands . In prehistoric times , Negritos were some of the archipelago 's earliest inhabitants . They were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples .
William Hale Wilbur ( September 24 , 1888 - December 27 , 1979 ) was a United States Army officer and a recipient of the United States military 's highest decoration - the Medal of Honor - for his actions in World War II .
Brigadier general ( Brig . Gen. ) or brigade general is a senior rank in the armed forces . It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries , usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general . When appointed to a field command , a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000 troops ( four battalions ) . In some countries a brigadier general is informally designated as a one-star general ( OF-6 ) . In some countries , this rank is given the name of brigadier , which is usually equivalent to brigadier general in the armies of nations that use the rank . The rank can be traced back to the militaries of Europe where a brigadier general , or simply a brigadier , would command a brigade in the field . The rank name général de brigade ( which translates as brigade general ) was first used in the French revolutionary armies . In the first quarter of the 20th century , British and Commonwealth armies used the rank of brigadier general as a temporary appointment , or as an honorary appointment on retirement ; in the 1920s this practice changed to the use of brigadier , which was not classed as a general officer . Some armies , such as Taiwan and Japan , use major general as the equivalent of brigadier general ( See also Japan & Taiwan for details. ) . Some of these armies then use the rank of colonel general to make four general-officer ranks . [ citation needed ] Mexico uses the ranks of both General brigadier and General de brigada .
Operation Torch ( 8-16 November 1942 ) was an Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War . The French colonies in the area were dominated by the Vichy French , formally aligned with Germany but of mixed loyalties . Reports indicated that they might support the Allies . The American General Dwight D. Eisenhower , commanding the operation , planned a three-pronged attack on Casablanca ( Western ) , Oran ( Center ) and Algiers ( Eastern ) , then a rapid move on Tunis . The Western Task Force encountered unexpected resistance and bad weather , but Casablanca , the principal French Atlantic naval base , was captured after a short siege . The Center Task Force suffered some damage to its ships when trying to land in shallow water but the Vichy French ships were sunk or driven off ; Oran surrendered after bombardment by British battleships . The Eastern Task Force met less opposition because the French Resistance had staged a coup in Algiers and the Allies were able to push inland and compel surrender on the first day . The success of Torch caused Admiral François Darlan , commander of the Vichy French forces to order co-operation with the Allies , in return for being retained as High Commissioner , with many other Vichy officials keeping their jobs . Darlan was assassinated soon after and the Free French gradually came to dominate the government . Torch was the first mass involvement of US troops in the European-North African Theatre , and saw the first major airborne assault carried out by the United States .
Demas Thurlow Nick Craw ( April 9 , 1900 - November 8 , 1942 ) was a United States Army Air Forces officer and a recipient of the United States military 's highest decoration - the Medal of Honor - for his actions in World War II . Craw and Maj. Pierpont M. Hamilton were the first Army Air Forces recipients of the Medal in the European-Mediterranean theater of World War II and the only AAF members to be awarded that decoration for valor not involving air combat .
Colonel ( /ˈkɜːrnəl/ kernel ; abbreviated Col. , Col or COL ) is a senior military officer rank below the general officer ranks . However , in some small military forces , such as those of Monaco or the Vatican , colonel is the highest rank . It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations . Historically , in the seventeenth , eighteenth and nineteenth centuries , a colonel was typically in charge of a regiment in an army . Modern usage varies greatly , and in some cases , the term is used as an honorific title that may have no direct relationship to military service . The rank of colonel is typically above the rank of lieutenant colonel . The rank above colonel is typically called brigadier , brigade general or brigadier general . Equivalent naval ranks may be called captain or ship-of-the-line captain . In the Commonwealth air force rank system , the equivalent rank is group captain .
