Member Article: Mush Morton and the crew of the Wahoo, War Criminals?
by David Johnston
On 26 January 1943 the submarine USS Wahoo (SS-238), under the command of the indomitable Lt. Commander
Dudley W. “Mush” Morton, engaged in a running gun and torpedo battle with a Japanese convoy consisting of four
ships off the northern coast of New Guinea. It would later prove to be a seminal moment in the history of the
famous Morton and his Wahoo, forever cementing their combined reputation as ace ship hunters. At a
time when the war news was almost universally bad, and when the submarine force was struggling to hit its
stride against the Japanese, Morton and the fighting Wahoo provided a much needed shot in the arm and
morale boost to our Navy and country. Unfortunately, it also would prove to be one of the most controversial
acts committed by one of our submarines during the war, and would later result in whispered back room (and
sometimes open) charges of racism, murder, and official cover-up.
Member Article: The Gulf War: The Bush Administration and Pentagon’s Mobilization of the Press to Achieve Favorable American Public Opinion
by Bryan Hayes
Since World War II wars have been defined by a definitive image. The raising of the American flag by U.S.
Marines on Iwo Jima or children running from an American assault in Vietnam has left memorable images in
the minds of Americans for seven decades. In the Gulf War of 1991 the image of Iraqi soldiers falling
to their knees to kiss the hands of their U.S. Marine captors was the defining image of that war. The photo
signified the finest qualities of American character; control, restraint, and a confidence in the rightness
of the American cause. For the men and women who served the cause, it was a celebrated rebuttal to those who
predicted tragedy for the Americans and the coalition forces at the hand of the world’s fourth largest Army.
Member Article: Special Order 191: Ruse of War?
by Joseph Ryan
On September 5, 1862, General Lee crossed his army over the Potomac into Western Maryland. It had taken
him four months to drive Lincoln's armies out of Virginia and the effort had left his soldiers staggering.
He desperately needed to get them into the Shenandoah Valley, the only place within a radius of sixty miles
from his position, after the fierce battle at Manassas, where they could find subsistence, rest, and
reorganize. But, in turning his army back from the environs of Washington, it was impossible for him to
lead it directly across the Blue Ridge into the Valley. Lincoln's armies would quickly consolidate under
McClellan's command again and move immediately toward Richmond, and he would have to hurry his soldiers
across the wasteland of Northern Virginia to intercept them. Only one strategy would keep the enemy away
from Richmond while he marched his army to the Valley and that was to move there indirectly, through Maryland.
Member Article: The Mexican Revolution and US Intervention 1910-1917
by Timothy Neeno
The young lieutenant and his squad of men advanced through the arid Chihuahuan scrub toward the adobe walled
ranch house. All was quiet. There was a chance that a top Villista commander was inside. The lieutenant and
two men moved up along the north end of the building. Six others took the south side. As the lieutenant
came around the corner to the east side, three men on horses dashed around out of the gate, coming
straight at him. The horsemen wheeled, only to find the rest of the Americans coming around the southeast
corner of the house. Turning again, they charged toward the lieutenant. A crack shot with a pistol, he fired,
shooting a horse in the belly and wounding its rider in the arm. The lieutenant ducked back around the corner
to reload his pistol, emerging again just as a second rider swept down on him. The lieutenant fired again,
shooting the horse in the hip. The rider fell, and then rose up, aiming a pistol. He was just ten yards
away, when the cavalry men with the lieutenant brought him down. A third rider was galloping away, only
to be picked off by the American riflemen.
