In World War I, the U.S. Army established the Citation Star, which in 1932 became the Silver Star, its third highest award for combat heroism. The Silver Star was authorized for the Navy and Marine Corps in August 1942. In World War I and early World War II, Marines serving in the Army could be … Lire la suite

While the katana sword tends to be associated with male samurai of Japan, a distinctive weapon called the naginata has been traditionally associated with women and female fighters known as onna-bugeisha. Why is the naginata so strongly associated with women—and is it true that the weapon was designed with women in mind?   The naginata … Lire la suite

In the spring of 1843, the first ripple of a coming tide of would-be settlers piled everything they owned into canvas-covered wagons, handcarts and any other vehicle that could move, and set out along a dim trace called the “Emigrant Road.” They went by way of a route that was a broad ribbon of threads, … Lire la suite

To piece together the surprising history of the Choctaw Nation’s surprising alliance with the Confederacy, cemented by a treaty in 1861, Fay Yarbrough meticulously sifted through archives at the Oklahoma Historical Society and the University of Oklahoma. The exhaustive effort led to her book Choctaw Confederates: The American Civil War in Indian Country (UNC Press, … Lire la suite

The effectiveness of anti-tank aircraft in World War II is taken for granted by most writers on the subject, offering a technophile orthodoxy that can be seamlessly woven together with accounts of later developments up to and including the Iraq wars.  Luftwaffe legend Hans-Ulrich Rudel claimed to have destroyed 519 Soviet tanks, most of them while … Lire la suite

On June 24, 1997, a rather unusual Lance Corporal was awarded the British Army’s Long Service and Good Conduct Medal at a formal ceremony at the Tower of London—his name was Bobby, and he was an Indian blackbuck antelope. He was one of a long line of antelopes, all named Bobby, who enjoyed distinguished careers … Lire la suite

The forces of the expanding Mongol Empire swept across the steppes of western Eurasia from 1236 to 1240, folding in many nomadic populations as they went. Along the way the Mongols also sacked and came to rule the cities of the Rus principalities, ultimately establishing what would become known as the “Golden Horde.” For the … Lire la suite

Coming Home to Nez Perce Country: The Nimíipuu Campaign to Repatriate Their Exploited Heritage, by Trevor J. Bond, Washington State University Press, Pullman, 2021, $24.95 When missionary Henry Spalding settled with wife Eliza among the Nez Perces, or Nimíipuu (“the people”), on the Columbia Plateau (near present-day Lewiston, Idaho) in 1836, he believed it his … Lire la suite

In the late 1990s, prompted by the popularity of the film Saving Private Ryan and the push to build the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, the realization that America’s World War II generation was rapidly disappearing entered the nation’s collective consciousness. In virtual panic mode, multiple efforts erupted via websites … Lire la suite

Formal international services on Anzac Day honoring the courage and sacrifices of Australian and New Zealand military forces will again be held at sites in Turkey and France where the troops fought during World War I after years of being cancelled due to COVID-19. On April 25, 2022, memorial ceremonies will again take place at … Lire la suite