Luke Ryan

Christmas Day, 1914: German and British troops are out of their trenches, playing soccer, bartering goods and singing songs. For a brief moment, the fighting has ceased. The previous night, soldiers on both sides had begun singing Christmas songs in their respective languages — but under a unified melody. Music was often a commonality between […]

North Korea has once again reverted to the age-old propaganda tactic: pamphlet drops. According to news outlets throughout South Korea, more than 2 million leaflets have been found. Leaflet drops coming from the North haven’t been as common, and the subject matter has historically gone from general images of war, destruction and threatening mayhem, to […]

This year, records have shown that Mexico has suffered more murders than ever. From numbers in November, 2017 averaged 69 murders per day, totaling to 20,878 from January to November. To put it in perspective: in 2011 the United States had around 40 murders a day on average; Mexico averaged around 63. The U.S. had […]

Bruce McCandless, former Navy Pilot and astronaut, died on Thursday, the 21st. McCandless was known primarily for being the first man to make an untethered space walk, otherwise known as “untethered free flight,” where they disconnect entirely from their spacecraft and head on out into the abyss. The image featured above is the famous picture […]

There are millions of old wives tales explaining how soldiers, Marines, airmen or sailors keep themselves awake. The military is the one place where you can count on sleep deprivation of all sorts, from the heavy eyelids of a 24 hour CQ or Staff Duty shift, to the directly imposed deprivation of SERE school. The […]

On October 23rd, 1995, United States congress passed what’s called the “Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995.” This law essentially made it so the embassy in Tel Aviv would be moved to Jerusalem — which would by definition admit that the U.S. recognizes the city as the capital of Israel. This law was passed under the […]

Recently, President Donald Trump has made known his plans to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This is a controversial move, as Jerusalem has been widely regarded as a sort of international city that Israel cannot claim for itself. Starting in 1967 during the “Six Day War,” Israel has taken […]

Human beings are plagued with a desire to be put on one side of a thing. It could be war or an ideology — the Union or the Confederacy, the Sunnis or the Shiites — or it could be something more peaceful and healthy — the Eagles or the Giants, the Americans or the Russians […]

The Army has been pushing for several new upgrades to the IAV (Interim Armored Vehicle) Stryker, the eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier designed for infantry as well as other various, combat-essential personnel. The vehicle is named after two medal of honor recipients, whose last names were both Stryker. Check out the Army Times‘ video here: While […]

Approximately 220 South Korean Marines and 220 U.S. Marines pushed through the snow and bitterly cold air together in early December during a joint training exercise. The three weeks of training in sub-zero temperatures happen every year, this time at next year’s location for the Olympic Winter Games. The Marines pushed their bodies and honed […]

The last several weeks have felt like non-stop driving to me. I drove from Florida to Arkansas, then from Arkansas to Kansas, then back from Kansas all the way to Florida. A couple of weeks later I was making the 18 hour drive from Tampa to upstate New York, and now I’m on my way […]

On December 19, 1972, a command module came careening back into Earth’s atmosphere, deployed its parachutes and landed in the Pacific Ocean at 2:25 p.m. The USS Ticonderoga, an Essex class aircraft carrier that has since been decommissioned and scrapped, was located only four miles away and they picked up the three astronauts, safely bringing […]