The following is a compilation of significant dates in the Nation and in our Commonwealth’s military history. For more on the legacy of our Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen, visit the
Kentucky National Guard eMuseum.
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Takur Ghar, Afghanistan, March 4, 2002
March 1, 1781 – Attack on Strode's Station, Clark County. (Early Indian Wars)
March 1, 1847 – Central mound in the Frankfort cemetery conveyed to the State for a public burying ground, The State Mound.
March 2, 1943 – Battle of Bismarck Sea began. (World War II)
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Operation Rolling Thunder, Vietnam, 1968
March 2, 1968 – Operation Rolling Thunder began. Operation Rolling Thunder marked the first sustained American assault on North Vietnamese territory and thus represented a major expansion of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. (Vietnam War)
March 3, 1931 – "Star Spangled Banner" made U.S. National Anthem.
March 4, 1966 – Operation Utah (Vietnam War)
March 4, 2002 – Takur Ghar, Patkia Province, Afghanistan-Tech Sgt. Keary Miller, a Combat Search and Rescue Team Leader from the Kentucky Air Guard's 123
rd Special Tactics Squadron, earns a Silver Star for his actions in pulling wounded men out of the line of fire after their MH-47E helicopter crashed landed due to ground fire. Once he established a safe causality treatment area he immediately began giving first aid to a growing number of men. Later he stripped ammunition from the dead and injured and, while repeatedly exposing himself to enemy fire, resupplied those men still able to defend the position. Although seven soldiers lost their lives and ten others were seriously wounded during this 17-hour engagement with Taliban fighters, probably several more would have died without Miller's heroic service. (Global War on Terrorism)
March 4, 2011 - Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team III deploys to Afghanistan under the command of Air Force Lt. Col. Neil Mullaney. The mission of the ADT was to mentor and develop Afghan farmers and local officials in the sustainable and economically viable farming techniques to counter insurgency and help stabilize the Afghan government. (Operation Enduring Freedom)
March 5, 1860 – Act for organization of the Kentucky Militia (State Guard Law).
March 7, 1777 – First siege of Harrodsburg by 47 Indians, under their chief, Blackfish. (Early Indian Wars)
March 7, 1862 - Capt. William Black from Woodford County, Ky., while serving with the 37th Illinois Infantry, single-handedly confronted a Confederate assault during the battle of Pea Ridge, Ark., and turned the tide of the battle. Black would receive the Medal of Honor for his actions. Black's brother, John, also received the award later that year at the Battle of Prairie Grove, Ark., making them one of the few sets of brothers to earn the Medal of Honor. (Civil War)
March 7, 1951 – Operation Ripper began. (Vietnam War)
March 7, 1867 – 235 copies ordered to be purchased of Adjutant General Daniel W. Lindsey's Report for 1861-66, known as the "History of Kentucky Soldiers during the late War;" by the Kentucky State Legislature.
March 9, 1867 – The Kentucky legislature cedes to the United States government jurisdiction over the national cemeteries at Perryville, Camp Nelson, Lebanon, and at Mill Springs.
March 9, 1870 – Josiah Stoddard Johnston is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. John W. Stevenson.
March 11, 1968 – Operation Resolve to Win began. (Vietnam War)
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Sgt. Glenn Scott Stanfill
March 12, 2004 – Sgt. Glenn Scott Stanfill, Perry County, sustained fatal injuries when the HUMMWV (M998) he was driving was struck by a tractor-trailer on the Hal Rogers Parkway just East of Manchester, Ky. Stanfill was in route to the East Kentucky Training Site in Artemus with Bravo Company, 206
th Engineer Battalion, Hazard, Ky., as part of a battalion Field Training Exercise (FTX).
March 13, 1922 – Pvt. Frank Crone of Covington, a member of the Kentucky National Guard, was on duty as a guard at the Newport Rolling Mill, he was being relieved from duty by John Yates of Newport. Crone was accidentally killed when a revolver slipped from Yates’ pocket and fell to the ground, discharging and mortally wounding Crone.
