Historians have debated the logic of fighting to liberate Brest, with some arguing that it would have made more sense to simply bypass the city and isolate the garrison.

Despite the impending defeat of the Wehrmacht in France, the victory over Germany would not be complete until the capital of France was liberated, and the Vichy government replaced.

The Eighth Air Force’s first penetrating strike into Nazi Germany was a bloody affair that provided lessons for both sides. 

The fire seemed to become a living entity, changing course at will, consuming everything in its path, and generating a heat that melted glass and cutlery and turned bricks to ash. For over four hours, Hamburg burned. 

Allied intelligence believed that most captured American officers were being held at the Hammelburg prisoner of war camp, Oflag XIII-B. This population likely included Patton’s son-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel John Waters, but there was no way to be sure.

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.

Jewish Americans like Isadore S. Jachman contributed greatly to the American war effort in World War II, risking—and sacrificing—everything in the struggle against fascism.

A first-generation American of Lebanese descent, James Jabara was intent on being a fighter pilot. Soon, the five foot five airman would make US military aviation history.

The treaty that Hitler hated even more than the Treaty of Versailles and one of the most important treaties you have probably never heard of.

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.