Official blog
TWS Website
TWS Website
U

MENU

Military Campaign Stories

Civil War – The Battle of Nashville

Civil War – The Battle of Nashville

,

On Dec. 15, 1864, Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood had the unfortunate job of going up against the Union's only undefeated general officer, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas. Thomas, nicknamed "The Rock of Chickamauga" for preventing a disaster for the Union in 1863, would keep that record throughout the Civil War. After the two-day Battle of Nashville, his nickname would become "The Sledge of Nashville," after he effectively destroyed the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Sherman's Famous March to the Sea Aft Hood failed to prevent Gen. William T. Sherman's forces from destroying Atlanta; he sought to disrupt Sherman's supply lines by moving north to Chattanooga. Sherman instead conducted his now-famous March to the Sea, instead leaving Gen. Thomas to secure Tennessee. Hood would have been better off against Sherman.  In moving north, he chased Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield's army to Nashville, where the Union forces retreated into the fortified city, which had been in Union hands since...

read more
Service Reflections of OS1 Chris Walgenbach, U.S. Navy (2004-Present)

Service Reflections of OS1 Chris Walgenbach, U.S. Navy (2004-Present)

,

Since many in my family were prior military, and specifically, the Navy, I knew that’s what I would do. I would hear my grandfather’s sea stories about WWII in school for Veteran’s Day and listen to my father talk about his time as a Sailor during the Vietnam War. Later I would find out about various uncles (and an aunt or two, no doubt) that had a military career (whether short or long), which further solidified my decision.

read more
Sgt Thomas William Selleck (Tom Selleck), U.S. Army, (1967-1973)

Sgt Thomas William Selleck (Tom Selleck), U.S. Army, (1967-1973)

,

Known for his leading role in ‘Magnum, P.I.’ and as Monica’s love interest in ‘Friends’, Tom Selleck is a household name whose career has spanned over four decades. He’s had numerous on-screen careers, but you know that Tom Selleck is a Vietnam War era veteran? Tom Selleck’s Early Life Thomas William Selleck was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1945, but his family moved to Sherman Oaks, California, in 1948. Raised by hardworking parents, Tom Selleck learned the values of the U.S. military from an early age. Tom Selleck grew up hearing tales of World War II. His father, Robert, was a B29 mechanic in the Army Air Corps. His uncle Lyle went missing in action during the Battle of the Bulge, and his uncle George flew the Hump, the aviation route from India to China. Selleck graduated from Grant High School in 1962 and enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College. Later, Selleck, who stands 6 ft 4 in tall, transferred to the University of Southern California during his junior year to play for the...

read more
WW2 – Battle Of Wake Island (1941)

WW2 – Battle Of Wake Island (1941)

,

The Battle of Wake Island was fought December 8-23, 1941, during the opening days of World War II. A tiny atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, Wake Island was annexed by the United States in 1899. Located between Midway and Guam, the island was not permanently settled until 1935 when Pan American Airways built a town and hotel to service their trans-Pacific China Clipper flights. Consisting of three small islets, Wake, Peale, and Wilkes, Wake Island was to the north of the Japanese-held Marshall Islands and east of Guam. As tensions with Japan rose in the late 1930s, the U.S. Navy began efforts to fortify the island. Work on an airfield and defensive positions began in January 1941. The following month, as part of Executive Order 8682, the Wake Island Naval Defensive Sea Area was created which limited maritime traffic around the island to U.S. military vessels and those approved by the Secretary of the Navy. An accompanying Wake Island Naval Airspace Reservation was also established...

read more
Our Vietnam Wars by William F. Brown

Our Vietnam Wars by William F. Brown

,

Real stories told by real people, in their own words, 100 veterans, men, and women caught up in an all too real war. From the Delta to the DMZ, come walk in their boots. If you were there, you understand. If you weren't, grab a copy.  The Vietnam War dominated my generation and affected so many lives in so many different ways. Some of us were drafted. Some enlisted. Some became war heroes, intentional or not, but most of us were just trying to survive. As we all knew, Vietnam was all about luck, good or bad. And there were hundreds of different wars depending on where you were, the year you were there, your service, branch, unit, rank, job, and race. Whether we were truck drivers, helicopter pilots, infantryman, clerk typists, medics, engineers, MPs, sailors out on Yankee station, artillerymen, or cooks, from 1956 to 1976 from the Delta to the DMZ, these stories tell who we were, the jobs we did, our memories of that time and place, how it changed us, and what we did after we came...

read more
Service Reflections of SSgt Walter Rivera, U.S. Marine Corps (1981-1997)

Service Reflections of SSgt Walter Rivera, U.S. Marine Corps (1981-1997)

,

I come from a military family on both sides-mom & dad. Uncles that served in the Navy [Korea], Army [Vietnam]; 3 cousins in the Navy [Cold War], Army Nat’l Guard [Cold War], Army [GWOT]. My God-Mothers son is a Marine Veteran [Vietnam era], and my dad went to Army boot camp but got seriously injured; he couldn’t finish. In high school, I joined the Marine J.R.O.T.C. Program. For me, it was a natural thing to do. I actually joined USMC at age 9. I believed it was my destiny-to serve in the military of the greatest country on the face of the earth!

