Born to Revolutionary War hero Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee in Stratford Hall, Virginia, Robert Edward Lee seemed destined for military greatness. Despite financial hardship that caused his father to depart to the West Indies, young Robert secured an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated second in the class of 1829. Two years later,…
Category: Military History
Assessing “Cognitive Warfare”
Despite its introduction over a decade ago by the People’s Liberation Army, there is no common understanding of Cognitive Warfare. Nor is there an agreement on the existence of a human or cognitive domain. These concepts compete in a crowded and confusing field centered around information technology and the related information dimension of statecraft….
Know Your Real WW1 History: Early Zeppelin Bombings in England
War Victim Goes to Bottom of the Pile January 19, 1915 — As unsung heroes go, Frederick Pile is possibly one of the most unsung. Some would say deservedly so. Very little is known about him, though he is thought to have been a farm labourer. What IS known is that Fred was out for…
Happy Birthday General Robert E. Lee!
The Burning of Alexandria
The Burning of Alexandria The Yankees occupied New Orleans and its surrounding environs from April, 1862 until the end of the Civil War. In 1863, Gen. Nathaniel Banks left New Orleans to start an advance toward Shreveport. He hoped to seize the busy river port. He followed the Red River upstream. Banks joined with forces…
In Memoriam: John C. Cole, USMC, Last of the Old Breed
John C. Cole, a United States Marine Corps veteran, was born on May 23, 1927, in Moran, Texas, and passed away peacefully on March 9, 2025, in Roy, Utah, at the age of 97. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1944, following in the footsteps of his brother and uncle, and served as…
Know Your Real Military History: Specters in the Snow, the story of Finland’s Skeleton Helmet
H/T WRSA Specters in the Snow, the story of Finland’s Skeleton Helmet A Savage Snow War On a freezing day in January 1940, near the village of Muurila, a Red Army soldier crept through the snow. He placed himself as close to a tent, as he dared; he knew it contained his Finnish…
Know Your Military History: The Black Hawk Down Story as told by CWO4 Mike Durant, 160th SOAR (Night Stalkers)
Flying over the MOG (To the tune of Take it Easy by the Eagles)
*This was taken from the Documentary Battle of the Black Sea, Msgt. Paul Howe’s Untold Story of Black Hawk Down. I was flying down the road trying to shoot another load I’ve got seven sammies on my mind, four that wanna stone me, two that wanna hose me, one he’s very hard to find…
On This Day in Military History 1992: Operation Restore Hope Begins in Somalia
1992-12-09 US Marines and allied nations launch an amphibious and airborne operation in Mogadishu, Somalia, to restore order to the war-torn nation. Authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 794, passed on December 3. A civil war in Somalia had raged since the late 1980s when dictator Siad Barre began to face significant resistance to…