The United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF or AAF ) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army , and de facto aerial warfare service branch of the United States , during and immediately after World War II ( 1939/41-1945 ) , successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps , and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force of today , one of the five uniformed military services . The AAF was a component of the United States Army , which on 2 March 1942 was divided functionally by executive order into three autonomous forces : the Army Ground Forces , the Services of Supply ( which in 1943 became the Army Service Forces ) , and the Army Air Forces . Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff . The AAF administered all parts of military aviation formerly distributed among the Air Corps , General Headquarters Air Force , and the ground forces ' corps area commanders , and thus became the first air organization of the U.S. Army to control its own installations and support personnel . The peak size of the AAF during the Second World War was over 2.4 million men and women in service and nearly 80,000 aircraft by 1944 , and 783 domestic bases in December 1943 . By V-E Day , the Army Air Forces had 1.25 million men stationed overseas and operated from more than 1,600 airfields worldwide . The Army Air Forces was created in June 1941 to provide the air arm a greater autonomy in which to expand more efficiently , to provide a structure for the additional command echelons required by a vastly increased force , and to end an increasingly divisive administrative battle within the Army over control of aviation doctrine and organization that had been ongoing since the creation of an aviation section within the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1914 . The AAF succeeded both the Air Corps , which had been the statutory military aviation branch since 1926 , and the GHQ Air Force , which had been activated in 1935 to quiet the demands of airmen for an independent Air Force similar to the Royal Air Force which had already been established in the United Kingdom . Although other nations already had separate air forces independent of their army or navy ( such as the British Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe ) , the AAF remained a part of the Army until a defense reorganization in the post-war period resulted in the passage by the United States Congress of the National Security Act of 1947 with the creation of an independent United States Air Force in September 1947 . In its expansion and conduct of the war , the AAF became more than just an arm of the greater organization . By the end of World War II , the Army Air Forces had become virtually an independent service . By regulation and executive order , it was a subordinate agency of the United States Department of War ( as were the Army Ground Forces and the Army Service Forces ) tasked only with organizing , training , and equipping combat units , and limited in responsibility to the continental United States .
General Leon William Johnson ( 13 September 1904 - 10 November 1997 ) was a United States Air Force general who was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading the attack on the Ploesti oil fields during World War II . A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York , Johnson was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry in 1926 . He joined the United States Army Air Corps in 1929 , and qualified as a pilot . He earned a master of science degree in meteorology from California Institute of Technology in 1936 . During World War II , Johnson was one of the first four flying officers of the Eighth Air Force , and served on it staff during its formative period at Savannah , Georgia . In 1943 , he assumed command of the 44th Bombardment Group , which flew the Consolidated B-24 Liberator . Johnson led the attack on the German naval installations at Kiel in May 1943 and the attack on the Ploesti oil fields in August 1943 , for which the 44th Bombardment Group received Distinguished Unit Citations . He commanded the 14th Combat Bombardment Wing from September 1943 until May 1945 . After the war , Johnson commanded the Strategic Air Command 's Fifteenth Air Force . He returned to England in 1948 to lead the 3rd Air Division , and then the Third Air Force , as it was redesignated in 1951 . Despite his lowly rank of major general , he was able to hold his own in dealings with more senior British officers and officials , and performed his duties with diplomacy and sensitivity . He returned to the United States in 1952 as head of the Continental Air Command .
The United States Army Air Corps ( USAAC ) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941 . After World War I , as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare , a philosophical rift developed between more traditional ground-based army personnel and those who felt that aircraft were being underutilized and that air operations were being stifled for political reasons unrelated to their effectiveness . The USAAC was renamed from the earlier United States Army Air Service on 2 July 1926 , and was part of the larger United States Army . The Air Corps became the United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) on 20 June 1941 , giving it greater autonomy from the Army 's middle-level command structure . During World War II , although not an administrative echelon , the Air Corps ( AC ) remained as one of the combat arms of the Army until 1947 , when it was legally abolished by legislation establishing the Department of the Air Force . The Air Corps was renamed by the United States Congress largely as a compromise between the advocates of a separate air arm and those of the traditionalist Army high command who viewed the aviation arm as an auxiliary branch to support the ground forces . Although its members worked to promote the concept of air power and an autonomous air force in the years between the world wars , its primary purpose by Army policy remained support of ground forces rather than independent operations . On 1 March 1935 , still struggling with the issue of a separate air arm , the Army activated the General Headquarters Air Force for centralized control of aviation combat units within the continental United States , separate from but coordinate with the Air Corps . The separation of the Air Corps from control of its combat units caused problems of unity of command that became more acute as the Air Corps enlarged in preparation for World War II . This was resolved by the creation of the Army Air Forces ( AAF ) , making both organizations subordinate to the new higher echelon . On June 20 , 1941 , the Army Air Corps ' existence as the primary air arm of the U.S. Army changed to that of solely being the training and logistics elements of the then-new United States Army Air Forces , which embraced the formerly-named General Headquarters Air Force under the new Air Force Combat Command organization for front-line combat operations ; this new element , along with the Air Corps , comprised the USAAF . The Air Corps ceased to have an administrative structure after 9 March 1942 , but as the permanent statutory organization of the air arm , and the principal component of the Army Air Forces , the overwhelming majority of personnel assigned to the AAF were members of the Air Corps .
