Adolf Hitler's secret mission to Otto Skorzeny during the Ardennes Counteroffensive would rely on deception, employing English-speaking troops in US Army uniforms and equipment. 

George Benton Turner joined the US Marine Corps in 1918, but World War I ended before he shipped overseas. When World War II broke out, Turner, now in his early 40s, once again volunteered to fight for his country, this time enlisting in the US Army in October 1942.

After a difficult adjustment to the discipline of Army life, James I. Spurrier Jr. deployed to the South Pacific as an infantry soldier. Returning to combat duty after being wounded in New Guinea, he joined the 35th Infantry Division, landing in Normandy on D+1. Excellent in combat, his lack of discipline led to his assignment as a company runner rather than a squad leader. This enabled him to fight on his own, which was his preference.

Much has been made in the historical record of the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany in early March of 1945. However, fewer accounts exist of Operation Flashpoint, Ninth US Army’s assault crossing of the Rhine, which began on March 24. General William H. Simpson, commander of Ninth Army, has received little attention in the historiography of World War II.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Kasserine Pass, US II Corps passed to the command of General Harold Alexander’s 18th Army Group. When Alexander took command on February 20, 1943, one of his first tasks was to assess II Corp’s combat readiness after its setbacks during its early engagements around Kasserine Pass.

At the Arcadia Conference, held in Washington, DC, from December 24, 1941 to January 14, 1942, the Western Allies agreed to a “Germany First” policy to govern global strategy, but the question where to engage Germany, and when, remained unsettled.

Many historians have written about the famous “Buffalo Soldiers” of the all-Black 92nd Infantry Division, who fought with distinction during World War II.

World War II saw an unprecedented level of inter-Allied cooperation that led to the formation of new staff organizations like the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the US-British Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS).

James R. Hendrix was born on August 20, 1925, in the small town of Lepanto, Arkansas.

While Navajo code talkers of World War II have been featured in several books and, in 2002, a Hollywood movie, in recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day it is important to remember that members of many different tribes served in this role.