WWII

WWII

Ernie Pyle: Fated at Ie Shima

By Roy Morris Jr.

Ernie Pyle did not want to go to Okinawa. He was too old, too tired, and—some said—too jaded for yet another American invasion of ferocious enemy territory. Read more

WWII

The Tokyo War Crimes Trials

By Roy Morris Jr.

When the Tokyo War Crimes Trials opened in the former hilltop headquarters of the Japanese military at Ichigaya on May 3, 1946, American-born chief prosecutor Joseph Keenan faced a difficult task. Read more

WWII

Fire Control at the Battle of Surigao Strait

by David Alan Johnson

One of the main reasons for the success of the battleships West Virginia, Tennessee, and California at Surigao Strait was their Mk 8 fire control radar, which was used in conjunction with the Mk 8 rangekeeper computer. Read more

Courtesy of the Army Air Corps, allied airpower played a significant role in turning the tide at the Battle of the Bulge.

WWII

The Army Air Corps at the Battle of the Bulge

by Michael D. Hull

At daybreak on December 16, 1944, three senior officers in the Army Air Corps and a Royal Air Force air vice marshal arrived at an elegant chateau near the town of Spa in southeastern Belgium that was the headquarters of Lt. Read more

WWII

Japan’s Vast War

By Christopher Miskimon

On April 12, 1942, thunder sounded across the waters surrounding the island of Corregidor. It was not a natural storm, however, but a conflagration of steel. Read more

In December 1944, a small radio code-breaking unit intercepted a message that should have tipped off the Allies to the Battle of the Bulge attack.

WWII

Codebreaking at the Battle of the Bulge

by Arnold Franco

World War II, being far more fluid than World War I, marked the advent of the mobile radio intercept unit whose task was to pick up, decrypt if possible, and pinpoint enemy units sending their messages through the airways. Read more

Building façades were bedecked with flags of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during Hitler’s state visit to Rome in May 1937.

WWII

The Strange Death Of Air Marshal Italo Balbo

By Blaine Taylor

On May 26, 1940, as the armies of Nazi Germany roared across prostrate France and the British Expeditionary Force was in the midst of its evacuation by sea from the European continent, Italian Army Marshal Pietro Badoglio, 69, was in the waiting room of the Palazzo Venezia in Rome. Read more

During the Battle of the Bulge, The 7th Armored Division was forced out of St. Vith in December of 1944. A month later the tankers wanted it back.

WWII

The Battle of the Bulge: Avenging St. Vith

by Kevin M. Hymel

The 7th Armored Division fought a running battle out of St. Vith on December 23, 1944. After the destruction of the 106th Infantry Division in the first days of the Battle of the Bulge, the 7th tried to hold, but could not withstand the pressure of six German divisions bearing down on it. Read more