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When the first B-52 Stratofortress bomber to crash went down in 1956, it took with it one of the United States’ greatest pilots and a stunning fighter ace from World War II. Patrick Fleming was the fighter pilot Japanese fighter pilots have nightmares about and the kind of test pilot Air Force people read about for their promotion tests. 
Who was Patrick Fleming?
Fleming was one of the handful of aviators who would serve his country in wartime, change branches, and become one of the guys with “The Right Stuff.

Being “OC sprayed” is an absolutely terrible experience. OC, or Oleoresin Capsicum — better known as pepper spray — is used to train military and law enforcement personnel as a necessary exercise, so they know what it feels like and can continue to function if they are sprayed.
“It may be the greatest pain I’ve ever felt in my life,” former Marine Ben Feibleman told WATM. Echoing this sentiment, WATM’s own Mike Dowling described it as “the worst day of his life.

The Manhattan Project, America’s nuclear bomb program, was one of the most expensive research and development undertakings of WWII. In total, the program cost about $2 billion, or nearly $30 billion in 2021 adjusted for inflation. However, there was one program that was 50% more expensive than the Manhattan Project: The B-29 Superfortress. It was pushed through though because it was necessary for the Manhattan Project to work and the war to be won.
Since 1937, China had been fighting the Japanese largely on its own.

John F. Kennedy was born into privilege, graduated from Harvard, and did not have to fight in World War II, but he did — he insisted. Ironically, Kennedy was not allowed to serve in the military on his first attempt. He was disqualified from entering the Army’s Officer Candidate School in 1940 because of a severe back injury. Historian and Kennedy biographer, Robert Dallek suggests his vertebrae started degenerating while treating his intestinal problems with steroids in the late 1930s, according to the New York Times.
Thanks to his father’s political influence as the U.S.

HBO’s miniseries Band of Brothers is a show that will be remembered as one of the greatest of all time. Its powerful storytelling, incredible acting and precise attention to detail make it the standard against which other military media is compared. You may notice a few familiar faces in some of the episodes upon repeat viewings. When the show premiered in 2001, many of these actors were still young in their careers. While Band of Brothers may not have catapulted any of them to instant fame, it’s still fun to go back through and pick them out.

Ilha da Queimada Grande is an island off the coast of Brazil that is more commonly known as “Snake Island” (not to be confused by the infamous Ukrainian soldier’s retort of, “Russian warship, go f*** yourself” while defending “the other” Ukrainian-held Snake Island). The British navy forbids visitors to the Brazilian island due to the extremely venomous snakes that live there. With 1-5 snakes per square meter, the island has the highest concentration of venomous snakes in the world. If you think your duty station sucks, imagine going TDY to Snake Island.

The poncho liner — the lightweight blanket used and loved by many — is one of the most well-known items issued in the military. Despite having been around for decades, it’s still one of the most popular items to date. But what is this thing? Why’s it called a woobie? And why do grown men get so emotional about them? Seriously, steal or damage a man’s woobie and you might fear for your life.

Calvin Graham was the youngest of seven children of a poor Texas farm family and because of his abusive stepfather, he and one of his older brothers decided to move out. Calvin supported himself by selling newspapers and delivering telegrams on weekends and after school, but he was curious about something more: the Navy.
He was just 11 when he first thought of lying about his age to join the Navy. The world was in the midst of the Second World War and some of his cousins had recently died in battles. Graham made his decision. The question was how to do it.

When you hear “Sandy,” maybe you think about Olivia Newton-John’s character in Grease, unless you’re in the Search-and-Rescue community. Even then, most people don’t associate the word with one of the best attack planes of all time. But the Douglas A-1 Skyraider was also a “Sandy” — and one that turned many enemies of the United States into…well…grease spots.
An A-1 Skyraider in 1966, when four planes assigned to USS Intrepid shot down at least one MiG-17. (U.S.

With two 20mm cannons, a 40mm automatic grenade launcher, five .50-cal. machine guns, and two weapon pods that could carry either 70mm rocket launchers or 7.62mm miniguns, the armored ACH-47A Chinook could fly into the teeth of enemy resistance and fly back out as the only survivor. The aircraft boasted overlapping fields of fire and 360-degree coverage.

Operating under the call sign “Guns-A-Go-Go,” these behemoths were part of an experimental program during Vietnam to create heavy aerial gunships to support ground troops.