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Articles by Stephen Ruiz
The Ukrainian soldier ‘Da Vinci’ inspired a nation with his fighting spirit
Hamlet Avagyan left his native Armenia for Ukraine in 2015 to fight against Russian military and pro-Russian separatists. Avagyan committed for three months, yet he never left. He told Ukrainska Pravda, an independent news outlet, that changed his outlook forever. "In Avdiivka, I met Da Vinci," said Avagyan, now a major in the Ukrainian military. "Up until then, it had been like working in any other country, but I became friends with him and began to feel what he felt, to think the way he thought.
What John Glenn did to save his famous wingman’s life in Korea
Marine Corps veteran and space pioneer John Glenn with his wingman, Red Sox legend Ted Williams during the Korean War. (U.S. Marine Corps) Ted Williams, a Hall of Fame baseball player, served as a Marine Corps aviator during World War II and was recalled to fly combat missions in Korea alongside future astronaut John Glenn.
VA rescinds decision that could have lowered veterans’ disability rating
A Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) logo is placed on the entrance of the VA Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) Intake Site on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, March 18, 2024. (U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Alyssa J. DeCrane) A week after the Department of Veterans Affairs published an interim final rule that would have lowered disability compensation for millions of military veterans, the VA announced Thursday it is rescinding it.
‘After Action’ Gives Veterans a Platform to Discuss Their Unique Experiences
As the cameras rolled, Stacy Pearsall sat facing three former POWs as they disclosed intimate details about their ordeals. Pearsall did not recoil at the revelations. Rather, she made eye contact and listened, determined to make sure that her fellow military veterans felt heard.
How This Female Pilot Beat the Odds and Flew for the Air Force Thunderbirds
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‘Top Guns: The Next Generation’ Shows the Successes and Struggles of Aspiring Fighter Pilots Original
Andrew Seepe always dreamed of sitting behind the controls of an F-18 Super Hornet. When he was a boy and his mother -- a medical officer in the Navy at the time -- was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina, his family attended air shows. The Blue Angels fascinated Seepe. Later on, Seepe was mesmerized by an article about what it was like for a fighter pilot to take off and land on an aircraft carrier.
How the Men on a Navy Submarine Survived After Sinking 240 Feet in the Atlantic
Trapped 240 feet beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, Lt. Oliver Naquin could not ensure the crew of the USS Squalus that they would survive this catastrophe. Instead, Naquin -- commander of the Squalus, one of the most advanced submarines the U.S. Navy had produced at that time -- worked to save his men. Blankets were provided for the shivering service members as Naquin instructed them to move as little as possible to conserve air.
How the Men on a Navy Submarine Survived After Sinking 240 Feet in the Atlantic
Trapped 240 feet beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, Lt. Oliver Naquin could not ensure the crew of the USS Squalus that they would survive this catastrophe. Instead, Naquin -- commander of the Squalus, one of the most advanced submarines the U.S. Navy had produced at that time -- worked to save his men. Blankets were provided for the shivering service members as Naquin instructed them to move as little as possible to conserve air.
The Terrible Cost of One Deadly Midair Collision at Naval Air Station Fallon
Shortly after striking his head on the ground upon landing, Navy fighter pilot Anthony Roy began to collect pieces of airplane. As he did, a family that had witnessed his descent in a parachute approached him. With Roy's arms full of plane fragments, the curious onlookers inquired about his well-being. "They get out [of their car], like, 'Are you OK?' 'Yeah, I'm OK,'" Roy recounted in a recent episode of The Fighter Pilot Podcast.
