January 21, 1997
The first module of the US space station Freedom is launched into space aboard space shuttle Endeavor.
Unofficially:
The Freedom-class cargo ship Georgia Freedom is delivered in Beaumont, TX.
The 264th Engineer Group (Combat) (Wisconsin National Guard) is declared operational and begins movement from its mobilization station of Ft. McCoy to Oakland, CA for deployment to Korea.
The State of Maryland stands up its 121st Engineer Regiment, Maryland State Defense Force in Towson (outside of Baltimore). The unit is staffed mainly by people with experience in the construction industry and has access to heavy equipment owned by the state Department of Transportation and other state and local agencies.
The Dutch 1st Division (Mechanized) is deployed to Bavaria to bolster NATO defenses there as Czech troops consolidate control of the city of Regensburg. The front line in Bavaria stabilizes along the Danube.
American Green Berets of the 10th SFG lead their protoges of the Lithuanian Free Army on their first attack on Soviet supply lines, derailing a train carrying ammunition to the front.
The Cypriot government accuses Turkey of attempting to secretly supply Turkish Cypriot militias.
Romanian troops recapture the town of Suceava and continue across the plains towards the town of Botoșani.
The 97th GMRD is brought up to 150 percent strength in the Kiev MD with an influx of reservists, 18-year old draftees and recent graduates of training divisions, beginning a two-month long process of identifying the most capable soldiers, training them for service in Romania, and transferring the rest to the unit's shadow division, the 232nd Rear Area Protection Division.
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I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory. Someday this war's gonna end...
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