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Military Myths and Legends

The Death of the Red Baron

The Death of the Red Baron

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In 1915, von Richthofen transferred to the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkrafte). He studied aerial tactics under the master German strategist, Hauptman Oswald Boelcke, flying his first combat mission after less than thirty hours of flight instruction. Despite an indifferent start as a fighter pilot, he nonetheless was invited to join Boelcke's Jagdstaffel 2 squadron and soon excelled in combat following the Boelcke Dicta, which included approaching his enemy from above with the sun behind him, firing only at close range, always keeping his eyes on his target, and attacking in a group of four to six planes. The History of The Red Baron At the beginning of 1917, he had 16 confirmed kills, had been awarded Germany's highest military decoration, Pour le Merite, and was commander of a squadron, Jasta 11, of elite fighter pilots.  In April 1917 alone, he downed 22 British planes. Flying a series of Albatros aircraft, his vanity led him to have each painted red. As the...

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Escape from Libby Prison: The Largest Successful Prison Break of the Civil War

Escape from Libby Prison: The Largest Successful Prison Break of the Civil War

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On February 9, 1864, more than 100 Union prisoners tunneled their way to freedom in an audacious escape from Libby Prison in the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. More than half of the prisoners made their way to Union lines while others were recaptured and returned to the confines of Libby. Libby Prison started as an old food warehouse on Tobacco Row along the James River. Captain Luther Libby, along with his son George W. Libby, leased the three-story brick building where they operated a ship chandlery and grocery business. In 1862, the Confederacy took over the building and turned it into a prison for Union officers. Colonel Thomas E. Rose, a Union officer from the 77th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, was captured during the Battle of Chickamauga and taken to Libby Prison. He found conditions appalling and immediately started plotting his escape. He devised an ambitious plan to dig a tunnel from the cellar of the prison to a tobacco shed that stood just outside the...

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Where Are the Alien Bodies?

Where Are the Alien Bodies?

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By now, we all know the gist of the story. An unidentified flying object crashed in the desert near Corona, New Mexico, in 1947. Military and government agents from nearby Roswell Army Air Field rushed to the site and found alien bodies hidden among the wreckage and debris. Then, they immediately covered it up and left the American public in the dark.  The Army didn't help matters any, releasing a report claiming to have captured some kind of "flying disc." It immediately retracted that claim, saying it was instead a kind of weather balloon, fuel for the conspiracy theory fire that would burn for the next 50 years.  The Government Hide the Alien Bodies Conspiracy theorists went wild in the years following the Roswell Incident. Self-proclaimed UFO-ologists claimed to have pieces of the alien wreck and claimed that at least three sets of extraterrestrial remains were found on the site. But where did the government hide the bodies? Theories pointed to one of two places. One is the...

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The Hero Dog Of Verdun

The Hero Dog Of Verdun

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A courageous World War I war dog was widely hailed a hero, after battling bravely through no man's land to deliver a life-saving message to French troops during the Battle of Verdun in WWI. The Hero Dog Of Verdun Service The wonder dog - named, oddly enough, Satan - was assigned the dangerous task of delivering the message from French commanders that contained the words that would bring vital relief to the besieged soldiers under heavy attack by the Germans. The life-saving message read: " For God's sake hold on. We will relieve you tomorrow."  With the gas mask in place, two baskets containing carrier pigeons on his back, and a brass tube attached to his collar with the communication securely stored inside, Satan dashed determinedly towards the desperate men Employing the skills he had been trained to use, Satan zigzagged his way through a hail of bullets fired by German soldiers, whose single-minded aim was to bring him down before he could complete his mission. Despite his...

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Civil War – From Manassas to Appomattox Court House

Civil War – From Manassas to Appomattox Court House

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The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states. When Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 election as the first Republican President on a platform pledging to keep slavery out of the territories, South Carolina legislature passed the "Ordinance of Secession," which declared that "the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and other states, under the name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved."  Within six weeks, five more Southern states - Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana - had followed South Carolina's lead and formed a new nation, the Confederate States of America. Former Union general, Jefferson Davis, was selected as it's first President. Within a few months, five more slave states seceded and joined the Confederacy.  Predictability, the incoming Lincoln administration, and most of the...

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The Civil War Began and Ended at the Same Guy’s House

The Civil War Began and Ended at the Same Guy’s House

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When a war breaks out on your front lawn, and your chimney explodes from enemy fire, it’s time to find a new place to live. Neighborhoods like those are no place to raise children. That was Wilmer McLean’s opinion in the Civil War, anyway. That’s exactly what he did when the Battle of Bull Run erupted in front of his property.  The Confederate Army and the Union Army in the Civil War The real fighting didn’t break out until three months later when the Confederate Army and the Union Army met in the first real engagement of the Civil War at the First Battle of Bull Run… or the First Manassas, depending on which side you were on. They’re the same battle.  Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard commandeered the house of a local man named Wilmer McLean as a headquarters during the battle. As the general and McLean sat in his dining room during the battle, a Union cannonball hit McLean’s chimney, the shot falling right into the fireplace. Beauregard thought it was comical. McLean didn’t...

