military history

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• SOURCE: TomDispatch
  3/22/2020
  

  What Americans Don’t Know About Military Families

  by Andrea Mazzarino

  All evidence indicates that military service tends to erode the fabric of family life and that, in reality, the state of America’s most fundamental union is anything but strong.

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• SOURCE: TomDispatch
  3/19/2020
  

  America’s Commandos Deployed to 141 Countries, And Criminal Misconduct Followed

  by Nick Turse

  With thousands of commandos operating--with little visibility--in scores of countries on any given day, it’s little wonder that discipline has eroded to a point where the command could neither fully gloss over nor cover it up.

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• 3/15/2020
  

  The Cost of Loyalty: A Crisis of Ethics in the Military

  by Timothy Bakken

  Military leadership has inculcated a self-serving culture of loyalty that prevents a long-overdue reckoning with its failures. 

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• 3/6/2020
  

  Kamikazes at the Battle of Okinawa

  by Joseph Wheelan

  On May 6, 1945, a twin-engine kamikaze plane’s bomb exploded beside the destroyer Luce, part of the radar picket ship screen surrounding Okinawa, and ripped her starboard side “like a sardine can.” 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  2/18/20
  

  A farm boy became a fearsome warrior at Iwo Jima. And he did it with a flamethrower.

  The Japanese soldiers came out of their concrete “pill box” with bayonets fixed, determined to get the Marine who had been killing them all afternoon with a flamethrower.

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  2/13/20
  

  Historic Iwo Jima footage shows individual Marines amid the larger battle

  by Greg Wilsbacher

  When most Americans think of the World War II battle for Iwo Jima – if they think of it at all, 75 years later – they think of one image: Marines raising the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi, the island’s highest point.

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• SOURCE: NY Times
  2/13/20
  

  How Dresden Looked After a World War II Firestorm 75 Years Ago

  Mourning all of the war’s victims has been central to Germany’s remembrance efforts since reunification in 1990.

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• 2/16/20
  

  Remembering Soldier's Bravery at Iwo Jima, 75 Years Later

  by Jack H. Lucas

  "I had no way of knowing that in a matter of a few short hours I would make the most important decision of my life and in the lives of three members of my fire team. The choice would be mine: either I could die alone or all of us would die together."

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• 2/16/20
  

  75 Years After the Dresden Bombings

  by Sinclair McKay

  History in Dresen is not an abstract academic pursuit; instead, it is palpable and passionate. It matters enormously. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the horror that made Dresden – deep in eastern Germany - a by-word for annihilation.

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• SOURCE: Tom Dispatch
  2/9/20
  

  World War III’s Newest Battlefield

  by Michael T. Klare

  U.S. Troops Head for the Far North

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• SOURCE: Tom Dispatch
  2/4/20
  

  The Art of the Deal, Pentagon-Style

  by William J. Astore

  The list of recent debacles should be as obvious as it is alarming: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Yemen (and points around and in between).

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  1/30/20
  

  Union gunboats didn’t just attack rebel military sites – they went after civilian property, too

  by Robert Gudmestad

  The evidence for this unconventional war is hidden in the shadows of the archives. Bits and pieces of information are littered throughout the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies, materials in the National Archives, collections of sailors’ letters and diaries, and post-war accounts.

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• 1/26/20
  

  The Film “1917” and the Allegory of the Wooden-Headed

  by James Ottavio Castagnera

  Viewed with one eye on this current context, “1917” can surmount its surface characterization as an exciting “war movie” to become an allegory.

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• SOURCE: Tom Dispatch
  1/23/20
  

  The American Chaos Machine: U.S. Foreign Policy Goes Off the Rails

  by Danny Sjursen

  President Trump’s rash, risky, and repugnant decision to assassinate Iranian Major General Qassem Suleimani on the sovereign soil of Iraq was only the latest version of what has proven to be a pervasive state of affairs.

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• SOURCE: Washigton Post
  1/19/20
  

  A black mess attendant was a Pearl Harbor hero. Now an aircraft carrier will have his name.

  Even without gun training, Doris Miller jumped behind one of the unmanned Brownings, swung it skyward and fired until his belt was empty and crew members were ordered to abandon ship.

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• 1/19/20
  

  Remembering Dennis Showalter, Grandmaster of Military History

  by Paul A. Thomsen

  On the evening of December 30, 2019, Dennis Showalter, a noted scholar of German, American, and military history, fought his last battle and rode off on a pale horse.

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• 1/16/20
  

  Stepping Back From the Brink of War

  by Alon Ben-Meir

  Trump’s order to kill General Soleimani is one of the most reckless acts taken by a president, who once again has put his personal political interest above the nation’s security.

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• SOURCE: History.com
  1/13/20
  

  'Broken Arrow': When the First U.S. Atomic Bomb Went Missing

  Since the demolition crew’s report was top secret, no word emerged about the whereabouts of the missing atomic bomb. Were there clues in the wreckage that the bomb had in fact been released prior to impact?

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  1/11/20
  

  Invaders, allies, occupiers, guests: A brief history of U.S. military involvement in Iraq

  For the past 17 years, the United States has maintained a military presence in Iraq.

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• SOURCE: Tom Dispatch
  1/12/20
  

  How the President Became a Drone Operator

  by Allegra Harpootlian

  From Obama to Trump, the Escalation of Drone Warfare