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Military

Sergeant Major William L. Henderson and hospital steward Thomas H.S. Pennington of the 20th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment, as photographed by W.H. Leeson

How Photography Tells the Story of the Civil War’s Black Soldiers

A new book by scholar Deborah Willis features more than 70 photos, as well as letters, journal entries and posters

New Space Force "Guardians" being sworn in.

Space Force Troops Are Now Officially ‘Guardians’ of the Galaxy

Members of the newest and smallest branch of the military, which turned one this December, will now be known as ‘Guardians’

The new A.I. systems are more complex than this bot photographed in 2005.

New Research

Human Interruption Slows Down Military Robots in Simulations

A.I. can make decisions faster than humans, raising a myriad of ethical questions when applied to weapons systems

The F/A-18C Hornet is ready to be exhibited, in near-perfect condition even after being put through a myriad of maneuvers with the Blue Angels: rolls, dives, loops, tight formations and synchronized passes, which did cause some wear and tear to the plane’s surface.

A Special Air Delivery From the U.S. Navy Arrives With Only a Few Dings

An F/A-18C Blue Angels Hornet just flew into D.C. to make its debut as a museum artifact at the National Air and Space Museum

The National Museum of the United States Army opened on Veteran's Day, November 11, 2020.

A New Museum Delves Into the Complex History of the U.S. Army

The Fort Belvoir institution is the first museum dedicated to interpreting the story of the nation’s oldest military branch

A couple hiking in the Alsace region of northeastern France spotted the tiny aluminum message capsule in a grassy field in September. The note, written in German in cursive script by a Prussian military officer, was probably attached to a carrier pigeon but never reached its destination.

Cool Finds

A Carrier Pigeon’s Military Message Was Delivered a Century Too Late

A couple in Alsace, France, stumbled onto a capsule containing a cryptic note dated to either 1910 or 1916

Based on a True Story

The True History of Netflix’s ‘The Liberator’

The new animated series tells the story of the U.S. Army’s most integrated World War II unit

The National Native American Veterans Memorial, designed by Cheyenne and Arapaho artist Harvey Pratt, features a steel circle balanced on a carved drum.

Secretary Lonnie Bunch on the New Memorial to Native American Veterans

Located in front of the National Museum of the American Indian, the sculpture reminds us of the true burden of freedom

Anti-war Democrats objected to mail-in voting, citing widespread fears of voter fraud, as well as intimidation on the part of the pro-Republican military.

History of Now

The Debate Over Mail-In Voting Dates Back to the Civil War

In 1864, Democrats and Republicans clashed over legislation allowing soldiers to cast their ballots from the front

The Delmenhorst sank in an October 1644 maritime battle.

Cool Finds

Wreck of 17th-Century Danish Warship Found in the Baltic Sea

The “Delmenhorst” sank during a 1644 naval battle between Denmark and a joint Swedish-Dutch fleet

A sonar scan of the German warship Karlsruhe, which was recently discovered off the southern coast of Norway

Cool Finds

Wreck of German Warship Sunk in 1940 Found Off Norwegian Coast

A British torpedo struck the “Karlsruhe” during the Nazis’ invasion of the Scandinavian country

After joining the Navy at age 17, Anthony D'Acquisto served aboard the U.S.S. Randolph, participating in the Battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima.

See 12 Stunning Portraits of World War II Veterans

Photographer Zach Coco has spent the past five years documenting more than 100 men and women’s stories

Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day) on Jackson Square, Oak Ridge. August 1945. The town of Oak Ridge was established by the Army Corps of Engineers as part of the Clinton Engineer Works in 1942 on isolated farm land as part of the Manhattan Project. The site was chosen for the X-10 Graphite Reactor, used to show that plutonium can be extracted from enriched uranium. Tennessee, USA.

Looking Back on V-J Day 75 Years Later

How Americans celebrated the end of World War II

Today, the figurative field of battle has become a literal one: Israel's Sharon Plain.

Study Identifies Site Where Crusader King Richard the Lionheart Defeated Saladin

In September 1191, the English monarch’s forces secured victory over the sultan’s army at the Battle of Arsuf

A man wheels his bicycle through Hiroshima days after an atomic bomb leveled the city.

Nine Harrowing Eyewitness Accounts of the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

More than seventy-five years ago, the atomic blasts killed an estimated 200,000 people

Irene Triplett's father, Mose, ran away from a Confederate military hospital days before the July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg.

The Last Person to Receive a Civil War Pension Dies at Age 90

Irene Triplett, whose father defected from the Confederate Army and enlisted with the Union, collected $73.13 a month

U.S. Army Air Force technical sergeant Ben Kuroki, completed a total of 58 combat missions and was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Air Medal with five oak leaf clusters.

Smithsonian Voices

Here’s Why You Should Know About the American Hero Ben Kuroki

The story of the Japanese American World War II veteran, says Smithsonian curator Peter Jakab, is “incredibly relevant” today

Philip Kahn, pictured on his 100th birthday with his grandson, Warren Zysman, and great-grandson

Covid-19

One Hundred Years After Influenza Killed His Twin Brother, WWII Veteran Dies of COVID-19

In the days before his death, the New York man spoke often of his lost twin and the lessons humanity seemed not to have learned

The underground bunker is about 23 feet long and 10 feet wide.

Cool Finds

WWII Bunker Used by Churchill’s ‘Secret Army’ Unearthed in Scotland

British Auxiliary Units were trained to sabotage the enemy in case of German invasion

A coral-covered propeller of a U.S. SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber stands on the sea floor in Truk Lagoon.

Three U.S. Planes Lost During World War II Found in Pacific Lagoon

Project Recover, a nonprofit dedicated to locating MIA service members, identified the planes’ location

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