Skip to main content

Military History

RealClear Context

Click below to continue reading this story, discover more Military History stories from over 25 years of RealClear archives, or follow this topic to stay in the know.

CDR Salamander • CDR Salamander

From Unicorns to Warhorses

a solution to a well-appreciated problem?

01/24/26Read it on CDR Salamander
3,530 stories
4mins ago
Jon Couch • RealClearDefense

2949 Marine Prisoners

Hostages, and Peacetime Governmental Detainees Since Our Corps' Founding...

4mins agoRead it on RealClearDefense
4mins ago
Defense

2949 Marine Prisoners, Hostages, and Peacetime Governmental Detainees Since Our Corps' Founding

Jon Couch • RealClearDefense • November 10, 2026

Library shelves are replete with books on war but authoritative books on an elite breed of sea soldiers known as United States Marines, and who are held captive, is much less common.  This book, released in June was written as a historical work, detailing Marine Prisoners of War (POW), hostages, or peacetime governmental detainee experiences from the Marine Corps’ founding in 1775 to the present. 

To provide the reader with a foundation for this topic, the first chapter explains often misunderstood POW-related terms and the steps prisoners go through from their initial point of capture until their release or escape. Following this introduction to POWs, the author then takes the reader through our nation’s conflicts, starting with the American Revolution through Operation Desert Storm (1991). 

3d ago
Stephen Ruiz • We Are the Mighty

How This MoH Recipient Saved the Union Forces at Gettysburg

Col. Joseph Chamberlain's daring decision to charge Confederate forces at Gettysburg proved to be a crucial moment during the Civil War....

3d agoRead it on We Are the Mighty
4d ago
Angela M. Riotto • On Point

The Army Under Fire

While laudatory portrayals of the Union Army in the Civil War are common enough in American history, the U.S. Army in the mid-nineteenth century is...

4d agoRead it on On Point
5d ago
Virgilio Ilari

The Civil War

New Perspectives on the American Civil War...

5d agoRead it on
5d ago
Logan Nye • We Are the Mighty

Smedley Butler’s Life Was Saved by a Uniform Button

It was a lucky shot for both Butler and the sniper. But it ended much worse for the sniper....

5d agoRead it on We Are the Mighty
1w ago
Thomas Sheppard • Providence

A Millennium of Seapower

Rodger’s Naval History of Britain trilogy covers the full range of naval battles and the intersection of politics and naval campaigns, but its 2,000+...

1w agoRead it on Providence
1w ago
Blake Stilwell • We Are the Mighty

5 Reasons Why Okinawa Is the Most Haunted Place in the Military

It's actually surprising that Okinawa isn't *more* haunted....

1w agoRead it on We Are the Mighty
1w ago
Larry A. Grant • On Point

Armies Afloat

How the Development of Amphibious Operations in Europe Helped Win World War II...

1w agoRead it on On Point
2w ago
Rick Baillergeon • Military Review

Seeds of Victory

Defeat, Triumph, and the American Way of War...

2w agoRead it on Military Review