Modern | War History

WWI’s Harlem Hellfighters To Receive Congressional Gold Medal

In this National Guard historic painting by H. Charles McBarron, Soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment, the Harlem Hellfighters, go into action near Sechault, France, on September 29, 1918 during the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

On Monday, Congress signed the Harlem Hellfighters Congressional Gold Medal Act, which will see the WWI infantry unit awarded with the nation’s highest civilian honor.…

Operation Olive: The Allied Attempt to Break Through the Gothic Line

Members of the 1st Canadian Armoured Division driving a Churchill tank down a dirt road

The final years of World War II saw Germany fighting a defensive battle against the Allies. The country’s forces had been pushed out of North…

M50 Ontos – The “Thing” that was Hated by the Army and Loved by the Marines

The M50 Ontos Thing - Popular in Vietnam

In the early 1950s, the US was on the hunt for a lightweight air-transportable tank destroyer. Similar attempts were made during WWII, but limitations in…

In The Angolan Civil War, Angola Had An Unlikely Ally In Cuba

Mural of Castro and Angola's Agostinho Neto in Angola, 1987.

When Angola was plunged into a set of civil wars that lasted decades, the last country one might expect to join in might be Cuba.…

99-Year-Old Pearl Harbor Survivor Passes Away From COVID-19

One of Pearl Harbor’s most dedicated veterans has passed away at the age of 99 after a battle with the COVID-19 virus. Stu Hedley dedicated…

How The Bandung Conference Of 1955 Was The Beginning Of The End For Indonesia’s President

Asian–African Conference at Bandung April 1955

The Bandung Conference of 1955 was a meeting of Asian and African nations, many of which were newly emerging from colonial rule. It was an…

Thief Steals Dead Veteran’s Purple Heart and Trades it for a Mountain Dew

A dead veteran’s Purple Heart medal was stolen from a family’s home in North Carolina, only to be traded for a bottle of Mountain Dew.…

Kildin Island Incident: When a Russian Submarine Surfaced Right Under an American Spy Sub

Although the Cold War ‘ended’ with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the tensions built up over the previous 45 years did not…

Taking K-129: Howard Hughes, the CIA, and the Most Expensive Secret Plot of the Cold War

K-129

The Cold War was infamous as a time of bizarre weapons, vehicles, and projects. Because the US and the Soviet Union were not fighting a…

The “Great Impostor” — Fred Demara Pretended To Be A Ship’s Surgeon And Didn’t Lose A Soul

Ferdinand Waldo Demara (left) referred to in the past as the "Great Imposter" is shown with Deputy D.A. Manley Bowler May 8 after he surrendered himself upon learning he had been charged with grand theft auto.

Ferdinand “Fred” Waldo Demara Jr. was a monk, a surgeon, and a lawyer. Well, kind of. He was a very skilled American impostor who was…

U.S. Marine Commander Present At Iwo Jima Dies At 102

The family of Colonel Dave Severance has announced the death of the Marine veteran at the age of 102. His death on August 2nd at…

Sentence Handed Down After Panther Tank Removed From Pensioner’s Basement

Front view of the Panther tank

A German court has handed down its sentence in the case of an 84-year-old pensioner who was found to have a host of military memorabilia…