Trusted Writing on History, Travel, and American Culture Since 1949
D-Day
Ike’s son, historian John Eisenhower, recalls attending meetings with the British wartime leader and reflects on his character and accomplishments.
The famous journalist was arrested for stowing away on a hospital ship to cover the action on Normandy, writing a more compelling article than did her husband, Ernest Hemingway.
J.D. Salinger carried a draft of his subsequently classic novel with him when he landed on the beach at Normandy.
I don't think I could stand it if I had to go to war. It wouldn't be so bad if they'd just take you out and shoot you, but you have to stay in the army so goddamn long.
The recent discovery of the hull of the battleship Nevada recalls her dramatic action at Pearl Harbor and ultimate revenge on D-Day as the first ship to fire on the Nazis.
Editor's Note: Don't miss the first half of this essay, Two Hours in Hell at Pearl Harbor. Author Ed Offley, after serving in the Navy during Vietnam,
Authentic brass “crickets” issued to American paratroopers on D-Day are now quite rare. A worldwide search recently “unearthed a lost piece of sound history.”
Seventy-five years ago this June, the celebrated writer for The New Yorker was one of the first journalists to witness the carnage on Omaha Beach.
The April 1969 issue was typical of classic issues of American Heritage, with dramatic and substantive essays on George Washington, Ike and Patton, the Transcontinental Railroad, the "ship that wouldn't die," and many other fascinating subjects from our nation's past
Our April 1969 issue was typical of classic issues of American Heritage, with dramatic and substantive essays on George Washington, Ike and Patton, the Transcontinental Railroad, the "ship that wouldn't die," and m
Eisenhower's call to proceed with D-Day was anything but inevitable.
It has been 65 years since D-Day—the early June day when the United States and its allies launched a massive attack on the shores of Normandy in a bid to liberate western Europe from the Nazis.
Those Yanks of World War II are white-haired now. Great-grandchildren play about their feet. The grand parades and great commemorations are over. Only a few monuments to their achievements are yet to be built.
World War II is so difficult to get right on the screen. Here are some of the movies that do it best.
Reminiscences of World War II’s European Theater add up to considerably more than a bunch of good war stories.
A soldier who landed in the second wave on Omaha Beach assesses the broadest implications of what he and his comrades achieved there.
It has been a disquieting presence on my bookshelf for 26 years now, in four houses and four apartments, a large, handsome volume, bound in white leather and stamped in gold.
Only those of us who were there know what Ike was really saying when the famous photograph was taken.
To this day nobody will take responsibility for the orphan dead of the 741st Tank Battalion.
This June 6 many ceremonies will mark the anniversary of the most massive amphibious invasion in history. One of them will be held at the U.S. military cemetery just east of Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, a small French village on the Normandy coast.
The G.I.’s were far more numerous than any army that ever occupied Britain; none left so little visible trace, none so touching a legacy
Eisenhower dreamed of serving under Patton, but history reversed their roles. Their stormy association dramatically shaped the Allied assault on the Third Reich
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