Historical
Valor Friday

It’s the end of September, 1918. At about the same time that the German high command is trying to tell the Kaiser that they will lose to war and it’s best to capitulate now, an American all-black infantry regiment is attempting to take Hill 188. Hill 188 is a tall, well defended German post overlooking […]
Valor Friday

You never really know where your military service will take you. That’s especially true in wartime. John Galvin (pictured) was a Naval Aviator during World War II. Serving in the Pacific Theater, he ultimately shot down seven enemy fighters (and thus a fighter Ace) and earned four Distinguished Flying Crosses (among other awards). In the […]
Valor Friday

I’m currently reading Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart’s memoirs Happy Odyssey, so I figure it’s as good a time as any to refresh everyone on the story of this amazing chap. I also learned a new bit of old British slang. While at an all-boys school, he complained about “fagging“, which is not what you might […]
Valor Friday

Staff Sergeant Michael Ollis of Staten Island, NY was on his last day in Afghanistan. It was his third combat deployment, and he was only 24 years old. He’d enlisted seven years prior in the Army infantry, getting his parents’ permission to enlist at 17. Soon after he saw Iraq and then Afghanistan, with this […]
Valor Friday

It’s the spring of 1862. The United States has been cleaved in two, with the southern states secceeding from the Union a year previously. With Lincoln in the White House, the Union is waging a war to reunite the country. The Civil War was in its infancy, but already the war had claimed more American […]
Valor Friday

I don’t have the time this week to devote to a proper Valor Friday column, so I thought we could have a little fun with some celebrities and their military records (some that might surprise you). We all know that Mr. Rogers was a body stacking Navy SEAL in Vietnam, but he wasn’t. He was […]
Valor Friday

The US Army’s 27th Infantry Regiment are known as the “Wolfhounds.” Though there were 27th Infantry Regiments raised during both the War of 1812 and the Civil War, the current incarnation of the 27th Infantry dates to 1901. They saw combat in the Philippine Insurrection, before being part of the American Expeditionary Force sent to […]
Valor Friday

We talked about Philip Conran briefly several years back. At the time, I wrote a piece on him for Valor Friday, but it appears that it was never shared with the blog. Here it is, five years later. A congressman from California, Rep. Salud Carbajal (D), has introduced legislation authorizing the president to upgrade Air […]
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