by Todd DePastino (Smithsonian) The most famous stuffed pigeon in history has one leg, one eye and resides at the Smithsonian Institution, an artifact of the famous “Lost Battalion” saga that took place 103 years ago this week. On October 2, 1918, 554 men of the 77th Infantry Division found themselves trapped
The answer is yes, though what we call a “vaccine” didn’t exist in 1777. Instead, people protected themselves from the deadly smallpox virus by inhaling crushed smallpox scabs (gross!) or having their skin scraped with someone else’s smallpox pus (grosser!). The practice was controversial, as you can imagine, but in 1777, rising
Historian Stephen Taaffe, author of Marshall and His Generals, joins us on Greatest Generation Live to discuss how General George C. Marshall, chief of staff of the U.S. Army during World War II, selected his top combat commanders according to their character, education, wisdom, and energy. Some of his choices, like Ike
(Library of Congress) Ed Kolasinski (Dave Kolasinski) Dave Kolasinski emailed to say he’d recently discovered his father’s “little black book” from WWII. Included were names and addresses of all the women he managed to date while in the Army. Among
September 6, 2021 It’s important that veterans are provided with resources when they need help. The number of veterans reaching out to the VA’s Veterans Crisis Line skyrocketed during the last two weeks of August, which coincided with the U.S. military's withdrawal and massive airlift from Afghanistan. The Crisis Line
This video clip of Russian airborne troops sliding off the wing of a Soviet heavy bomber in 1937 seems almost comical, as if it’s some kind of emergency drill. But this was an airborne demonstration maneuver created for none other than Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin himself. You can see the full film,