Member Article: Polish Cavalry: A Military Myth Dispelled
by Alexander Zakrzewski
At 2:00 P.M. on September 1st, 1939, Colonel Kazimierz Mastelarz, commander of the 18th Regiment of the
Pomorska Cavalry Brigade, spotted a badly exposed battalion of German infantry in the woods near the
Polish village of Krojanty. He hurriedly assembled his troopers for a sabre charge and fell upon on
the unsuspecting enemy, easily overrunning them. For the Colonel, the short but brief action must
have seemed a fortuitous start to the war for he and his men. Their first encounter with Hitler’s
vaunted Wehrmacht had proven a tactical success at negligible cost. However, his victory would prove
short lived. Before the Poles could reorganize, a column of German tanks and motorized troops appeared
from around a bend and unleashed a devastating hail of fire.
Excerpt from World's Bloodiest History: Massacre, Genocide, and the Scars They Left on Civilization by Joseph Cummins
The Belgian farmer, whose name was Henri Lejoly, was surprised at the nonchalance of the U.S. troops. Standing in the barren field outside of the town of Malmedy on that cold early afternoon in the winter of 1944, they smoked and joked with each other. Some of them had placed their hands on their helmets in a casual token of surrender to the Waffen-SS troops of
Kampfgruppe Peiper—the mechanized task force commanded by the brilliant young German Colonel Jochen Peiper—as it passed by, but beyond that they seemed remarkably unconcerned.
The offhand behavior of the roughly 115 U.S. prisoners may have been because the men came from Battery B of the 285th Field Observation Battery. This was an outfit whose job was to spot enemy artillery emplacements and transmit their location to other U.S. units. It had seen relatively little frontline duty and was filled with numerous green replacements.
Member Article: The Predominance of Confucian Martial Culture over Western Influence in the Far East
by Holly Senatore
Consider a society where equality among men is a foreign concept. Consider a state where democracy is firstly established through removing a military threat through war and reestablishing a viable working government. Lastly, consider a situation where asking the post- war populace to embrace democracy is also asking them to rid themselves of their own centuries long cultural values. This article does not address the invasion of Iraq in 2003, an event in which the military goals were readily accomplished yet the cultural goals of instilling democracy among a hostile people are yet to be seen. Instead, this article examines a similar instance that unfolded during the mid twentieth century when Japan surrendered to United States military forces on September 2nd, 1945. This date marked the end of World War II but established the beginning of a new chapter in Anglo-Japanese relations whereby democracy was grafted upon a stratified and hierarchal civilization ruled by the military class since the Yorimoto Shogunate in the 12th century A.D.
Member Article: Operation Market-Garden: British Ground Opeartions on September 17, 1944
by Thomas Leckwold
Operation Market-Garden was the largest airborne operation ever executed that was coordinated with a simultaneous ground operation. The operation ultimately failed but it was largely not an airborne failure, but a ground force failure that was attributed to a combination of the British operational doctrine and geography. The British operational doctrine was ill suited for the operation that was envisioned because, along with the geography, it emphasized the comparative weakness of the British Army while simultaneously not denying the Wehrmacht many comparative advantages in its defensive efforts. The result was the British Army’s ground forces inability to gain momentum during the first day of the offensive and was a critical factor for the failure of the entire operation.
Member Article: The Savage Interlude:
War and Conquest in Southern Italy - 342 - 327 BC
by Gordon Davis
Before the conclusion of the First Samnite War in 341 BC, the Roman republic and
Samnite confederation found themselves seriously confronted with uprisings and
wars beyond the scope of their immediate struggle for Campania. Indeed, rather
than there being any sort of a real 'end' to the First Samnite War, there was in
reality only a transition to an even more complex phase of anarchy. No people or
state in the region was left at peace, as all were forcefully drawn into a wider
war of even greater significance than its immediate predecessor.
Member Article: A Historical Perspective on Avoiding World War Three
by Carl J. Ciovacco
Historian Ernest May has stated, “while history never repeats itself, it sometimes rhymes.”[1]
This deep understanding of history may hold the key to preventing major war between the great powers
of the US and China. Achieving this peaceful future will be based on our ability to understand how
the future is likely to “rhyme” with the past and then to apply lessons learned to prevent the adverse
set-up factors of war.