By the time I reached the 5th grade and into the 6th grade, I had read World Book Encyclopedia from AZ (with the help of Mr. James Hickey, my 5th-grade teacher), who taught us to do something we’d never done before, and I did!

read more
Joachim Ronneberg (1941–1945) – The Man Who Crippled The Nazi Atomic Bomb Project

Joachim Ronneberg (1941–1945) – The Man Who Crippled The Nazi Atomic Bomb Project

,

The plan was audacious, requiring a midnight parachute jump onto a snow-covered mountain plateau, cross-country skiing in subzero temperatures and an assault on an isolated, heavily guarded power plant in southern Norway. And the stakes, though no one in the five-man commando team knew it at the time, were spectacular: Destroy the Nazis' sole source of heavy water, a recently discovered substance that Hitler's scientists were using to try to develop an atomic bomb or risk the creation of a superweapon that could secure a German victory in World War II. "We didn't think about whether it was dangerous or not," Joachim Ronneberg, the 23-year-old Norwegian resistance fighter charged with leading the mission, later told Britain's Telegraph newspaper. "We didn't think about our retreat. The most important decision you made during the whole war was the day you decided to leave Norway to report for duty. You concentrated on the job and not on the risks." Joachim Ronneberg is One of The Great...

read more
No Ordinary Dog by Will Chesney, Joe Layden

No Ordinary Dog by Will Chesney, Joe Layden

,

No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid is the powerful true story of a SEAL Team Operator and military dog handler, and the dog that saved his life. Two dozen Navy SEALs descended on Osama bin Laden's compound in May 2011. After the mission, only one name was made public: Cairo, a Belgian Malinois and military working dog. This is Cairo's story, and that of his Handler, Will Chesney, a SEAL Team Operator whose life would be irrevocably tied to Cairo's. The Story of a SEAL Team Operator Starting in 2008, when Will was introduced to the SEAL canine program, he and Cairo worked side by side, depending on each other for survival on hundreds of critical operations in the war on terrorism. But their bond transcended their service. Then, in 2011, the call came: Pick up your dog and get back to Virginia. Now. What followed were several weeks of training for a secret mission. It soon became clear that this was no ordinary operation. Cairo was among the first...

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

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

,

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. He 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 semester....

read more
WW2 – D-Day Landings: The 82nd and 101st Airborne

WW2 – D-Day Landings: The 82nd and 101st Airborne

,

The amphibious landings of D-Day were hours away when the first combat missions by the US Army started in France. The Normandy invasion, also called Operation Overlord or D-Day, began with a large-scale parachute drop that included 13,100 Soldiers of the 82nd and the 101st Airborne Divisions. During the night in the early hours of June 6th, 1944, the attack occurred and was the vanguard of the Allied operations in Normandy. What Was the Mission of the US 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions on D-Day? The troops were all part of the United States VII Corps assigned to capture Cherbourg, the coastal city in Normandy, and thus project power across the strategically essential Cotentin Peninsula. With Cherbourg secure, it could serve as a supply port for the Allied troops after the landing. They were also tasked with a specific mission: to block approaches into the vicinity of the amphibious landing at Utah Beach, to capture causeway exits off the beaches, and to establish crossings over the...

read more
Shooting Vietnam by Dan Brookes & Bob Hillerby

Shooting Vietnam by Dan Brookes & Bob Hillerby

,

Having my feet firmly planted in the camps of archive photography and military history, I was bound to be drawn to this absorbing and often extremely personal book: Shooting Vietnam: The War By Its Military Photographers by Dan Brookes and the late Bob Hillerby. They recount their experiences of serving in Vietnam and offer a deep insight into the world of combat and general photography orchestrated by the US Army. This is a difficult book to put down. About Shooting Vietnam Mr. Hillerby tells an eye-watering tale of his life as a combat photographer, often in danger, ever on the alert to get the shot and stay alive. His stories of serving with the Air Cavalry Division are stirring, to say the least. But the thing that underpins all this is his deep knowledge of his subject and the photography itself. He has left one of the most credible accounts of the war I’ve had the honor to read. I’ve loved photography for fifty years, and this book takes the reader right into the heart of it in...

read more
Notable Encounters by Chris Adams

Notable Encounters by Chris Adams

,

For most of us, our time in the military takes us to new places, teaches us new things, and introduces us to people we otherwise would never have met. One retired Air Force officer, Maj. Chris Adams documented the memorable people he encountered throughout his military career and compiled his recollections in his new book, "Notable Encounters." About the Author of Notable Encounters Adams is a retired USAF major general, a Vietnam War pilot, former Chief of Staff at Strategic Air Command, and a former associate director of Los Alamos National Laboratory. His important Cold War-era work took him to places out of reach for most military personnel and introduced him to people from all walks of life - including some on the other side of the Iron Curtain. He is also the recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. He believes that virtually every encounter, greeting, or meeting between two people is initiated with a handshake, a practice that has existed in some form...

read more