Read the latest articles from We Are The Mighty (Page 325)
Medic remembers what it was like to land on Omaha Beach
Charles Norman Shay was just a young private in the 1st Infantry Division when he landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944 — D-Day. He was in the first wave, landing some time around 6:30 while the German defenses were still untouched, firing artille…
The first machine gun was invented before the Revolutionary War
If you don't think East-West relations have come very far in the past few centuries, consider the fact that
The day Russia’s White House got shelled by the Russian Army
It's hard for Americans to imagine the U.S. Army rolling tanks up Pennsylvania Avenue to force a resistant Congress out of the Capitol Building by shelling the building. It's not that hard for Russians, though, because all they have to do is remem…
7 key facts about the USO’s 80 years of service
The USO was formed on Feb. 4, 1941 as the nation prepared for the possibility that it would get dragged into another World War. Now, 75 years later, the USO serves America's warfighters with an estimated 10 million "connections" every year in the…
What we can learn from a replica World War II midget submarine
Midget submarines have gotten a lot of press in recent years. The 2010 sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan by a North Korean Yono-class midget submarine showed that
Everything about this monument is far more symbolic than most notice
There are many memorials scattered throughout this beautiful land of ours, dedicated to the sacrifice and honor shown by our men and women in uniform. At these monuments, crowds gather from all over the country to pay their respects on Memorial Day …
How this flashlight became the most enduring piece of military tech
New gear designs come and go. One troop's packing list will look drastically different from the next generation's. Rucksacks have gone through major overhauls since their inception and it feels like uniforms change faster than you can blink. But o…
7 amazing pilots who became an ‘ace-in-a-day’
Fighter aces are a rare and legendary breed: People who are not only skilled enough to fly jets in combat, but so good at it that they can knock down at least five of the enemy without dying themselves. But there's an even more elite subse…
7 times the military lost nukes (and 4 times they were never found)
The military makes a big deal out of when a rifle goes missing, not to mention when a nuke disappears. In spite of the fact the program is designed to be "zero defect," here are 7 examples of doomsday devices wandering off (including a few wher…
14 images that hilariously portray your first day on a field op
Heading out to the field to conduct a training operation sounds like a whole lot of fun when it's your first time out. But as we all know, the majority of the time nothing happens as originally planned, and things tend to fall apart just as soon as…
9 pop culture phenomenon with unlikely military roots
The military has built generations of outstanding citizens who have been leaders, entrepreneurs, and hard-working members of their communities. But we can also thank the military for the rise of some interesting pop culture phenomenon, from stand-up…
How the US Navy captured its first enemy ship in 129 years
In the early days of the U.S. Navy, boarding and capturing enemy vessels was common practice. As naval firepower increased, the practice became to sink the other ship rather than capture it. Then in 1944 with some da…
How Mongol hordes drank horse blood and liquor to kill you
While everyone likes to talk about how scary the Spartans or Romans could be, it was the Mongols who pioneered new warfare tactics, used them to win battle after battle, and survived on a diet of horse blood and liquor to ride across whatever terrai…
Nuclear torpedoes are a ridiculously awesome thing
Of all the nuclear weapons in all the world, quite possibly the weirdest, most ridiculous is the nuclear torpedo which has been envisioned and developed as everything from an anti-submarine weapon to a city-ending doomsday weapon. Russia's Presiden…
John McCain learned two big things when he was a prisoner of war
Before he was a U.S. senator, and later a presidential candidate, John McCain was a naval aviator over the skies of Vietnam. But the 1958 graduate of the Naval Academy is probably known less for his flying skills and more for what he did on the gro…
Why wounded viking warriors ate strong onion soup
There's nothing like a bowl of strong French onion soup on any given day, who cares how cold it is outside. But rampaging Norsemen from the days of yore had no need for the froufrou gimmicks that the cheese-eating surrender-monkeys of France use to…
This Green Beret whistleblower risked his career to change US hostage policy
In 2001, Lt. Col. Jason Amerine was one of the first U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan to avenge the 9/11 attacks. He is a Green Beret, the U.S. Army's elite special forces with five primary…
This is how the military challenge coin came to be
Challenge coins mean different things to different troops. Senior enlisted and officers tend to place them on a desk to gloat to peers and the more junior troops slam them on the bar to see who's buying the next round. How you earn the coin also ra…