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During the Mexican-American War, General Winfield Scott led one of the earliest large-scale amphibious campaigns in United States history, landing an expeditionary force near the port city of Veracruz. After a carefully planned bombardment involving both the Army and Navy, the city’s defenses began to crumble under heavy fire. On March 29th, 1847, Veracruz surrendered, giving Scott a secure deep-water port and a base
Grant’s campaign brought a Union army across the Mississippi, isolated Vicksburg, and turned two failed assaults into a sustained siege. This overview connects the river operations, land battles, civilian experience, and recipient citations without treating every action as the same engagement.
On a bitter, stormy Christmas night, George Washington led a force of Continental soldiers and militia across the ice-choked Delaware River, gambling that a surprise strike could salvage a collapsing cause.
Just three days after Castle Itter, the wider war in Europe officially reached its end for American forces and their allies. An unconditional surrender had been signed by German representatives at Reims on May 7th, but the following day became widely known as Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day, as the terms took effect and celebrations broke out across liberated cities and Allied capitals.
On November 13th, 1982, after years of debate over how to remember a difficult war, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., was formally dedicated.
A Medal of Honor story of sacrifice and steadfast loyalty in the air war over Europe in World War II.
The B-17 was almost home when the choice arrived over the radio: bail out, or try to land a dying airplane. The long mission over Leipzig was behind them, but the bomber itself was torn open—control cables shot away, engines coughing, the fuselage peppered with holes where German fighters had raked the formation. In the cockpit, the copilot lay dead. The pilot, badly wounded, had been dragged from his seat and now dr
On May 13th, 1846, Congress responds to President James K. Polk’s war message and formally declares that a state of war exists with Mexico. Skirmishes along the Rio Grande have already led to American and Mexican casualties, and the vote unlocks the use of the regular Army and newly raised volunteers on multiple fronts. Over the next two years, United States forces will fight along the border, across northern Mexico,
On this day, George Washington formally accepted the appointment that Congress had offered him to serve as commander in chief of the Continental Army. The colonies had already seen bloodshed at Lexington, Concord, and around Boston, but until this point there had been no single figure responsible for coordinating their military effort. Washington’s acceptance signaled that the rebellion would not be a loose collectio
In the final winter of the Revolutionary War, Continental Army officers encamped at Newburgh, New York seethed over unpaid wages and uncertain futures. An anonymous circular dated March 10th, 1783 urged them to consider a more forceful stand against Congress, raising the specter of a military challenge to civilian authority. On March 15th, George Washington appeared unannounced at their meeting and asked permission t
With the Revolutionary War effectively over and peace in sight, George Washington appeared before Congress in Annapolis on December 23rd, 1783 to resign his commission as commander in chief.
A Medal of Honor story of audacity and precision in the skies over the Pacific during World War II.
The morning sky over northern Luzon is deceptively calm. From the cockpit of his sleek reconnaissance Mustang, Major William Arthur Shomo scans the broken clouds, hunting for airfields and antiaircraft positions that his ground commanders need to see. His mission is straightforward on paper: an armed photographic and strafing sweep over the Aparri and Laoag airdromes, far ahead of friendly lines.
How a 22-year-old automatic rifleman kept firing after losing both legs, and saved his platoon in the Philippine mountains of 1945.
How a 23-year-old pilot kept a burning Flying Fortress in the air long enough to save his crew over Nazi-occupied Europe.
In the spring of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson appeared before Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany, a dramatic reversal from his earlier campaign slogan of having kept the country out of the conflict. The decision followed Germany’s return to unrestricted submarine warfare, which had sent American ships and sailors to the bottom, and the revelation of the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Ger
After the experience of two world wars, during which women had served in large numbers in temporary or auxiliary roles, the United States took a major step toward making that service permanent. On June 12th, 1948, the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act was signed into law, granting women the right to serve as regular and reserve members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and newly independent Air Force.
On May 14th, 1942, in the midst of global war, the United States formally establishes the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. The new organization allows women to volunteer for service with the Army in noncombat roles such as clerks, drivers, telephone operators, and mechanics. While members are not yet fully integrated soldiers, the Corps represents a major change in how the Army taps the skills of the population.