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Past Presidents Who Served In The Military

Past Presidents Who Served In The Military

Looking Back at Past Presidents Who Served in the Military With the blood and fire in which the United States was forged, it is unsurprising that, looking back at past Presidents who served in the military, the number is a considerable one. Whether leading the US Army during the War of Independence in the 18th century or serving in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, almost two thirds of all men who have acted as Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces have also previously served in the military in some capacity. How Many Presidents Are Military Veterans ? Of the 45 people to have been Presidents of the United States (Grover Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th President), 31 of them have military experience of some form or another. This military tradition was founded in 1789, when George Washington, former Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, was elected President in 1789. His Vice President and successor John Adams, however, had no such...

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BG William Douglas Dunham, U.S. Air Force (1941-1970)

BG William Douglas Dunham, U.S. Air Force (1941-1970)

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Brigadier General William Douglas Dunham was a highly decorated US Air Force hero. His achievements during World War II and beyond are well-documented. However, his most notable act arguably concerns an act of kindness rather than aggression. William Douglas Dunham Spared His Enemy's Life Back when he was a Major in 1944, Bill "Dinghy" Dunham - approaching his mid-twenties - was at the controls of a Republic P-47D. Flying over the Philippine Sea, he had a clear shot at a Japanese parachutist making a descent. The pilot was a sitting or rather falling duck. Dunham put him in that position in the first place, having shot down his Nakajima Ki-43. Now all he needed to do was deliver the killer blow. Fresh in his mind was the brutality of the Imperial Japanese Forces. They'd been known to attack pilots dangling from their parachutes. Dunham may well have felt anger growing inside him, seeing a natural opportunity to take revenge on his ruthless opposition. An eye for an eye. Then...

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4 Vietnam War Myths Civilians Believe

4 Vietnam War Myths Civilians Believe

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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...

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The History of Bob Hope USO Shows

The History of Bob Hope USO Shows

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Anyone who is even vaguely familiar with the USO knows a little about the history of Bob Hope’ USO shows. Since 1941, the United Service Organizations has provided support to the service members of the United States military. At all stages of a service member’s active duty and even beyond, USO volunteers are ready to provide support.  At enlistmentOn deploymentWith their familiesAway from homeWhen injured in serviceReturning to civilian life The History of Bob Hope USO Shows Bob Hope’s USO shows were a staple for many decades, entertaining generations of military personnel in the United States Armed Forces. Driving Force Behind the USO Tours Though he wore many hats as an entertainer, starting out as a dancer, film actor, and radio comedian, Bob Hope is perhaps best remembered as the driving force behind the USO tours that featured the United States’ greatest entertainers traveling to show their support for the troops and lift the spirits of those fighting on the front lines. This...

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Rise and Fall of the SR-71 Blackbird

Rise and Fall of the SR-71 Blackbird

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During the last few years of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union - both long weary of the other - became unlikely allies against Adolf Hitler's takeover of Eastern Europe. Following the defeat of German in 1945, however, the wartime allies became mortal enemies, locked in a global struggle to prevail militarily, ideologically, and politically in a new "Cold War." To learn of the other side's military and technical capabilities, their actions and intentions, both sides used spies to gather information and intelligence about their enemy. Alarmed over rapid developments in military technology by his Communist rivals, President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a plan to gather information about Soviet capabilities and intentions using reconnaissance aircraft.  Thus became the birth of the U-2 spy planes. Beginning in 1956, U-2 spy planes were making reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union, giving the U.S. its first detailed look at Soviet military facilities....

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Bread and Water Punishment

Bread and Water Punishment

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Many civilians will have trouble understanding some facets of military life. The one thing they may never understand is the plethora of ways military personnel can face punishment. Every veteran has a story about either witnessing a bizarre punishment forced upon a troop (or themselves) that seems so outlandish; it's hard to believe - to those who didn't serve, that is.  Troops have been ordered to sweep sunshine off the sidewalks, vacuum the flight line, and pretend to be a ghost; or my personal experience: an Airman trainee was ordered to speak to everyone using sock puppets because he didn't put his dirty socks into a mesh bag.  Not really cruel, but definitely unusual punishment.  Those are just some of the random, uncodified punishment trainees, recruits, and junior enlisted troops have received over the years. There's no book that lists these creative ways to teach junior Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen to penalty for not following the...

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