Ross Dunfee At the outset of the 19th century, Great Britain was locked in a long and bitter conflict with Napoleon Bonaparte’s France. Both France and Great Britain attempted to block the United States from trading with the other, and restrict the USA from westward expansion. Beginning in 1812, Napoleon began to encounter the first…
Tag: Support Our Troops
Generals, July 2022
Military History: Women in War
Ross Dunfee Women have been participants in war since time began. In colonial days women used firearms to protect home, property, and loved ones. During the Revolution, Civil War, World Wars, and multiple other skirmishes, women often fought quietly alongside male comrades, but not as part of the uniformed services. During WWII able-bodied men were…
Sports, April 2022
U.S. Military History: U.S. Coast Guard Flag, Song, and Motto
Ross Dunfee The Coast Guard has a rich history of consolidation with other federal services. The Coast Guard was created in 1915 when the Revenue Cutter Service (from 1790) was merged with the Life Saving Service (from 1848). In 1939, the Lighthouse Service (from 1789) was added, and the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation…
Features, March 2022
U. S. Military History: Some U.S. Coast Guard History
Ross Dunfee Lighthouses On Aug. 7, 1789, in the ninth act of the first U.S. Congress, 12 lighthouses were transferred to the federal government, and the United States Lighthouse Establishment (USLHE) was created under the Department of the Treasury, then Revenue, then Treasury. Because of poor management and poor lighting at lighthouses, the Lighthouse Board…
Features, January 2022
U.S. Military History: Some U.S. Navy History
Ross Dunfee Prior to the American Revolution, the colonies had no naval forces, but did have a large maritime population and many merchant vessels employed in domestic and foreign trade. That merchant service was familiar not only with the sea but also with warfare. On Oct. 13, 1775, the Continental Congress authorized the first Navy.…
Features, December 2021
U.S. Military History: Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
Ross Dunfee It was still dark, at 3:42 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, when the minesweeper USS Condor AMc-14 saw a two-man Japanese submarine two miles from the mouth of Pearl Harbor. The USS Ward APD-16 that located and destroyed the submarine at 6:45 a.m., was herself sunk later that day by a kamikaze military…
Features, November 2021
U.S. Marines—Flag and Seal, Song, and Motto
Ross Dunfee Flag and Seal: Marines used the Grand Union flag, and possibly the Gadsden flag (yellow flag with a “Don’t Tread on Me” rattlesnake), during the assault on New Providence Island, The Bahamas, on March 3, 1776. During the 1830s and 1840s, the flag consisted of a gold fringed white field centered with an eagle…
Features, October 2021
U.S. Military History: Some U.S. Marine Corps History
Ross Dunfee What is a Marine? A sailor, a soldier, infantry, amphibious assault members? They are all–soldiers serving on ships ready for land action. Their history, etched in antiquity, has records in ancient Greece and Rome. In the 17th century, the English, in its wars with the Dutch, referred to Marine units as naval infantry. In 1739, during…
Features, September 2021
U.S. Military History: U.S. Army Flag, Song, Motto, and Oath
Ross Dunfee Flag The Army Seal was originally used during the American Revolution to authenticate documents. It displayed the designation “War Office,” which was synonymous with the headquarters of the Army, and the Roman date MDCCLXXVIII (1778), the first time it was used. It remained unchanged until 1947, when the War Office banner was replaced with…
Generals, July 2021
U.S. Military History: Independence Day
Ross Dunfee The first successful English colony settled in America was at Jamestown, Va., in 1607—and the migration was on—primarily of British, German, and Dutch extraction, but immigrants arrived from throughout Europe. Communities were settled and financed primarily by privately-organized British settlers or families using free enterprise without any significant English royal or Parliamentary government…