Great Military Stories

War of 1812 – The United States Navy in America’s First Overseas Conflict

The Barbary Pirates were corsairs from the North African states of Morocco, Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli who raided European commerce unchecked for nearly three centuries. Not only did they capture ships, cargo, and weapons from their victims, but they also enslaved their Christian captives. Despite all the naval might projected by Europe's powerful military elite, it was the fledgling United States that ultimately dealt with the pirates. The Barbary Wars became America's first overseas war and its first overseas military victory. The First U.S. Overseas Conflict Began Over Pirate Tribute Although nominally under the rule of the Ottoman Empire (except for independent Morocco), the Barbary States largely acted independently of their Sultan in Constantinople. Europe, for all its naval might, decided it was far easier and cheaper to buy off the pirates with an annual tribute than it was actually to fight a war over such a vast coastline. When the United States declared its...

Sgt Michael Wynn, U.S. Marine Corps (1966-1970)

Profiles in Courage, Vietnam War

Michael Wynn is a Marine Sargeant, a four-year USMC volunteer, of First Battalion, Third Marines, hailing from Marion, Ohio who took part in Operation Ballistic Charge near Dai Loc, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam. Michael Wynn shared a history of his motivation to join the Marine Corps which was a mixture of patriotism and seeking excitement and adventure. Michael Wynn's Childhood "My name is Mike Wynn and I was born on January 17, 1947. I grew up in Marion, Ohio, and attended Olney Ave. Elementary, Edison Jr. High, and graduated from Harding High School in 1965. I played baseball and football for Harding for 3 years. I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1966. After high school, I attended Otterbein University on a football scholarship. During the season I concentrated on my studies to keep my eligibility to play football. After the season I found other interests and let’s just say I came to a mutual agreement with the school that I would not be returning the next...

Civil War – The Battle of Glendale: The Day the South Nearly Won (1862)

Battlefield Chronicles, Civil War

It has become an accepted historical fact that the South could not have won the American Civil War. The North's advantages in finance, population, railroads, manufacturing, technology, and naval assets, among others, are often cited as prohibitively decisive. Yes, the South had the advantage of fighting on the defensive, this with interior lines, but those two meager pluses appear dwarfed by the North's overwhelming strategic advantages, hence defeat virtually a foregone conclusion. But if strategic advantage alone was always decisive in warfare, then names like Marathon, Cowpens, Rorke's Drift, and Cannae would today be meaningless, and they are not. The Battle of Glendale is One of Seven Days Battles of Civil War Indeed, there are times when the decided underdog wins in war, and there was one day in 1862 when the stars aligned, so to speak, to offer the South a victory of such magnitude that the Civil War might have ended in its favor. It was June 30, 1862, and for days the Federal...

First WW II Aircraft Crew to Reach 25 Missions

Military Myths and Legends, World War II

1917, and 1918, the United States government issued Liberty Bonds to raise money for our involvement in World War I. By the summer of 1940 when it appeared the United States would be drawn into World War II, bonds again were being sold as a way to remove money from circulation as well as reduce inflation. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the bonds became known at War Bonds.

4 Vietnam War Myths Civilians Believe

Military Myths and Legends, Vietnam War

Movies and television have painted a deeply embedded picture of Vietnam veterans in the American collective consciousness. Somehow, despite the numerous books, articles, and documentaries produced about the war and those who fought it, some of them are simply untrue. The false ideas aren't just small myths, either. These misconceptions paint a distorted picture of who fought in Vietnam and the ability of the enemy and shaped how we perceived war for decades after the conflict ended. Here are the most common myths about the Vietnam War that civilians really believe, along with the truth about them. The U.S. Won Every Battle of the Vietnam War But Still Lost the War If anyone told this myth to the veterans who fought at Lang Vei in 1968, Kham Duc later that same year, or Fire Support Base Ripcord in 1970, they'd probably get a sharp, curt history lesson in logistics and math. Movies and television make it seem like the Viet Cong (VC), and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) attacked in...

The Base Flagpole Truck

Military Myths and Legends, Vietnam War

There are a lot of military myths and urban legends out there, but few are more widespread or ridiculous than the legend of the base flagpole truck. No one knows who started it or why. It's just a legend that has been passed down from generation to generation of veterans. It transcends military branches and eras of wars, and it is as common to hear the myths of saltpeter in the Gatorade or "etherbunny." The Base Flagpole Truck: What's Supposedly Inside The legend goes that the truck above every military installation's flagpole is actually hollow and contains three to five very specific items for very specific uses. The most common legend is that it has three items: a razor blade, a match, and a bullet. The razor blade, it's said, is used to strip the flag, the match is to burn the flag properly, and the bullet is to use in defense of yourself (or, in some versions, to use on yourself). In another version of the myth, the truck also contains grains of rice and a penny (or some...

