PN1501

In May 1945, outside Frankfurt, an American soldier at a checkpoint noticed a girl approaching. She looked about 15 years old, thin and exhausted, her dirty clothes hanging loose on her frame. She was carrying a baby. The soldier raised his hand. Stop. The checkpoint was closed to civilians. But the girl kept walking, slowly, … Read more

In April 1945, as General George S. Patton's column moved through a small German town, a woman appeared at a checkpoint on the main road. She was not a refugee and she was not asking for passage. She had walked from a building three streets away, an orphanage that had stood on the same site … Read more

In April 1945, the Third Army was 12 miles from the end of the war in Europe. Among the many Americans serving in its ranks was Lieutenant Margaret Chen, a Red Cross nurse who had been in Europe since June 1944. She had spent 10 months in field hospitals, working through the night when it … Read more

In April 1945, as Patton's Third Army raced east toward the Czech border, a scout patrol sweeping a German farm made a discovery that would leave even hardened veterans shaken. The patrol was led by Sergeant Tom Riley, a 28-year-old from Brooklyn who had been fighting since Normandy. He thought he had seen everything the … Read more

In May 1945, the war in Europe was over. The SS was surrendering across Germany. An SS officer was brought to Third Army headquarters as a prisoner. He was high-ranking and arrogant, still wearing his black uniform as if it meant something. He had been captured near the Austrian border. His unit had tried to … Read more

In the summer of 1944, as Allied armies broke into fortress ports and field hospital complexes across Normandy, German military nurses began falling into American hands in groups. They came out of bunkers with their hands raised, wearing gray uniforms with Red Cross armbands. They had been told exactly what capture would mean. Germany's propaganda … Read more

Throughout history, many members of royal families and countless ordinary people have preferred the romantic company of those of the same sex. Acceptance has varied widely across eras and cultures. Being gay was often far easier if you were born into wealth and privilege. What follows are the stories of eight royals from around the … Read more

When West Germany appointed a new Inspector of Panzer Troops in 1967, the officer who took the post bore one of the most famous names in German military history. His name was Heinz Günther Guderian. A generation earlier, his father had helped build Hitler's Panzer force, led it across Europe, and ended the war as … Read more

World War II produced commanders whose names are remembered for brilliance under pressure. It also produced generals whose decisions led to defeat, endangered their own troops, ignored new technology, or collapsed when tested. The following five Allied generals stand out for the wrong reasons. Arthur Percival commanded British and Imperial troops during the British Empire's … Read more

Before the horse, the Comanche were a technologically primitive, nomadic tribe struggling for survival on the harsh Great Plains. They were pedestrian hunter-gatherers whose world was defined by the distance they could walk, the loads they could carry, and the game they could hunt on foot. They had no pottery to speak of, minimal use … Read more