Today in military history: Greek soldiers sack and burn Troy
On June 11, 1184 BC, Greek soldiers, hiding in an elaborately-built wooden horse, opened the gates to the city of Troy and laid waste to the once famed city. Renowned…
This is the fighter that was flown by the first US president to go supersonic
A number of U.S. presidents have served in the military. One, though, flew jets and broke Mach 1. That was George W. Bush, who served as a fighter pilot in the Texas Air National Guard.
How a Greek foot soldier inadvertently invented the marathon
The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC, where Greek and Persian forces fought for control of Greece. The homefront army won, despite being greatly outnumbered, and the win…
Green Berets and foreign weapons… Like kids in a candy store
One of the perks of having a career in Special Operations units was the chance to be trained…
This boxer survived the Holocaust by winning fights in Auschwitz
Salamo Arouch literally fought for survival during World War II. But he wasn’t a soldier, he was a boxer of Jewish-Greek descent. That means the All-Balkans Middleweight Champ ended up in Auschwitz when the Nazis rolled into his home city of Thessa…
7 kingly facts about the life of Alexander the Great
It is the year 69 BC. A Roman man stands before the state of an ancient conqueror. The Roman weeps, realizing that at his age this conqueror was master of…
The Army’s venerable Kiowa helicopter is taking flight again
The distinctive and venerable OH-58 Kiowa helicopter, mothballed and grounded in the dry desert of Arizona, after being retired from US Army service with almost 50 years of service, is finding its wings again in Greece.
For an Army aviator, th…
Why Macedonia has to change its name before joining NATO
NATO approved its newest member on Feb. 6, 2019, after Macedonia agreed to change its name to secure admission.
The 10 worst Air Forces in the world
When it comes to things like air superiority, if you don’t have to think about it, you’re probably winning. The ground pounders in the Armed Forces of the United States have it pretty good in that regard. They can be reasonably sure that if they’…
What would happen if the Hanukkah story took place today
In 168 BCE, the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes IV set to quash Judaism among his subjects. Matthias the Kohein and his five sons fle…