WWI
We almost lost the Unknown Soldier?
Gonna give a hat-tip to Jeff LPH for this one. Certainly a bit of history they don’t teach very much, if at all. We decided to select an Unknown Soldier to represent the many unidentified war dead from WWI. There were certainly many available – by 1921, there were still 1,237 unidentified. The English had […]
The Christmas Truce
We’ve all heard of it, the Christmas miracle in 1914. On a cold clear Christmas Eve, German and British troops laid down their arms, sang “Silent Night” and “Kumbaya” together (I know, I know… just setting the mood) and peace reigned across the battle fields. Well, sort of. I had planned a somewhat saccharin retelling […]
Valor Friday
Last week I talked a bit about fighter aces. One category of ace that is confined to the First World War is that of balloon ace (aka balloon buster). These are the pilots who took out enemy observation balloons. As with the other categories of ace, a balloon ace shot down at least five enemy […]
Note from the Past
Message in a Bottle: Letter From Troops Heading to First World War Floats Home After 109 Years MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Messages in a bottle written by two Australian soldiers a few days into their voyage to the battlefields of France during World War I have been found more than a century later on Australia´s […]
Valor Friday
In honor of the holiday today, let us take a moment to look at some valor awards earned for actions on America’s Independence Day. Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Charles Capehart earned the Medal of Honor on 4 July 1863 at a little place you might have heard of; Gettysburg. Technically, part of the retreat from […]
A new story about Pershing
We all know who GEN John J. Pershing was – American Expeditionary Force commander, aka “Black Jack” (that’s the cleaned up version) for his command of the famed 10th Cavalry, another General of the Armies from the middle of the country (Laclede, Missouri, just a tad east of Abilene, KS. Must be something in those […]
Thursday tidbits
The White House says President Trump has backed off renaming Veteran’s Day to “Victory Day for World War I” . While technically, at least historically speaking, he was correct – the holiday started out as Armistice Day for the cease-fire ending at the 11th minute of the 11th hour on November 11, 1918 – the […]
Valor Friday
David (not Hardin) sent me the story of Sergeant William Shemin, whose valor wasn’t properly recognized for nearly a century. While he was recommended for the Medal of Honor at the time, he got the DSC instead. When asked about the downgrade, Shemin said, “War is not about medals. I love my country. I love […]
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