Articles Archive

Marines engage in ferocious close-hand fighting during the Korean War in this color painting by Colonel Charles Waterhouse.

Fighting for the Hook

By Al Hemingway

Peering intently through a telescope, General Lemuel C. Shepherd, the commandant of the Marine Corps, scanned the shell-pocked Korean terrain in front of his position. Read more

This artist’s rendering depicts the proposed aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy made out of ice, and its relative size compared to the aircraft carrier HMS Indefatigable.

Back-Room Genius of World War II

By Frank Johnson

While the Battle of Britain raged and a German invasion was feared in the sunny, tense summer of 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill took time to create an organization that would exemplify his offensive spirit, his love of gadgets and innovations, and his use of cronies. Read more

Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant watches as his troops march into the Wilderness south of the Rapidan River. The commander of all Union forces accompanied the Army of the Potomac on its 1864 spring campaign.

Recollections of The Fighting at Spotsylvania Court House

By William E. Welsh

The recollections of Virginia-born John O. Casler of the famed Confederate Stonewall Brigade offer considerable insight into the nature of the fighting, as well as the thoughts and actions of the enlisted men, at Spotsylvania Court House in mid-May 1864. Read more

The Battle of Corinth

By Robert L. Durham

In the fall of 1862, Confederate armies were making their first and only coordinated effort to carry the war into the North. Read more

Still a Splendid Sight: Merrill’s Mauraders

By Al Hemingway

Private First Class Frank Rinaldi cautiously made his way through the dense foliage. He and other soldiers were on patrol when they heard the unmistakable sound of Japanese voices, and they inched their way forward to investigate. Read more

English longbowmen shower the French with arrows from a forecastle at Sluys. The longbow, with its rapid rate of fire and superior range, proved more valuable than the French crossbow at Sluys.

Bloody Revenge at Sluys

By Eric Niderost

It was late afternoon on June 24, 1340, when the English fleet arrived off the Flanders coast, just short of the Zwin estuary, reputed to be the finest harbor in Europe. Read more

The amazing feat of sinking three Japanese submarines is commemorated in this painting by artist Alfred Johnson titled “Batfish Gets a Hat Trick.”

Famous Navy Ships: The Triumph of the USS Batfish

By Robert Barr Smith

She was a sleek, efficient, deadly killer, a home to six officers and 60 enlisted men, and a holy terror to the enemy. Read more

Fortunino Matania and the Art of War

By Robert Whiter

The short, slim man strove to keep still despite the stifling heat and the perspiration trickling down his face and neck. Read more

Sterling Hayden, Hollywood Actor, Viking Hero of the OSS

By Michael D. Hull

Several Hollywood stars served proudly in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, including Tyrone Power, Louis Hayward, Lee Marvin, Macdonald Carey, Hugh O’Brian, Bill Lundigan, John Russell, Robert Ryan, Brian Keith, and Peter Ortiz. Read more

Lot #2136, a superb Purdey .369 reinforced-frame top-lever sidelock ejector double rifle, is estimated at $30,000–50,000.

Poulin Antiques to Hold Premier Auction November 6th-8th

Fairfield ME, October 12, 2026 – Poulin Antiques & Auctions is pleased to announce their upcoming three day, 1,933 lot sale on November 6th-8th, 2026. Read more

Soldiers of the 291st Engineer Combat Battalion trudge through snow while carrying bazookas. According to their commanding officer, Lt. Col. David E. Pergrin, the brave engineers stayed to defend Trois-Ponts during the Battle of the Bulge after they had been taunted by fellow soldiers. Pergrin recalled that the infantrymen had shouted, “You engineer so-and-so! Why don't you come on up there and fight?”

Combat Engineers at Trois-Ponts

By Patrick J. Chaisson

Major Robert B. Yates arrived at the 1111th Engineers’ headquarters in Trois-Ponts, Belgium, around 13:30 on Monday, December 18, 1944, expecting to sit in on an ordinary staff meeting. Read more

Dying to Get Home: PTSD in the Civil War

By Kevin L. Cook

A slight knee wound brought the New Jersey boy to a Washington military hospital, but “his mind had suffered more than his body,” wrote volunteer nurse Louisa May Alcott. Read more

Rescue Plane Down

By Kevin M. Hymel

“Awe c’mon, Mom,” Cecil Petty told his emotional mother before leaving Homer, Illinois, in February 1941. “Who knows, I might be a hero.” Read more

Clawed by the Austrian Eagle at the Battle of Custoza

By Robert Heege

It was June 24, 1866, late in the afternoon of a northern Italian summer, and Venice, the jewel of the Adriatic, was bleeding again. Read more

General Omar Bradley: Dwight D Eisenhower’s Indispensible Lieutenant

By Cole Kingseed

Great commanders need great subordinates. In the campaigns in the Mediterranean and European Theaters of World War II, General Dwight D. Read more

Paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division march into Bastogne, Belgium, on December 19, 1944. Combat veteran Private Brad Freeman, a mortarman with the division’s East Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, passed through the town, thinking to himself, “Here we go again.”

Easy Company Mortarman in Bastogne

By Kevin Hymel

When word reached 21-year-old Private Bradford “Brad” Freeman in Mourmelon-le-Grand, France, that the entire 101st Airborne Division was being put on 24-hour alert for movement to the front, he was neither surprised nor shocked. Read more

Morgan’s Ohio Raid

By Joshua Shepherd

“It was a sad, sorrowful day,” recalled Confederate Major James McCreary, “and more tears of grief rolled over my weather beaten cheeks on this mournful occasion than have before for years.” Read more

From the Jaws of Death: MacArthur’s Escape from the Philippines

By Eric Niderost

Lieutenant John Bulkeley knew something was in the wind when General Douglas MacArthur invited him for an informal lunch at his headquarters on Topside, the highest elevation on the island fortress of Corregidor. Read more

The Brief Empire of King Tigranes II of Armenia

By Alexander Zakrzewski

It is said that hard times create strong men. The first and second centuries bc were certainly a hard time for the diverse peoples of the ancient Near East. Read more

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (right) inspects members of an assault gun battalion standing in front of their guns—10.5cm leFH 18 (Sf.) auf Geschützwagen 39H(f)—a self-propelled howitzer designed by Alfred Becker—in Normandy, France, a month before the Allied invasion. Only 48 were produced during the war.

Oberstleutnant Alfred Becker

By Craig Van Vooren

Students of World War II know the name Percy Hobart—a British general who raised and trained several armored divisions and who invented all sorts of unique and unusual weapons of war—swimming tanks, flail tanks (for exploding landmines), a flame-throwing tank, a tank that laid down its own roadway, and many other odd-but-useful devices. Read more

From Around the Network

The U.S. Navy’s Seabees: Bulldozing a Road to Victory

Night Jump into Tragedy

The Battle of the Somme: Capturing Thiepval Ridge

Trent Hone’s ‘Mastering the Art of Command’