How the Coast Guard Pulled off One of its Greatest Rescues During a Nor'easter
Unsure whether they would ever step on solid ground again, a distressed group of mariners huddled above the imposing waves that thrashed their broken ship. A menacing nor'easter pummeled the SS Pendleton on Feb. 18, 1952, causing the oil tanker to be broken in two a mile off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
How This Airman Survived 3 Months in the Alaskan Wilderness After a World War II Plane Crash
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The Best Amazon Prime Day 2025 Deals for Service Members, Veterans and Military Families
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The Best Amazon Prime Day 2025 Deals for Service Members, Veterans and Military Families
As an Amazon associate, Military.com earns from qualifying purchases. If you think Amazon Prime Day is getting longer, you're not alone. And you're not wrong, either. Amazon Prime Day 2025 runs from 12:01 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Tuesday, July 8, through Friday, July 11. That's four days, folks -- twice as long as what Amazon Prime Day has been in previous years. That gives us more time to browse deals and discounts. But who has time to look at them all? Thankfully, you've come to the right place.
This Soldier Was Born into a Life of Crime. Somehow, He Became a Medal of Honor Recipient.
Charles Barger's life began under difficult circumstances and never really got any easier. Born into a notorious Kansas crime family, Barger was put up for adoption when his father was imprisoned for murder, then was orphaned as a boy when his adoptive parents died. He quit school after the fourth grade and tried to support himself with farm jobs for a while before registering for the draft in 1917 -- the year the United States entered World War I.
New Graphic Novel Spotlights Robert Smalls, Who Escaped Slavery on a Stolen Confederate Ship
Robert Smalls published a newspaper, established a transportation company and served five terms in the United States Congress. Before those laudable accomplishments, though, Smalls had to secure his freedom. Born into slavery in South Carolina in 1839, Smalls escaped during the Civil War when he commandeered the Planter, a Confederate transport ship, and surrendered to the Union Navy at Charleston Harbor in May 1862.
How the US Military Scrambled to Recover a Missing Bomb During the Cold War
If not for a Spanish fisherman who saw something and said something, the U.S. Air Force might never have recovered a missing hydrogen bomb during the Cold War. On Jan. 17, 1966, Francisco Simo y Orts was going about his day in the coastal town of Palomares when a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber and KC-135 Stratotanker collided during a refueling mission. The subsequent explosions caused Orts to look skyward, where he saw what he believed to be a crew member strapped to a parachute.
How Airmen Started a Golf Club in the Nazi POW Camp Known for 'The Great Escape'
It began with one used golf club, sent to a British military pilot detained in a German POW camp during World War II. Arriving in a Red Cross parcel but with no balls to hit, Sydney Smith had to get creative. Carving a small chunk of wood until it was mostly round, Smith wrapped the wood in wool and cotton and stitched a covering to hold it in place. Once it was completed, he placed his handmade ball on the ground, grabbed his iron club and swung.
What the Life of a Navy Fighter Pilot Really Looks Like
Vincent Aiello attended his first airshow when he was 8 years old, sparking a lifelong love of aviation. He and his brothers loved flying so much that they hung posters and replicas of military aircraft in their bedroom and even built remote-controlled airplanes.
The Gold Star Mom Who Rallied America After Losing 5 Sons During World War II
For eight agonizing months, Alleta Sullivan clung to the slimmest of hopes that her five sons somehow survived the sinking of the USS Juneau in late 1942. When Navy Secretary Frank Knox officially declared the warship's 687 missing sailors and officers dead in August 1943, Sullivan -- who reportedly earlier in her life -- could have easily fallen into a tailspin of despair. Instead, even before Knox’s confirmation, she had already been doing what her sons would have wanted.
How Comic Legend Mel Brooks Defused Land Mines During World War II
When Melvin Kaminsky arrived in Europe with a field artillery unit, he thought he would be a radio operator. In need of combat engineers, though, the Army noticed the young private's military operational specialty -- the military service had trained him as an electrical engineer -- saw the word "engineer" and immediately reassigned him. Instead of receiving and sending coded messages, Kaminsky's new assignment was far more dangerous.
How a World War II Tail Gunner Survived a Midair Collision Without a Parachute
As he plunged toward the unforgiving earth, Army Air Forces Sgt. James Raley was stuck. It was January 1944, and the tail section of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber nicknamed “Skippy” where Raley was positioned as a tail gunner had been severed from the rest of the aircraft in a midair collision. Spiraling from an altitude of more than 19,000 feet with no parachute strapped to his back, he had no means of escape.
