Pegasus Bridge
The French phrase coup de main literally means “a strike of the hand.” In military jargon, it means “an offensive …
Military History
Hobart and His Funnies: Gen. Omar Bradley and the D-Day Controversy
In March 1943 Britain’s leading armor warfare expert, Maj. Gen. Sir Percy C. S. Hobart, finally got his due. He …
Memorial Day Poem: Decoration Day
This Memorial Day, another poem for those who lost their lives while in service to the nation. Decoration Day, by …
Vice Adm. Chuichi Nagumo’s Indian Ocean Raid
In the spring of 1942, the Japanese naval juggernaut appeared unstoppable. The U.S. Navy was on the strategic defensive …
The Paddle Wheel Carriers Wolverine and Sable
In the wake of Pearl Harbor, with six fleet carriers in combat, and thirteen additional fleet carriers and scores of …
The U.S. Navy’s Douglas A2D Skyshark Turboprop Heavy Attack Aircraft
In the 1950s, some in naval aviation believed that pure jet aircraft weren’t ready to operate from ships at sea. …
Admiral Wags
The USS Lexington (CV 2) was the U.S. Navy’s second aircraft carrier, although commissioned almost a month later than her …
The Republic XR-12 Rainbow Reconnaissance Aircraft
In a long career testing everything from the P-47 Thunderbolt to the F-105 Thunderchief, celebrated test pilot Lin Hendrix …
The Martin P6M SeaMaster – What Might Have Been
In the 1950s, the U. S. Navy saw itself being left out of all-important strategic bombing duties while the Air …
Bird’s-Eye View: The Development of Aerial Reconnaissance
Less than a dozen years after the first manned balloon flights, the first aerial observation of a battlefield contributed to …