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| Delaware Military History |
A Delaware Military History Chronology
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries Delaware Military History Chronology,
Swedes, Dutch, English colonists, French and Indian Wars, War of Independence
Nineteenth Century Delaware Military History Chronology
War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish American War
Twentieth Century Delaware Military History Chronology
Punitive Expedition to Mexico, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War
2000
Apr. 29, A Delaware state monument costing $300,000 was unveiled on the Gettysburg, Pa.
battlefield.
2001
Aug 27, The State of Delaware commemorated a monument on Long Island to the Delaware
Regiment where it played a vital part in the retreat of the American Army thus preventing the
annihilation of 9,000 troops of General Washington by the British Army 225 years before.
Sep 11, Delawareans Richard Stewart, Davis Sezna, John Murray, Robert Fangman, and Matthew
Flocco were killed instantly when terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City.
Sep, 13, Human bodies and parts taken from the terrorist airplane crash site at the Pentagon in
Washington, DC. 2 days before began arriving by helicopter at the Dover AFB Mortuary.
2002
Aug. 25 Concern was aroused for the care of 5 black Civil War soldiers whose graves were found
near the marsh of Delaware City's African Union Church. They had all been of the 6th, 8th, 26th,
and 30th Infantries, US Colored Troops.
2002
2002
Apr 16, The US Air Force announced that while over the next 6 years the Dover base would lose 20
of its 36 C-5 Galaxy jet transports, it would gain 13 C-17 Globemaster aircraft.
Jul 16, While anticipating needs for the Veterans' Cemetery expansion at Summit, it was determined
that nationally 1,500 World War II veterans were dying daily. Delaware's average was 3 veterans a
day.
Sep 12, An Air Portugal airliner with 235 passengers was escorted to Dover Air Force Base
temporarily by fighter jets after the plane's crew failed to observe instructions by air traffic
controllers.
Sept. 20. Two old cannons built by the Bellona Foundry in Richmond, Va. and dating from 1820
were installed at Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River.
2003
Feb. 5, The remains of the 7 astronauts killed in the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia over
Texas 4 days before arrived at the Dover Air Force mortuary for processing and identification.
Mar 25, The remains of 8 US soldiers and 2 marines killed in the fight in Iraq arrived at the Dover
Air Force Base for processing in the Charles C. Carson Mortuary Center. After processing they were
sent to their hometowns and families across the country.
Mar 30, Twenty three year old Sgt. Brian McGinnis of St. Georges was killed in an army Huey
helicopter crash in southern Iraq.
Mar 31, During the 2nd Gulf War, 3-5 747 aircraft and at least 2 C-5 Galaxy cargo planes were sent
off daily from Dover Air Force Base with 'everything from beans to bullets', 30% of the US military
airlift.
Apr. 3, Spc. Ryan P. Long of Seaford, 21, was killed northwest of Baghdad. When he approached a
screaming pregnant woman in a car at a checkpoint, it exploded killing all.
Apr. 9, The Cooch Family of Newark and the state dedicated 200 acres at Cooch's Bridge to be
preserved as open space rather than development.
Apr. 12, Simultaneous burial services were held for Marine Sgt. Brian McGinnis of St. Georges and
US Army Spc. Ryan Long of Seaford, 2 Delawareans killed in Iraq.
Sep 7, Specialist Jarrett B. Thompson, 27 of Dover, died in Walter Reed Hospital succumbing to
wounds suffered in Iraq on August 30 in a truck accident.
Oct. 28, The new Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs was dedicated at the Dover Air
Force Base. It counted in its past 66 overseas tragedies and thousands of bodies dating from the
Vietnam War.
2004
Apr. 6, Marine Pfc. Anthony Roberts, a 2003 Middletown High School graduate, was one of about
12 US soldiers killed in fighting around Ramadi, Iraq.
June 20, Marine Lance Corporal Russell White of Dagsboro was accidentally shot and killed in
Afghanistan by a fellow marine who was cleaning his weapon.
Sep 28, Remnants of Hurricane Jeanne ripped through the New Castle County Airport wrecking five
C-130 cargo planes of the Air National Guard.
