Owen F. P. Hammerberg
Beyond the Call: Medal of Honor Stories — Dispatch: U.S.
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Owen Francis Patrick Hammerberg
By February 1945, much of Pearl Harbor had returned to the business of war. Battleships and carriers came and went; convoys formed up and headed west toward Iwo Jima and Okinawa. But in a side channel called West Loch, the harbor still hid a graveyard. Months earlier, a chain of explosions had torn through a cluster of tank landing ships loading ammunition for the Pacific campaign.
Pancho Villa’s raid on Columbus, New Mexico and the Punitive Expedition
Shortly before the United States entered the First World War, the Army found itself responding to a different kind of threat much closer to home. In the early hours of March 9th, 1916, fighters loyal to Mexican revolutionary leader Francisco “Pancho” Villa crossed the border and attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico, as well as a nearby Army camp. The raid killed soldiers and civilians, burned buildings, and shoc
Patrick L. Kessler
A Medal of Honor story of relentless courage under fire in the Italian campaign of World War II.
Pershing’s Punitive Expedition into Mexico
In early 1916, a cross-border raid on Columbus, New Mexico by forces loyal to Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa shocked the United States and demanded a response. On March 15th, the Army launched a punitive expedition under John J. Pershing, sending columns of cavalry, infantry, trucks, and even a small aviation detachment across the desert into northern Mexico. The mission aimed to capture Villa and deter further i
Peter J. Dalessandro
A Medal of Honor story of courage under fire in the Battle of the Bulge.
President Eisenhower’s farewell address
As a former five–star general and Supreme Allied Commander, President Dwight D. Eisenhower brought a unique perspective to his final speech from the Oval Office. On January 17th, 1961, just days before leaving office, he used his farewell address to reflect on the burdens of Cold War leadership. He praised the dedication of armed forces and defense workers, but also warned of the risks that could come from a permanen
President Polk’s war message on Mexico
Decades later, the United States stood on the edge of another conflict as patrols clashed along the disputed border with Mexico. On May 11th, 1846, President James K. Polk addressed Congress and described these incidents as Mexican forces invading American soil and spilling American blood. His message framed the fighting not as a limited frontier skirmish but as a clear act of aggression, urging Congress to recognize
PT-109 rammed in the Solomons
That same summer, halfway around the world, a small wooden patrol boat was cutting through the darkness of the Solomon Islands. PT-109, commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, was part of a group of motor torpedo boats tasked with intercepting Japanese shipping. In the early hours of August 2nd, a Japanese destroyer loomed out of the night and sliced through the slower patrol boat, killing two crewmen and flinging t
Rescue of PT-109 survivors
The night action around the Solomons a year later produced a very different kind of story when Patrol Torpedo boat PT-109, commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, was rammed and cut in two by a Japanese destroyer in the early hours of August 2nd, 1943. Kennedy and most of his crew survived the collision but found themselves in the water amid wreckage, miles from friendly lines.
Richard E. Cowan
A 22-year-old heavy machine gunner who held back a German attack in the Battle of the Bulge
Richard Eller Cowan
A 22-year-old heavy machine gunner who held back a German attack in the Battle of the Bulge
Robert E. Lee resigns from the United States Army
Just days after the call for volunteers, a respected career officer faced his own decision. On April 20th, 1861, Colonel Robert E. Lee resigned his commission in the United States Army rather than take command against his native Virginia. Lee had served for decades in the regular army, distinguishing himself as an engineer and commander during the war with Mexico. In the tense weeks after Fort Sumter, senior leaders
Robert M. Viale
A Medal of Honor story of sacrifice and courage in World War II’s Pacific campaign.
Selective Service Act signed into law
On May 18th, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson signs the Selective Service Act, creating a national mechanism to draft men into military service. The law requires eligible males to register for possible induction, and it lays out how local boards will classify and call individuals. For the United States, whose small prewar Army cannot sustain large operations in Europe, the act is essential to raising a mass citizen for
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill) signed into law
Even as battles raged in Normandy and the Pacific, policymakers were looking ahead to the millions of service members who would one day come home. On June 22nd, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, soon known simply as the GI Bill. The law offered a package of benefits including education assistance, home loan guarantees, and support for finding work, all intended to ease th
Seventh United States Army captures Palermo
In the middle of the Sicily campaign of the Second World War, Lieutenant General George S. Patton’s Seventh United States Army drove into Palermo and seized one of the island’s most important ports. The advance came after a rapid push along Sicily’s northern coast, with American armored and infantry columns racing over mountain roads and through towns battered by previous fighting.
Seymour W. Terry
The hill had a simple name on the map—Zebra Hill—but nothing about it was simple up close. Ahead of the assault troops the ground rose in a broken, rocky slope, pocked with shell holes and scraps of shattered brush. Hidden in that terrain were Japanese pillboxes and trenches positioned to command every approach. As the American infantrymen pushed forward, the hillside erupted with machine-gun bursts and grenades, tur