Military.com: The Canadian Press: Pioneering Black NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson Dies
Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson (August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020) was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights.[2] During her 35-year career at NASA and its predecessor, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks. The space agency noted her “historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist”.[3]
Johnson’s work included calculating trajectories, launch windows and emergency return paths for Project Mercury spaceflights, including those for astronauts Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and John Glenn, the first American in orbit, and rendezvous paths for the Apollo Lunar Module and command module on flights to the Moon.[2][4][5] Her calculations were also essential to the beginning of the Space Shuttle program,[2] and she worked on plans for a mission to Mars. In 2015, President Barack Obama awarded Johnson the Presidential Medal of Freedom.[6] She was portrayed by Taraji P. Henson as a lead character in the 2016 film Hidden Figures.
In 2019, Johnson was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.[7]
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DOD: Medal of Honor Monday: Army Maj. Gen. Joshua Chamberlain
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (born Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain, September 8, 1828 – February 24, 1914)[3] was an American college professor from the State of Maine who volunteered during the American Civil War to join the Union Army. He became a highly respected and decorated Union officer, reaching the rank of brigadier general (and brevet major general). He is best known for his gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Following the war, he served as Governor of Maine, and the President of Bowdoin College.
Chamberlain was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment in 1862 and fought at the Battle of Fredericksburg. He became commander of the regiment in June 1863. On July 2, during the Battle of Gettysburg, Chamberlain’s regiment occupied the extreme left of the Union lines at Little Round Top. Chamberlain’s men withstood repeated assaults from the 15th Regiment Alabama Infantry and finally drove the Confederates away with a downhill bayonet charge. Chamberlain was severely wounded while commanding a brigade during the Second Battle of Petersburg in June 1864, and was given what was intended to be a deathbed promotion to brigadier general. In April 1865, he fought at the Battle of Five Forks and was given the honor of commanding the Union troops at the surrender ceremony for the infantry of Robert E. Lee’s Army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
After the war, he entered politics as a Republican and served four one-year terms of office as the 32nd Governor of Maine. He served on the faculty, and as president, of his alma mater, Bowdoin College. He died in 1914 at age 85 due to complications from the wound that he received at Petersburg.
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Military.com: New Hampshire Senators Call on Esper to Honor ‘Lost 74’ on Vietnam Wall; How Thousands Helped a WWII Vet Celebrate Her 100th Birthday; Proposed VA Budget Would Increase Funding for Cancer Treatment; The ISS Oath of Enlistment Ceremony Is Gonna Be Out of This World; Navy and Marine Corps to Ban Personal Firearms for Foreign Troops; New Coast Guard Cutter Edgar Culbertson Named After Great Lakes Hero and more ->
Task & Purpose: 75 years ago, a farm boy became a Medal of Honor hero with a flamethrower at Iwo Jima; Empowered through work: How a military spouse found strength in her job with The Home Depot; Traumatic brain injury is often called an ‘invisible’ wound. It’s anything but and more ->
DOD: DOD Releases Military Spouse Licensure Report
