Today in World War II History—June 23, 1940 & 1945: June 23, 1945: In the last airborne assault of the war, paratroopers of the US 11th Airborne Division land near Aparri in northern Luzon.
The US and Laos reached an agreement which included that all Americans were to leave Laos,by June 30, 1975.
The nation was not yet fully controlled by the Pathet Lao.
Falling like dominoes.
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Most American employees of the U.S Embassy in Laos were ordered to evacuate.
The U.S. has an embassy in Laos presently. In fact, the countries never severed diplomatic relations and normalized them in 1992.
The Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975 was signed into law by President Ford. The act provided for resettlement of South Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees into the United States. In 1975 it would be amended to include include refugees from Laos.
A military government was appointed to govern Lebanon.
Former President of the Teamsters Union Dave Beck was pardoned by President Ford.
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The secret Treaty of London was signed in which Italy agreed to abandon the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austro Hungaria and join the Triple Entente in exchange for Austro Hungarian territory.
Canadians attacked St. Julien again, but were once again forced back.
German colonial forces attacked the South African-held town of Trekkopje in South West Africa but were repulsed by a unit of armored cars equipped with machine guns.
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The Soviet Union renounced the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact of April 1941.
The Georgian Legion, a German foreign legion, rose up against the Germans on the Dutch island of Texel. The battle would result in large-scale casualties incurred until the end of the war by both sides.
The uprising is regarded as heroic, but the late war uprising was naive. It counted on an Allied landing which did not occur, and it presumed favorable post war treatment by the Allies.
African American members of the 477th Bombardment Group attempted to integrate an all-white officers' club at Freeman Field, Indiana, resulting in the predictable scuffles and arrests although the ultimate punishment was minor.
Gen. MacArthur was appointed control of all Army forces in the Pacific and Adm. Nimitz all naval forces. The move was made in anticipation of the Invasion of Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso (小磯 國昭), frustrated in his attempts to be involved in military decisions, resigned.
The U-242 sank in St. George's Channel after hitting a mine.
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President Ford ordered the evacuation of Americans from Phnom Penh.
Operation Babylift began as a U.S. effort to bring South Vietnamese orphans to the United States. Widely lauded today (it would be unlikely to take place, frankly, under the current administration), there was some criticism at the time on the assertion that not all the children were actually orphans, and that it was a cultural based decision given that young people were being taken out of their native land to avoid communism.
Gen. Weyand met with President Thiệu in Saigon and promised more American aid to South Vietnam, but declined Thiệu's request for a renewal of American bombing of North Vietnamese forces. As they both well knew, without U.S. air support there was no hope for the ARVN.
South Vietnamese Prime Minister Trần Thiện Khiêm resigned. He would take up exile in France and then the United States, converting to Catholicism there. He died in 2021.
Israel and South Africa signed SECMENT, a secret mutual defense agreement.
Bobby Fischer refused to play a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, and thereby ceded the title of chess champion.
Actress Mary Ure, most famous for her role in Where Eagles Dare, and the wife of Robert Shaw, died of an overdose of alcohol and barbiturates at age 42.
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Oklahoma adopted its current flag.
The prior flag:
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The 9th NVA Division attacked again at Chơn Thành Camp, apparently trying to retrieve disabled tanks, but was repulsed again by ARVN defenders.
Kissinger spoke to the press.
A Henry Kissinger Press Conference – March 26, 1975 – Past Daily Reference Room
Khalid ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Saud, the Crown Prince and the younger half-brother of King Faisal, was crowned as the new King of Saudi Arabia.
Clela Rorex, the County Clerk for Boulder County, Colorado. issued a marriage license to Dave McCord and Dave Zamora who had consulted with the county's District Attorney who decided that there was nothing in Colorado's law that prohibited same sex marriage.
It was the first same sex marriage license issued in the US.
On April 24, Colorado State Attorney General Joyce Murdoch invalidated the license, as well as five others issued by Rorex.
Jaws premiered in an advance screening.
The Biological Weapons Convention banning the production or use of biologcial weapons, entered into force by its own terms.
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Hitler issued the Nero Decree, which stated:
I. Hitler’s Order of March 19, 1945
RE: Destruction Measures within Reich Territory
Our nation’s struggle for existence forces us to utilize all means, even within Reich territory, to weaken the fighting power of our enemy and to prevent further advances. Any opportunity to inflict lasting damage on the striking power of the enemy must be taken advantage of. It is a mistake to believe that undestroyed or only temporarily paralyzed traffic, communications, industrial, and supply installations will be useful to us again after the recapture of lost territories. During his retreat, the enemy will leave behind only scorched earth and will abandon all concern for the population.
I therefore command
1. All military traffic, communications, industrial and supply installations as well as objects within Reich territory that might be used by the enemy in the continuation of his fight, either now or later, are to be destroyed.
2. It is the responsibility of the military command posts to execute this order to destroy all military objects, including traffic and communications installations.
