A Brief History On April 22, 1944, the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II (CBI) was the scene of the first ever use of a helicopter in a combat zone. The United States had deployed the Sikorsky R-4 variants to the theater to assist with the recovery of downed airmen, a role helicopters would become synonymous with. Digging Deeper Recognizing the versatility of the helicopter, the R-4’s in the theater were quickly given other missions such as ferrying vital spare parts to remote locations, rescuing sailors from sunken ships, reconnaissance, and medical evacuation. The R-4 was a two seat piston…
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.
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A Brief History Today, on April 21, 2017, the new movie, Unforgettable, starring Rosario Dawson and Katherine Heigl makes its debut! We at History and Headlines along with members of John Carroll University’s Paranormal Research Group (the word “ghost” was spoken in the movie at least once!) had the opportunity to watch an early premier. We were pleasantly surprised that the film was not the “chick flick” some had predicted it would be. Digging Deeper Sure, there is the aspect of the battered woman, the vengeful ex-wife, and the cute little girl, but by no means does this detract from the…
A Brief History On April 21, 1894, Norway accepted the product of their own gun designers, Ole Krag and Erik Jorgensen, as their standard battle rifle. The Krag-Jorgensen had previously been adopted by the US Army in 1892 over protests from American designers. Digging Deeper The Krag-Jorgensen bolt action rifle was first made standard by the Danish Army in 1889, a time when bolt action rifles were beginning to clearly show their superiority over other rifle designs for combat use. Unlike a lever action rifle, the bolt action rifle could easily be operated when in the prone position and cycling…
A Brief History On April 20, 1968, Conservative Member of Parliament Enoch Powell delivered his famous “Rivers of Blood Speech” against the continued immigration of non-European colonials into Britain. The speech was partly in response to the pending Race Relations Act of 1968 which made it illegal to refuse anyone housing, employment or public service because of race, color, religion, national origin and the like. The speech targeted non-white colonials from around the Empire and Commonwealth, notably Blacks and Indian sub-continent people. Digging Deeper Does this sound like the United States of 2016 and 2017? You bet it does! In…
A Brief History On April 19, 1985, around 200 Federal law enforcement officers began a siege of “The Farm,” a compound of the Covenant, Sword and the Arm of the Lord (CSA), a right wing white supremacist paramilitary survivalist organization. You may recall that April 19 (1993) is the date of the great fire and mass deaths at the Waco Branch Davidian conclusion of another Federal siege, and that April 19 (1995) is the date of the Oklahoma City Federal Building terrorist bombing. If this is not enough domestic terror related events for one date, you can recall the April…