D-Day: June 6, 1944

73 years ago on this day the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy and changed the course of history for the better. It's a good day to spare a moment to be thoughtful and thankful.

A Little History on Veterans Day

Meet the first Asian American officer in the history of the United States Marine Corps and learn about his actions during the Korean War.

Help Wanted in Japan

Think you're up to it?

St. Crispin's Day 6 Centuries After Agincourt

It is the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt that was immortalized in Shakespeare's Henry V.  Here's that famous speech delivered by Kenneth Branagh:

From the Trenches of WWI to the Hundred Acre Wood

Did you know this about Ernest Howard Shepard, the man behind the charming original illustrations for Winnie the Pooh?

200 Years After Waterloo, "The Nearest Run Thing"

June 18, 1815: Napoleon back from exile versus a coalition force under England's Duke of Wellington and Prussia's Gebhard von Blücher.  It was Wellington, by the way, who supposedly called the victory "the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life."

There are all sorts of commemorations and related news items, but since I'm in a hurry today, I'll leave you with three that stood out to me:

• A magnificent scale model
• A conversation on the battlefield
• The epic reenactment 

Memorial Day in the Netherlands

A good read for the day.

Proposed Euro Coin Design Spawns Fight Over Napoleon's Legacy

The design is intended to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.  The French are objecting.  At least there's no doubt where this op-ed writer's sympathies lie.

Oh, since we're on the topic ...

The 2015 Rose Parade

This year's Tournament of Roses, one of my favorite New Year's traditions, has the theme "Inspiring Stories" to honor remarkable men and women.  I was surprised and delighted to see this beautiful float!

Recognize the motto "Go For Broke"?  It's from the 442nd, of which several veterans were on the float this morning.  If you aren't familiar with its history, please do look it up when you have a moment.

150 Years Ago Today: Sherman Captures Atlanta

Hitting the Confederacy where it hurt.

Hastings to Afghanistan: 1000 Years of British Battle Kits

From battle axes to iPads.

Emus 1, Australian Army 0

Educate yourself about the Great Emu War of 1932.

Meet Viet Xuan Luong, the Army's First Vietnamese American General

He was promoted yesterday at Fort Hood.  Luong came to the States as a refugee with his family when he was 10.  Here's a bit of what he had to say:

"We are not American by birth but by choice; however, when it comes to defending our great nation and the constitution we won't take a backseat to anybody."

Tunnel Vision: Digging Trenches in Military History

A history professor at the University of St. Andrews takes a look in light of the current conflict in Gaza and Hamas tunnels.

UPDATE: It keeps getting worse the more we dig into the topic.

George Takei on the WWII Internment of Japanese Americans

Takei was 5 years old when he and his family were sent to the camps.  Here is Takei's story.  He also talks about the incredible 442nd Infantry Regiment composed of Japanese Americans.  Do take a listen to his thoughtful take on being American and on the ideals of democracy.  

Quote of the Day: Nation-Building In Iraq

Yes. THIS:

"The problem in Iraq isn't that we tried to impose democracy by the point of the figurative bayonet, but that we stopped trying to do that too soon."

I'm a historian.  One major problem is that too many people trying to say/do things about Iraq don't know much (anything?) about history, let alone much (anything?) about playing the long game.  I find it absolutely incredible that anybody can seriously think we can just leave after a mere decade and think it's all going to be OK.  That's barely any time at all in the historical perspective.  (Remember Germany?  Japan?)  But hey, who cares about this stuff when your main concern is political optics at home?

Letters From Cold Harbor

Grant and Lee correspond with each other on the battlefield.

A German Commander Reports on the Allied Invasion of Normandy

Here's something I hadn't come across before!  Take a look at a piece of Field Marshal Karl R. Gerd von Rundstedt's report:

I--Four facts which must be emphasized:
(1) The enemy's complete mastery in the air.
(2) The skillful and large-scale employment of enemy parachute and airborne troops,
(3) The flexible and well-directed support of the land troops by ships' artillery of strong English naval units ranging from battleship to gunboat.
(4) The rehearsal of the enemy invasion units for their task; most precise knowledge of the coast, of its obstacles and defense establishments, swift building up of superiority in numbers and material on the bridgehead after just a few days.

Normandy on D-Day and 70 Years After

Remarkable photographs from then and now.  See this too.

While you're thinking about the day, take a few minutes for:

• Jim Martin, the 93-year-old Ohio vet who will parachute back into Normandy to mark the occasion by making the same jump he did 70 years ago as a private in the 101st Airborne.
• A glance across the pond, where the BBC has Sir Patrick Stewart, Toby Jones, and Benedict Cumberbatch reading bulletins from D-Day in chronological order of their original broadcast.

Ave atque Vale: Chester Nez (1921-2014)

Mr. Nez was the last of the 29 Navajo Code Talkers of WWII.  The Code Talkers' work was not declassified until 1968 ... and the Japanese never did crack that code.