During this week in 1950, a hero engages in a multi-day action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. That conflict has been described as a “desperate five-day defense of a frozen mountain pass”—and then-Captain William Barber was right in the thick of it.
Barber was a Marine who had already served in World War II, earning a Silver Star and a Purple Heart at Iwo Jima. “It was tough combat,” he shrugged, “but we were tough.”
He would be called back to the front lines of Korea in late 1950.
“We got to Hagaru probably the 12th of November,” he explained. “It was bitterly cold . . . . The 1st Marine Division was continuing to advance north. A single road connected Yudam-ni and Hagaru. I was assigned to go up there and take position and keep the road open.”
Trouble came the night of November 27-28 when the Chinese launched an attack. Barber was badly outnumbered with 240 men, compared to at least 1,000 enemy forces. Our men fought gallantly for hours in frigid temperatures, but they were soon surrounded.
The story continues here: https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-william-barber-moh
On this day in 1787, Delaware begins ratification debates on the United States Constitution. Mere days later, it would ratify that document, thus becoming the first state to enter the Union.
So, yes, when Delaware calls itself “The First State,” that term is literally true.
Delaware’s quick ratification is interesting, given the manner in which the state sent its delegates to the Constitutional Convention. The state sent five delegates, but then specifically instructed them not to vote in favor of a document that violated the principle of “one state, one vote.” As a small state, Delaware was worried that it could be overrun by the large states without sufficient protections.
Did Delaware’s delegates violate their commissions by voting for the Constitution?
The story continues here: https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-delaware-first
On this day in 1942, a United States Army Air Corps captain is awarded a Medal of Honor. Captain Harl Pease’s bravery during an attack on an enemy-held airdrome had left many astounded.
Pease wasn’t supposed to be present for that August 7, 1942, attack near Rabaul, New Britain. The plane that he’d been flying the day before had lost an engine, but Pease scavenged another damaged aircraft and made it serviceable—sort of. He’d worked for hours to patch that plane together, and he’d joined his squadron at 1 o’clock in the morning.
A little thing like an unserviceable B-17 Flying Fortress bomber wasn’t going to keep Pease down!
The story continues here: http://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-harl-pease-moh
On this day in 2022, a Medal of Honor recipient passes away. Corporal Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura was a second-generation Japanese American who served in both World War II and the Korean War.
His Medal action came in Korea during April 1951. Our soldiers were then stationed by the Imjin River, just north of Seoul. “I was being a machine gun squad leader,” he later described, “[and] was told to hold this position as long as I could because we knew we were outnumbered so bad that it would be impossible to hold it.”
He had only 15 men. As night fell, our soldiers could hear Chinese troops approaching.
FULL STORY: https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-hiroshi-miyamura-moh
