History

Profiles, explainers, and other stories that dig into military history.

Latest in History

Afghanistan War

Off the shelf, above the fight: How cheap drones are completely changing warfare

By Ivan F. Ingraham

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Air Force

‘I was literally on fire’ — Airman recalls how an unlikely hero saved his life in Iraq

By David Roza

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Branch

The last living WWII Medal of Honor recipient has died

By Max Hauptman, Jeff Schogol

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Afghanistan War

What the cult classic ‘Red Dawn’ teaches us about insurgent warfare

By Jeff Schogol

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Afghanistan War

What movie played the biggest role in your decision to join the military?

By Max Hauptman

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History

Explorers found the USS Samuel B. Roberts, which sunk 78 years ago holding off an overwhelming Japanese battle group

By Nicholas Slayton

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Afghanistan War

Meet the ‘Wizzo’ — The secret sauce to one of the Air Force’s deadliest fighter jets

By David Roza

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Afghanistan War

How a selfie with James Mattis shows he’s a Marine for the people

By Eve Baker

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Culture

The real-life Maverick who took on 7 Soviet jets in a classified Korean War dogfight

By Max Hauptman

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Army

Meet the legendary ‘father of Special Forces’ who helped establish the Green Berets

By Nicholas Slayton

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Branch

How structural racism led to the biggest mutiny in US Navy history

By William Jung

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Afghanistan War

How the Marine Corps went to war with itself over the next war

By Worth Parker

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Afghanistan

A helicopter flown in Afghanistan is now a military couple’s camper

By David Roza

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History

‘Devotion’ trailer teases the story of a Medal of Honor recipient who tried to save his wingman in the Korean War

By Nicholas Slayton

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History

Nearly 80 years after the end of World War II, we are still bringing home our fallen

By Max Hauptman

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History

How nearly 900 soldiers from Maine earned — and lost — the Medal of Honor

By Tim Koster

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Afghanistan

This Netflix animated short was inspired by one grunt’s pill-induced delirium in Afghanistan

By James Clark

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Branch

Navy warship named for Medal of Honor recipient who saved fellow sailors from deadly inferno

By Haley Britzky

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Army

Army awards WWII veteran medals he earned after 250 days of hellish combat and 78 years

By Paul Szoldra

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History

President Bush may find it funny but the Iraq War is no joke

By Jeff Schogol

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History

The unlawful detention of Asian Americans during World War II remains disturbingly relevant

By Daniel Johnson

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Branch

Marine Sgt Maj John Canley, Medal of Honor hero of the Battle of Hue, has died

By James Clark

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History

This warship was converted into a floating brewery for allied troops during World War II

By Max Hauptman

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Branch

Why the Coast Guard once put missiles on cutters and afterburners on passenger jets

By Matt Sampson

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Branch

The upgraded ‘Marine One’ presidential helicopter will still scorch the White House lawn

By Max Hauptman

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Afghanistan War

These are America’s Black Medal of Honor recipients

By Daniel Johnson

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History

John Glenn Was Even More Interesting Than You Know

By Justin Burgess

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History

Inside the Pentagon’s shameful effort to draft mentally disabled men to fight in Vietnam

By Buchanan Waller

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Branch

These barefoot Marines defended American Samoa during World War II

By Jeff Schogol

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History

Why bombers on WWII’s legendary ‘Doolittle Raid’ had broomsticks instead of tail guns

By David Roza

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Culture

Tom Hanks will continue his absolute domination of World War II entertainment

By Max Hauptman

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Culture

What that one scene in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ teaches us about complaining in the military

By James Clark

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Afghanistan

Airmen are pissed that an entire C-17 crew except for the maintainer received a Distinguished Flying Cross

By David Roza

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History

An American POW made his own prosthetic leg at a German prison camp during WWII

By Max Hauptman

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Branch

The next Coast Guard commandant could be the first woman in history to serve as a uniformed service chief

By Max Hauptman

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Air Force

Inside the Air Force’s secret mission to lift half a ton of enriched uranium out of Kazakhstan

By David Roza

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Afghanistan

4 airmen awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for evacuating more than 150 civilians from Kabul

By Max Hauptman

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Army

The fascinating story of how the Jeep became America’s favorite military vehicle

By Miranda Summers Lowe

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History

CIA agents were on the ground before we invaded Iraq, and they knew it was going to be a clusterf*@k

By Aaron Gell

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Afghanistan War

How pairing ‘female engagement teams’ with battle-tested grunts changed the US military forever

By Kelsey Baker

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Afghanistan

A Taliban leader offered the US control of Kabul during the evacuation. Here’s why a top US general said no

By Jeff Schogol

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Army

Alwyn Cashe, Audie Murphy, Mary Walker among choices to replace bases named after Confederates

By Max Hauptman

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History

Meet the Allies’ most dangerous spy in France during World War II

By Max Hauptman

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Air Force

How an Air Force A-10 pilot pulled off a miracle landing with much of her tail shot off

By David Roza

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Branch

Meet the legendary Marine behind one of the most badass battle cries ever

By Charley Roberts

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Afghanistan War

Congress takes step towards granting free health care to millions of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans

By Max Hauptman

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Historical Figures

Feminist, surgeon, spy: Meet the only woman to ever receive the Medal of Honor

By Haley Britzky

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Afghanistan War

How US military veterans navigated Biden’s ‘betrayal’ of Afghanistan

By Kristen Rouse

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Culture

Meet the very good boy who brought smokes to soldiers in the trenches of WWI

By Miranda Summers Lowe

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Afghanistan

‘Sweat, piss and hate’ — What it smells like to carry hundreds of troops in an Air Force C-17

By David Roza

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Branch

Why a Marine who helped raise the flag on Iwo Jima kept it a secret for decades

By Daniel Negrete and Jason Hernandez

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History

The true story behind one of the Vietnam War’s most famous photographs

By Daniel Johnson

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History

How a rivalry between two WWII vets led to the world’s smallest flyable airplanes

By David Roza

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Air Force

How an Air Force spy plane pilot saved a civilian aviator in distress from 70,000 feet

By David Roza

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Air Force

The forgotten story of how Tuskegee Airmen owned the Air Force’s first ‘Top Gun’ competition

By David Roza

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Branch

Paul Douglas went to Marine boot camp at 50. Then he earned a Bronze Star and 2 Purple Hearts in WWII

By Jeff Schogol

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Afghanistan War

Biden says he is ‘rejecting’ the military report outlining the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal

By Haley Britzky

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Afghanistan War

Americans were promised an ‘orderly and safe’ withdrawal from Afghanistan. US troops say it was anything but

By Jeff Schogol

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Afghanistan

Inside the fragile partnership between US troops and Taliban fighters in Kabul

By Haley Britzky

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Afghanistan War

There is finally video evidence that US-trained Afghan soldiers may be fighting for the Taliban

By Max Hauptman

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Afghanistan War

Troops knew ‘an attack was coming’ at Kabul airport but their hands were tied, investigation reveals

By Jeff Schogol

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Aircraft

Boxer, grunt, flyboy: the wild life of the first Black American combat pilot

By David Roza

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Army

‘A debt I can never repay’ — How Reddit is filling gaps in the military’s failing mental health care system

By Daniel Johnson

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Culture

Gary Sinise’s photos from the set of ‘Forrest Gump’ are proof that Lt Dan is a national treasure

By Max Hauptman

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