Changes in the relative standing of great powers throughout history have led to a proclivity for war.
The theory of power transition states that war results when great powers surpass one another in economic
and military might.[2]
Game Synopsis: W2: Time of Wrath
by Phil Muskett
WWII: Time of Wrath is a game recently published by Matrix Games. It is a turn-based strategic game that covers the European Theater of World War Two. You chose the role as the leader of any country or alliance of several countries that fought in the European Theater. You have a choice of any country from Germany to Iraq. The game is large and takes time to move all the pieces. I recommend you budget plenty of time to play this game. That is the only draw back I could find with this game.
Member Article: On the Shoulders of Giants: Innovation and Courage - The Legacy of World War II Submarine Veterans
by Daniel T. Rean
The numbers tell a story. They do not lie. According to the United States Department of Veterans
Affairs, approximately 900 World War II veterans die every day. But that number is not the whole
story. We cannot simply consider statistical losses when we look at that number. What we are
really losing is a unique brand of warriors who let nothing stand in the way of the march
toward victory, and no group of World War II veterans typified that never-say-die attitude
better than that of America’s submarine service.
Book Review: Chosen Soldier: The Making of a Special Forces Warrior
Review by Bob Seals
Army Special Forces, as during
the 1960’s, captured the imagination of the public, as burly, bearded, heavily armed men,
occasionally on horseback, were seen in the wilds of Afghanistan and Iraq pursuing their enemies.
Many recent books have been written and published detailing the heroic service of the “Green
Berets,” a term not usually favored by the men themselves, but comparatively little has been done
on a little studied but vital aspect of Special Forces, their selection, assessment and training
process before employment on the battlefield. Noted military author, Dick Couch, has recently
penned what must be considered the definitive account of the current grueling process of turning
volunteers into highly capable Special Forces operators with the book Chosen Soldier: The Making
of a Special Forces Warrior. Mr. Couch, interestingly enough, is a distinguished Special Operations veteran himself, being a Naval Academy graduate, former Navy SEAL and intelligence officer who served during the Vietnam War.
5 stars: WWII Time of Wrath
This is perhaps the best WWII Strategic level game I have ever played. Review Coming soon...
"From the front lines in France and Russia to the deserts of North Africa and the airfields and
convoys of Britain, the campaigns of World War II are yours to command in WW2: Time of Wrath!
This turn-based grand strategy title, the highly improved and expanded sequel to WW2: Road to Victory,
puts the player in charge of the political, economic and military decisions of one or more Axis or
Allied nations, including minor nations"
Member Article: Lausdell Crossroads
by Allyn Vannoy and Jay Karamales
During December 17-19, 1944, the Belgian villages of Krinkelt and Rocherath, and the surrounding countryside, provided a setting that would determine whether or not the flank of the U.S. First Army would be rolled up and the German Ardennes breakthrough widened, permitting the Germans to reach their objectives beyond the Meuse.
Member Article: Perceptions of Victory: Differing Views of Success by Nations and Echelons at the Chosin Reservoir
by Mark E. Bennett, Jr.
Victory is a perception. Its contours shift with every conflict, as does its definition, within every warrior culture.
In the fall of 1950, two vastly different cultures met for the first time on the field of battle in North Korea.
The battles that raged around the Chosin Reservoir, between the United States 1st Marine Division and the Peoples'
Volunteer Army of Communist China, were but a small part in the overall contest of the Korean War, but they have become legend in both countries.
Part of the proud history of the United States Marine Corps, the Chosin Reservoir campaign is labeled by many historians as one of the greatest
defeats in United States military history. Due to dissimilar objectives and desired effects, the perceptions of victory differed between states
and echelons of command in the Chosin Reservoir campaign. Examining the Chosin Reservoir campaign from both Chinese and American perspectives
through the lens of the strategic, operational, and tactical commanders shows that for the United States Marine Corps, the great defeat was not
a defeat at all.
