An American multi-purpose canine (MPC) Belgian Malinois was honored for heroism under fire while serving four tours of duty with the U.S. Marine Corps. Shimanski was deployed to Jordan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia during his seven-year career and received the Animals in War and Peace Medal of Bravery for his service, an …
Read More »With the SAS in Mozambique, We Parachuted Into Enemy Territory While Bombs Exploded on the Ground Below
by John Gartner As I sat looking out the port side window of the Dakota, I could see below me the vast expanse of Lake Cahora Bassa dam. The grey skeletal branches of long-drowned trees dotted the shoreline and seemed, in my reverie, to be reaching imploringly skyward. The surface …
Read More »Slugfest in Syria: US Special Forces Vs Russian Wagner Group Mercs
by Kevin Maurer, The War Horse Explosions flashed in the fog hanging over the Euphrates River like a coming summer storm. The continuous thunder of Russian guns pounded the American positions in a burned-out natural gas refinery in eastern Syria. Tracers crisscrossed the Syrian sky. The Special Forces soldiers felt …
Read More »Legendary Air Force Pilot Bob Pardo Pushed His Buddy’s Jet to Safety in Wartime – While in Flight
The story is legend among fighter pilots. During the Vietnam War, Major John “Bob” Pardo was flying lead on the way back from a 1,000 mile mission over enemy territory, when they ran into serious trouble. The two F-4C Phantom jets took heavy flak, and considerable damage. Pardo saw that …
Read More »George Washington Bacon, the CIA’s Man in Laos Before He Became a Merc in Angola
Editor’s note: Longtime CIA covert operations officer James Parker Jr. often talked to me about his days in Southeast Asia, including the secret war in Laos. He told stories of another case officer and former Green Beret, George Washington Bacon III, who became a mercenary in Angola. Here is an …
Read More »‘Miracle on the Hudson’: Sully Sullenberger Saved 150 Airline Passengers During Emergency Water Landing
In what will forever be known as The Miracle on the Hudson, Sully Sullenberger and his crew saved the lives of 150 passengers after being forced to splash down in the frigid Hudson River. After logging more than 20,000 hours of flight time Sullenberger became internationally renowned on January 15, …
Read More »Nine Months of Hell in Mariupol: How This Real-Life Rambo Survived, Resisted, and Escaped Captivity
By John Spencer As I sat in a clean, elegant café in downtown Kyiv it was nearly impossible for me to comprehend the story I was being told. My interviewee was a quiet, humble former active-duty Ukrainian Marine from Mariupol named Gennadiy (or Gena for short). But while Gena was …
Read More »Ty Carter Raced Through Withering Fire to Rescue a Wounded Soldier in the Battle of Kamdesh
by Katie Lange With the inside of an armored vehicle was the only thing keeping him safe from a hail of gunfire, Army Staff Sgt. Ty Carter had the courage to rescue a wounded comrade on the ground during an intense battle in Afghanistan. For his bravery and devotion, he …
Read More »‘Troops of the Hunter Class’: Creating Britain’s Legendary Commando Force
Britain’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill in World War II wanted “specially trained troops of the hunter class, who can develop a reign of terror down these coasts [of occupied Europe], first of all on the butcher and bolt policy… leaving a trail of German corpses behind them.” This translated into …
Read More »On Desperate Ground: Mad Dog Platoon and the Battle of OP Nevada
by Susan Katz Keating The Ninth Situation of War, when you must fight without delay, is Desperate Ground – Sun Tzu “Watson. Wake up. Woods. Everyone. Wake the hell up.” The sentinels raced through the lean-to, alerting the team with urgent news: the Taliban were at the wire. Hours earlier, Sgt. …
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