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…
Tag: Support Our Troops
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…
Features, October 2021
U.S. Military History: Some U.S. Marine Corps History
Ross Dunfee What is a Marine? A sailor? A soldier? Or an infantry or amphibious assault member? They are all—soldiers serving on ships ready for land action. Their history, etched in antiquity, has records in ancient Greece and Rome. In the 17th century, the English, in its wars with the Dutch, referred to Marine units as naval infantry. In 1739,…
Features, September 2021
U.S. Military History: U.S. Army—Flag, Song, Motto, and Oath
Ross Dunfee Flag—The Army Seal was used originally during the American Revolution to authenticate documents. It displayed the designation “War Office,” which was synonymous with Headquarters of the Army, and the Roman year MDCCLXXVIII (1778), the first time it was used. It remained unchanged until 1947, when the War Office banner was replaced with “Department…
Features, July 2021
U.S. Military History: Independence Day
Ross Dunfee The first successful English colony settled in America was at Jamestown, Va., in 1607—and the migration was on—primarily of British, German, and Dutch extraction, but immigrants arrived from throughout Europe. Communities were settled and financed primarily by privately-organized British settlers or families using free enterprise without any significant English royal or Parliamentary government support or…
Features, June 2021
U.S. Military History: D-Day
Ross Dunfee So, what does the “D” stand for in D-Day? Stop! Do not keep reading until you attempt to answer the question. Okay, now you can read on. Most people who celebrate the holiday do not know the answer. Some people believe it is in reference to June 6, 1944, when, in World War…
Features, May 2021
Memorial Day
Ross Dunfee The killing was over. The four-year long Civil War officially ended at Appomattox, Va. April 9, 1865. There was a large division between the northern states (largely industrial) and the southern states (largely agrarian) over slavery, states’ rights, and westward expansion. The election of Lincoln was the last straw, and by one month…
Features, April 2021
U.S. Military History: Armed Forces Day
Ross Dunfee Armed Forces Day is celebrated May 15 this year, but with Memorial Day also in May, this Armed Forces Day article is printed in April to avoid printing two articles in May. Clip and save. Each of the branches of Military Service (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard) has a day…