Member Article: Asian Art of War
by Morgan Deane
The influential Western theorist Karl Von Clausewitz labeled the qualities necessary for successful leadership as "genius". Asian writers such as Sun Tzu also wrote concerning the attributes of a talented general. This included such factors such as proper moral character, proper mental preparation, the understanding and use of rewards and punishments, and the proper employment of tactics.
Member Article: Baptism of Fire: Kasserine Pass, 1943
by Eric Niderost
In the winter of 1942-43 the Allies had every reason to believe that they were on the verge of total victory in North Africa. It started that November, when Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's
Panzerarmee Afrika was decisively defeated by the British Eighth Army at the Second Battle of El Alamein.
Member Article: Gonzales: Crucible of the Texas Revolution
by Garland R. Lively
Gonzales, Texas is the current county seat of Gonzales County and is located at the confluence of the Guadalupe and San Marcus Rivers. It was surveyed by James Kerr and established as the capital of De Witt's Colony in 1825, being named after Rafael Gonzales, governor of Coahuila and Texas.
Member Article: General Phillip Sheridan's Southern Plains Campaign of 1874 - 1875
by Garland R. Lively
At the conclusion of the American Civil War bands of plains Indians consisting mainly of the Comanche, Kiowa, Kiowa Apache, Arapahoe, and the Southern Cheyenne were raiding at will all across the southern plains.[1] Several expeditions were mounted to subdue the plains Indians and although they severely punished them they were never able to force them to remain on their reservations and cease raiding the settlements.
Member Article: Milvern Harrell: Survivor
of the Dawson Massacre
by Garland R. Lively
Milvern Harrell was born March 24,1824 near Troy in Lincoln County, Missouri, the son of William Harrell and Minerva Woods. He was the grandson of Zadock Woods who was an early Texas Pioneer that came to explore Texas in 1822. Zadock returned to Missouri enthusiastic about the vast and fertile lands of Texas and the prospects of obtaining a league of land (4,228 acres) for himself and each married man plus a smaller amount for unmarried men.
Member Article: Momentum Lost: The Battle for the Arnhem Startline
by Thomas Leckwold
After the capture of Antwerp on September 4, 1944, the Second British Army commander, Lieutenant General Miles
Dempsey, ordered its spearhead, the XXX Corps, to halt because it had outrun its "administrative resources."[1]
The order was in response to the supply issues that were constraining the Western Allies offensive, and though
not recognized at the time, the British Army offensive reached its culmination point and was suffering the
effects of strategic consumption.[2][3]
Member Article: An Imperial Roman Army Field Manual: Frontinus and the Haunting Vestiges of Republicanism
by Daniel Blanchard
Sextus Iulius Frontinus in his fourth book of the Stratagemata outlined, in the classic fable-style, the great role and importance of discipline on armies in warfare and the lasting effects of discipline on soldiers in the crisis of combat. Frontinus knew well of what he wrote. He campaigned aggressively with Domitian in Northern Germany in 70 CE against the Batavian rebel Civilis and served as a pivotal governor of Britain from 76-78 CE. Throughout his service Frontinus acquired a wealth of practical experience in commanding Imperial armies in the field, most notably in Wales against the Silures, which he destroyed and the Ordovices whose lands he garrisoned. It was during the interlude between his governorship and his third consulship in 100 CE that he wrote the
Strategemeta which, most appropriately, appeared during the turbulent, if not militarily disastrous, reign of Domitian.
Member Article: The 15th Illinois Infantry
by Mark Hudziak
On April 20th, 1861 the people of Belvidere, Illinois met at the local courthouse in response to President
Abraham Lincoln's call for the military enlistment of 75,000 men following the surrender of Fort Sumter to
Confederate forces at Charleston, South Carolina. Prominent citizens made fiery speeches, with Stephen A.
