24. Secret Military History

1958-0615, Gay, Retired Navy Admiral Court Martialed for Homosexual Conduct.
Rear Admiral Lower Half Selden G. Hooper was tried by general court-martial for homosexual-conduct, Sodomy, conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the Armed Forces and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. Hooper had retired as a Rear Admiral Lower Half in 1950 and the acts for which he was tried were committed after he had retired. The defense questioned the military court’s jurisdiction, but the court explained that "retired personnel are a part of the land or naval forces." the military retiree, then, is not simply a civilian. The court held that the admiral was "a part of the military forces of this country." He was described as "an officer of the Navy of the United States, entitled to wear the uniform and to draw pay as such." He was convicted and sentenced to dismissal and forfeiture of all pay and allowances.
Hooper was the only flag officer of the US Navy to be convicted by court-martial and strictly speaking, the only Navy flag officer to ever be tried by court-martial. In 1995 Everett L. Greene was acquitted of sexual harassment and other related charges; he had been selected for promotion to Rear Admiral Lower Half but was still a CPT when he was tried.

1958-0924, Aviation, Weapons, First Successful Use of Air-to-Air Missile in the History of Air Combat.
48 Taiwan F-86Fs clashed with 126 Chinese MiG-15s and MiG-17s over Shantou. Deploying their Sidewinders from 3,000 yards and from positions well below the MiGs, the Taiwanese achieved major surprise. They killed nine confirmed and two probable kills for no loss of their own, six of these by USA supplied Sidewinder missiles.

1960-0615, Hookers, Secret: JFK Frequents a Brothel.
In an obituary of Madame Fernande Grudet, the proprietor of a Paris brothel which counted diplomats, European nobility, businessmen and politicians among her clientele. President John F. Kennedy (JFK) was a customer. During the 1960s and 70s, Grudet controlled a network of hundreds of prostitutes. JFK was a regular client and once asked for a prostitute who looked like his wife Jackie 'but hot'.

1961-0202, War, Vietnam, the War Begins.
The official start date was originally the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution date, 1964-0805, but was changed to 1961-0202 for purposes of awarding VA benefits. The official start date was a proclaimed in an amendment to the VA compensation legislation changes made in 1988.
The war ended 1975-0430, 14-years long.

1961-1211, Aviation, War, First U.S. helicopters arrive in South Vietnam.
The ferry carrier, USNS Core, arrives in Saigon with the first U.S. helicopter unit. This contingent included 33 Vertol H-21C Shawnee helicopters and 400 air and ground crewmen to operate and maintain them. Their assignment was to airlift South Vietnamese Army troops into combat.

1961-1222, Vietnam, First KIA
SGT James Davis became the first American Soldier “officially” killed in Vietnam when he and three Vietnamese regulars were ambushed near Saigon.

1962-0315, Gender, Females in Nam
First WAC assigned to Vietnam; 600 WACs are assigned to the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam from 1962-1973. One WAC KIA.

1962-0615, Religion, the Beginning of Separation of Church and State.
When John F Kennedy entered national politics in 1962, many in the Democrat Party were worried that his Roman Catholic faith would hurt his chances at the presidency. He was the first Roman Catholic to run for president and their fear was he would put the Pope above the US Constitution. The Democrats pledged to keep separate Kennedy’s faith and politics. Prior to this there was no concept of separation of church and state in the USA.
To address fears that his being Catholic would impact his decision-making, he told the Greater Houston Ministerial Association on September 12, 1960, "I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic Party candidate for president who also happens to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my Church on public matters and the Church does not speak for me." Kennedy questioned rhetorically whether one-quarter of Americans were relegated to second-class citizenship just because they were Catholic and once stated that, "No one asked me my religion in the South Pacific."