The United States Air Force ( USAF ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces . It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services . Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907 , the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947 . It is the second youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces , [ a ] and the fourth in order of precedence . The U.S. Air Force articulates its core missions as air superiority , global integrated intelligence , surveillance , and reconnaissance , rapid global mobility , global strike , and command and control . The U.S. Air Force is a military service branch organized within the Department of the Air Force , one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense . The Air Force , through the Department of the Air Force , is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force , who reports to the Secretary of Defense , and is appointed by the President with Senate confirmation . The highest-ranking military officer in the Air Force is the Chief of Staff of the Air Force , who exercises supervision over Air Force units and serves as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . Certain Air Force components are assigned , as directed by the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Air Force , to unified combatant commands . Combatant commanders are delegated operational authority of the forces assigned to them , while the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force retain administrative authority over their members . Along with conducting independent air operations , the U.S. Air Force provides air support for land and naval forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field . As of 2017 [ update ] , the service operates more than 5,369 military aircraft , 406 ICBMs and 170 military satellites .
Operation Tidal Wave was an air attack by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) based in Libya and Southern Italy on nine oil refineries around Ploiești , Romania on 1 August 1943 , during World War II . It was a strategic bombing mission and part of the oil campaign to deny petroleum-based fuel to the Axis . The mission resulted in no curtailment of overall product output . This mission was one of the costliest for the USAAF in the European Theater , with 53 aircraft and 660 air crewmen lost . It was proportionally the most costly major Allied air raid of the war and its date was later referred to as Black Sunday . Five Medals of Honor and 56 Distinguished Service Crosses along with numerous others awards were awarded to Operation Tidal Wave crew members .
Frederick Walker Castle ( October 14 , 1908-December 24 , 1944 ) was a general officer in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II , and a recipient of the Medal of Honor . He was killed in action leading the bombing mission for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor .
Belgium , [ A ] officially the Kingdom of Belgium , is a country in Western Europe . It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north , Germany to the east , Luxembourg to the southeast , France to the southwest , and the North Sea to the northwest . It covers an area of 30,689 km2 ( 11,849 sq mi ) and has a population of more than 11.5 million , making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe , with a density of 376 per square kilometre ( 970/sq mi ) . The capital and largest city is Brussels ; other major cities are Antwerp , Ghent , Charleroi and Liège . The sovereign state is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system . Its institutional organization is complex and is structured on both regional and linguistic grounds . It is divided into three highly autonomous regions : the Flemish Region in the north , Wallonia in the south , and the Brussels-Capital Region . Brussels is the smallest and most densely populated region , as well as the richest region in terms of GDP per capita . Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups or communities : the Dutch-speaking Flemish Community , which constitutes about 60 percent of the population , and the French-speaking Community , which comprises about 40 percent of all Belgians . A small German-speaking Community , numbering around one percent , exists in the East Cantons . The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual ( French and Dutch ) , although French is the dominant language . Belgium 's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance , made up of six different governments .
Lieutenant Colonel Robert George Cole ( March 19 , 1915 - September 18 , 1944 ) was an American soldier who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the days following the D-Day Normandy invasion of World War II .
Lieutenant colonel ( pronounced Lef-ten-ent Kernel ( UK & Commonwealth ) or Loo-ten-ent Kernel ( US ) ) is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies , most marine forces and some air forces of the world , above a major and below a colonel . The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply colonel in conversation and in unofficial correspondence . Sometimes , the term 'half-colonel ' is used in casual conversation in the British Army . A lieutenant colonel is typically in charge of a battalion or regiment in the army .
The 502nd Infantry Regiment ( 502nd IR ) , previously titled the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment ( 502nd PIR ) , is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army . The regiment was established shortly after the American entry into World War II , and was assigned as a regiment of the 101st Airborne Division , The Screaming Eagles , one of the most decorated formations of the U.S. Army . The regiment saw substantial action in the European Theater of World War II and was inactivated in 1945 , shortly after the end of the war . Reactivating in a new form in 1956 , the 502d Infantry has served in the Vietnam War , the first Gulf War , Operation Iraqi Freedom , Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan , and Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq . Since 1974 , the regiment has been classified as an Air Assault unit . Currently , its 1st and 2d battalions are active . Both battalions are assigned to the 2d Brigade Combat Team , 101st Airborne Division ( Air Assault ) .
