Articles Archive

In a wooded area near St. Vith an American soldier takes cover and trains his Thompson submachine gun on an enemy position. Savage fighting has already occurred in the area, as evidenced by the burning vehicle and debris littering the scene.

Stand at St. Vith

By Charles Whiting

In the early hours of Sunday morning, December 17, 1944, an American brigadier general suffering from piles was heading into the unknown. Read more

Napoleon kneels at the side of his ardent lieutenant Jean Lannes. The man who rose from common soldier to Marshal of the Empire was struck by cannon fire in May 1809.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s ‘Roland’: Marshal Jean Lannes

by Jeremy Green

Of all the celebrated generals commanding corps in the Grande Armée, none was more highly esteemed by Napoleon for his friendship, generalship, and personal bravery than Marshal Jean Lannes. Read more

Covered with oil and soaking wet, these men head for shore. The Coolidge can be seen in the background (left).

The Coolidge Goes Down

By Kevin Hymel

It was supposed to be a routine delivery of soldiers to the battlefields of Guadalcanal—but nothing in war is ever routine. Read more

Since World War I, Ft. Benning, Georgia, has been the training ground of U.S. Infantry. Since 1959, its National Infantry Museum has displayed artifacts and equipment of U.S. infantrymen and their foes. Below is a M4A2 Sherman tank.

The National Infantry Museum.

By Blaine Taylor

Over 100,000 visitors annually trace with pride the footsteps of infantrymen from the 1607 wilderness of Virginia to the 1991 sands of the Persian Gulf and view weapons from the French Charleville flintlock musket to the atomic Davy Crockett mortar,” says the director of the National Infantry Museum, Z. Read more

Japanese soldiers, bayonets at the ready, creep forward in their advance on Kohima. The 15th Army was meant to overrun the British supply stations and march into the heart of India.

Imphal: Battle Royale at the Gateway to India

By John Brown

At the beginning of the battle for Imphal and Kohima, a Japanese Order of the Day instructed the troops: “You will fight to the death. Read more

An R-4 helicopter hovers low over an airfield in Burma during January of 1945. During future wars the helicopter was to become a mainstay of military operations.

Helicopters in World War II

By Robert F. Dorr

Whirlybird and eggbeater were everyday lingo in 1943 when a few young men went to the Sikorsky factory in Stratford, Conn., Read more

In this painting by artist Nicholas Trudgian, on New Year’s Day 1945, a pair of FW-190s swoop low over an Allied airfield in France as part of a late-war assault plan to cripple Allied air power and help turn the tide of the war in Germany’s favor.

Death Ride of the Luftwaffe

By David H. Lippman

They were all annoyed. The directive from Jagdkorps (JK) 2 made no sense, but it was clear: all New Year’s Eve parties were cancelled. Read more

The Battle of Trenton

By Vince Hawkins

By the winter of 1776, the struggle for American independence had reached its lowest point. In June of that year General George Washington’s Continental Army had stood at nearly 20,000 strong. Read more

Culloden Moor: Bonnie Prince Charlie vs. the Duke of Cumberland

By David Alan Johnson

John William O’Sullivan watched the Duke of Cumberland’s army as it stretched out in front of him, lined up in battle order on the northeastern side of Drummossie Moor, a mile or so from Culloden House. Read more

Kurt “Panzer” Meyer was known as the fighting general of the Waffen SS.

By Richard Rule

Kurt Meyer was without doubt one of the most outstanding and highly decorated Waffen SS officers of World War II. Read more

Working quickly, a duo of sniper-wary German combat engineers lay communications wire at the front.

Narva: The Battle of Nations

By Pat McTaggart

In the latter half of 1943, the German Wehrmacht had seen disaster follow disaster on the Eastern Front. Read more

Prussians storm the cemetery at Saint Privat on the 18th of August. The French put up a fierce resistance and the Prussians lost 8,000 men in 20 minutes. However, the tide of fortune was already favoring the Kaiser’s efforts.

The Battle of Sedan: Napoleon III’s Empire in the Balance

By Robert Heege

Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the nephew and namesake of the great Napoleon, once said, “March at the head of the ideas of your century, and these ideas follow you and support you. Read more

V-E Day: Victory at Last for World War II’s Allies

By Flint Whitlock

Within his reinforced concrete bunker, 50 feet below the garden of the New Reichs Chancellery on Berlin’s Wilhelmstrasse, German dictator Adolf Hitler, his soon-to-be bride Eva Braun, and several hundred friends, SS guards, and staff members could feel the concussion and hear the unending drumroll of thousands of Soviet artillery shells reducing the already-battered capital city of the Third Reich to unrecognizable rubble. Read more