A Brief History On May 12, 1942, the German Kriegsmarine submarine, U-507, a Type IXC boat, sank an American tanker, the SS Virginia, with one of its deadly torpedoes while the tanker was in the mouth of the Mississippi River, an affront to the United States bringing deadly danger to shipping right to America’s doorstep. During World War II the submarine fleets of each navy of the major powers played an outsized role in effective naval warfare, and also put the crews of those submarines in more peril than any other naval duty. We have dealt with the subject of…
Author: Major Dan
Major Dan
Major Daniel Zar is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.
Read More
A Brief History On May 11, 2011, former NBA and current European league basketball player Robert Traylor died of an apparent heart attack at his home in Puerto Rico. He was only 34 years old and had played in a professional basketball game only a couple of weeks prior to his untimely death. Sadly, the history of basketball is filled with similar sad stories, and today we take a look at some of these athletes that died too young. (By the way, the loss of Kobe Bryant in January of 2020 in a helicopter crash at the age of 41…
A Brief History On May 10, 1967, an experimental “lifting body” aircraft created by Northrup for NASA, the M2-F2, made its 16th and final flight, crashing into the dry lake bed on the desert floor, ruining the aircraft and severely injuring the pilot, Bruce Peterson. The unfortunate, though spectacular crash, was used as the inspiration for the novel Cyborg, by Martin Caidin, and the television program, The Six Million Dollar Man. Film footage of the crash of the M2-F2 was used in the opening sequence of the television series! Digging Deeper The horrific crash scene of the M2-F2 rolling over…
A Brief History On May 9, 2015, the 70th anniversary of the German surrender in World War II, Russia, led by dictator (President of the Federation of Russia) Vladimir Putin, conducted the most massive military parade in the history of Russia/USSR, the likes of which could never be pulled off in the United States, undoubtedly to the chagrin of President Donald Trump! Digging Deeper After viewing an extravagant military parade in France honoring the anniversary of Bastille Day in 2017, American President Donald Trump developed a severe case of parade envy, and resolved to stage a spectacular military parade in…
A Brief History On May 8, 1945, the French territory of Algeria, a colony incorporated into greater France since 1830, was the scene of one of the great massacres of protesters against colonial rule in European colonial history. The native Algerian, almost exclusively Muslim, population of Algeria had long chafed under French colonial rule, and although most in France now considered Algeria as an integral part of France proper, World War II brought a new wave of national fervor to the Algerians wishing for independence. Digging Deeper During the German occupation of France (1940-1944), the Free French had established a…