'The Unkillable Soldier' Who Kept Fighting Despite Losing an Eye and Hand in World War I
At the turn of the 20th century, Adrian Carton de Wiart was struggling academically. While considering whether to continue pursuing a law degree at the University of Oxford, he desperately sought clarity. When he found it, he discovered that his future lay not in a courtroom but on a battlefield. Carton de Wiart left Oxford’s hallowed halls to enlist in the British military and fight in the Boer War in South Africa.
The Medal of Honor Fraud Case that Took Stolen Valor to the Extreme
With each letter from a disgusted veteran, William Bassler grew more furious. Then a federal district court judge in New Jersey, Bassler listened intently as those veterans described how a federal government contractor that sold 300 fraudulent Medals of Honor in the early 1990s had degraded their military service in an egregious example of stolen valor. When Bassler sentenced the defendants, he did not hold back.
This Vietnam War Legend Is the Only 3-Time Medal of Honor Nominee
Barely more than two years after Green Beret Robert Howard’s heroic attempt to retrieve a severely injured lieutenant from enemy-controlled territory during the Vietnam War, he stood before President Richard Nixon at the White House. As Howard was about to receive the Medal of Honor on March 2, 1971, he felt nervous and weak-kneed. He looked pale, prompting a concerned Nixon to ask whether he was OK.
The Former Slave Who Stole a Confederate Ship to Achieve His Family's Freedom
As darkness enveloped the waters of Charleston Harbor, Robert Smalls realized that he would have no better chance to escape slavery than that morning. It was May 13, 1862, and Smalls did not hesitate, springing into action to execute his plan to seize the CSS Planter, a Confederate military cargo transport ship.
The WWII Fighter Ace and Medal of Honor Recipient Who Helped Give America the Super Bowl
As a fighter ace who received the Medal of Honor after shooting down 26 Japanese planes over Guadalcanal during World War II, Joe Foss was accustomed to bold action. He was not afraid to think big, either. So when Foss -- then the commissioner of the upstart American Football League -- sent a letter to his NFL counterpart, Pete Rozelle, in December 1963, it was not totally out of character for him to suggest a matchup between the leagues’ respective champions.
This NFL Player Lost Both Legs at Iwo Jima - and Rallied His Platoon to Keep Fighting
Jack Lummus' professional football career ended the moment a landmine blew off both of his legs at Iwo Jima. Lummus, a Marine Corps first lieutenant who died on March 8, 1945, at the age of 29 years old, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor -- one of only two recipients of the United States' highest military honor ever to play in the NFL. Maurice Britt, an Army captain killed in Italy in November 1943, spent one season with the Detroit Lions.
The Army's Secret Program to Interrogate German POWs During World War II
Escaping the festering hostilities in Germany against Jews in the 1930s, Rudy Pins kissed his father goodbye and boarded a train. Then 12 years old, Pins -- bound for a new life in the United States -- never saw his family again. After the policy forbidding German Jews from serving in the U.S. military was changed during World War II, Pins joined the Army and was going through basic training, believing he would be sent overseas to battle the Nazis. The Army had other ideas, though.
John Wayne's Transformative Visit to US Troops in Vietnam
"The Green Berets," starring John Wayne, encountered scathing reviews upon its release in 1968.
Aircraft, Flight Jackets and Pins: How Walt Disney's Characters Inspired Troops in WWII
In 1933, a Navy Reserve Squadron in New York asked Walt Disney's company to develop an insignia for the military unit. What Disney devised was an image of Mickey Mouse riding a goose, with a Navy trident under one wing and the Statue of Liberty in the background. That insignia was believed to be the first that Disney ever did for the United States' fighting forces, but it was far from the last.
Aircraft, Flight Jackets and Pins: How Walt Disney's Characters Inspired Troops in WWII
16 hours ago A top Iranian general said Russia was actually bombing the empty desert while saying it was attacking Syrian rebels A top Iranian general has accused Russia of lying to Tehran by saying its jets were attacking Syrian rebels while they were instead bombing the open desert. In a rare break from Iran's diplomatic line on Syria, Brig. Gen.