March 14, 1862 – Engagement at Pound Gap, Letcher County. (Civil War)
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Henry Herman Denhardt
March 14, 1932 – Henry Herman Denhardt is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Ruby Laffoon.
March 18, 1969 – Operation Breakfast. (Vietnam War)
March 18, 2014 - In the largest Medal of Honor ceremonies in U.S. history, President Barack Obama presents 24 Army Veterans with the nation's highest honor for their actions in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The Soldiers were previously recognized with the Distinguished Service Cross, but upgraded after further review of their actions.
March 19, 1836 – Arsenal at Frankfort burnt, with 4,740 stand of arms, besides equipments.
March 19, 1912 – Kentucky State Guard officially renamed the Kentucky National Guard.
March 19, 1924 – James Arthur Kehoe is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. William J. Fields.
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Sgt. Jonathan Adam Hughes
March 19, 2005– Sgt. Jonathan “Adam” Hughes, of Lebanon, Marion Co., Ky., was killed in Iraq when his armored HMMWV vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device (IED) during an escort patrol for a convoy enroute to Baghdad International Airport. At the time of his death, Hughes was assigned to B Battery, 1
st Battalion, 623
rd Field Artillery, based in Campbellsville, Ky. He joined the Guard in May 2001 when he was 17. His unit mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom in November and deployed to Southwest Asia in January 2005. (Global War on Terrorism)
March 22, 1782 – Estill’s defeat by Indians, near Little Mountain (Mount Sterling). (Early Indian Wars)
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Staff Sgt. Brock A. Beery
March 23, 2006 – Staff Sgt. Brock A. Beery, of Whitehouse, Tenn., was killed when his armored vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device (IED) near Al Habbaniyah, west of Fallujah in Iraq. At the time of the incident Beery was driving a fully-armored light medium tactical vehicle (LMTV). Beery was assigned to the Kentucky Army National Guard’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2
nd Battalion, 123
rd Armor, based in Bowling Green. The unit mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom in March of 2005 and deployed to the Persian Gulf that July (Global War on Terrorism)
March 24, 1992 – SSgt. William Dean Bentley of Elizabethtown (Hardin County) died while on active duty for training at Fort Knox from cardiac arrest while training at the Kentucky Military Academy’s Non-Commissioned Officer Academy in the Primary Leadership Development Course during a field problem. Immediate aid was rendered by members of the 475
th MASH and Emergency Room Staff member from Ireland Army Hospital, also participating in PLDC, but they were unable to revive him. Bentley was a member of Battery B, 2
nd Battalion, 138
th Field Artillery, located in Elizabethtown.
March 25 – Medal of Honor Day.
March 25, 1917 – Claude Somerville of Portland Tenn., died at the Louisville city hospital, following surgery. He had been ill with measles and later developed pneumonia and after recovering from that became ill from emphysema. He enlisted in the 3
rd Infantry Regiment of the Kentucky National Guard in Franklin, Kentucky. He died shortly after returning from federal active duty on the Mexican Border.
March 29, 1973 – Last remaining U.S. forces withdraw from South Vietnam.
March 30, 1825 – Confederate General Samuel Maxey is born in Tompkinsville, Ky
.
March 30, 1951 – Capt. Merlin R. “Bob” Kehrer perished in the crash of his F-51 “Mustang” near Leesburg, Va., while returning to Louisville from Bolling Air Force Base , D.C. He was a member of the Kentucky Air National Guard.
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Sgt. Eric Lee Toth
March 30, 2005 – Sgt. Eric Lee Toth, of Edmonton, Metcalfe Co., Ky, was killed in Iraq when his HUMVEE encountered a vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (IED) while returning from an escort patrol for a convoy along the main supply route in Baghdad. Toth joined the National Guard in May 2001. He was assigned to A Battery, 1
st Battalion, 623
rd Field Artillery, based in Tompkinsville, Ky. This unit mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom in November and deployed to Southwest Asia in January 2005. (Global War on Terrorism)