Valor | War History

A Comrade’s Betrayal Led to Richard Fitzgibbon Jr.’s Death In Vietnam

US soldiers running out of a Bell UH-1D Iroquois "Huey"

The official start of the Vietnam War varies. Some view 1887 as the start, when France colonized Vietnam and renamed it French Indochina, or 1946,…

Why Did Harry Truman Block An Attempt to Award Him the Medal of Honor?

Harry Truman standing with John McKinney, Daniel Lee, Donald Gary and Joseph O'Callahan

The Medal of Honor is the United States’ highest and most prestigious military honor, and it’s typically awarded to recipients by the sitting president. When…

Comparing Historic Battlefields, Then and Now

French troops standing together in a trench

Battles typically have a lasting physical impact on the places where they occur, leaving behind scars that hint at what happened. The following in a…

Operation Nordwind: The Last Large-Scale German Offensive On the Western Front

Soldier pointing at a destroyed Jagdtiger

Operation Nordwind was the last large-scale German offensive on the Western Front of the Second World War. Despite this, it continues to live in the…

Little-Known Facts Even the Biggest Movie Fan Doesn’t Know About ‘Rambo’

Sylvester Stallone as John J. Rambo in 'Rambo: First Blood Part II'

The movies in the Rambo franchise are some of the most beloved action flicks of all time. However, there’s more to them than just mindless…

Fascinating Facts About ‘Platoon’ – Oliver Stone’s Best Movie

William Dafoe, Charlie Sheen and Tom Berenger standing together in costume

The 1986 Oliver Stone film, Platoon, has – along with Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Apocalypse Now (1979) – become the ultimate representation of Vietnam…

The Sausage War Between Finland and the USSR Was Among the Weirdest Battles of WWII

Finnish soldiers reading a newspaper

On November 30, 1939, hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers and thousands of tanks and aircraft flooded across the Finnish border, signalling the start of…

Ämari Pilots’ Cemetery: An Abandoned Graveyard That Uses Aircraft Parts As Gravestones

Aircraft tails sticking out of the forest ground at Ämari Pilots' Cemetery

Ämari Pilots’ Cemetery, the final resting place of Soviet-Estonian fighter pilots killed in air accidents, is a strange sight to behold. The spooky part of…

Operation Mongoose: The US Government’s Ridiculous Plot to Overthrow Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro speaking at a podium + John F. Kennedy sitting at his desk

Fidel Castro was one of the most famous figures of the Cold War. He was especially famous in the United States, as officials with the…

Avro Arrow: The Groundbreaking Jet Interceptor Canada Will Never Forget

Illustration of two Avro Arrows in flight

The Avro Arrow is the subject of a frustrating and tragic story about a world-class aircraft that was simply too ambitious for the nation that…

The Jewish Commando Who Rode a Bicycle Through Normandy to Defeat the Germans

Canadian Troops with the 3rd Division disembarking from a ship with bicycles

When you think of the D-Day landings, you likely don’t envision bicycle-riding commandos taking the lead and scouting the area ahead of the other units…

Starlet-Turned-Spy: The Double-Life of Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker in costume

Josephine Baker broke color barriers, is a feminist icon, advocated for Civil Rights and became the most famous woman in France throughout the 1920s and…