Hurlbut, attorney at law and a friend of Lincoln, delivering "one of the most ringing and soul-stirring
speeches that ever electrified an audience" according to one newspaper reporter caught up in the excitement
of the moment.[1] Hurlbut was the first to sign the enlistment roll and by the end of the month a full company
of 115 men had signed on. The men elected Hurlbut Captain of the company.[2]
Member Article: Bushido: The Valor of Deceit
by Holly Senatore
As the historian Yuki Tanaka asserted, "The extreme ill-treatment of POWs by the Japanese in World War II was a historically specific phenomenon that occurred
between the so-called 'China-Incident' and the end of World War II."[3]
According to Tanaka, the cruelty committed by Japanese soldiers during World War II towards Allied POWs was an effect of the subordination and the
corruption of the Code of Bushido to the emperor ideology and the 'new' military ideology.[4]
Member Article: British Lion Polish Eagle
by Ronan Thomas
During 2008, 23-year-old Prince Harry – third in line to the British throne – served a ten week tour of duty in Afghanistan as a British Army troop commander and forward air controller. The story featured prominently in the British and international press for weeks. Television pictures showed the Prince firing a 50-calibre machine gun against Taliban forces and describing his brief service as ‘the best time of my life'. Then, after his cover was blown by the media, Harry was obliged to fly back to Britain. 'I've become a 'bullet magnet', joked the prince.
But Prince Harry's front line service for Britain is hardly novel or unique in military history.
Member Article: Strategic Consumption and British Offensive Operations in Northwest Europe: August - September 1944
by Thomas Leckwold
The Western Allies launched Operation Market-Garden on September 17, 1944 under the overall command of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and his Twenty First Army Group with the intended goal of ending the war in 1944.
The decision to launch Operation Market-Garden, like most military operations, had a causal relationship to the events that had created the current military situation.
Member Article:
Decisions of Disaster: Jutland 1916
by Alan McGahey
On the morning of October 21, in the year 1805, three naval fleets met at Cape Trafalgar off the Spanish coast. Napoleon had ordered his admirals to mass the French and Spanish fleets together against Lord Horatio Nelson and the British Fleet. Admiral Horatio Nelson went to sea at age twelve and fought in many battles throughout his career. Because of one of these battles, he received a wound in his right arm by grapeshot (a clustered projectile used against boarding parties) forcing the doctor to amputate his arm.
Member Article:
End Game in Flanders, 1918
by Ronan Thomas
Ieper, Flanders – 2009 marks the 91st anniversary of the end of the Great War of 1914-18. On 11 November, 1918, the guns finally fell silent
across the entire length of the Western Front
in France and Belgium. After four shattering years of fighting, an armistice - at the eleventh minute of the
eleventh hour of the eleventh month – came into force and finally ended the Great War of 1914-1918. In November
2008 the conflict's 90th anniversary was marked by dozens of moving ceremonies and in sombre contemplation by the combatant nations.
Member Article: Constantinople - The Citadel at the Gate
by Comer Plummer, III
The art of fortification is a clear reflection of our past. It bears witness to our roots as a race of mutually hostile
societies, and impresses upon us the determination of a people to defend themselves.
It has existed ever since man first came to realize the value of natural obstacles to his common defense, and evolved
as he sought to invoke his own methods to fully exploit this advantage. The building of barriers rapidly evolved from
the simple mud parapets and mountain top abodes of the Neolithic Age to the construction of linear and point stone
obstacles of the Bronze Age, best represented by the Hittite capital of Hattusas.
Book Review: When Worlds Collide: Exploring the Ideological and Political Foundations of the Clash of Civilization
Review by Major John Nawoichyk
In his book When Worlds Collide: Exploring the Ideological and Political Foundations of the Clash of Civilization, DR Gene Heck provides an in depth analysis to prove that Islam, in either it's classical or Wahhabist forms, is not the root cause of terrorism. Rather, it is the bastardization of the religion that has set the conditions for the current terrorist issue. In order to do this, Heck breaks his study down into three main areas.