2005
Feb. 2, Marine Lance Corporal Richard Chad Clifton, 19, of Broadkill Beach was killed in Baghdad,
the 6th Delawarean to die in the campaign.
Mar 5, Cpl. Stephen McGowan of Wilmington was killed in combat in Ramadi, Iraq. He was serving
as a combat medic when a bomb exploded.
2006
May 10, Army PFC Stephen Snowberger of the 10th Mtn. Division who grew up in Bear was killed
in Baghdad when a roadside bomb went off under his Humvee.
Dec. 2, Army Sgt. Keith E. Fiscus of Townsend became the 14th fatality in Iraq from Delaware when
a bomb detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad. Having talked to his parents only the day before, he
was but 26 years of age.
2006
May 1, Cpl. Cory Palmer of Seaford died of wounds received when his Humvee was hit with an
explosion near Fallujah, Iraq.
May 8, Lance Corporal Richard James of Seaford, 20, was killed in Ramadi, Baghdad by enemy fire in
an ambush.
Dec.7, A veterans home with 150 beds was opened in Milford. The $30 million project was dedicated
by Governor Ruth Ann Minner.
2007
Jan. 7, Twenty-three year old Air Force senior Airman Elizabeth A. Loncki of New Castle became the
first female Delaware soldier killed in Iraq when a car filled with explosives detonated.
May 12, A monument with 70 soldiers' and sailors' names who served in the Confederacy during
the Civil War was dedicated on the grounds of the Nutter Marvil museum in Georgetown.
June 4, A new $240 million C-17 Globemaster III cargo jet arrived at Dover Air Force Base, the first of
13 to accompany the already present fleet of 18 C-5 Galaxies transport planes.
Jun 13, With 85,000 veterans, and 30,000 over the age of 65, a 105,000 sq. ft. 150 bed Vets home
opened in Milford.
Nov. 16, Newark veterans gathered at the World War I monument on the U/D campus near Old
College to mark the spot where New Castle County men were sworn in for military service during
World War I.
2008
Mar. 22, Viewers from both sides of the Delaware River stood agog at 9 AM Saturday morning as
the 1,050 foot 80,000 ton aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy made its way past Wilmington to go into
mothballs in the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries Delaware Military History Chronology,
Swedes, Dutch, English colonists, French and Indian Wars, War of Independence
Nineteenth Century Delaware Military History Chronology
War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish American War
Twentieth Century Delaware Military History Chronology
Punitive Expedition to Mexico, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War
2000
Apr. 29, A Delaware state monument costing $300,000 was unveiled on the Gettysburg, Pa.
battlefield.
2001
Aug 27, The State of Delaware commemorated a monument on Long Island to the Delaware
Regiment where it played a vital part in the retreat of the American Army thus preventing the
annihilation of 9,000 troops of General Washington by the British Army 225 years before.
Sep 11, Delawareans Richard Stewart, Davis Sezna, John Murray, Robert Fangman, and Matthew
Flocco were killed instantly when terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City.
Sep, 13, Human bodies and parts taken from the terrorist airplane crash site at the Pentagon in
Washington, DC. 2 days before began arriving by helicopter at the Dover AFB Mortuary.
2002
Aug. 25 Concern was aroused for the care of 5 black Civil War soldiers whose graves were found
near the marsh of Delaware City's African Union Church. They had all been of the 6th, 8th, 26th,
and 30th Infantries, US Colored Troops.
2002
2002
Apr 16, The US Air Force announced that while over the next 6 years the Dover base would lose 20
of its 36 C-5 Galaxy jet transports, it would gain 13 C-17 Globemaster aircraft.
Jul 16, While anticipating needs for the Veterans' Cemetery expansion at Summit, it was determined
that nationally 1,500 World War II veterans were dying daily. Delaware's average was 3 veterans a
day.
Sep 12, An Air Portugal airliner with 235 passengers was escorted to Dover Air Force Base
temporarily by fighter jets after the plane's crew failed to observe instructions by air traffic
controllers.
Sept. 20. Two old cannons built by the Bellona Foundry in Richmond, Va. and dating from 1820
were installed at Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River.
2003
Feb. 5, The remains of the 7 astronauts killed in the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia over
Texas 4 days before arrived at the Dover Air Force mortuary for processing and identification.
