Andree de Jongh was 23 years-old when Belgium was conquered by the Germans. She was a nurse at the time. Since her personal hero was Edith Cavell, a nurse who helped Allied soldiers escape from the German occupation in WWI, she decided to join the resistance. She and her Read more…
The Holocaust resulted in the deaths of at least 6 million Jews over a period of 6 years. But the worst single event in WWII has to be the “Rape of Nanking (Nanjing)”. After the Japanese army captured Shanghai, it moved on to Nanking. The Chinese army barely put Read more…
Gouverneur Morris was one of America’s Founding Fathers. He was called the “Penman of the Constitution” because he wrote the Preamble. It was he that led off the document with “We the People…” He was a great man who suffered bodily throughout his life. As a boy, half of Read more…
The US began Operation Rolling Thunder in 1966. This was the bombing of North Vietnam, mainly by F-105 fighter bombers. The Thunderchief (Thud) was a durable plane which came in handy because it was targeted by anti-aircraft guns, SAM missiles, and MiG-21’s. The North Vietnamese had most of the Read more…
Carrie was born in 1846. Her family had a history of mental illness. Her mother was delusional and she spent her last few years in a mental asylum. Carrie’s first marriage was to an alcoholic who her family tried to warn her about, but she was in love with Read more…
The winter of 1914 came after unimagined bloodshed on the Western front. In spite of that, there was still some humanity left. In places, fraternization was common. Fraternization was when opposing soldiers would agree not to kill each other for periods of time so they could have brief periods Read more…
Did you know there was a unit of American soldiers who fought against the US in one of its wars? That unit was the Saint Patrick’s Battalion in the Mexican War. In 1846, the US declared war on Mexico after a border dispute in Texas. Pres. James K. Polk Read more…
The movie “Patton” made Patton’s prayer famous, but it was not entirely accurate. In December, 1944 Gen. George Patton’s Third Army was in Belgium participating in the Saar Campaign. Patton had become famous for his hard-charging style, but the rain, fog, and floods had stalled his offensive. He was Read more…
Around the year 546 B.C., a Spartan army invaded the territory of the Argives. The Spartans captured the important border city of Thyrea, so Argos sent an army to evict the Spartans. The two armies were evenly matched, so the generals decided to avoid horrible losses, each side would Read more…
Poison gas was first used in WWI at the Second Battle of Ypres. The Germans initiated this step forward in making war even more inhumane. On the Eastern Front, the German army faced the Russians. One of the most strategic locations was the Osowiec Fortress in Poland. The Germans Read more…