Walter Krueger (26 January 1881 – 20 August 1967) was an American soldier who commanded the Sixth United States Army in the South West Pacific Area during World War II, rising from private to general in his army career. A child immigrant born in Flatow, West Prussia, he served in the Spanish–American War and the Philippine–American War and was promoted to second lieutenant in 1901. When the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, he was assigned to the 84th Infantry Division as assistant chief of staff, later as chief of staff. In October 1918, he commanded the Tank Corps. Between the wars, he served in various roles, and in 1941 he assumed command of the Third Army. In 1943 he was sent to the South West Pacific Area as commander of the Sixth Army, which he led in a series of victorious campaigns against the Japanese. In the Battle of Luzon in 1945 he was finally able to maneuver his army as he had in 1941 against a Japanese army under Tomoyuki Yamashita. (This article is part of a featured topic: Command in the South West Pacific Area.).
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Command_in_the_South_West_Pacific_Area
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1841:
Commodore Gordon Bremer took formal possession of Hong Kong Island for the United Kingdom at Possession Point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Bremer
1945:
Audie Murphy engaged in action at the Colmar Pocket that won him a Medal of Honor and made him one of the most famous and decorated U.S. soldiers of World War II. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy
1972:
JAT Flight 367 exploded in mid-air over Czechoslovakia; the only survivor of the 28 on board, flight attendant Vesna Vulović, fell 10,160 m (33,330 ft), setting the record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87
2001:
An earthquake in the Indian state of Gujarat killed at least 13,000 people, injured another 167,000 and destroyed nearly 400,000 homes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Gujarat_earthquake
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
emu: 1. (obsolete) A cassowary (genus Casuarius). 2. A large flightless bird native to Australia, Dromaius novaehollandiae. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/emu
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
I'd like to be remembered as a guy who tried — tried to be part of his times, tried to help people communicate with one another, tried to find some decency in his own life, tried to extend himself as a human being. Someone who isn't complacent, who doesn't cop out. --Paul Newman https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Newman