9 Jul 1943 US-British invasion of Sicily begins [night of 9-10 Jul]. 9 Jul 1944 British and Canadian forces capture Caen from the Germans, a critical post-D-Day objective in Normandy, France. 9 Jul 1944 US forces reach the northern end of Saipan, finding thousands of Japanese civilian men, women, and children who commit suicide by leaping off the cliffs rather than be captured. Visit the Olive-Drab.com World War II Timeline for day-by-day events 1939-1945! See also WW2 Books.
Internet Resources: History of Recent Conflicts
M998 HMMWVs line the edge of the tarmac at Mogadishu Airport, Somalia, where US Marines The Marines have been landed by a USAF C-5 Galaxy to be deployed to the Northern Somali town of Bardera to provide security, arriving in the early morning hours on Christmas Day 1993. This mission is in support of Operation Restore Hope.
The websites listed on this page do a good job of explaining the issues and operational aspects of conflicts since the Vietnam War. The conflicts list does not cover every action in the time period.
Military History -- Recent Conflicts Websites
Gulf War 1991
Gulf War, 1991. A comprehensive site with Causes, Chronology, Results, Forces & Casualties, Commanders, Battles & Battle Honours, Order of Battle, Campaign Medals, Societies, Forums, Re-Enactors, Museums & Memorials, Bibliography, and External Links.
Gulfwar.com has a good listing of links about all phases of the war, its history, and the participants.
The Big Sandbox. Photos and stories from the Persian Gulf war.
Hoskinson's Gulf War Photo Gallery. A complete photo-illustrated history of the author's experiences in the First Cavalry Division during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait from September 1990 to May 1991.
Desert-Storm.com is a site created by a student to honor those who participated in Operation Desert Storm.
Ambush in Mogidishu is a PBS Frontline report on the conflict in Somalia, the bloodiest fighting since Vietnam.
Afghanistan
High-desert Ambush: Hard Lessons Learned the Hard Way. Afghanistan is not Europe, yet the Soviet Army that occupied Afghanistan in late December 1979 was trained to fight NATO on the northern European plain. Consequently, the Soviet Army had to reequip, reform and retrain on-site to fight the insurgent mujahideen guerrillas.
Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy. In this monograph, Dr. Stephen Biddle, argues that Afghanistan offers important clues to warfare’s future, but not the ones most people think. The campaign of 2001-02 was a surprisingly orthodox air-ground theater campaign in which heavy fire support decided a contest between two land armies. The campaign also included new elements: precision firepower was available in unprecedented quantity and proved crucial for success while special operations forces served as the main effort in a theater of war.
Iraq 2003 and Later
CNN Special: The Iraq War. CNN covers the war, weapons and tactics on both sides, with text, photos and video.
Michael Yon's Frontline Forum. An alternative channel for compelling stories from those deployed in harm's way, the real stories about the ground situation.
Middle East Journal. Another alternative channel to the ground war in Iraq, this one by independent journalist Michael J. Totten.
General Resources
U.S. Military Deployments. This web page provides a table of U.S. Military Deployments/Engagements 1975-1997 from the evacuation of Saigon to Operation Silver Wake in Albania. It summarizes the forces used and the casualties in these operations and conflicts, many of which were little noted.