Famous Navy Units: Coast Guard Station Harbor Beach by A3C Michael Bell

Famous Military Units, World War II

"Immense bright lake! I trace in theeAn emblem of the mighty ocean,And in thy restless waves I see Nature's eternal law of motion; And fancy sees the Huron Chief…" "Lake Huron" by Thomas McQueen The peninsular state of Michigan (est. 1837) resembles an extended left human hand in a mitt with the thumb partly opened outward from the palm. And there, about where the quick of a thumbnail would be on the east side, is US Coast Guard Station Harbor Beach as it's known today. It is estimated that since the 17th century, there are 6,000 maritime wrecks at the bottom of the mighty Great Lakes, one of which is Lake Huron. District 9, consisting of forty-eight active stations, is a United States Coast Guard area of operations based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is responsible for all Coast Guard functions on the five Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence...

Iraq War – The Battle of Abu Ghraib

Battlefield Chronicles, Global War on Terror

Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison was notorious long before U.S. troops were found guilty of abusing detainees there. Originally built in the 1960s, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein used the site to house and later execute political prisoners. He closed the prison in 2002, but when the U.S.-led Coalition ousted Hussein by force in 2003, it was reopened. Because Coalition forces used it as an internment camp, it also became a forward operating base – and a target for insurgents. The Battle of Abu Ghraib Begins With Coordinated Assault Insurgent battles in Iraq don't always get their due attention from historians, but for the longest time, the biggest obstacle to American success in the Iraq War was these insurgent groups. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, was one of the architects of Iraq's Sunni insurgency. Determined to hit the Abu Ghraib base to show that nowhere in the country was safe as long as the Americans were in control, he launched an attack on Abu Ghraib so...

Seven Myths About the Military

Military Myths and Legends

War movies are great to watch and keep us on the edge of our seats with each powerful explosion, hidden sniper attack, and scandalous missions, but the U.S. Military has been shrouded in myth for too long. It’s time civilians quit believing the silly hype and learn more about the protectors of this nation. It would not hurt to ask a member of the military about the service instead of relying on multimillion-dollar Hollywood productions and music videos. Myth One: Physical Perfection Required You need to be a perfect physical specimen to join the military. Surprisingly, enough, not every single member of the military has a 20/20 vision. If you have ever seen the recruits at basic training, you would think you walked into a Mr. Magoo cartoon. You will make you wish you were blessed with the genes of perfect vision, although it is definitely not required. Myth Two: Boot Camp is Unbearable You would NEVER survive boot camp The truth is, more than 90% of recruits...

LT Michael P. Murphy, U.S. Navy (2000–2005)

Global War on Terror, Profiles in Courage

Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or not, you might have heard about "The Murph Challenge." Every Memorial Day, veterans, military members, and fitness nuts around the country pledge to take the challenge. It not only helps remember the courage and sacrifice of Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, but also helps send military-connected individuals to college through the Lt. Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation. Lt. Michael P. Murphy Leads SEAL Mission in Afghanistan To call the Murph a "grueling" workout would be an understatement, but it was something he did regularly, and it helped him fight on in the mountains of Afghanistan against incredible odds. Without his valiant physical and mental efforts that day, his entire team might have vanished without a trace. In 2005, the U.S. launched Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan's Kunar Province. The goal was to disrupt the activity of the Taliban and other anti-Coalition militias operating in the areas west of Asadabad....

Heroines Under Fire

Profiles in Courage, World War I

On July 29, 1918, field nurse Linnie Leckrone jumped on a truck headed for the front as part of Gas and Shock Team 134 in the battle of Chateau-Thierry northeast of Paris during the Great War. As German artillery rained down, she tended the wounded. For her “conspicuous gallantry in action,” Leckrone was awarded what was then called the Citation Star in a certificate signed by Gen. John (Black Jack) Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force.

Emperor of Nicaragua: William Walker

Civil War, Military Myths and Legends

On November 8, 1855, in front of the Parroquia Church in the town square of the Nicaraguan city of Granada, a line of riflemen shot Gen. Ponciano Corral, the senior general of the Conservative government. Strangely, the members of the firing squad hailed from the United States. So did the man who had ordered the execution. His name was William Walker. Though later generations would largely forget him, in the 1850s, he obsessed the American public. To many, he was a swashbuckling champion of Manifest Destiny. To others, he loomed as an international criminal. In Walker's own mind, he was a conqueror destined to create a Central American empire. His bizarre career would leave a legacy that shadows the relationship between the United States and Central America to this day. Biography of William Walker Walker was born in 1824 in Nashville, Tennessee, to James Walker and his wife, Mary Norvell. His father was the son of a Scottish immigrant. His mother was the daughter of Lipscomb...

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