History

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

Latest in History

The future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Harvey C. Barnum Jr.

Navy destroyer with grizzly bear battle flag pays tribute to heroic Marine

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Mar 24, 2026

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Adrian Ibarra, a rifleman with Weapons Company, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, fires an M4 carbine during an integrated section attack range at Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Japan, Jan. 31, 2026. The training integrated Light Armored Reconnaissance and Combined Anti-Armor Team vehicle-mounted fires with dismounted maneuver, enhancing the BLT’s ability to execute surface standing missions and tactical recovery of aircraft personnel. The 31st MEU is a persistent, combat credible force operating aboard the ships of the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations, routinely interacting and operating with our allies and partners to contribute to deterrence, security, crisis response, and combat operations in the Indo-Pacific region. Ibarra is a native of California. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Alora Finigan)

Senator references Iwo Jima while pushing for US to take Kharg Island

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Mar 23, 2026

Senate authorizes Trump to award Recon Marine the Medal of Honor

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Mar 4, 2026

U.S. Sailors transfer ordnance on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), in the Arabian Sea, Feb. 27, 2026.

Afghanistan War

Veterans ‘split’ over Iran strikes. Some see payback, others see another ‘forever war’

By Jeff Schogol, Patty Nieberg

Posted on Mar 2, 2026

Medals of Honor March 2026

Afghanistan War

These 3 soldiers will be awarded Medals of Honor

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Feb 27, 2026

Brendan Fraser as Gen. Dwight Eisenhower in “Pressure.” Image courtesy Focus Features/screenshot via YouTube.

‘Pressure’ trailer has Brendan Fraser as Eisenhower, and focuses a lot on D-Day’s weather

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Feb 21, 2026

Medal of Honor Roddie Edmonds

Soldier who shielded Jewish POWs from guards will receive Medal of Honor

By Matt White, Jeff Schogol

Posted on Feb 18, 2026

Jeff Evans, center, with his sons Jake and Austin, at a seaside bar in Nha Trang, where his father was station in 1968. Family members believe the brothers might have gotten together in the city before David Evans' death in November 1968.

A father and uncle were killed in Vietnam. This family returned to remember them.

Posted on Feb 16, 2026

Navy pilot to receive Medal of Honor nearly 75 years after shooting down 4 MiGs

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Feb 5, 2026

Family and friends attend a posthumous commission ceremony at Ke’ehi Lagoon Memorial State Park, Honolulu, Hi., Jan. 26, 2026. The ceremony was held to posthumously commission University of Hawaii ROTC cadets who died in combat during WWII. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Peter Bannister)

Labeled ‘aliens’ in World War II, 7 Japanese-American soldiers posthumously commissioned

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Jan 28, 2026

On Aug. 16, 1960, Col. Kittinger stepped from a balloon-supported gondola at the altitude of 102,800 feet. In freefall for 4.5 minutes at speeds up to 614 mph and temperatures as low as -94 degrees Fahrenheit, he opened his parachute at 18,000 feet. (U.S. Air Force photo) (Photo by NASA/Corbis via Getty Images)

When the Air Force had a guy jump from the edge of space

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Jan 20, 2026

NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Italy (Aug. 22, 2021) An Afghan family waits to exit a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III at Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella during Operation Allies Refuge Aug. 22, 2021. NAS Sigonella is currently supporting the Department of Defense mission to facilitate the safe departure and relocation of U.S. citizens, Special Immigration Visa recipients, and vulnerable Afghan populations from Afghanistan. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Daniel M. Young)

Afghanistan War

Veterans defend Afghan ally programs as Trump closes doors

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Jan 14, 2026

Image: (Original Caption) The Charleston shot was part of Operation Plumbbob and was fired from a balloon on September 28, 1957. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

The military once considered using balloons as nuclear weapons systems

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Jan 5, 2026

Technician from Office of Naval Research (ONR) participates in freeflight after extensive testing for the Hiller Flying Platform. The platform was first flown in public in 1955. (Photo by US Navy/Getty Images)

When the military tried to give soldiers personal flying platforms

By Nicholas Slayton

Updated on Jan 1, 2026

Image: Jeep: US soldiers of the 3rd Division having Christmas dinner on the hood of a jeep on the front lines, World War Two, France, December 25th 1943. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

How US troops in World War II celebrated Christmas dinner on the front

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Dec 25, 2025

A mushroom cloud rises from a nuclear weapon test during Operation TUMBLER-SNAPPER. Over two thousand Marines witnessed the event, which was conducted in 1952 at the Nevada Proving Ground.

The Army once considered a nuclear-powered tank built by Chrysler

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Dec 16, 2025