November 11, 1918 My grandfather served in France during WWI in a machine-gun unit. That, along with the somewhat cryptic “PFC 314 Machine Gun Company” marking on his headstone, was all I knew about Gramp, who died at home on the night of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords and never, ever talked about his service to…
Category: Military Weapons from the Past
Know Your WW2 Weapons: Japanese Model 89 Knee Mortar
Japanese Model 89 Knee Mortar For more than a century, American troops have given a wide variety of nicknames to their own weapons, and also those of their enemies. During World War II, American troops in the Pacific Theatre created a nickname for a highly effective Japanese weapon that was a bit misleading. The…
The Marine Corps Iwo Jima Stinger
The Marine Corps Iwo Jima Stinger Good God, do I love the United States Marine Corps. Not just because I served in the Marine Corps and because the cult brainwashing runs deep, but because of the Marine Corps attitude of improvising, overcoming, and adapting. Until recently, the Marine Corps has been famously known for…
Interview with MACV-SOG Major John L. Plaster
MACV-SOG Major John L. Plaster I have two books from Plaster in my Library that are dog eared, highlighted and just about worn out. The first is The Ultimate Sniper which I got many moons ago as a gift from a now departed friend (who was a better shot than me by a country…
Know Your Firearms History: The ‘Tiffany Guns’ of the Spanish-American War
The ‘Tiffany Guns’ of the Spanish-American War President Joe Biden has repeatedly suggested when it was first drafted there were restrictions to the Second Amendment. He pressed the point by stating that “you couldn’t own a cannon,” while more recently he’s made the argument that the Second Amendment isn’t absolute in that Americans today…
Fast and Furious: The Philosophy and Mechanics of the Blitzkrieg Tactic
Fast and Furious: The Philosophy and Mechanics of the Blitzkrieg Tactic It’s the dawn of World War II, and the old ways of fighting aren’t cutting it anymore. Soldiers huddled in trenches, days turning into weeks with little progress—it’s a stalemate that no one wants to repeat. Enter the Blitzkrieg tactic, a plan that’s…
Know Your History: 3 Key Phases in the History of the Roman Army
3 Key Phases in the History of the Roman Army More Great articles in Roman Military History.
Know Your WW2 History: German-Soviet Alliance – How the Soviet Union Enabled Hitler’s Conquests
German-Soviet Alliance: How Soviet Union Enabled Hitler’s Conquests For all you fellow amateur military historians out there, I highly recommend you bookmark the resources for this article. They make for some excellent reading by themselves: The Buildup of the German War Economy: The Importance of the Nazi-Soviet Economic Agreements of 1939 and 1940 Historian…
Know Your Weapons: The M79 Grenade Launcher
The M79 Grenade Launcher The M79 was a large-bore, single-barrel, single-shot weapon that was breech loaded and fired from the shoulder. It launched a 40mm by 46mm grenade in a round that resembled a huge bullet. The close-support infantry weapon reportedly was nicknamed “Thumper, Blooper, Thump Gun, or Bloop Tube” by some soldiers due…
Know Your WWII History: The True Story that Inspired ‘Fury’
The True Story that Inspired ‘Fury’ Is Fury a true story? Was the Fury tank an actual Sherman? It sure seems to be. In this article, the renowned and redoubtable Red2Alpha73 (Mike Durand) reviews Belton Y. Cooper’s 1998 memoir: Death Traps: The Survival of an American Armored Division in World War II.