Ross Dunfee While not officially adopting a flag at the time of the Declaration of Independence, the “Continental Colors” (aka the “Grand Union” flag), has historically been referred to as the first national flag of the United States. That flag has a striking resemblance to the British East India Company (1707-1801), where the canton resembles…
Tag: Support Our Troops
Features, August 2022
U.S. Military History: The Star-Spangled Banner
Ross Dunfee At the outset of the 19th century, Great Britain was locked in a long and bitter conflict with Napoleon Bonaparte’s France. Both France and Great Britain attempted to block the United States from trading with the other, and restrict the USA from westward expansion. Beginning in 1812, Napoleon began to encounter the first…
Features, July 2022
Military History: Women in War
Ross Dunfee Women have been participants in war since time began. In colonial days women used firearms to protect home, property, and loved ones. During the Revolution, Civil War, World Wars, and multiple other skirmishes, women often fought quietly alongside male comrades, but not as part of the uniformed services. During WWII able-bodied men were…
Features, June 2022
U.S. Military History: USS Enterprise
Ross Dunfee Enterprise means “readiness to engage in daring or difficult action,” and such was the lot for the crews of the eight colonial and U.S. ships named Enterprise. All Enterprises were participants in conflict, armed and ready for action. The U.S. ships named Enterprise are as follows: * Enterprise (1775-1777), a 70-ton, 22-gun, 50-crew…
Features, May 2022
U.S. Military History: Memorial Day Poppies
Ross Dunfee World War I concluded with about 10 million military personnel killed, and a like number of civilians. One particularly bloody battle during WWI was at the Second Battle of Ypres (Belgium) where, on April 22, 1915, Germany fired 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas against two French and Algerian Divisions and two days…
Features, April 2022
U.S. Military History: U.S. Coast Guard Flag, Song, and Motto
Ross Dunfee The Coast Guard has a rich history of consolidation with other federal services. The Coast Guard was created in 1915 when the Revenue Cutter Service (from 1790) was merged with the Life Saving Service (from 1848). In 1939, the Lighthouse Service (from 1789) was added, and the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation…
Features, March 2022
U. S. Military History: Some U.S. Coast Guard History
Ross Dunfee Lighthouses On Aug. 7, 1789, in the ninth act of the first U.S. Congress, 12 lighthouses were transferred to the federal government, and the United States Lighthouse Establishment (USLHE) was created under the Department of the Treasury, then Revenue, then Treasury. Because of poor management and poor lighting at lighthouses, the Lighthouse Board…
Features, February 2022
U.S. Military History: U.S. Navy Flag, Seal, and Song
Ross Dunfee Flag—What do you think of by reading the following list: Fluked, Admiralty, Stockless, Grapnel, Herreshoff, Northill, CQR, Delta, Danforth, and Bruce? If your answer was “various kinds of anchors,” you are correct. The first (unofficial) flag of the Continental Navy, called the Infantry Battalion Flag, was adopted in December 1864. It consisted of…
Features, January 2022
Some U.S. Navy History
Prior to the American Revolution, the colonies had no naval forces, but did have a large maritime population and many merchant vessels employed in domestic and foreign trade. That merchant service was familiar not only with the sea but also with warfare. On Oct. 13, 1775, the Continental Congress authorized the first Navy. On Dec.…
Features, December 2021
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
Ross Dunfee It was still dark at 03:42 on Dec. 7, 1941, when the minesweeper USS Condor AMc-14 saw a two-man Japanese submarine two miles from the mouth of Pearl Harbor. The USS Ward APD-16, which located and destroyed the submarine at 06:45, was herself sunk later that day by a Kamikaze. With that, the attack…