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Air Florida Flight 90
A man in the icy Potomac kept handing the rescue line to strangers.
Coming January 13
Dossier 03
Remembering the Fallen
Their names deserve more than silence.
The stories in this series
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Fire aboard USS Enterprise
One overheated rocket set off a chain of explosions on the world's first nuclear carrier.
Coming January 14
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Carole Lombard's last flight
Hollywood's biggest star died flying home from selling war bonds.
Coming January 16
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The Apollo 1 fire
Three astronauts died in a fire during a routine test on the launch pad.
Coming January 27
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The Bear River Massacre
One of the deadliest attacks on Native Americans in U.S. history is almost forgotten.
Coming January 29
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The Four Chaplains
Four chaplains gave away their life jackets and went down with the ship, arms linked.
Coming February 3
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Remember the Maine
A massive explosion in Havana Harbor killed 260 American sailors and led to war.
Coming February 15
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The wrecks of Truxtun and Pollux
Newfoundland miners climbed down icy cliffs to save American sailors.
Coming February 18
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USS Cyclops vanishes
A Navy ship with 306 aboard sailed into the Caribbean and vanished.
Coming March 4
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The fall of the Alamo
No defender survived the final assault on the Alamo.
Coming March 6
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The ship that wouldn't die
A burning aircraft carrier lost 800 men and still made it home.
Coming March 19
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The last fight of USS Essex
A young Farragut watched his frigate fight to the end off Chile.
Coming March 28
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The last troops leave Vietnam
After more than eight years of combat, the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam.
Coming March 29
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The loss of USS Akron
The Navy's giant flying aircraft carrier went down in a storm off New Jersey.
Coming April 4
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The loss of USS Thresher
On a routine deep dive, the Navy's most advanced submarine never came back up.
Coming April 10
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The Texas City disaster
A ship full of fertilizer blew up and leveled a Texas port town.
Coming April 16
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Desert One: Operation Eagle Claw
Eight Americans died in the Iranian desert trying to bring the hostages home.
Coming April 24
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The Sultana disaster
Union soldiers who survived prison camps died in America's worst ship disaster.
Coming April 27
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Exercise Tiger: D-Day's secret disaster
Weeks before D-Day, 749 Americans died in a rehearsal, and it was kept secret.
Coming April 28
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Koh Tang: the last battle of Vietnam
The last names on the Vietnam Wall died two weeks after Saigon fell.
Coming May 15
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The attack on USS Stark
Two missiles struck a Navy frigate in the Persian Gulf, and 37 sailors died.
Coming May 17
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The loss of USS Scorpion
On her way home, a Navy submarine vanished in the Atlantic with all 99 aboard.
Coming May 22
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Elmer Ellsworth: the first martyr
A 24-year-old colonel climbed up to take down a flag, and never came back.
Coming May 24
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The USS Bennington explosion
A peacetime morning off Rhode Island became one of the Navy's deadliest days.
Coming May 26
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The first Decoration Day
The first national Memorial Day was a day for flowers on soldiers' graves.
Coming May 30
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The attack on USS Liberty
In international waters, an American ship was attacked by aircraft and torpedo boats.
Coming June 8
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Medgar Evers, soldier for freedom
He came home from Normandy and was shot in his own driveway.
Coming June 12
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Arlington becomes a cemetery
The Union buried its dead in Robert E. Lee's front yard.
Coming June 15
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The Berlin Airlift begins
To save a blockaded city, aircrews flew in food and coal for nearly a year.
Coming June 26
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Quentin Roosevelt's Last Flight
A president's youngest son flew into a dogfight and never came home.
Coming July 14
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The Korean War Armistice
The guns stopped in Korea, but the war never officially ended.
Coming July 27
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Fire on USS Forrestal
One stray rocket set off a chain of explosions on a carrier deck.
Coming July 29
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USS Indianapolis
After delivering the atomic bomb, they spent four days in shark-filled water.
Coming July 30
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Extortion 17
Thirty Americans boarded a Chinook in the Afghan night. None came home.
Coming August 6
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The Other Kennedy Brother
Joe Kennedy Jr. volunteered to fly a plane packed with explosives.
Coming August 12
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Abbey Gate
Thirteen Americans died helping strangers reach freedom at the Kabul airport.
Coming August 26
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The First Officer Killed
The first American officer killed in WWI was a doctor in a hospital.
Coming September 4
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Fort Griswold
Benedict Arnold came home to Connecticut to burn it.
Coming September 6
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September 11
On a clear Tuesday morning, 2,977 people went to work and never came home.
Coming September 11
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Nathan Hale
A 21-year-old schoolteacher volunteered to spy, and paid with his life.
Coming September 22
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The Meuse-Argonne Offensive
More than a million Americans went into the deadliest campaign in Army history.
Coming September 26
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Black Hawk Down in Mogadishu
Two Delta snipers asked three times to be put on the ground.
Coming October 3
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Pulaski's last charge at Savannah
The father of the American cavalry was a Polish nobleman who died for us.
Coming October 9
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The attack on USS Cole
A small boat came alongside while the crew lined up for lunch.
Coming October 12
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The Beirut barracks bombing
It was a Sunday morning, and most of the Marines were still asleep.
Coming October 23
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Major Anderson Over Cuba
He was the only American killed by enemy fire in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Coming October 27
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The Sinking of the Reuben James
The first U.S. warship sunk in World War II went down before America entered it.
Coming October 31
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All Who Served: How Armistice Day Became Veterans Day
Veterans Day began as Armistice Day. This is how it became a day for every American who ever served.
Coming November 2
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Last man killed in World War I
He died at 10:59. The war ended at 11:00.
Coming November 11
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The five Sullivan brothers
They enlisted on one condition: that they serve together.
Coming November 13
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Ambush at LZ Albany
Three days after X-Ray, another battalion walked into an ambush in tall grass.
Coming November 17
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The Gettysburg Address
The main speaker talked for two hours. Lincoln spoke for about two minutes.
Coming November 19
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Dallas
The president who survived PT-109 was killed in an open car in Dallas.
Coming November 22
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The secret sinking of the Rohna
More than 1,000 American soldiers died, and the Army kept it secret for decades.
Coming November 26
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Five hours at Franklin
Six Confederate generals died in a single afternoon.
Coming November 30
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Pearl Harbor
At 7:55 on a Sunday morning, the first bombs fell.
Coming December 7
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The sinking of USS Panay
Four years before Pearl Harbor, Japanese planes sank an American gunboat.
Coming December 12
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The Leopoldville goes down
Five miles from France on Christmas Eve, more than 760 soldiers died.
Coming December 24
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The Dade battle
Of about 110 soldiers who marched out, only a handful lived.
Coming December 28