“Sanitation standards in the 18th Century were almost non-existent. Soldiers were in the habit of relieving themselves wherever they wished, including outside their own tents, turning encampments into mucky breeding grounds for dysentery.” 18TH CENTURY MILITARY camps were hotbeds for communicable diseases. Often, more soldiers on campaign died from illness than were ever felled in battle. Interestingly enough, the…
Category: Military History
Military History: Key Moments in Army Airborne History
In August the Army celebrated 75 years of airborne operations. Some highlights: August 1940: A test platoon from Fort Benning’s 29th Infantry Regiment executes the Army’s first airborne training jump less than 45 days after airborne was formed. The U.S. joined several world powers who had also developed the capability after World War I, including Italy, the Soviet…
Military History: 7 New War Machines America Planned to Unleash on Japan in 1946
The arsenal included larger tanks, more powerful artillery, faster fighter planes and new bombers.” AMERICA’S ANTICIPATED INVASION of Japan ultimately proved unnecessary – the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made sure of that. Yet all throughout 1944 and 1945, Allied commanders were drawing up plans for the final assault on the enemy home islands. The campaign,…
Military History: 4 Exotic Weapons in Ancient Warfare that were Ahead of Their Time
When most think of ancient warfare, nothing more sophisticated than spears, bows, and maybe catapults come to mind. But like in modern warfare, few things breed ingenuity more than the need to outgun the enemy. Here are some of the more elaborate examples: 1. Claw of Archimedes Archimedes, the famed Greek mathematician and inventor, developed a…
Military History: “Removal of a Tenth”, a Bloody History of Decimation
“The practice of decimation didn’t die with the Roman Empire. Military commanders throughout history have revived the tradition from time to time as a means of punishment.” BY ALL ACCOUNTS, Luigi Cadorna was an artless and pig-headed military commander. Of all the traditions from ancient Rome field marshal Luigi Cadorna could have chosen to revive…
Profiles in Courage: Leon Cooper
I first heard about Leon Cooper when a good friend of mine who does work for the American Legion told me to watch a documentary on Netflix called Return to the Philippines: The Leon Cooper Story. After watching it, I immediately did a blog post on it, you can read that HERE. Leon Cooper…
1914: Yet Another Cautionary Tale
For several years now many states and organizations in the Middle East and elsewhere have become involved in the situation in Syria. Though there are many players and overlapping interests, there is little evidence that they have established a common goal or common objectives, nor that common practical plans have been made to achieve them….
Mission: Welcome Home
This is an awesome story and a worthwhile cause, please donate a couple bucks to it and let’s all help this story get told worldwide! -SF Marine Raiders Film at Indiegogo Kat Croft befriended a Marine Raider. After his death, she was witness to the way his brothers in arms welcomed him home from…
The Bad-Ass Files: Spc. Joe Gibson, US Army Ranger
Special Episode: “The Suicide Bomber Beat Down” When Spc. Joe Gibson found himself face to face with an al Qaeda suicide bomber in Iraq, he didn’t back down. On the night of April 26, 2008, UH-60 Black Hawks delivered U.S. Army Rangers to a grassy field in rural Iraq. As the soldiers took up their…
Profiles in Courage: The WW2 Draft Dodger Who Turned War Hero
This is one amazing story and one of the reasons I absolutely Love Military History, specifically, WW2 History! -SF Years ago, when I first came home, I decided it would be a good thing for me to write a book. My first project, still unfinished, and now my 3rd project had the working…