1982: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, located near the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C., was dedicated. The memorial is a long, black granite wall designed by Maya Lin whose design concept was chosen from more than 1,400 designs submitted. More than 58,200 names of the fallen, including eight women, and those missing in action are etched into the wall.

1942: The USS Juneau sank after being hit by a Japanese torpedo during the battle for Guadalcanal during World War II. Four of five Sullivan Brothers, from Waterloo, Iowa, serving on the ship were killed in the explosion. George, the fifth brother, survived the explosion and was able to get into a raft but died a few days later.