WWII

WWII

When Japan Invaded America

Alaska’s Aleutian Island chain consists of 69 measurable islands. Just as many more exist, too small to measure as an island. Read more

WWII

M26 Pershing: Why America’s Heavy Tank Arrived Too Late for WWII

“We had been assured by our officers before we invaded France in 1944,” recorded Bill Harris, “that our Sherman tanks could take care of any Nazi armor we met there.” Read more

WWII

Patton’s Fight for Fort Koenigsmacker

In his autobiography, War As I Knew It, Lieutenant General Patton set the tone for what was to become one of his Third U.S. Read more

WWII

Operation Winter Storm: Manstein’s Attempted Relief of Stalingrad

It was November 24, 1942. Speeding across the snow-covered landscape of eastern Ukraine, the personal command train of German Field Marshal Erich von Manstein was on its way to the southern Russian city of Novocherkassk, where he would take up his new assignment as commander of Army Group Don. Read more

WWII

The USS Laffey Survived Waves of Kamikazes Off Okinawa

Two warships have been named in honor of Seaman Bartlett Laffey, a Civil War Medal of Honor recipient. Read more

WWII

Skiing Off To War: A Squad Leader in the 10th Mountain Division

I was born in Los Angeles in 1924 and attended local schools. In high school I enrolled in ROTC and, when I could, I went skiing for fun. Read more

WWII

The Last Flight of the Lonesome Polecat

Every February 11, Rouxmesnil-Bouteilles, a tiny town in Upper Normandy situated north of the Seine River a short distance inland from the coastal city of Dieppe and some two hours from the D-Day invasion beaches, pays homage to 10 American airmen who crashed into the town center, narrowly missing the local children assembled in their schoolhouse just a few yards away. Read more

WWII

The Silent Wings Museum: Honoring the Glidermen of WWII

During World War II, the use of airborne forces to “vertically envelop” the enemy went from an untested theory to a major part of offensive tactics, first for Germany and then the Allies. Read more

WWII

How Pearl Harbor Happened

Commander Mitsuo Fuchida, strike leader for Operation Hawaii and 20-year veteran of the Imperial Japanese Navy (Kaigun), strapped himself into the observer’s seat as his Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” torpedo bomber, piloted by Lieutenant Mitsuo Matsuzaki, and lifted off from the carrier Akagi on the black morning of December 7, 1941. Read more

WWII

The Nevada and I Survived the War

I am of Polish, Irish, and American Indian descent and grew up in the small (population 3,800) northern Illinois town of Geneva. Read more

WWII

A Luftwaffe Ace’s Joy-Ride in a Spitfire

When Hugo Broch flew his fighter for the Luftwaffe, he probably didn’t imagine he would ever find himself in the cockpit of a Supermarine Spitfire. Read more

WWII

Hitler’s Religion: Was Hitler an Atheist, Christian, or Something Else?

Guest Post By History on the Net

No matter how little you know about history, you know something about Adolf Hitler. Read more

WWII

FOUND! The Largest Nazi Cache in Argentina’s History

Enter into this suburban home outside Buenos Aires and you perhaps wouldn’t imagine it held the largest cache of Nazi artifacts in Argentinian history. Read more

WWII

A Screaming Eagle’s Journey: The Story of Lud Labutka

In an effort to calm his nerves just before he jumped into Normandy on D-Day, Lud Labutka thought it might be a good idea to accept the drink being offered from the paratrooper sitting across from him on their C-47 transport as it crossed the English Channel. Read more

WWII

The USS Ling: its History, Legacy, and Modern Problems

A New York Times article revealed the sorry state of a historic World War II submarine stuck in the Hackensack River. Read more

WWII

A Soviet Red Army Victory at Vienna

In mid-March 1945, the Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Red Army launched a major offensive with the aim of clearing Axis forces out of Hungary and forcing them back to the very borders of Hitler’s Greater German Reich. Read more

WWII

The Allies’ Biggest Blunder?

Before World War II, the Belgian port city of Antwerp was one of the world’s great ports, ranking with those of Hamburg, Rotterdam, and New York. Read more

WWII

19 Hours in Kamikaze Hell

They knew they were coming. They had been waiting for days, expecting at any minute to be rushed to battle stations, but for days nothing much had happened. Read more

WWII

The Real English Patient Behind the Ralph Fiennes Film

On the morning of May 15, 1942, a strange motorcade rolled out of Campo Four, located 170 hot, dusty miles south of the Italian base at Jalo oasis in northeast Libya. Read more

WWII

The Band of Brothers: A Company to Remember

Something about the series Band of Brothers struck a chord with television viewers all over the world. Read more