Mar 25, The remains of 8 US soldiers and 2 marines killed in the fight in Iraq arrived at the Dover
Air Force Base for processing in the Charles C. Carson Mortuary Center. After processing they were
sent to their hometowns and families across the country.
Mar 30, Twenty three year old Sgt. Brian McGinnis of St. Georges was killed in an army Huey
helicopter crash in southern Iraq.
Mar 31, During the 2nd Gulf War, 3-5 747 aircraft and at least 2 C-5 Galaxy cargo planes were sent
off daily from Dover Air Force Base with 'everything from beans to bullets', 30% of the US military
airlift.
Apr. 3, Spc. Ryan P. Long of Seaford, 21, was killed northwest of Baghdad. When he approached a
screaming pregnant woman in a car at a checkpoint, it exploded killing all.
Apr. 9, The Cooch Family of Newark and the state dedicated 200 acres at Cooch's Bridge to be
preserved as open space rather than development.
Apr. 12, Simultaneous burial services were held for Marine Sgt. Brian McGinnis of St. Georges and
US Army Spc. Ryan Long of Seaford, 2 Delawareans killed in Iraq.
Sep 7, Specialist Jarrett B. Thompson, 27 of Dover, died in Walter Reed Hospital succumbing to
wounds suffered in Iraq on August 30 in a truck accident.
Oct. 28, The new Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs was dedicated at the Dover Air
Force Base. It counted in its past 66 overseas tragedies and thousands of bodies dating from the
Vietnam War.
2004
Apr. 6, Marine Pfc. Anthony Roberts, a 2003 Middletown High School graduate, was one of about
12 US soldiers killed in fighting around Ramadi, Iraq.
June 20, Marine Lance Corporal Russell White of Dagsboro was accidentally shot and killed in
Afghanistan by a fellow marine who was cleaning his weapon.
Sep 28, Remnants of Hurricane Jeanne ripped through the New Castle County Airport wrecking five
C-130 cargo planes of the Air National Guard.
2005
Feb. 2, Marine Lance Corporal Richard Chad Clifton, 19, of Broadkill Beach was killed in Baghdad,
the 6th Delawarean to die in the campaign.
Mar 5, Cpl. Stephen McGowan of Wilmington was killed in combat in Ramadi, Iraq. He was serving
as a combat medic when a bomb exploded.
2006
May 10, Army PFC Stephen Snowberger of the 10th Mtn. Division who grew up in Bear was killed
in Baghdad when a roadside bomb went off under his Humvee.
Dec. 2, Army Sgt. Keith E. Fiscus of Townsend became the 14th fatality in Iraq from Delaware when
a bomb detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad. Having talked to his parents only the day before, he
was but 26 years of age.
2006
May 1, Cpl. Cory Palmer of Seaford died of wounds received when his Humvee was hit with an
explosion near Fallujah, Iraq.
May 8, Lance Corporal Richard James of Seaford, 20, was killed in Ramadi, Baghdad by enemy fire in
an ambush.
Dec.7, A veterans home with 150 beds was opened in Milford. The $30 million project was dedicated
by Governor Ruth Ann Minner.
2007
Jan. 7, Twenty-three year old Air Force senior Airman Elizabeth A. Loncki of New Castle became the
first female Delaware soldier killed in Iraq when a car filled with explosives detonated.
May 12, A monument with 70 soldiers' and sailors' names who served in the Confederacy during
the Civil War was dedicated on the grounds of the Nutter Marvil museum in Georgetown.
June 4, A new $240 million C-17 Globemaster III cargo jet arrived at Dover Air Force Base, the first of
13 to accompany the already present fleet of 18 C-5 Galaxies transport planes.
Jun 13, With 85,000 veterans, and 30,000 over the age of 65, a 105,000 sq. ft. 150 bed Vets home
opened in Milford.
Nov. 16, Newark veterans gathered at the World War I monument on the U/D campus near Old
College to mark the spot where New Castle County men were sworn in for military service during
World War I.
2008
Mar. 22, Viewers from both sides of the Delaware River stood agog at 9 AM Saturday morning as
the 1,050 foot 80,000 ton aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy made its way past Wilmington to go into
mothballs in the Philadelphia Navy Yard.