May 4, 2026 - Each year the World War II Allies remember May 8, 1945, the date when they accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin, so the surrender of Germany was authorized by his replacement, President of Germany Karl Donitz.
April 27, 2026 - Loyalty Day originally began as "Americanization Day" in 1921 as a counter to the Communists’ May 1st celebration of the Russian Revolution. On May 1, 1930, 10,000 VFW members staged a rally at New York’s Union Square to promote patriotism. May 1 then evolved into Loyalty Day and the first official observance of the day was in 1959 after the signing of Public Law 85-529 on July 18, 1958.
March 17, 2026 - Americans consider themselves to be compassionate people, and the United States military has a long tradition of humanitarian relief operations both within and outside the continental United States. Never has this humanitarian impulse proven more dangerous to follow than in 1992 when the United States intervened to arrest famine in the midst of an ongoing civil war in the East African country of Somalia.
March 17, 2026 - The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017 was signed into law by US President Donald J. Trump, designating March 29th as National Vietnam War Veterans Day. On March 29, 1973, 53 years ago, the last US Combat Troops departed Vietnam, and Hanoi released the last of its acknowledged prisoners of war.
March 17, 2026 - 27 years ago, on March 24, 1999, NATO launched an air campaign called “Operation Allied Force” to halt the humanitarian devastation that was then unfolding in Kosovo. The decision to intervene followed more than a year of fighting within the province and the failure of international efforts to resolve the conflict by diplomatic means.
NATO announced the suspension of the air campaign on June 10, 1999, once it had concluded a military technical agreement with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
February 18, 2026 - On January 16, 1991, President George H. W. Bush announced the start of what would be called Operation Desert Storm—a military operation of coalition forces from 34 nations to expel occupying Iraqi forces from Kuwait, which Iraq had invaded and annexed months earlier. When the war ended on February 28, 1991, 148 Americans had died in battle.