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This Day in History: USS Indianapolis is sunk by Japanese torpedoes
On this day in 1945, USS Indianapolis travels from Guam toward the Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. Unfortunately, Indianapolis would...
tara
Jul 29, 20223 min read
This Day in History: Operation Vengeance
On this day in 2001, a World War II pilot passes away. Colonel Rex Barber is best known for his participation in Operation Vengeance, a...
tara
Jul 26, 20223 min read
This Day in History: The Allies demand unconditional surrender from Japan
On this day in 1945, the United States, Great Britain, and China issue the Potsdam Declaration . The statement put the Japanese...
tara
Jul 26, 20222 min read
This Day in History: Donald D. Pucket and a raid on Ploesti
On this day in 1944, a United States Army Air Forces pilot puts his life on the line. First Lieutenant Donald Pucket must have known that...
tara
Jul 9, 20222 min read
This Day in History: Japanese attack on Panama
At about this time in 1945, Japan cancels a plan to attack the Panama Canal. The Japanese had new submarines—unlike anything the world...
tara
Jun 24, 20223 min read
This Day in History: Yank, the Army Weekly
At about this time in 1942, the first edition of Yank, the Army Weekly, is published. It would bear a cover date of June 17, 1942. Today,...
tara
Jun 17, 20223 min read
This Day in History: George Watson's Medal of Honor
On this day in 1943, a soldier is awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The award made U.S. Army Private George Watson the first black...
tara
Jun 13, 20223 min read
This Day in History: The Tuskegee Airmen's first aerial combat
On this day in 1943, the Tuskegee Airmen of the 99th Fighter Squadron engage in aerial combat for the first time. “The Tuskegee Airmen...
tara
Jun 9, 20224 min read
This Day in History: Ernest H. Dervishian
On this day in 1944, a hero engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. Some might have thought Ernest H. Dervishian an...
tara
May 23, 20223 min read
This Day in History: Winston Churchill & FDR plan for D-Day
On this day in 1943, FDR and Winston Churchill discuss the D-Day landings. That massive Allied invasion was still more than a year in the...
tara
May 19, 20223 min read
This Day in History: Thomas McCall's bravery in Italy
On this day in 1916, a hero is born. Thomas McCall would receive a Medal of Honor for his courage during World War II, yet he surely...
tara
May 9, 20223 min read
This Day in History: Lt. Col. Phillip Rasmussen, hero of Pearl Harbor
On this day in 2005, Lt. Col. Phillip Rasmussen passes away. He is best known for his actions on December 7, 1941, during the Japanese...
tara
Apr 30, 20223 min read
This Day in History: Operation Cowboy
On this day in 1945, a coalition of American and German soldiers work to save the famous white Lipizzaner horses from an advancing...
tara
Apr 30, 20223 min read
This Day in History: Grace "Tugboat Annie" Lally
On this day in 1897, a heroine is born. Grace “Tugboat Annie” Lally would serve as a nurse in both World Wars, but she is perhaps best known for her service during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Lally was then the Chief Nurse aboard USS Solace , the only hospital ship in port on that terrible day. Solace was a state-of-the-art ship that was said to sit “like a swan in a covey of dull gray ducks” during her time at Pearl Harbor. Her nurses “extoll[ed] the luck which h
tara
Apr 26, 20223 min read
This Day in History: Baseball's WWII sacrifice
On this day in 1944, a United States Army Air Forces pilot participates in a mission over the skies of France—but Elmer Gedeon wasn’t...
tara
Apr 20, 20223 min read
This Day in History: Lt. James Swett's Medal of Honor
On this day in 1943, a United States Marine Corps fighter pilot participates in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. The...
tara
Apr 7, 20223 min read
This Day in History: The first Navy flight nurse
On this day in 1945, a flight nurse lands at Okinawa. Jane Louise “Candy” Kendeigh had already made history just one month earlier when...
tara
Apr 7, 20223 min read
This Day in History: Operation Varsity
On this day in 1945, Allied forces determine that “organized resistance has now ceased” in western Germany. Just one day earlier, Allied...
tara
Mar 25, 20223 min read
This Day in History: A long-stranded B-17 crew is finally rescued (Part 3)
On this day in 1943, the last surviving members of a B-17 crew prepare to leave the Greenland Ice Cap. They’d been stranded on an icy...
tara
Mar 20, 20223 min read
This Day in History: A long-stranded B-17 crew, rescued (Part 2)
On this day in 1943, three members of a stranded B-17 crew finally leave their crumpled plane. It had been their home on the Greenland...
tara
Mar 19, 20223 min read
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