The 101st Airborne Division ( Screaming Eagles ) is a specialized modular light infantry division of the US Army trained for air assault operations . The Screaming Eagles has been referred to as the tip of the spear by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the most potent and tactically mobile of the U.S. Army 's divisions by former Chief of Staff of the Army GEN Edward C. Meyer ( ret ) . The 101st Airborne is able to plan , coordinate , and execute brigade-size air assault operations capable of seizing key terrain in support of operational objectives , and is capable of working in austere environments with limited or degraded infrastructure . These particular operations are conducted by highly mobile teams covering extensive distances and engaging enemy forces behind enemy lines . According to the author of Screaming Eagles : 101st Airborne Division , its unique battlefield mobility and high level of training have kept it in the vanguard of US land combat forces in recent conflicts . More recently , the 101st Airborne has been performing foreign internal defense and counterterrorism operations within Iraq and Afghanistan . The 101st Airborne Division has a history that is nearly a century long . During World War II , it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord ( the D-Day landings and airborne landings on 6 June 1944 , in Normandy , France ) , Operation Market Garden , the liberation of the Netherlands and its action during the Battle of the Bulge around the city of Bastogne , Belgium . During the Vietnam War , the 101st Airborne Division fought in several major campaigns and battles , including the Battle of Hamburger Hill in May 1969 . In mid-1968 , it was reorganized and redesignated as an airmobile division and then in 1974 as an air assault division . The titles reflect the division 's shift from airplanes to helicopters as the primary method of delivering troops into combat . Many current members of the 101st are graduates of the US Army Air Assault School .
Carentan ( pronounced [ kaʁɛ̃tɑ̃ ] ) is a small rural town near the north-eastern base of the French Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy in north-western France near the port city of Cherbourg , with a population somewhat over 6,000 . It is a former commune in the Manche department . On 1 January 2016 , it was merged into the new commune of Carentan-les-Marais . The town was a strategic early goal of the World War II landings as capturing the town was necessary to link the lodgements at Utah and Omaha beaches which were divided by the Douve River estuary ( nearby fields were flooded by the Germans up to the town 's outskirts ) . The town was also needed as an intermediate staging position for the capture of the cities of Cherbourg and Octeville , with the critically important port facilities in Cherbourg .
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy , the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II . The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings ( Operation Neptune , commonly known as D-Day ) . A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels . Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June , and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August . The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion in 1944 was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943 . General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force ( SHAEF ) , and General Bernard Montgomery was named as commander of the 21st Army Group , which comprised all the land forces involved in the invasion . The coast of Normandy of northwestern France was chosen as the site of the invasion , with the Americans assigned to land at sectors codenamed Utah and Omaha , the British at Sword and Gold , and the Canadians at Juno . To meet the conditions expected on the Normandy beachhead , special technology was developed , including two artificial ports called Mulberry harbours and an array of specialised tanks nicknamed Hobart 's Funnies . In the months leading up to the invasion , the Allies conducted a substantial military deception , Operation Bodyguard , using both electronic and visual misinformation . This misled the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings . Führer Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in charge of developing fortifications all along Hitler 's proclaimed Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an invasion . The Allies failed to accomplish their objectives for the first day , but gained a tenuous foothold that they gradually expanded when they captured the port at Cherbourg on 26 June and the city of Caen on 21 July .
Best ( Listen ( help·info ) ) is a municipality and a village in the southern Netherlands . It is situated northwest of the city Eindhoven , and is also part of the agglomeration of this city . The headquarters of Europe 's largest meat processor Vion NV are located in Best , as are Philips Healthcare and the Bata Shoe Organization 's Bata Protective operations ( B2B ) .
Leon Robert Bob Vance Jr. ( August 11 , 1916 - July 26 , 1944 ) was a Medal of Honor recipient who served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II .
