Military History

During the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) both nations attacked commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf to disrupt supply to their enemy. Under Operation Earnest Will, the U.S. began sending naval patrols into the Gulf to offer protection for Kuwaiti shipping while trying to stay out of the conflict—until a U.S. Navy vessel hit an Iranian mine.

Military History

High Stakes Showdown on the Persian Gulf

By John E. Spindler

Deep within the guided-missile cruiser U.S.S. Wainwright, Captain James Chandler scanned various screens in the dimly lit climate-controlled combat information center (CIC) absorbing details on the status of the ship’s weapons systems and the activity outside on the sweltering Persian Gulf. Read more

Battling fatigue and stifling heat, Joshua Chamberlain’s 20th Maine makes their valiant stand against the attacking Confederate forces of Brig. Gen. Evander M. Law at Little Round Top in this painting by modern artist Keith Rocco.

Military History

‘Hold That Ground at All Hazards’

By Al Hemingway

Brigadier General Gouverneur K. Warren peered down at the rugged terrain of southern Pennsylvania from his vantage point on Little Round Top, a small promontory about two miles south of Gettysburg. Read more

Military History

Costly British Victory at Ferozeshah

By John Brown

A little over five centuries ago, a guru named Nanak founded a new faith among the Hindu communities that farmed the rich agricultural areas of northern India known as the Punjab, the Land of the Five Rivers. Read more

Buckskin-clad Texas troops overrun white-uniformed Mexican forces in this panoramic depiction of the Battle of San Jacinto. The Texans’ victory guaranteed their independence.

Military History

Texan Victory at San Jacinto: Eighteen Minutes to Freedom

By John Walker

As long afternoon shadows rolled across the prairie near the confluence of the Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River in eastern Texas on April 21, 1836, two armed camps—one a small Texan force, the other a 1,400-man-strong Mexican army—lay within a scant 1,000 yards of each another. Read more

Military History

Unholy Sabbath in Flanders

By William E. Welsh

With his one good eye, French King Philip II looked east down the straight line of an old Roman road in the disputed county of Flanders on Sunday, July 27, 1214. Read more

Military History

Collecting Medieval Military Books

By William McPeak

The special packaging of the printed word between compact durable covers and a stitched spine—the book—is one of humanity’s greatest and most enduring achievements. Read more

Military History

The USS Macon

By John J. Geoghegan

It is sometimes difficult to understand just how immature aviation was in the 1920s and 1930s. Everything about flying was new. Read more

Military History

The M-16’s Troubled Debut

By Mark Carlson

Marine Private Jim McGarrah arrived at Phu Bai in South Vietnam in late 1967 and was sent to what was euphemistically called “The Rockpile,” a firebase that overlooked the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Vietnam. Read more

Military History

Deborah Sampson: Continental Soldier

By Kelly Bell

Yearning for more out of life than a woman could hope for in her place and time, Deborah Sampson took the only opportunity she could see to fully realize her patriotic ambitions and wanderlust—she cut her waist-length blonde hair, put on men’s clothes and joined the Continental Army to fight for the embryonic country’s independence during the American Revolution. Read more

Comte de Grasse’s 104-gun French flagship, Ville de Paris, is shown at center surrendering to British Admiral Sir George Rodney’s 98-gun HMS Formidable on the right of this Thomas Mitchell painting, The Battle of the Saints, 12 April 1782. In reality, de Grasse surrendered to Admiral Samuel Hood of the HMS Barfleur, the bow of which can be seen behind the Ville de Paris.

Military History

Clash in the Caribbean

By David A. Norris

Unexpected maneuvers by British Admiral George Brydges Rodney had scrambled the traditional engagement formation of the two fleets. Read more

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