Shahan Russell

Shahan Russell is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE

Articles by Shahan Russell:

John Capes, In WWII When His Submarine Sank He Swam 170 feet To The Surface and Swam 5 miles To Shore

During WWII, John Hawtrey Capes said he have saved three crew members of a sunken submarine. He was given a British Empire Medal for Meritorious…

Japanese-American Soldiers, The Nisei: The Purple Heart Battalion

When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, Japanese-Americans became enemy aliens and were sent to internment camps. One responded in a most spectacular way. Daniel…

The One-Armed Warrior Who Was Awarded The Victoria Cross

Some soldiers are so pig-headedly persistent that they go down in legend; including one who did so with only one arm. George Albert Cairns was…

Vietnam Green Beret Had 37 Wounds And Still Carried On Fighting – He Was Awarded The Medal of Honor

Master Sergeant Raul “Roy” Perez Benavidez was shot several times, suffered two grenade blasts, and got bayonetted while saving the lives of eight men. Despite…

How Vietnam War POW Doug Hegdahl Tricked His Captors by Playing The Fool

Imagine that it’s the 1960s. You’re an American POW in a North Vietnamese camp, so you have two options: If you want to live, you…

The Slave Who Stole A Confederate Ship, Met President Lincoln & Bought His Master’s House

In 1862, Robert Smalls stole a Confederate ship, gave it to the Union Army, freed slaves, and met President Abraham Lincoln. After the war, he…

Neutral Switzerland Has Invaded Liechtenstein 3 times in 30 years – by Mistake

Most people associate Switzerland with mountains, chocolates, watches, and Swiss Army knives. They also think of a peaceful and neutral country that’s fanatic about avoiding…

Awarded The Medal Of Honor For Single-Handedly Fighting Off Two Huge Waves Of The Enemy In Vietnam

The Medal of Honor is America’s highest military award given to US citizens for acts of valor. Even if those recipients were high on Marijuana when…

The German Officer Who Sacrificed His Life In A Minefield To Save An American Soldier

October 7, 1994, saw a strange sight over the Hürtgen War Cemetery in Hürtgen, Germany. The cemetery is the final home of 3001 bodies –…

Richard Ira Bong – The Deadliest American Pilot in WWII

He was a WWII hero adored by millions. So much so that his death was front-page news – especially as he did not die in…

Born To Fly: Amy Johnson, Ground-Breaking British Aviator of the 1930s

She was a British aviator in the 1930s who showed what women could do by setting several impressive records. Amy Johnson was born on July…

Wartime Movie Making – The Fleet That Came to Stay, 1945

In 1945 the United States Navy’s Photographic Services Branch made a movie in an attempt to encourage Americans to buy war bonds. They were so…