5-6 June 1944: The Night of Nights

After preparing their equipment, conducting rehearsals, and receiving their final briefings, the men of the Allied Airborne Forces boarded their transport aircraft and gliders in England to begin a one-way trip to the province of Normandy, France – and a legendary rendezvous with destiny.   They were the tip of the spear for the greatest […]

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Memorial Day 2021

Memorial Day is always a solemn day for me – particularly so as a veteran and as someone who works in the defense industry. And also especially so because I have had the honor and privilege to participate in several commemorative parachute jumps in Normandy – first as a soldier in the 82nd Airborne Division, […]

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The Invasion of Crete – 80th Anniversay

80 years ago, on May 20, 1941, the skies above the Mediterranean island of Crete became filled with the planes and parachute canopies of the Luftwaffe as Fallschirmjäger of the 7th Flieger Division of the 7th Flieger Division dropped from their Ju-52 transport planes – often right on top of the Allied defences. As a […]

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On This Day In History – 5 May 1980

SAS assault team storming the Iranian embassy, 5 May 1980. The Iranian Embassy siege took place from 30 April to 5 May 1980, at the Iranian embassy on Prince’s Gate in South Kensington, London when a group of armed Iranian Arabs demanding sovereignty of Khuzestan Province took 26 people hostage, including embassy staff, visitors, and […]

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The Russo-Finnish Winter War: 1939-1940

The “Winter War” between little Finland and the mighty Soviet Union began on this date eighty-one years ago.    With Britain and France preoccupied with preparing themselves for war against Nazi Germany, and with the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in place to protect their flank, the Soviets thought that they could safely and swiftly conquer Finland […]

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