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Vale, James Bama
A chronicler of Western subjects by way of the Empire State, James Elliott Bama was born in Washington Heights, New York, in 1926. Following a stint in the USAAF during WWII as a mechanic, mural...
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Making like 1914
Recently seen in London, via the Ministry of Defence, HQ Household Troops: In a series of stunning photos which could have been taken at the turn of the 20th century, the horses and riders of the...
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A Salute to Telesforo Trinidad
One of the few enduring U.S. Naval ship naming conventions is to honor heroic Sailors and officers (as well as the occasional Marine) by bestowing their names on destroyers. With the Burke-class...
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Smokin and jokin
Official caption: “These American tankmen have just completed a hazardous trip back to the American lines near Cisterna, Italy, after the loss of their M-4 Sherman tank, 26 May 1944.” L-R: Front row;...
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50 Years Ago: Supersonic ‘Guns’ Kill
2 June 1972: USAF Major Philip W. “Hands” Handley, 32nd TFS “Wolfhounds,” grabbed the record for the highest speed air-to-air gun kill in the history of aerial combat, smoking an enemy (NVAF) MiG-19...
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Tonga! Tonga! Tonga!
While the U.S. airborne landings in Normandy during Operation Overlord, involving 13,100 paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions making night parachute drops early on D-Day followed by...
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Overlord Hearts and Minds
Listen, Pierre… Original Caption, June 6,1944: “French civilians give directions to American paratroopers who made successful landings, on Utah Beach, at St. Marcouf, France.” Note the ready M1911A1...
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Vale, Carl Stiner
Born in Tennessee in 1936, Carl Wade Stiner graduated from Tennessee Tech and joined the Army in 1958, spending his platoon leader days with the 9th Infantry “Manchu” Regiment. Earning a beret with...
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Yomping
From the first shots to the last, the Royal Marines were involved in ground combat in the Falklands in 1982. To open the conflict, it was the platoon-sized Naval Party 8901 that fired 6,450 rounds of...
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The RN STILL has a Falklands-era pilot on the Job
One of the toughest sells of the new Top Gun movie is to digest the mere possibility that a 1986-era F-14 jock would still be in uniform and on flying status in 2022– as an O-6. But wait, the British...
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A Special Flag Day, looking back 80 Years
A popular trope is that on U.S. military bases the flagpole’s finial– the golden ball at the top of the pole–contains a razor, a match, and a bullet, just in case the base falls, so that the banner...
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Warship Wednesday, June 15, 2022: Torpedoed…Again?
Here at LSOZI, we take off every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1833-1954 period and will profile a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all their own,...
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The Last Ride of Jack Frost
Captain John Everitt “Jack” Frost, age 22, climbs into a Hawker Hurricane Mk. II of No. 3 Squadron South African Air Force at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 9 June 1941 after rejoining his unit as “A” Flight...
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Welcome, USS John Basilone
Over the weekend, Bath Iron Works in Maine hosted the christening of the USS John Basilone (DDG-122), a late-batch Burke-class destroyer, with Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Troy Black delivering the...
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The *Other* Sole Survivors of Torpedo EIGHT
80 Years Ago Today: Here we see the heavy cruiser USS Pensacola (CA-24) as she disembarks Marine reinforcements at the Sand Island pier, Midway, on 25 June 1942. Note M1903 Springfield rifles and...
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So long, Woody
Marine Corps retired CWO4 Hershel Woodrow “Woody” Williams, the last living World War II Medal of Honor recipient, passed away early this morning, June 29, 2022. Woody was surrounded by his family at...
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‘It was against Japanese regulations and discovery would have meant death’
Enjoy your BBQ today but remember those who made it possible. 80 years ago today. Official caption: “American prisoners of war celebrate the 4th of July in the Japanese prison camp of Casisange in...
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Banzai meets Brooklyn
Soldiers of the New York National Guard’s 105th Infantry Regiment on Saipan during World War II. (New York State Military Museum) Formerly the 2nd New York Volunteer Infantry of the 19th Century, the...
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SEAL Vet Holds Class on SOPMOD History
Every gun nerd knows about SOPMOD. SOPMOD refers to Special Operations Peculiar MODification kit. This stuff: The purpose behind SOPMOD is to provide rifles with the flexibility and versatility to...
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Not that Georgia
On or around July 14, 1943, official caption: “Private Lloyd Culuck, Company A, 1st Battalion., 172nd Infantry Regiment, eats chow from a can of Ration B on New Georgia Island, SW Pacific during the...
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