On this day in 1921 Japanese sentries shot and killed United States Navy Lieutenant Warren H. Langdon in Vladivostok as took leave from a group of Russian friends who were celebrating Christmas on the Orthodox calendar.
Langdon was walking down the street at night with a "hand lantern" on his way back to the USS Albany when he passed by a Japanese post. A Japanese soldier stopped him and Langdon, dressed in his uniform, identified himself and proceeded. The Japanese soldier shot him in the back, killing him.
USS Albany, a "protected cruiser".
Japan apologized for the incident and court martialed the soldier involved.
Japan had a significant military mission in Siberia at the time and was aggressive in its presence there. The overall military mission of the Allies in Siberia had always been vague, but Japans had territorial asperations as a backdrop and they retained a presence there long than other Allied nations from World War One.
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