The Gauleiters and Commissioners for Reich Defense are responsible for destroying the industrial and supply installations, as well as of other objects of valuable; the troops must give the Gauleiters and Commissioners for Reich Defense the assistance they need to carry out this task.
3. This command is to be transmitted to all troop commanders as promptly as possible; orders to the contrary are null and void.
Adolf Hitler
Albert Speer and various officers of the Wehrmacht conspired against its implementation.
Ostensibly a war measure, at this point in the war Hitler was lashing out against the German people themselves, whom he was punishing for, in his mind, having failed him by losing the war, something he now clearly knew had occurred.
Also at this point, internal German attitudes were rapidly changing. While still fighting in the field, German troops were now surrendering in large numbers to the Western Allies, rather than die in the final weeks of the war. German commanders, including some in the SS, were seeking to make back deals with the Western Allies, unsuccessfully, and without Hitler's knowledge. Some were preparing for their own post war futures. Members of the German government and military were starting to conspire to save what they could.
Again, there's a lesson here. Hitler was a populist politician who had risen to power backed by lies. His policies inevitably lead Germany to shame and ruin. Rather than resign when things turned bad, he hung on, supported by fanatic supporters, and in the end sought to destroy the very country he claimed to represent.
All U-boats in the Baltic were transferred to the west.
The British Indian Army took Mandalay.
The USS Franklin was hit by kamikazes and badly damaged.
724 men were killed and 265 wounded. Captain Gehres regarded those who had jumped into the sea during the event as having acted improperly, leading to post incident tension and ultimately his relief. She'd return to service and was ultimately stricken in 1964.
The Soviet Union notified Turkey that their non aggression pact would not be renewed after it expired in November. It demanded territorial concessions from Turkey, which Turkey rejected.
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France's Senate Finance Committee voted to keep its embassy at the Vatican, over the wishes of Prime Minister Édouard Herriot.
The Council of the League of Nations expressed its hopes that Germany would join the body.
In a uniquely American struggle, due to the strong influence of Evangelical Protestantism in the country, the Tennessee General Assembly approved the Butler Act, which prohibited public schools from teaching evolution.
CHAPTER NO. 27
House Bill No. 185
(By Mr. Butler)
AN ACT prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of Tennessee, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violations thereof.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.
Section 2. Be it further enacted, That any teacher found guilty of the violation of this Act, Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be fined not less than One Hundred $ (100.00) Dollars nor more than Five Hundred ($ 500.00) Dollars for each offense.
Section 3. Be it further enacted, That this Act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it.
Passed March 13, 1925
W. F. Barry,
Speaker of the House of Representatives
L. D. Hill,
Speaker of the Senate
Approved March 21, 1925.
Austin Peay,
Governor.
Calvin Coolidge held a press conference.
The Hay-Quesada Treaty between Cuba and the United States was ratified by the U.S. Senate, recognizing that the Isla de Pinos was the territory of Cuba.
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Huff Daland Dusters Inc., a crop dusting company, which would ultimately become Delta Airlines, was founded.
The United States and Estonia signed an agreement for mutual most-favored-nation treatment in customs.
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The United States and Canada signed the Lake of the Woods Convention and Protocol, defining the lake's boundary line more accurately, regulating its water level, and arranging for the settlement of port damages caused by overflowing that arose from work done on the Canadian side.
This, obviously, before our currently demented occupant of the Oval Office decided that throwing rocks at Canada was fun.
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A really excellent look at Trump's foreign policy.
Basically, Trump has returned the country to the pre World War Two, frankly pre World War One, sphere's of influence theory of foreign policy.
Indeed, his tax policy and view of the civil service all are deeply rooted in the world as it was prior to 1900. It might basically be summarized as "the biggest bully on the block".
Trump is a real estate developer, and frankly a bully himself. Born into money, he's always had the luxury of being a bully and is a man who is basically amoral. He's brought that to the Oval Office in general, where watchdog agencies and the like will be wiped out. The public won't need to be protected as Social Darwinism will pick the winners and the losers, and people like Elon Musk and Trump already believe that their positions are due to superior genetics. So too in foreign affairs, the US is big and (theoretically) powerful, so it should take what it wants, just like Donald takes Easter European models as spouses.
It's deeply immoral.
A question will be how long this will last after Trump is gone. Do Americans have the stomach to be global assholes who stand for nothing more than greed? My guess is that they don't, but getting back into a new global order, that will be designed to repel Russia, China, and the United States, is going to be difficult.
Poland and the Roman Catholic Church signed a concordat establishing diplomatic relations, guaranteeing the full protection by the Polish government of the Catholic Church, in return for the solemn oath of allegiance by Catholic clerics to the Polish government.
Obviously something had inspired tension, but I don't really know what. What's often missed is that the early Polish government was very left leaning.
Canada, which does not wish to become a US state under any circumstances, and the US signed a fighting rights agreement.
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Weimar Germany presented a conciliatory memorandum to France proposing a mutual guarantee of the existing border between the two countries.
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