We Hit the Open Seas in the Whimsical, Battleship-like Sailcraft
By Joseph LusterHey, you sunk my battleship! If you grew up on board games, you definitely recall uttering that phrase, or at least hearing it over and over again on TV. Read more
The French Foreign Legion at Tuyen Quang
By Christopher MiskimonThe Chinese were coming, and the French Foreign Legion WAS preparing to meet them. In January 1885, 390 Legionnaires, backed by a handful of sailors, locally recruited troops, and eight sappers, busily fortified the old Chinese fort at Tuyen Quang. Read more
Holly Springs was Van Dorn’s ticket to fame.
The horsemen charged into the town from the northeast guns blazing and screaming the hair-raising Rebel yell. Yankees wearing their sleepwear struggled to get out of their tents in the dawn attack and then ran for their lives. Read more
Queen of the Desert: The Infantry ‘Matilda’ Tank
By Jon DiamondThe origins of the Matilda Tank or “I” Tank date back to 1934, when Maj. Gen. Percy C.S. Read more
Prelude to Iwo Jima: The Japanese Assault On B-29 Base On Marianas
By Michael P. SlaterFrom an altitude of 30,000 feet, the swift Japanese reconnaissance aircraft flew high over Saipan and Tinian, photographing the brisk and extensive engineering effort under way on the American airfields far below. Read more
The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Graduates Who Shaped WWII
By Phil GioiaWatching his forces prepare to attack the Union Army at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863, Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson commented to an aide, “The Institute will be heard from today.” Read more
The Legend of Lightning Joe Farinholt, the Four-Time Silver Star Recipient
By Don HainesNot all of the 68 infantry divisions available to the U.S. Army during World War II were made up of draftees and enlistees. Read more
Rommel’s Ghost Division
By Dr. Michael RinellaThe appointment of Erwin Rommel as commander of the 7th Panzer Division (nicknamed the “Ghost Division”) in February 1940 seems, in the light of his many triumphs in France and North Africa, an unremarkable and perfectly natural choice. Read more
Hard-Won Combat Laurels
By Christopher MiskimonIron Bottom Sound was full of transport ships unloading supplies in the early afternoon sun on November 12, 1942. Read more
George Preddy, Jr.: The USAAF’s Greatest P-51 Ace
By Kelly BellDarwin, Australia, was hot even though it was mid-winter. On the afternoon of July 12, 1942, four newly deployed pilots of the U.S. Read more
The Battle Of Midway: Turning the Tide in the South Pacific
By John WukovitsRarely in the history of warfare had one nation absorbed such numbing losses in so rapid a time as did the United States in the Pacific War’s first five months. Read more
Colonel George S. Patton, Sr.: Civil War Veteran
By James M. PowlesThe famed general of World War II, George S. Patton III, often spoke with pride of the military deeds of his forefathers. Read more
Miracle at Dunkirk
By Jon DiamondFollowing the 76th anniversary of the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, one is amazed at the number of articles and volumes written about the subject. Read more
Hero to the End: Airman William “Ed” Dyess on the Philippines
By Sam McGowanLieutenant Colonel William Edwin Dyess, a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot and squadron commander, was considered a hero by men who served under him in the Philippines and who felt they owed their own lives to Ed’s sacrifice. Read more
Germany’s Versatille 88mm Gun
By Phil ZimmerThe November 21, 1944, daylight flight of Teddy’s Rough Riders was anything but routine for American pilot Werner G. Read more
The African Kaiser
By Christopher MiskimonA motley flotilla of British ships arrived on November 2, 1914, in the port of Tanga in German East Africa. Read more
Stirring Accounts of the Albigensian Crusade
The three contemporary narrative accounts of the 13th-century Albigensian Crusade are gripping, chilling, and enlightening. They offer rich insight into the period when the Languedoc region of modern-day southwestern France was tied more closely to the Kingdom of Aragon than the fledgling Kingdom of France. Read more
John Steinbeck in World War II
By Robert E. Cray, Jr.A fuming John Steinbeck vented his frustration over World War II to a friend on March 15, 1943. Read more
Was General Patton Murdered? New Light on an Old Conspiracy
by Peter CrossWhen one thinks about the major conspiracy theories of the post-World War II era, one is drawn to the assassinations of President John F. Read more
The USS Houston and the Battle of Sunda Strait
By A.B. FeuerThe heavy cruiser USS Houston ventured into the Sunda Strait off the coast of Java on the dark night of February 28, 1942, and was never heard from again. Read more