First, he provides a background discussion on Islam and the sources of modern Middle East terror.
Member Article: Bacon's Rebellion: America's First Revolutionary?
by Walt Giersbach
Nathaniel Bacon was caught in a dilemma on a hot July day in 1676. The settlers' avowed enemy, the Susquehannocks and their allies, were in front of him in the upper counties of Virginia while Governor William Berkeley's English army and militia were getting ready to attack Bacon from the rear. Hundreds of landowners, indentured servants, slaves and other volunteers making up Bacon's army waited for orders.
Member Article: The First Samnite War 343-341 BC
by Gordon Davis
The First Samnite War is an event of great importance to the history of Italy and of Rome. Although of short duration it was the significant opening act in a wider conflict which eventually drew in all of the contemporary powers of Italy and within seventy years decided who was to be the mistress of the peninsula.
Book Review: A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn
Review by Steven Christopher Ippolito
On 13 January 1879, a United States Army Court of Inquiry convened under a three-judge
panel in Room 14, the Palmer House, in Chicago, Illinois. Purpose: To determine the
truth of Major Marcus Reno's behavior under fire on 25 June 1876, at the Little Big Horn River.
Member Article: Phoenix Raven – A Brief History
by Anthony J. Sobieski
It is a cool summer afternoon at an airport somewhere in South America. In the distance, an onlooker can see a speck on the horizon. Approaching the airport it is apparent that it is a large four-engine military aircraft. Gray against the sky, it touches down softly. Slowing easily, the jet rolls just short of the end of the runway and departs to the opposite side of the field away from the terminal. Onlookers could see big black numbers on the side of the jet and on its T-shaped tail they could make out “Charleston” stenciled in black across a field of yellow.
Member Article: USS Charger CVE-30
by Bryan J. Dickerson
She never engaged in any battles. Her aircraft never sank or even damaged any enemy ships. Except for two brief forays, she never ventured far from the confines of the Chesapeake Bay. Yet, the escort carrier
USS Charger (CVE-30) contributed significantly to the defeat of the Axis Powers. US Navy and British Royal Navy pilots that trained upon her flight deck went on to defeat the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Pacific and wrest control of the Atlantic Ocean from the German U-Boats.
Member Article: The English Way of War in the Conquest of the British Isles: 1066 – 1745
by Chris Dewart
Establishing English rule over the islands of Britain was a long and complex process whose origin can be traced to the Battle of Degsastan in 603, and culminated in the Act of Union of 1707. The Act of Union was last challenged in battle, during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, by a Scottish army under the banner of Charles Stuart. The issue of unification was settled for final with the crushing defeat of the Scottish Jacobites at Culloden Moor in the spring of 1746.
Book Review: History of the 4th Wisconsin Infantry and Cavalry in the Civil War
Review by Mark Hudziak
In the decades following the Civil War, veterans from both sides of the conflict compiled letters, personal reminiscences
from themselves and their fellow soldiers, and other information about their wartime experiences.
In an effort to establish their place in history, these soldiers used this information to write book length histories of the
regiments they served in. Though the quality of these regimental histories varied, the better ones served
as excellent primary sources as well as interesting stories in themselves as the participants described life in the army from enlistment to muster out.
Member Article: An Analysis of the Roman Army's Punitive
Expeditions into Dacia, 86-88 CE
by D.R. Blanchard
The Roman Army's punitive campaigns into Dacia in 86 CE and 88 CE were part of a frightful and grueling tutorial which bore few victories at the expenditure of tens of thousands of casualties while bringing instability to the entire northern frontier and the near collapse of the Moesian frontier. Both campaigns were the culmination of a grim and lengthy learning process that had begun in the late winter of 67/68 CE when the Rhoxolani crossed the Danube and annihilated two cohorts of
auxilia.
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