Jan 20th, 2012 at 10:00AM: When I worked at the American Embassy in Skopje, I looked forward to visiting Kosovo. Not because I liked the place, but because I wanted junk food. American junk food. I'm talking Hostess cupcakes, Chips Ahoy, Jif Peanut Butter and the like. And trips to Kosovo, if you were crafty, meant a visit to Camp Bondsteel, a huge American military base with a P.X. that was sort of like a mini Wal-Mart.
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military posts
A Traveler in the Foreign Service: Ding Dongs and danger pay in Kosovo
Jan 20th, 2012 at 10:00AM: When I worked at the American Embassy in Skopje, I looked forward to visiting Kosovo. Not because I liked the place, but because I wanted junk food. American junk food. I'm talking Hostess cupcakes, Chips Ahoy, Jif Peanut Butter and the like. And trips to Kosovo, if you were crafty, meant a visit to Camp Bondsteel, a huge American military base with a P.X. that was sort of like a mini Wal-Mart.
...Bletchley Park: see where codebreakers listened in on the Third Reich
Jan 10th, 2012 at 12:00PM:
You'd never know by looking at the cluster of nondescript buildings that they were the scene of the single most important effort to defeat Nazi Germany. During World War Two, Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes, England, was home to thousands of code breakers listening in on and analyzing German military transmissions. The site was so secret that its existence wasn't revealed to the world until the ...Civil War shipwreck will become Florida's next underwater preserve
Jan 6th, 2012 at 4:00PM:
The wreck of a vessel that served in the Union navy during the Civil War is slated to become Florida's 12th underwater preserve, Tampa Bay Online reports.
The USS Narcissus was a tugboat armed with two cannons that participated in the important Battle of Mobile Bay. Shortly after the war it sank in a storm in Tampa Bay, Florida. As it went under, its boiler exploded and killed everyone ...The Vasa: an elegant seventeenth-century warship in Stockholm
Dec 30th, 2011 at 12:00PM:
Sweden's capital Stockholm has a lot to offer-fine dining, good shopping, lovely parks, access to some interesting day trips (the old Viking capital of Uppsala being my favorite) and a unique museum. The Vasa Ship Museum is one of Sweden's most popular tourist attractions and it's easy to see why. It houses a beautifully preserved 17th century warship.
The Vasa was meant to be the pride of ...Germany opens new military museum in Dresden
Oct 15th, 2011 at 2:30PM: A new military museum has opened in Dresden, Germany.
The Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr opened today and is sure to court controversy. With the shadow of the Third Reich always looming over the German historical consciousness, the design of the displays was a delicate matter. The museum's director says that the focus is on individuals, both as perpetrators and victims, as well ...Revolutionary War battlefield of Saratoga to be excavated
Oct 3rd, 2011 at 3:00PM:
One of the most important battlefields of the Revolutionary War is going to be excavated by archaeologists ahead of an EPA cleanup.
Back in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, General Electric dumped polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the Hudson River near Saratoga, New York. The dumping was banned in 1977 due to risks to public health, and the EPA has ordered GE to dredge up the affected silt from ...Madrid day trip: a classic Spanish castle at Manzanares el Real
Sep 14th, 2011 at 3:30PM:
If you like a good castle, Spain is one of the best countries in the world to visit. One of Spain's finest castles is at the town of Manzanares el Real and makes a good day trip from Madrid.
El Castillo de los Mendoza was built in 1475 for Don Pedro González de Mendoza as both a palace and fortress, although he never actually lived here. It shows an Islamic flair, as you can see from ...Auction of Hitler family portraits raises questions about Nazi memorabilia
Aug 4th, 2011 at 10:00AM: Family portraits of Hitler's parents are going up for auction.
Craig Gottlieb Militaria, a leading auction house in California, will be auctioning off paintings of Alois and Klara Hitler via Gottlieb's website from September 1 to 17. Gottlieb is also selling Hitler's desk set. The shop is open to prospective buyers by appointment.
The subject of Hitler and Nazi memorabilia comes up regularly ...Madrid day trip: the Alcázar castle in Segovia
Jul 19th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
As I mentioned yesterday, Segovia makes a great day trip from Madrid. One of the highlights of any visit is the Alcázar, or castle. Rising from the highest point on the promontory on which Segovia is built, it dominates the town and looks impossible to attack. The architects cut away part of the bedrock to make a dry moat cutting off the castle from the rest of the town, so to get in you ...Vicksburg 1863: America's most important July 4th (besides 1776)
Jun 27th, 2011 at 1:30PM: The Fourth of July has always been an important day in the U.S. It marks the day in 1776 when the colonies issued the Declaration of Independence from the British Empire. A new nation was born, at least for a little while.
