No Cotton Candy and Pony Rides – WWII POWs Housed in U.S. Fairgrounds
State fairgrounds usually conjure up images of rides, cotton candy and displays of farm animals and machinery. Not so for several thousand World War II…
From Secrecy to Celebration: Britain’s LGBTQ Service Members Get Their Due
The long-held notion that homosexuals and the military service don’t mix has, to a large extent, unraveled. Thanks to today’s changing social climate, LGBTQ communities have…
Why did Congress Withhold 20% of Funds for Marines’ New Rifle?
In April, the House of Representatives’ subcommittee on Tactical Air Land in the House Armed Services Committee put language in the proposed National Defense Authorization…
Holiday in a Fort! – Fortress at Drake’s Island to Be Developed into a Luxury Resort
Drake’s Island is located in the United Kingdom’s Plymouth Sound near South Devon. It was first used for the defense of the sound in the…
Great for Selling Tobacco but Not Much Else – HMS Hero and HMS Conqueror
For most people, the HMS Hero and her sister ship, the HMS Conqueror are virtual unknowns. They were commissioned in the late 1880’s and in…
Size Doesn’t Matter – Henry Johnson Awarded Medal of Honor for Fierce Fighting and Heroism
In June 1917, a young, slight railway porter left his job in Albany, New York and joined the US Army. A scant two months after…
Mysterious Fate of Zenobia: The Palmyra Queen Who Defied Rome
In the third century AD, Palmyra was a stopover for traders traveling across the deserts. This made Palmyra wealthy and earned it the nickname “The…
Oops! – New Spanish Sub is Too Big For It’s Home Port
It is a simple law of physics that “the lesser cannot contain the greater,” and that unbreakable rule has been proven once again with the…
“Totally Fearless” Vietnam Hero Finally Awarded the Medal of Honor
A battalion of Marines who served in the Vietnam War was determined to see their leader, Sergeant John Canley (a gunnery sergeant at the time),…
Wild Alaskan Search for Missing WWII Pilot Succeeds Thanks to Historian
On December 21, 1943, a B-24D was undergoing testing to determine how the plane’s systems would fare in extreme cold conditions. The plane crashed that…
Russian Hussars Live Fast And Finish Young
Historically there are very few military forces that can feasibly live up to the standards set by the cliche of ‘live fast, die young and…
Warriors Turned Traders: The Russians Who Settled Northern California and Alaska
While Europeans were colonizing the east coast of the United States, the Russians were colonizing Alaska and the northernmost part of California. Every school child…