A Brief History On December 12, 1985, the US Army experienced one of its worst non-combat tragedies in its history when 236 soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division were killed in the crash of Arrow Flight 1285. Digging Deeper The DC-8 carrying the soldiers plus 20 civilians (8 of which were crew members) was returning the soldiers to the US from duty in Egypt. The plane had made an interim stop at Gander, Newfoundland and was attempting to take off when it lost speed and stalled, crashing about a half mile past the runway and killing all aboard. The soldiers…
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A Brief History On December 5, 1964, Captain Roger Donlon, US Army Special Forces, became the first Army Special Forces member (ever) and the first US military person to earn a Medal of Honor in the Viet Nam War. Digging Deeper Donlon took a roundabout path to his moment of greatness, being born in Saugerties, New York among 10 children in 1934. Donlon joined the Air Force in 1953 after a year at the New York State College of Forestry, and was appointed to West Point in 1955. For personal reasons Donlon quit West Point, but enlisted in the Army…
A Brief History On December 3, 1971, amid the background of the Bangladeshi War of Liberation when East Pakistan was attempting to secede from West Pakistan, the military forces of Pakistan launched a pre-emptive assault against India, attacking airfields and military installations and triggering the Indo-Pakistani War, 13 days on the brink of a far larger disaster. Digging Deeper After World War II when imperial nations were forced to give up colonies, the British reluctantly gave India, the largest and richest colony, their long overdue independence. India was made up largely of a Hindu population, with a large Muslim minority. …
A Brief History On this holiday when thoughts of children are wandering to their Christmas and Hanukkah lists, for those among us that are hunters, law enforcement officers, military people, recreational or competitive shooters, interested in self defense and the preservation of liberty, or just into the history and technology of firearms, we present to you our “Bucket List” of guns we would like to own before we are too old to enjoy them. (Although some may be out of production, they are still out there for sale.) Obviously, such a list is pure opinion and is not relevant to…
A Brief History On November 25, 1940, the feverish pace of developing improved warplanes during World War II culminated in the first flight of two of the most iconic twin engine medium bombers of the war, the British de Havilland Mosquito and the American Martin B-26 Marauder. Digging Deeper These 2 medium bombers had quite different roles in combat, with the B-26 operating as a conventional medium bomber, best employed from medium altitude. The B-26 had impressive self defense armament of 12 X .50 caliber machine guns and could carry up to 4000 lbs of bombs. The Mosquito was often…