Articles Archive

Dressed in traditional garb, a lone Chinese man seeks the protection of a sandbag barricade in the International Settlement of Shanghai on August 12, 1937. Adjacent to the civilian are a British soldier and two American Marines who have donned their helmets. (© Bettmann/CORBIS)

A Memorable Marine Mascot

By Eric Niderost

Soochow was a mongrel dog with a remarkable gift for self-preservation. A homeless stray, he attached himself to some U.S. Read more

Garand’s Wonder Weapon

By Michael D. Hull

A variety of outstanding weapons and pieces of equipment affected the course of World War II for both the Allies and the Axis powers. Read more

Civil War Fieldworks

By Kevin O’Beirne

Ever since Julius Caesar’s legions conquered Gaul, opposing armies have built temporary fortifications, or fieldworks, during campaigns in the open countryside. Read more

The island of Guernsey is oddly patrolled by two British bobbies and a German sentry. The Channel Islands were the only British territory to endure occupation by the Nazis during World War II.

Secret Agent Man: The Story of Eddie Chapman

By Peter Kross

Nations have often pressed unsavory characters and criminals into service during wartime, rationalizing that such action is in the best interest of the country during extraordinary times. Read more

Rev. Robert J. Miller’s ‘Faith of the Fathers’

By Kevin Seabrooke

Those who served the Protestant spiritual needs of the fighting men of the Civil War, in both official unofficial capacites, faced numerous barriers, shortages and hardships—though they did receive a captain’s salary and horse, they were not identified as such by the government, nor were they provided with uniforms, rations or forage for the horse. Read more

Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, was part of the provost marshal’s chain of responsibility. It is shown following its liberation by Union troops in April 1865.

Gerri Willis’ ‘Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster’

By Kevin Seabrooke

Elizabeth Van Lew was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1818, to parents from Philadelphia and Long Island. Raised in a mansion in the city, she finished her education in Philadelphia. Read more

Mussolini accompanies his Nazi benefactor Adolf Hitler during a summit meeting. Hitler came to Mussolini’s aid on more than one occasion during the war years.

Suzanne Cope’s ‘Women of War’

By Kevin Seabrooke

The author brings to life the efforts of four women in different parts of Italy, who each in their own way found it within themselves to resist both Italian fascists and Nazi invaders. Read more

William H. Chickering’s ‘A War of Their Own’

By Kevin Seabrooke

Details the efforts of the resistance movement of the United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races (FULRO), whose objective was autonomy for various indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities in South Vietnam, including the Montagnards in the Central Highlands, the Chams in Central Vietnam, and the Khmer Krom in Southern Vietnam. Read more

Under the relentless onslaught of Japanese Mitsubishi A6 Zero fighter planes, the Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers of the USS Hornet’s Torpedo Squadron 8 are massacred as they attempt to attack Japanese aircraft carriers during the Battle of Midway in this dramatic painting by artist John Hamilton titled “Destruction of a Torpedo Bomber.”

Martin Dugard’s ‘Taking Midway’

By Kevin Seabrooke

In a basement in Honolulu, Hawaii, a team of unconventional military cryptographers known as Station Hypo are led by Lt.-Com. Read more

Stephen R. Platt’s ‘The Raider’

By Kevin Seabrooke

Evans Fordyce Carlson was a complex man with a heavily decorated and varied military career who is credited by many for developing the tactics and culture of what would become the special forces operations. Read more

USS Intrepid, photographed by Richard Shipman from the rear seat of a Helldiver SB2C while taking off to attack the Japanese fleet. Intrepid and USS Cabot launched the first planes against the Japanese at 10:26 am.

Montel Williams’ ‘The Sailing of the Intrepid’

By Kevin Seabrooke

Nearly 40 years before she was towed to New York City’s Pier 86 to become a permanent part of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in June 1982, the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11) was launched from the shipyard in Newport News, Virginia. Read more

Brennan S. Deveraux’s ‘Exterminating ISIS’

By Kevin Seabrooke

“In 2016, I was responsible for the deaths of over 600 people. But they deserved to die—all of them. Read more

British troops fire cannon from behind earthworks during their seige of Charleston, South Carolina, in April 1780. The Americans defending the city, including most of the Continental Army in the south, surrendered on May 12, a serious setback for the American’s cause.

Rick Atkinson’s ‘The Fate of the Day’

By Kevin Seabrooke

Pulitzer prize-winning historian Rick Atkinson’s second volume of his Revolution Trilogy, covering the middle years of the Revolution. Read more

Were P-47 Thunderbolt Aircraft Really Formidable Fighter-Bombers?

By Sam McGowan

Since the end of World War II, the aviation press has made the North American P-51 Mustang into the superstar Allied fighter of the war. Read more

Rose O’Neal Greenhow: The Spy Who Won Bull Run

By David Alan Johnson

“But for you, there would have been no Battle of Bull Run.” When Confederate President Jefferson Davis made that blanket statement in the summer of 1862, he was not addressing Pierre G.T. Read more

A camouflaged half-track playing the role of a tank destroyer pauses in the blistering desert heat of the American West during maneuvers. Desert training in the United States was intended to prepare American soldiers for the hardships of combat in North Africa.

Company B’s Tunisian Adventure

By Christopher Miskimon

For the United States Army, the long road to Germany began in the mountainous deserts of Tunisia in mid-November 1942. Read more

Any Bonds Today?

By Herb Kugel

One of the most unusual baseball games ever played was a three- way game in New York City between the New York Yankees, the New York Giants, and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Read more

Hans Scholl

By Kevin Seabrooke

For anyone in Germany who openly opposed Adolf Hitler or the policies of the Nazi party there were three likely outcomes—prison, concentration camp, or execution. Read more

This painting by Marine Corps artist Col. Charles H. Waterhouse depicts Marines and Cuban insurgent allies fighting Spanish troops during the Battle of Cuzco Well on June 14, 1898.

Marines at the Battle of Guantanamo Bay

By A.B. Feuer

The capture of Guantànamo Bay, Cuba, by U.S. Marines in 1898 was a brief but violent phase of the Spanish-American War. Read more

Medal of Honor recipient Major Bruce Crandall climbs skyward in his UH-1D helicopter after dropping off air cavalrymen at Landing Zone X-ray in the Ia Drang Valley in 1965.

Valor in the Valley of Death

By Kevin Seabrooke

For about half an hour artillery and rockets fired from UH-1B helicopters from the Aerial Rocket Artillery battalion had pounded an area in Vietnam’s Central Highlands between Chu Pong, the 1,000-foot massif straddling the border with Cambodia, and the Ia Drang River. Read more

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Tarawa Radio Failure

Rome Avenged: Hannibal in Italy