Vance Air Force Base ( IATA : END , ICAO : KEND , FAA LID : END ) is a United States Air Force base located in southern Enid , Oklahoma , about 65 mi ( 105 km ) north northwest of Oklahoma City . The base is named after local World War II hero and Medal of Honor recipient , Lt Col Leon Robert Vance Jr . The host unit at Vance is the 71st Flying Training Wing ( 71 FTW ) , which is a part of Air Education and Training Command ( AETC ) . The commander of the 71 FTW is Colonel Corey A. Simmons . The vice-commander is Colonel Lee G. Gentile , Jr. and the command chief is Chief Master Sergeant Jeffrey Wilson .
Enid ( /ˈiːnɪd/ EE-nid ) is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma . It is the county seat of Garfield County . As of the 2010 census , the population was 49,379 . Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893 , and is named after Enid , a character in Alfred , Lord Tennyson 's Idylls of the King . In 1991 , the Oklahoma state legislature designated Enid the purple martin capital of Oklahoma . Enid holds the nickname of Queen Wheat City and Wheat Capital of Oklahoma and the United States for its immense grain storage capacity , and has the third-largest grain storage capacity in the world .
Alexander Ramsey Nininger Jr. ( October 20 , 1918 - January 12 , 1942 ) was a Second Lieutenant of the Philippine Scouts who received the Medal of Honor during World War II .
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces , comparable to NATO OF-1a rank .
The Philippine Scouts ( Filipino : Maghahanap ng Pilipinas or Hukbong Maghahanap ng Pilipinas ) was a military organization of the United States Army from 1901 until after the end of World War II . These troops were generally Filipinos and Filipino-Americans assigned to the United States Army Philippine Department , under the command of white American commissioned officers ( though a handful of Filipino Americans received commissions from the United States Military Academy ) . Philippine Scout units were given the suffix ( PS ) , to distinguish them from other U.S. Army units . The first Scout companies were organized by the US in 1901 to combat the Philippine Revolutionary Army led at that time by General Emilio Aguinaldo . In 1919-1920 , the PS companies were grouped into regiments as part of the US Army and redesignated the 43d , 44th , 45th , and 57th Infantry Regiments , plus the 24th and 25th Field Artillery Regiments , the 26th Cavalry Regiment ( PS ) and the 91st and 92nd Coast Artillery Regiments . Service and support formations were also organized as engineer , medical , quartermaster and military police units . The infantry and field artillery regiments were grouped together with the U.S. 31st Infantry Regiment to form the U.S. Army 's Philippine Division . At this point , the Scouts became the U.S. Army 's front line troops in the Pacific . The Philippine Department assigned the Scouts to subdue the Moro tribes on the island of Mindanao ( see Moro rebellion ) , and to establish tranquility throughout the islands . In the 1930s , Philippine Scouts , along with the 31st Infantry Regiment , saw action at Jolo , Palawan . Philippine Scout regiments became the first United States Army units to be in combat during World War II , until the surrender of USAFFE in May 1942 . Even after that some individual soldiers and units refused to surrender and become beginning elements of the resistance to the Japanese occupation .
Michael Joseph Daly ( September 15 , 1924 - July 25 , 2008 ) was an Irish-American United States Army infantry officer who received the United States military 's highest decoration for valor - the Medal of Honor - for his actions in World War II . He received the medal for single-handedly eliminating 15 German soldiers including a German patrol , and destroying three machine-gun nests . He resigned from the United States Military Academy after one year to fight in the world war and was sent to Europe , participating in the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach . After the D-Day invasion , he fought on to Germany where he was wounded . He received a battlefield commission to second lieutenant , returned to combat , and participated in the action that earned him the Medal of Honor . After being presented the Medal of Honor in a ceremony at the White House by President Harry S. Truman , he went back to his hometown , started a family , and became a businessman . He died of cancer at his home in 2008 , at the age of 83 .
In the United States Army ( USA ) , U.S. Marine Corps ( USMC ) , and U.S. Air Force ( USAF ) , captain ( abbreviated CPT in the USA and Capt in the USMC and USAF ) is a company grade officer rank , with the pay grade of O-3 . It ranks above first lieutenant and below major . It is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the Navy/Coast Guard officer rank system . The insignia for the rank consists of two silver bars , with slight stylized differences between the Army/Air Force version and the Marine Corps version .
A battlefield promotion ( or field promotion ) is an advancement in military rank that occurs while deployed in combat . A standard field promotion is advancement from current rank to the next higher rank ; a jump-step promotion is advancement from current rank to a rank above the next highest .