WWII

WWII

4th Infantry Division: The “Easy” Victory at Utah Beach

In the weeks leading up to the still-undefined D-Day, commanders argued about every detail of Operation Overlord. Read more

WWII

When Peace Came in a Flash—75 Years Ago

A few short months ago, the world paused to reflect on the 75th anniversary of the end of the greatest human-caused cataclysm mankind has ever known: World War II. Read more

WWII

Madeline “Del” D’Eletto: an Allied Angel of  Mercy on a C-47

In a field hospital in Normandy, France, 1st Lt. Madeline “Del” D’Eletto was watching an Army doctor operate on a soldier’s head injury when one of her fellow nurses asked, “What do I do with this?” Read more

WWII

Joachim Peiper’s Bloody Blitz Through Belgium

As the Belgian town of La Gleize burned to the ground around him, 29-year-old SS Lt. Col. Read more

WWII

Teddy Roosevelt Junior: Steadying the Troops at Utah Beach

Teddy Roosevelt Junior had enjoyed a distinguished career even before D-Day. He had commanded a battalion in France during the Great War, served as secretary of the Navy from 1921 to 1924, been the governor of Puerto Rico from 1929 to 1932, and been governor-general of the Philippines for a year in the early 1930s. Read more

WWII

The Blue Division and the Spaniards Who Fought Against Stalin

By Blaine Taylor

The Russian winter of 1941­-1942 hit with terrible ferocity. Battling the deadly, numbing cold as well as the massive numbers of Red Army troops were soldiers from sunny Spain. Read more

WWII

The Palawan Massacre: The Story from One of its Few Survivors

By Dick Camp, Col., USMC, Ret.

Superior Private Tomisaburo Sawa of the Imperial Japanese Army fixed the bayonet on his Type 99 Arisaka rifle and carefully checked to make sure the weapon was loaded. Read more

WWII

The Bombing of Dresden: Was the Attack Fully Justified?

It was February 1945, and the Bombing of Dresden had yet to commence. At this point in the war, the citizens of the capital of the German state of Saxony were beginning to think that they were living a charmed life. Read more

WWII

Finding the Dachau Concentration Camp: a Soldier’s Personal Account

BACKSTORY: Dan Dougherty graduated from Central High School in Austin, Minnesota in June 1943 and was immediately activated from the Army Reserve. Read more

WWII

Inside an M5 Stuart: A Tanker’s WWII Tale in His Own Words

By Kevin M. Hymel

“OH MY GOD!” thought tanker Joe Cotten. “We’re shooting machine guns at a Tiger Royal!” It was late December 1944 in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, near the German border. Read more

WWII

Eisenhower’s Reforms in the Wake of Kasserine Pass

Even in retreat, the German army was formidable. The Allies learned this time and time again on the long road to victory that began in North Africa in late 1942. Read more

WWII

Yuki Okinaga Hayakawa remains a symbol of racial inequity in the United States.

It was a turbulent time, and perhaps when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, it was considered a reasonable response to the perceived treachery of the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor that had occurred only weeks earlier. Read more

WWII

Sterling Hayden, Hollywood Actor, Viking Hero of the OSS

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

WWII

Why the U.S. Dropped the Atomic Bomb on Japan in WWII

How did we get to dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima? Who was responsible? Where and when did it begin? Read more

WWII

Italian, Japanese and Nazi POWs in America: Strangers Within our Gates

For William “Red” Verzola, Friday night was the liveliest night of the week. That was when a group of soldiers from Camp Myles Standish in Taunton, Massachusetts, made their regular pilgrimage to Charlie Pino’s Victory Club, just up the road in the tiny town of Norton, to enjoy a few beers and a couple of hours of relaxation. Read more

WWII

Operation Dragoon: The Allied Invasion of France in the South

“This was war deluxe,” observed Brig. Gen. Frederic B. Butler as his command car entered the French village of Quincon during Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of France in the country’s southern region, in August 1944. Read more

WWII

Rudolf Hess—a Life (and Death) Shrouded in Mystery

In October 1939, British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill famously described Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” Read more

WWII

The Battle of Remagen: the Boat Units Responsible for Crossing the Rhine

The American Ninth Army’s crossing the Rhine River on March 7, 1945, in the early days of the Battle of Remagen is a well-known chapter of military history. Read more

WWII

The Nazi Invasion of Poland, Adolf Hitler’s First Gamble in the East

By Christopher Miskimon

Historians often compare Adolf Hitler to a gambler. He kept making risky bets that paid off time and again—until they didn’t. Read more

WWII

The Buchenwald Concentration Camp: Patton’s Bastardly Discovery

The blue arrows on Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.’s Third Army situation maps in his mobile headquarters trailer all pointed eastward. Read more