In November 1943, a C-53 transport plane loaded with 13 medics, 13 flight nurses, and four aircrew members left Sicily headed for Bari, Italy. Their mission was to transport wounded soldiers to hospitals farther away from the front lines. A storm, combined with a run-in with German fighter planes, forced them off course. The airplane…
On September 29, 1864, Black soldiers serving in the U.S. Colored Troops (USCTs) led an assault against Confederate defenses protecting Richmond during the Battle of New Market Heights. New Market Heights was part of the larger Battle of Chaffin’s Farm. It included fighting at Fort Harrison, Fort Gilmer, and Laurel Hill. During this battle, two…
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is an agency within the United States Department of Defense. Their mission is to recover the remains of military personnel who are listed as prisoners of war or missing in action from past conflicts. We’ve added a new collection of indexed records for the estimated 82,000 American military and…
On February 9, 1945, the State Department sent an urgent telegram to the Secretary of State. The message informed him that thousands of American soldiers, captured during the Battle of the Bulge, were being held at a notorious German POW camp. It stated that Stalag IX-B was “previously not (repeat not) known to be a…
In 1942, US military officials visited the Navajo Nation and recruited 29 Navajo men to train as Code Talkers in the Marines. Code Talkers used their tribal language to send secret messages on the battlefield. By the end of the war, more than 400 Navajos were trained as Code Talkers, participating in nearly every major…
We’ve added a new collection of WWI records to our archives! The U.S. WWI Burial Cards document the death and burial of over 78,000 American soldiers in WWI. These cards contain information including: Name of the deceased Unit assigned Date and cause of death Burial location Final resting place if reinterred Emergency contact information (often…
Thanks for joining us earlier this month during our live stream from the Gettysburg battlefield. It was our privilege to work with the American Battlefield Trust as we learned more about this important battle. We’re highlighting a few of the soldier’s stories and artifacts you may have missed during the broadcast. Our special thanks to…
