Military History

The Special Forces Regiment lost a great link to its past when retired CSM Edgar Britt passed away on December 14. Several of the SF Facebook groups reported that he was in hospice care and was very ill and that he passed on Saturday. He will be missed.  Britt was born in 1931 in Chelsea, […]

In 1866, just about 18 months after the Civil War, the U.S. military suffered its worst defeat in the West until 10 years later when LTC George Custer and the men of the 7th Cavalry would be wiped out at the Little Big Horn. The defeat took place in Wyoming along the Bozeman Trail. Here, […]

Adolf Eichmann was one of the key architects of the Nazis’ “Final Solution” of the Jews in Europe. His arrest/kidnapping by the Mossad in Argentina and subsequent trial in Israel brought to the public’s awareness the horrors of the Holocaust. And the widespread use of television transmitted them straight to the public’s living room.  His […]

During WWII, Italian frogmen successfully penetrated the harbor in Alexandria, Egypt riding manned torpedoes and damaging two Royal Navy battleships, HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth, using nothing more than handheld devices called limpet mines. After, an impressed and worried Winston Churchill ordered a similar capability to be developed as soon as possible. Unbeknownst to […]

This is the second part of a series. You can read part one here. The next day, D Company returned to the “butcher’s yard” in full (and dry) daylight.  This was a bad decision: a fresh unit should have been sent so that the morale of D Company would not be affected.  The day was […]

In 1964, the United States involvement in Vietnam was a much smaller undertaking than it would become just a year later. The total number of U.S. troops in Vietnam in 1964 was 23,000. They were still considered technically advisors to the South Vietnamese Army. Nevertheless, 216 Americans would die in combat that year against the […]

Anyone who loves history comes to learn that it is messy.  They must not only accept this reality, but learn to embrace it. Unlike an epic saga, history is only of value when it is presented to us with “the bark on…” This becomes even more important when dealing with pivotal events. One such for […]

Operation Citadel, which resulted in the Battle of Kursk took place in July 1943 around the Soviet city of Kursk in western Russia, as Germany launched their last great offensive of the war. After the devastating defeat at the hands of the Soviet Red Army at the Battle of Stalingrad, it was the last chance […]

The OSS was an eclectic organization; General William Donovan wanted operators, he didn’t care about a soldier’s background or his political beliefs. The OSS wanted as Donovan said, “PhDs who can win a bar fight.” McGeorge Bundy said of  the organization, “The OSS was a remarkable institution: half cops and robbers and half faculty meeting.” […]

One of the stranger missions to come about during World War II was the decision to infiltrate the Korean coastline, which was then held by the Japanese, and insert former Korean POWs into the country to set up agent networks, conduct sabotage and possibly begin a guerrilla war against the Japanese. Eventually, the plan was […]

Editor’s note: This is the fourth part of a series. Captured by the IRA or a blown cover. These were the ultimate sins. In case an operator was compromised, he would either be sent to a different Detachment and location or to the conventional army. So, the three-week Induction Phase, when fresh operators were paired […]

Book Review On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands was a quiet place as the sun came up. Many of the sailors along Battleship Row were feeling the effects of being on liberty ashore drinking which ended at midnight. At dawn, there was a sleepy, Sunday feel to the morning, not much […]