The Greatest Service Academy Football Lineup in Army-Navy Game History
Since the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, first started playing football in the late 19th century, it has posted undefeated seasons, claimed national championships and been the home of Heisman Trophy winners. Then there was the 1912 Army team -- a squad that finished with a mediocre 5-3 record but might be the most militarily skilled the academy has ever produced.
80 Years Ago, a Historic Army-Navy Game Captivated a Nation During World War II
For the average American, the Army-Navy football game is normally a curiosity at best and an afterthought at worst. On Dec. 2, 1944, however, the Black Knights and Midshipmen clashed in a matchup that enthralled a nation like none other since the service academies first met in 1890. With Army ranked No. 1 and Navy No. 2 in most national polls, it was the first time that they met while both sat atop the college football rankings.
How a Prussian Baron Helped the Colonists Win the American Revolution
When Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge on Feb. 23, 1778, one soldier likened him to "an ancient fabled God of War ... a perfect personification of Mars." Far from a mythological figure, though, he was a military officer from Prussia undertaking the biggest challenge of his career: building the American military basically from the ground up "Our arms are in horrible condition, covered with rust," von Steuben said after assessing the Continental Army.
The World War II Fighter Ace Behind the Navy's Blue Angels
As Capt. Roy "Butch" Voris trained with other naval aviators in preparation for the public debut of the Blue Angels, the nascent aerobatic team put on a demonstration for a senior member of Adm. Chester Nimitz's staff. Wanting to see firsthand how their training was going, he came away thoroughly impressed and shaking his head.
The Time an Army Bomber Crashed into the Empire State Building During WWII
The last time that Therese Fortier Willig saw her boss on July 28, 1945, his head and clothes were on fire. Willig, then 20 years old, was working for Catholic Relief Services on the 79th floor of New York City's iconic Empire State Building when a U.S. Army Air Force B-25 bomber accidentally crashed into the skyscraper. Her supervisor, Joe Fountain, died four days later, one of 14 people who were killed in the bizarre and horrifying incident.
This Dental Nonprofit Will Fix Veterans’ Teeth for Free
Marine Corps veteran Arturo Gamboa can't stop smiling. It wasn't always like this. For most of his life, the 65-year-old Gamboa grinded his teeth, and because the former corporal lacked dental insurance, he figured nothing could be done to fix his worn-down and cracked teeth. Then he discovered Everyone for Veterans, a nonprofit that connects eligible military veterans and their spouses to dentists in their communities for free oral care.
How This 101-Year-Old Tuskegee Airman Helped Keep the 'Red Ball Express' Running During WWII
When David Fax was a cadet in the Air Force ROTC detachment at Howard University in the early 1970s, one of his professors asked him what he knew about the Tuskegee Airmen. Stumbling for an answer, Fax sheepishly admitted he didn't know anything about the historic group of Black military pilots and service members who fought heroically during World War II. Fax was about to get an education, largely courtesy of that professor: retired Air Force Lt. Col.
How Elvis Presley Revitalized Efforts to Build a Pearl Harbor Memorial
Days before he was discharged from the Army, Elvis Presley was asked how he believed two years of military service would affect the stratospheric trajectory his career was on before he was drafted. "Actually, I don't know," then-Sgt. Presley said at a news conference on March 1, 1960, in Friedberg, West Germany, where he had been stationed for the previous 1½ years. "I hear the trend has changed, the music's changed. ...
How Jesse Owens' Olympic Teammate Kept the Tuskegee Airmen Safe During World War II
Because of their groundbreaking service in World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen were awarded eight Purple Hearts, 14 Bronze Stars and 96 Distinguished Flying Crosses. Those distinctions would not have been possible without men like Archie Williams. Williams, who won the 400-meter final at the same 1936 Berlin Olympics at which Jesse Owens collected four track-and-field gold medals, always wanted to be a military pilot but was disqualified from flight training because he exceeded the age limit.
