Lt. Col. William Rankin ejected from his F-8 Crusader at 40,000 feet, fell through a nightmarish storm, and survived. When Marine Lt. Col. William Henry Rankin ejected at 40,000 feet after his F-8 Crusader malfunctioned, things didn’t seem like they could get much worse. Then he fell through a raging thunderstorm. On July 26, 1959,…
Tag: Military History
World War Two History: Remembering The Wars of our Fathers
Dennis Anderson reflects on his father’s job during World War II, processing and editing thousands of combat photographs. “What did you do in the war, daddy?” It was a question we Baby Boomers often asked our fathers — all of the millions of us whose fathers served during World War II, history’s greatest conflict, and…
Military News: 10 Wars That Could Break Out In The Next Four Years
The incoming Commander-in-Chief already has a handful of issues waiting for him or her on January 20th and surely doesn’t need any more foreign policy headaches. Unfortunately, the job is “Leader of the Free World” and not “Autopilot of the Worldwide Ramones/P-Funk Block Party.” Inevitably, things go awry. Reactions have unintended consequences. If you don’t…
Military History: The Long Forgotten African Conflicts
Heavy fighting erupted between Ethiopian and Eritrean forces at their disputed border on June 12, with shelling continuing into Monday morning as both sides blamed each other for the return of hostilities. Casualties are unknown, but given the use of heavy artillery fire from both sides, loss of life was likely unavoidable. Eritrea claims it…
Military History: The Waterloo They Remembered
By Bernard Cornwell Two hundred years ago, in a shallow valley south of Brussels, three armies fought the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon had returned from exile on Elba to face a coalition of European enemies, who were now determined to oust him a second time. The closest opponents were the Prussian and British-Dutch armies to…
World War II History: 8 Bad-Ass Women of WW2
Heroism — especially in times of war — tends to produce gendered associations. We think of men fighting (and dying) valiantly, while women wait passively at home for their spouses to return. The historical record produces a different picture, however. Among the many heroes of World War II are these bad-ass women. Spies, snipers, surgeons,…
Military History: The MacArthur Revival
America’s rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region has had many consequences, including a revival of interest in, and appreciation for, the career and worldview of General Douglas MacArthur, whose military exploits spanned fifty years and three continents, and whose reputation for good or ill rests mostly on his campaigns in the Southwest Pacific and the Philippines,…
Military History: The Barbary Wars and the USMC
By John Farnam George Washington, even before he was president, lobbied heavily for a full-time, standing, Federal Army. In 1792, a distrustful Congress gave him and his successors, instead, the Uniform Militia Act, which involuntarily inducts every able-bodied male, in all states, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, into his State’s “Militia,” which can…
Military History: 8 Unbelievable Stories from the Second Battle of Fallujah
Veterans from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines share their incredible stories from the Second Battle of Fallujah. This time of year marks the anniversary of one of the most storied battles in recent Marine Corps history: the Second Battle of Fallujah. The city became the scene of brutal urban combat when American, Iraqi, and British forces…
Military Defense News: US Military Relearning Conventional Warfare
Forces relearning conventional warfare after 15 years of fighting terrorists TWENTYNINE PALMS (California) • Kilo Company of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines was deep in a simulated firefight on a recent morning in the high California desert. A group of Marines on the aptly named Machine Gun Hill unleashed live fire as another group of…