In 1861 that nation was torn apart by a bloody Civil War that saw its turning point on another fourth of July, that of 1863. On that day the Confederate stronghold of ...Confederate submarine set upright for first time since 1864
Jun 26th, 2011 at 3:00PM: The H.L. Hunley made history back in 1864 when it became the first submarine to successfully attack an enemy ship. Launched by the Confederacy as a way to break the Union blockade of Southern ports during the Civil War, it sank the USS Housatonic on 17 February 1864 and itself mysteriously sank shortly thereafter.
Crew members hand cranked the propeller to make the sub move forward and its one ...Civil War anniversary: first escaped slave to take up arms against Confederacy
Jun 10th, 2011 at 2:00PM: As the nation commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Civil War over the next four years, there'll be a lot of mentions of "firsts". Here at Gadling we've already covered first land battle of the Civil War and the first significant battle of the Civil War. One lesser-known but significant anniversary is happening today.
By June of 1861 there had been very little fighting. Both sides were ...Exploring the tunnels under the Western Front
Jun 10th, 2011 at 11:00AM: The common image of the Western Front in World War One is of muddy trenches and artillery barrages. That was certainly the experience of most soldiers. But while huge armies slugged it out in the mud and ruin of France and Belgium, another war was going on underground. Sappers from both sides dug tunnels under enemy trenches, packed them with explosives, and blew them up.
The explosions were ...Crowds flocking to Navy SEAL Museum
Jun 4th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
While Navy SEALs normally work in the shadows, they came into the international limelight on May 2 when they killed Osama bin Laden.
Now the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum has seen its daily attendance triple. The museum in Fort Pierce, Florida, documents the history of the SEALs from their humble beginnings in 1943 as the Naval Combat Demolition Teams and Underwater Demolition Teams to the ...Civil War's first land battle to be reenacted in West Virginia
Jun 3rd, 2011 at 9:00AM: Today is the 150th anniversary of the first land battle of the Civil War.
After the April 12 attack on Fort Sumter kicked off the Civil War, there was a lull while both sides got ready. Some scattered skirmishes took place that had few casualties and no importance, but on 3 June 1861, the town of Philippi, in what's now West Virginia, became the scene for the first big fight.
Philippi stood ...Witness to War: important reading this Memorial Day
May 30th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
Every Memorial Day weekend we remember the soldiers who fought for the United States. For those of us who have never experienced war, however, it's hard to understand their experiences.
The Witness to War program is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the wartime memories of veterans and helping to give civilians a better idea of what they went through. As their website says, ...Skeletons at royal castle in Scotland killed in battle, experts say
May 29th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
Stirling Castle in Scotland was the scene of several brutal sieges and battles in its violent history. Now a new exhibition looks at the castle's past and the grim discovery of several skeletons in the Royal Chapel showing signs of violent death.
One man had 44 skull fractures from repeated blows with a blunt object, and up to 60 more over the rest of his body. The Middle Ages were a pitiless ...Robert E. Lee's sword to go on display at Appomattox
May 12th, 2011 at 10:00AM: On 9 April 1865, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant met at Appomattox, Virginia, so that Lee could surrender his Army of Northern Virginia.
This momentous event effectively ended the American Civil War. With Lee and his army gone, the Confederate cause lost hope. General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered the Army of Tennessee on April 26, and in Louisiana General Kirby Smith surrendered his ...Last WWI combat veteran dies: where can you see his legacy?
May 5th, 2011 at 8:30AM: Claude Choules, the last known combat veteran of WWI, has died aged 110. Born in England in 1901, he was too young to enlist in the army when the war broke out in 1914, so he waited until he was 15 and enlisted in the Royal Navy, where he saw service throughout the war.
Unlike most veterans, he liked the service and stayed on. While working as a visiting instructor for the Australian Navy, he ...Gallipoli battlefield being mapped by GPS
Apr 24th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
Archaeologists in Turkey are making a detailed survey of the famous World War One battle of Gallipoli. Using period military maps and GPS technology, they're mapping the old trenches and redoubts used by both sides.
Gallipoli was the scene of fierce fighting starting in 1915. A peninsula with highlands dominating the Dardanelles strait linking the Black and the Aegean seas, it guarded the ...
