Big Shots – History’s Largest Cannons, Mortars and Super Guns
“Iraq’s ‘super gun’, while certainly mammoth, was just one in a long series of ultra-heavy artillery pieces that have appeared throughout history. Consider these other ‘big shots’.” FEW TODAY LIKELY remember the name Gerard Bull. Yet…
Stoned in the Ranks – Drug and alcohol abuse nothing new in military culture
“Substance abuse in the service is a centuries old phenomenon.” AN OUTRIGHT ban on drinking alcohol in combat seems to have had little impact on American soldiers’ consumption of booze, according to an article last week…
Monumental Struggles — Five War Memorials That Sparked Controversy
“The $500,000 work of art raised eyebrows when it was unveiled.” WAR MEMORIALS ARE supposed to commemorate past conflicts. But what happens when the monument itself sparks a battle in its own right? A number of…
Washington News’ List of Best Civil War Films
The American newspaper The Washington News published a list of the 15 best U.S. Civil War movies of all time this weekend. It includes flicks from the silent era right up to the present. Check out…
A Brief History of Wartime PTSD — From Ancient Greece to Afghanistan
“For centuries, even millennia, eye-witnesses of conflict have suffered from PTSD. Consider these early accounts.” WHILE THE TERM post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) wasn’t officially coined until 1980, psychologists, both civilian and military, have long been aware of the…
We Fought a Zoo — Animal Weapons Throughout History
“As recently as the Second World War, militaries weaponized animals.” HUMANS HAVE BEEN domesticating animals for use in combat since the first warriors of Eurasia rode into battle on horses around 3000 BCE. But what…
