When war raged through Europe in the summer of 1914, the American public wanted nothing to do with it. Not our war, they said. President Woodrow Wilson agreed. He pledged neutrality for the United States.
Air Marshal William Avery "Billy" Bishop was a Canadian fighter pilot in WWI who crashed his plane during a practice run and was ordered to go back to flight school. He didn't. Instead, he went on to shoot down 72 enemy aircraft, making him a legend in his own time and earning him a Victoria Cross. William Bishop Faced Setbacks Before the Skies Bishop's military career didn't start off well. He joined the Royal Military College of Canada in 1911, was caught cheating, and had to start his first...
At the time, it was the most devastating military disaster to ever occur on American soil. On August 24, 1814, British troops marched into Washington, the capital of the United States, and set key buildings ablaze. These included the White House, the Capitol, and finished off what was left of the Navy Yard. The Barracks of 1814 Stood Firm Amid Defeat What was miraculously untouched, however, was the Marine Barracks and the Commandant's House. No one really understood why these buildings...
In 1944, Col. Paul Tibbets was summoned to Wendover Army Air Field in Utah for what must have seemed like an impossible mission. He was ordered to create and organize a combat group with the sole purpose of delivering a weapon that didn't even exist yet. Operation Centerboard Trained Crews on Nonexistent Bombs Tibbets' name might sound familiar to World War II history buffs. He would pilot the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay as it dropped the atomic bomb codenamed "Little Boy" over the Japanese...
Army veteran Dr. Victor Eugene Flango usually writes about court reform. He has authored more than 100 publications and articles (and even a web video) on the topic. His 2024 book, “Who Brings an Accordion to Vietnam?: A Lighthearted Look at the War,” is a standout, not only because it’s not about court reform, but it’s also not a combat memoir, because Flango didn’t serve in a combat role.
The 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division (known as "The Cottonbalers" from their use of a cotton bale breastworks during the Battle of New Orleans under Andrew Jackson), has served in more campaigns than any other infantry unit in the United States Army. In World War II, the regiment fought German forces on three fronts, North Africa, Italy, and Northwest Europe, quite probably serving more time in combat than any other regiment in the U.S. Army during the war. The regiment's numerous...
It might come as a surprise to many, but the United States did not offer its troops medals or ribbons as uniform decorations until the Medal of Honor was introduced by President Lincoln during the Civil War. It was only offered to enlisted troops in July 1862, but by December, it was made available to officers who displayed exceptional gallantry. Until that point in U.S. military history, military medals were more of a European tradition. Medals and ribbons were seen as a custom...
Desperate times call for desperate measures. In 1932, the Great Depression was in full swing, and American citizens were increasingly homeless and hungry. Among those destitute masses were tens of thousands of veterans of the trenches of World War I. Their only hope came in the form of a promised "adjusted compensation certificate," a cash bonus for their dedicated service worth the certificate's face value with compound interest. The only problem was that the payment wasn't supposed to...
Most military historians and analysts agree the 1968 Tet Offensive was the turning point in the war in Vietnam. They reason that many Americans, seeing the bitter fighting raging up and down South Vietnam on the evening news, fostered a psychological impact that further generated an increased anti-war sentiment.
The USS Langley (CV-1), as the first carrier vessel in the U.S. Navy, was pivotal in the history of naval aviation warfare. It served as a test bed for developing procedures and technologies still used on aircraft carriers today. It was originally nicknamed “Covered Wagon” by its crew due to its appearance. Following World War I, the growing importance of aviation in naval warfare led to authorization to convert the USS Jupiter (AC-3), a collier (coal tender), into an aircraft carrier on 11 Jul 1919. The conversion was carried out at the Norfolk Navy Yard, involving the addition of a flight deck and aircraft elevators. The large coal holds of the collier proved suitable for conversion into aircraft hangars. The retrofitted ship’s dimensions were 542 ft. length, sixty-six ft. beam, draft of twenty-four ft. with a displacement of more than 15,000 tons; fully loaded, it carried twenty-two to thirty-six aircraft and four .50-cal. deck guns. The carrier could make about 15 knots, and its full complement (including the air arm) was 468. On 11 Apr 1920, the ship was renamed USS Langley (CV-1) in honor of aviation pioneer Samuel Pierpont Langley, an American scientist and inventor, and was recommissioned on March 20, 1922.
On August 6, 2011, a quick reaction force (QRF) aboard a CH-47 Chinook helicopter was dispatched from Forward Operating Base Shank in Afghanistan's Logar Province. They were on their way to support U.S. Army Rangers on a kill-or-capture mission against a senior Taliban official. It was carrying 30 U.S. military members, mostly American special operators. Extortion 17 Was Sent on a High-Risk Mission in Afghanistan But the transport, callsign Extortion 17, was shot down before it could...
I joined the Navy because of my family’s military history. My grandfather was drafted into the National Guard in WWI and was one of the original members of the California National Guard 40th Infantry Division., assigned to the 115th Sanatiation Train. He served in France as a Saddler Private caring for horses and was stationed in France from 1917 to 1919. He was then discharged and returned to Colorado and then to Idaho.
Many articles contained in this Blog were written by Together We Served’s former Chief Editor, Lt Col Michael Christy, and published in TWS’s Dispatches Newsletter.
