Military History

Stories of American history, tradition, heroism, weaponry and war.

Military identifies remains of WWII B-17 crew member taken prisoner

Tech. Sgt. William F. Teaff was assigned to the 351st Bombardment Squadron, 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force, when his plane was shot down in March 1944.

5 weeks ago

New Hindenburg documentary sheds light on the decades-old disaster

It's been 84 years since airship Hindenburg crashed in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

15 months ago

Your Air Force

Thousands of name errors possible in new Korean War remembrance wall, advocates fear

Data errors mean that there could be hundreds of mistakes included on the planned Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in the nation's capital.

Soldier at the Vietnam Memorial wall

National Vietnam Veterans Day celebrations adapt for second year in pandemic

Vietnam Veterans Day is March 29.

17 months ago

31 presidents who served in the military

A list of all the U.S. Presidents that served in the military.

18 months ago

The long road to an independent Air Force

The Air Force celebrates its 73rd birthday today. But its creation was controversial for decades.

23 months ago

Hitler released his failed plan to invade England 80 years ago today

Operation Sea Lion was an amphibious invasion intended to result in the German defeat of England.

2 years ago

A brief history of the Korean War

The "Forgotten War" in Korea broke out 70 years ago along the 38th parallel. It hasn't officially ended.

2 years ago

The quest to recover one Vietnam-era Air Force pilot lost in Lake Huron crash

On June 13, 1966, U.S. Air Force Maj. William J. Vinopal climbed into his Convair F-106A Delta Dart, a single-seat, flight interceptor aircraft, for a routine training mission over the lake. It would turn out to be his last flight. Now, over 50 years later, a group of veterans is on a mission to locate the wreckage and recover Vinopal’s remains.

2 years ago

How one organization is working to correct cases of Jewish WWII soldiers mistakenly buried under Latin Cross headstones

“It is very important for us for a soldier who lived and died as an American be acknowledged for posterity as an American. It is also equally important for us that a soldier who lived and died as a Jew, be recognized as a Jew.”

2 years ago

These Air Corps pilots’ actions at Pearl Harbor made them among the first heroes of World War II

Two heroic American aviators led a spirited defense against the Japanese at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

3 years ago

Air Force and Army veteran duo aims to restore WWII submarine

Air Force veteran Mark Gatton got the idea to save the USS Ling and bring it to Louisville, Ky., when he learned that the sub was going to be scrapped in New Jersey.

3 years ago

The GI Bill should’ve been race neutral, politicos made sure it wasn’t

While white veterans got into college with relative ease, black service members faced limited options and outright denial in their pursuit for educational advancement.

3 years ago

Restored F-117 Nighthawk coming to Reagan Library

A restored F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter, one of the most iconic aircraft in Air Force history, will soon be on permanent display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California.

3 years ago

Frozen in time, US Embassy a monument to Iran hostage crisis

What initially began as a sit-in devolved into 444 days of captivity for 52 Americans seized in the embassy.

3 years ago

Remains of Army Air Forces B-17 gunner identified

The remains of a B-17 Flying Fortress top turret gunner, shot down over Germany in World War II, have been recovered.

3 years ago

How the ‘Horse Soldiers’ helped liberate Afghanistan from the Taliban 18 years ago

On Oct. 19, 2001, a team of 12 Green Berets with the 5th Special Forces Group's Operational Detachment Alpha 595 were inserted into Afghanistan to liberate the region from the Taliban without tanks or trucks. Just horses.

3 years ago

Captured in war, a diary returns home

From the brutal battle of Tinian to a Tupperware sandwich container to an Oregon charity and back to the family of the killed man who scribbled it.

3 years ago

From parade to pandemic: Museum looks at 1918′s deadly flu

Officials went ahead with the parade despite the discouragement of the city health department about the ever-spreading virus. Within 72 hours of the parade, all the hospital beds in Philadelphia were full of flu patients.

3 years ago

75th anniversary of Operation Market Garden

75th anniversary of daring WWII Allied operation marked in the Netherlands

Parachutes glowing gold and white against clear blue skies, hundreds of paratroopers floated to the ground in the eastern Netherlands on Saturday to mark the 75th anniversary of a daring but ultimately unsuccessful mission that Allied commanders hoped would bring a swift end to World War II.

3 years ago

80th anniversary of Poland invasion: Why the memory is still a battleground

Sunday marks exactly 80 years since Nazi Germany invaded Poland, on Sept. 1, 1939. Poland and the region still struggle with what came after.

3 years ago

National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City defaced

Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith said two men were responsible for the vandalism spray painted “Xs” over the faces of World War I generals and “communist symbols” just before 1 a.m. Tuesday morning.

3 years ago

World War II airman to be buried June 5 in California

Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Vincent J. Rogers Jr. will be buried at Riverside National Cemetery in California June 5

3 years ago

The real history of Memorial Day

Though Memorial Day was made an official federal holiday in 1971, its roots trace all the way back to the Civil War.

3 years ago

The 13 all-time ugliest airplanes

Aviation would be the poorer if it didn’t have aeronautical engineers willing to take risks.

3 years ago

Desert Storm memorial marks an ‘atonement’ for Vietnam War mistakes

The site has been picked and dedicated. But now they need to raise the money.

3 years ago

74 years ago, Allied bombers obliterated Dresden, one of Germany’s most beautiful cities

On Feb. 13, 14, and 15, 1945, more than 1,200 British and U.S. heavy bombers dropped nearly 4,000 tons of high-explosive and incendiary bombs on the city, killing an estimated 25,000 people.

3 years ago

Presidents’ Day pause: How ‘Uncle Sam’s Web-feet’ helped swing an election for Abe Lincoln

The U.S. Navy's triumph at Mobile Bay, combined with victorious Federal ground campaigns in Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia, helped reelect Abraham Lincoln and doomed the Confederacy to defeat.

3 years ago