US Military

The Most Anticipated Museum Openings of 2020

Slated for this year are new institutions dedicated to ancient Egyptian, the Olympics, African American music and the Army

Oceanographers Map Legacy of Nuclear Tests at Bikini Atoll

Sonar scans reveal undersea craters from atomic testing conducted between 1946 and 1958

A dog wears the Canine Auditory Protection System, or CAPS.

The U.S. Army Is Developing Better Hearing Protection for Its Dogs

Like human personnel, military dogs are susceptible to hearing loss from exposure to high levels of noise

U.S. Army Pvt. John McGrath survived the bullet that scarred this letter he penned during the liberation of Italy.

The Unprecedented Effort to Preserve a Million Letters Written by U.S. Soldiers During Wartime

A tragedy at home led one intrepid historian to find and catalog precious correspondence for future generations to study

Entering German cities within days of their capture by Allied forces, the special Army-led team slipped into bomb-ravaged Cologne in early March 1945.

The Untold Story of the Secret Mission to Seize Nazi Map Data

How a covert U.S. Army intelligence unit canvassed war-torn Europe, capturing intelligence with incalculable strategic value

Soldiers take a psychological test (the exact type of examination is unclear) in Camp Lee in Virginia in November 1917, the year the United States entered World War I and Woodworth first developed his test.

The First Personality Test Was Developed During World War I

Long before online quizzes and Myers-Briggs, Robert Woodworth’s “Psychoneurotic Inventory” tried to assess recruits' susceptibility to shell shock

Here is the first sculpted version of the 'plastic army women' collector series.

'Little Green Army Men' Will Soon Feature Female Toy Soldiers

“Girls should be able to connect to the toys just as much as boys do,” the toys’ manufacturer says

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On the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, Native Americans Remember Veterans’ Service and Sacrifices

This year, 80 Native delegates have been asked to take part in the official commemoration of D-Day

Hundreds of spectators and D-Day veterans gather at Omaha Beach, the bloodiest site during the battle, for the 40th anniversary in 1984.

These Photos Capture the Poignancy of Past D-Day Commemorations

A look back at how the ceremonies marking major anniversaries of the Allied invasion of Europe have evolved.

One of a handful of surviving Higgins boats is on display outside of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office headquarters and National Inventors Hall of Fame Museum in Alexandria, Virginia.

The Invention That Won World War II

Patented in 1944, the Higgins boat gave the Allies the advantage in amphibious assaults

"Ray's Rock" on Omaha Beach, where medic Ray Lambert was part of the first wave during D-Day

One of the Few Surviving Heroes of D-Day Shares His Story

Army medic Ray Lambert, now 98, landed with the first assault wave on Omaha Beach. Seventy-five years later, he could be the last man standing

Fleet Adm. William D. Leahy stands directly behind President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who is seated between Winston Churchill (left) and Joseph Stalin (right), at the Yalta Conference during World War II.

The Hidden Power Behind D-Day

As a key advisor to F.D.R., Adm. William D. Leahy was instrumental in bringing the Allies together to agree upon the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe

Family photo of Elsye Mitchell

In 1945, a Japanese Balloon Bomb Killed Six Americans, Five of Them Children, in Oregon

The military kept the true story of their deaths, the only civilians to die at enemy hands on the U.S. mainland, under wraps

A single counterfeit component in the supply chain is all it takes to turn a fine-tuned aircraft launching system from an asset to a safety hazard.

How Nanoscale 'Signatures' Could Keep Counterfeit Parts Out of Military Equipment

Navy scientist Alison Smith will describe her novel authentication system at Smithsonian's Military Invention Day

Granville Coggs

Granville Coggs Fought Racism in the Military as a Tuskegee Airman

Coggs, who died on May 7, at the age of 93, was among the first black aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps

The 404th AFS Band pictured in Fort Des Moines

Seventy-Five Years Ago, the Military’s Only All-Black Female Band Battled the War Department and Won

The women of the 404th Armed Service Forces band raised morale and funds for the military, but they had to fight discrimination to do so

Alcatraz's recreation yard, where the structures were discovered.

Radar Scans Reveal Traces of 19th-Century Fort Beneath Alcatraz

Before Capone took up residence, the island was home to military installation that guarded San Francisco Bay

An American infantry camp in Siberia, Russia, December 1918

The Forgotten Story of the American Troops Who Got Caught Up in the Russian Civil War

Even after the armistice was signed ending World War I, the doughboys clashed with Russian forces 100 years ago

Operation Ranch Hand has led to a multi-generational health crisis and an environmental catastrophe.

Court Rules 'Blue Water' Vietnam Veterans Are Eligible for Agent Orange Benefits

Sailors had long been excluded from health benefits related to the dioxin-tainted herbicide the military spread during the war

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This Map Shows Where in the World the U.S. Military Is Combatting Terrorism

The infographic reveals for the first time that the U.S. is now operating in 40 percent of the world's nations

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