This Day in Military History

For one day, one column, let’s put away the noise. Forget the president, Congress, the border wall, the whole thing. For a moment in your mind’s eye perhaps you can …

1945: As Task Force 58’s carrier-based planes fly close air support for the Marines fighting on Iwo Jima, Japanese kamikaze pilots target the American flattops. One plane hits the escort …

Today’s post is in honor of Sgt. Justin A. Harris, who was killed on this date in 1995 when his UH-1N helicopter crashed off the coast of Mogadishu. Harris, 23, …

1778: The Continental sloop-of-war Ranger (the first of 10 so-named American warships) under the command of Capt. John Paul Jones fires a 13-gun salute to French Adm. Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de …

Today’s post is in honor of Cpl. Nathan B. Carse, who was killed by an improvised explosive device on this day in 2011 in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. The 32-year-old native …

Today’s post is in honor of Spc. Allen D. Kokesh Jr. who was died on this day in 2006 from wounds sustained by an improvised explosive device attack on his …

Today’s post is in honor of Capt. Lucius L. Heiskell, who was lost in a helicopter crash on this day in 1967 in North Vietnam. The 27-year-old Naval Academy graduate …

1914: Austrian doctors examine a young Adolf Hitler, determining him unfit for service in the Austro-Hungarian military. Hitler will volunteer for the German army when war breaks out in August, …

Today’s post is in honor of Sgt. Daniel Torres, who was killed by an improvised explosive device on this day in 2005 in Bayji, Iraq. The 23-year-old native of Fort …

Today’s post is in honor of Staff Sgt. Roger C. Turner Jr., who was killed during an enemy mortar attack on this day in 2004 at Camp Anaconda, Iraq. The …