The Bird, that is. Not the Action Figure.

When their country has needed their services, carrier pigeons have answered the call of duty. Perhaps the most famous was G.I. Joe. He was an American carrier pigeon credited with saving over 100 British troops and 1000 civilians.

G.I. Joe was born (hatched) On This Day, March 24, 1943 in Algiers, North Africa.

He underwent his “basic training” for two-way homing pigeons that had been perfected at Fort Monmouth, in New Jersey. Homing pigeons were used during World War I and World War II for communication and reconnaissance purposes.

In the summer of 1917, shortly after America’s entry in World War I, the Army started a carrier pigeon service at 74 training camps and posts, including Camp Meade. (Camp Meade became a permanent fort in 1928.) The U.S. Army Pigeon Breeding and Training Center headquarters was at Fort Monmouth, NJ.

The training camps together housed over 10,000 pigeons, with another 15,000 trained birds sent to Europe for s...

His name was Alexander Fleming—the son of a Scottish pig farmer. He served in World War I, and his research has likely saved your life at some point. Or at least your parents' or grandparents' lives--and therefore yours as well! He received the Nobel Prize for his accidental discovery of penicillin.

Because he passed away On this Day, March 11, 1955, now is a very good time to recount his incredible story...

Sir Alexander Fleming was born at Lochfield near Darvel in Ayrshire, Scotland on August 6th, 1881.

His parents, Hugh and Grace were farmers, and Alexander was one of their four children. He also had four half-siblings who were the surviving children from his father Hugh's first marriage.

His parents could not afford to send him to school. His father passed away when he was only seven years of age.

He worked at a shipping office in London where he moved to when he was 13, and ultimately attended the Royal Polytechnic Institution since he could not afford to go to a private ...

Just completed another "D-Day Experience" video program that discusses The Battle of Carentan and what became known by the Soldiers who fought there, as "Purple Heart Lane."

The objective of the attacking American forces was consolidation of the U.S. beachheads--Utah Beach and Omaha Beach--and establishing a continuous defensive line against the German counterattacks that were certain to follow.

This is an interesting battle and event to study--it features the first bayonet charge of World War II, a Medal of Honor to the man who led it, and multiple Distinguished Service Crosses.
It's also a very complex battle--primarily because of the series of bridges along the causeway into Carentan, the movements and maneuver, the logistics, personalities and key locations involved; not to mention the series of attacks and counterattacks that occurred over the course of those several days in June 1944--less than a week after D-Day. But one thing was as clear to those men and women then, as it is ...

Arguably, if you had to pick one day that mattered most in the 20th Century, I'd say that D-Day would be that day. 

But how much do we really know about D-Day?  What importance do we place on it?   

I decided to canvass the internet as a kind of ad hoc method of determining what people regarded as the top events in 20th Century world history.  After reading many accounts, it ran the gamut: the Assassination of JFK, Apollo 11's First Steps on the Moon, the Challenger Disaster, the Assassination of Franz Ferdinand...and many others.

I talk about the results of that research project in one of the emails that you receive when you opt in to The D-Day Experience.

But what was so surprising to me is that D-Day was not in the top 10 of any of those lists I found.  

Was this a mistake of ignorance, omission or commission?  

You could probably make an argument for all three, but my immediate answer--giving society the benefit of the doubt--was that it's probably just the result of basi...

75 years ago, today, Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. passed away from a heart attack in Normandy.

Ted and his younger brother Quentin were the sons of President Theodore Roosevelt. Ted was wounded at Soissons during the summer of 1918 and received the Distinguished Service Cross. In July of that year, Quentin was killed in combat.

As assistant division commander of the 4th Infantry Division, Ted led the first wave on Utah Beach on D-Day. For his actions, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Both Quentin and Ted are buried side-by-side at Normandy American Cemetery.

Luke and I had the opportunity to attend the Battle of Saint-Lô 75th Anniversary Commemoration at the Atlantic Arch of the WWII Memorial today. Our good friend, Jan Scruggs MC’d the event.

We had the opportunity to meet 94 year old WWII Veteran Harold Radish, who was captured and held in a Nazi POW camp. Realizing his imminent capture, he told us he immediately “understood the situation I was in.” ...“I’m Jewish!” he exclaimed. “So I quickly threw my dog tags away!”

We also spoke to WWII (Korean War and Vietnam War) Veteran Retired Army Colonel Frederick Clinton who joined the Army at 16 years of age.