Why the Only American Killed on Hitler’s Direct Order ‘Couldn’t Turn Her Back on Germany’
Mildred Fish-Harnack grew up wanting to be a writer, not someone passing secrets between countries during World War II. In time, she could have become a well-known poet and scholar, if not for what she considered a greater purpose -- becoming part of a Nazi resistance movement to fight the oppression and brutality imposed by Adolf Hitler. When Fish-Harnack was guillotined on Feb. 16, 1943, she became the only American killed on a direct order from the German dictator.
How Julia Child Helped the Navy Develop a Shark Repellent During World War II
Long before she became a culinary powerhouse, Julia Child was fighting sharks -- sort of. While Child was not one of the driving forces behind the U.S. Navy's quest to develop a shark repellent during World War II, she was among those tasked with finding one while working for the Office of Strategic Services, the intelligence agency established in June 1942 that became a precursor to the CIA.
How This 'Most Unfortunate' Civil War General Helped Give America the Statue of Liberty
On Oct. 28, 1886, Charles Pomeroy Stone became severely ill after serving as the grand marshal of the dedication parade for the Statue of Liberty. Stone never regained his health, and three months later, he died of pneumonia. Stone -- the former Union Army officer that Ulysses S. Grant considered -- lived quite an eventful life.
From the Coast Guard to NASA: How Andre Douglas Became a Rarity Among Astronauts
When Andre Douglas was announced as part of NASA's 2021 astronaut candidate class, the Coast Guard Academy was euphoric. Cadets hung posters of Douglas, a 2008 academy graduate who served on active duty in the Coast Guard for seven years, and students and faculty followed his progress intently. Their level of pride rose even more after Douglas was one of 10 new astronauts the space agency officially revealed in March.
How Martha Gellhorn Became the Only Female Journalist at D-Day
As a female war correspondent, Martha Gellhorn was not allowed to accompany the Allied invasion force that stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. A less ambitious reporter might have just accepted that edict, but Gellhorn intended to be there -- and nothing was going to stop her. All Gellhorn needed was a good plan, and so, the night before the invasion, she finagled a spot on a hospital ship by telling military police she was there to interview nurses.
The Wild and Controversial Life of the American Sculptor Behind Mount Rushmore
In late 1924, a rare opportunity presented itself to Gutzon Borglum. At the time, the American sculptor found himself on the verge of being fired from his job carving a Confederate monument into the side of Stone Mountain in Georgia amid repeated clashes with his bosses, a fair share of which were his own making. Irritated, Borglum packed his bags and traveled to a remote location in South Dakota. He was intrigued by what he saw in the Black Hills; more importantly, he was highly motivated.
Taps: How a Medal of Honor Recipient Gave America its Most Famous Military Bugle Call Ever
Daniel Butterfield could not read or write music, but he knew what he liked. A brigadier general in the Union Army who would go on to receive the Medal of Honor in 1892 for gallantry during the Civil War, Butterfield was not particularly enamored with the bugle call that signaled lights out to U.S. troops at the end of the day.
'The Angel of Gettysburg' Buried Union Soldiers While 6 Months' Pregnant
For one week, Elizabeth Thorn, her three young sons and her parents abandoned their home during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. When they returned, Thorn not only discovered barely a belonging left at their residence at Evergreen Cemetery, but -- as the fill-in for her husband, Peter, who left his job as its caretaker to fight against the Confederacy -- she was responsible for digging graves for the Union's dead.
How the First Female Pilot to Die on Active Duty with the US Military Cultivated Her Love of Flying
Cornelia Fort was less than a year into her job as a flight instructor in Hawaii when she and her student pilot narrowly avoided a midair collision, saved only when Fort grabbed the controls and caused their single-engine plane to climb rapidly. Not sure who the other plane belonged to, Fort's doubts were erased when she glimpsed Japan's rising-sun insignia on its wing, then noticed smoke over nearby Pearl Harbor. It was Dec.
How the 3 Living Black Medal of Honor Recipients Embody the Military’s Top Award
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