Conflicts & Operations

Wernberg 1945

Book Review – The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 By Rick Atkinson; Henry Holt and Co.; 896 pages; Volume Three of The Liberation Trilogy

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The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 by Rick Atkinson, is the third volume in his Liberation Trilogy. Begun in 2002 with the release of An …

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Brig. Gen. Telford Taylor

When Telford Taylor and U.S. Army G-2 Gained Access to Ultra The British let in the rabble

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In the early years of the war, knowledge of Ultra – British decoded German cypher traffic encrypted by the Enigma machine – was limited to only the most senior American …

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Robert Furman

Maj. Robert Furman: A Spook in the Pentagon

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Sometime in 1943, not long after construction of the Pentagon had been completed and the great building first opened its doors for business, reports of a ghost began circulating among …

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Katyn Massacre

The Katyn Massacre: The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

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In 1939, Nazi Germany and its then-ally the Soviet Union divided conquered Poland between them per the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Some senior members of the Polish government and …

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Davao Escapees

POW Escape from Davao, Part 2 The Pacific Theater's "Great Escape"

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On the morning of April 4, 1943, two POW work details made up of Lt. Cmdr. Melvyn H. McCoy, U.S. Navy; Maj. Mike Dobervich, Capt. Austin Shofner, and 1st Lt. …

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Camp O'Donnell

POW Escape from Davao, Part 1 The Pacific Theater's "Great Escape"

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April 1943 would become a landmark month in the history of prisoners of war (POWs). In Stalag Luft III, a Luftwaffe-run POW camp in Lower Silesia, Germany, Squadron Leader Roger …

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Commissioning ceremonies at the new training school for female Navy (WAVES) and Coast Guard (SPARS) Officers, circa early 1943. Standing in front are (left to right): Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York City; Lt. Cmdr. Mildred McAfee, USNR, Director of the WAVES; and Rear Adm. Randall Jacobs, USN, Chief of Naval Personnel. U.S. Naval Historical Center photo

Fiorello LaGuardia Tries to Become a General With stars in his eyes, the New York City mayor made every effort to get general's stars on his shoulders

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Of all the challenges Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall tackled, arguably none was greater than dealing with his commander in chief, President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A serio-comic …

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Lance Cpl. Tyler Langford, anti-tank missileman, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, leads his pack mule during a hike at Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, Calif., Oct. 13, 2012. Langford used skills he learned in the Animal Packers Course, taught four times a year at MCMWTC. The 16-day course teaches Marines how to use animals in the region they find themselves in as a logistical tool to transport weapons, ammunition, food, supplies or wounded Marines through terrain that tactical vehicles cannot reach. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Ali Azimi

The Virtues of Stubbornness: Mules at War

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Mules don’t exist in nature. They are an artificial product of human ingenuity, and like many such products, it didn’t take long before they found a place in the grim …

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In July 1941, the U.S. War Department put out a call for human hair – specifically blonde female hair – that would be used in precision instruments. youcallthatart.wordpress.com/ photo

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow, All for the War Effort American women donate hair for use in Army Air Force instruments

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On March 6, 1943, the New York Times reported that 11-year-old Anita Hochberg of Sea Cliff, Long Island, had donated 14 inches of her “patriotic blonde” hair to the Bendix …

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North Korea Armistice Invalid

North Korea Invalidates Armistice

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North Korea’s army announced on March 11 that the armistice that ended fighting on the Korean peninsula in 1953 is now invalid.

Although not unprecedented, the announcement reflects an unusually …

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