1960s Timeline

May 12, 1962 - General Douglas MacArthur received the Sylvanus Thayer Award “for outstanding service to the nation” in ceremonies today...

May 12, 1962 - President Kennedy ordered today that U.S. naval, air, and land forces, including a battle group of 1,800 marines, move...

Apr. 24, 1962 - U.S. soldiers wounded in the fighting in Vietnam will receive the Purple Heart. President Kennedy will issue within the...

Apr. 14, 1962 - President Kennedy watched a demonstration of the Atlantic Fleet’s air and sea power today off the coast of North...

Apr. 11, 1962 - President Kennedy announced today that all military reservists who were called to active duty in the Berlin crisis last...

Feb. 23, 1962 - Six marines this morning staged a Times Square reenactment of the flag-raising scene on Iwo Jima 17 years ago during...

Jan. 26, 1962 - General of the Army Douglas MacArthur celebrated his 82nd birthday in New York today, saying that he had “reached an age...

Jan. 26, 1962 - Secretary of the Army Elvis J. Stahr Jr. (pictured far right) told Congress today that regular Army men whose duty tours...

Jan. 11, 1962 - A United States Air Force B-52H superbomber equipped for launching missiles broke a world record today by flying 12,519...

Jan. 4, 1962 - General David M. Shoup, the U.S. Marine Corps commandant, said that today’s Marines need to toughen up. He said the corps...

Dec. 11, 1961 - Two U.S. Army helicopter companies arrived in Saigon today. The helicopters, to be flown and serviced by U.S. troops, are...

Dec. 3, 1961 - The Army is reviving the famous World War I poster of Uncle Sam pointing sternly at the viewer with the legend, “I Want...

Nov. 15, 1961 - “Survival Stresses,” a training film produced by the U.S. Air Force, is designed to introduce servicemen to the stresses...

Nov. 10, 1961 - The United States has 35,000 to 40,000 nuclear weapons in its stockpile, equivalent to 35 billion tons of TNT,...

Nov. 2, 1961 - Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker made known today his decision to resign from the Army. The general was formally admonished and...

Oct. 14, 1961 - The largest air-defense maneuvers ever held in the Western world were concluded early today. For 12 hours, from 1 p.m....

Sept. 26, 1961 - General Robert L. Eichelberger (pictured in New Guinea during World War II), retired American commander of the Eighth...

Sept. 7, 1961 - Admiral DeWitt Clinton Ramsey, former commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, died today in the Philadelphia Naval...

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...

Aug. 14, 1961 - Recruiting offices for the armed services reported today that heavy increases in enlistments and applications had...