CP Note: Late September 1918, more than one million American soldiers prepared to assault the German-held Meuse-Argonne region of France. Their commander, General John J. Pershing, said that in thirty-six hours the Doughboys would crack the German defenses and open the road to Berlin. Six weeks of savage fighting later, there were more than 120,000 American casualties, including 26,000 dead.

In the 1970s, Henry Berry interviewed dozens of aged veterans about their role in the First World War. He asked one “very dignified gentleman” of eighty-two years for his feelings about the Meuse-Argonne.

“Now,” the veteran said, “do you want my frank opinion?”

“Absolutely,” Berry replied.

“Well, I think it was a fucked-up mess.”

That, recorded Berry, “was the general opinion of all the men I saw.”

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Darkness fell all along the bloody battle line. The fighting was done.

It had been one of the longest sustained days of battle so far in the war, and it had been a standoff. Nearly 125,000 men and 500 pieces of artillery had fought through fourteen hours of hellfire.

More than 12,400 Union soldiers and 10,300 Confederates were killed, wounded, or missing—a mind-boggling number of men, the bloodiest single day of the war. And no one had a clear idea of who had won or lost.

When McClellan informed [Lincoln] of his “complete victory” after the battle, the president wired back: “God bless you, and all with you. Destroy the rebel army, if possible.”

Lincoln believed McClellan “should have prevented Lee from escaping into Virginia” and should have “pursued him vigorously without giving his army time to recuperate.” Again, Lincoln wanted more. As McClellan had failed to bag the enemy, the president now wanted a speedy, vigorous pursuit.

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For Eisenhower, the invasion was his first venture in commanding troops in combat.

For Franklin D. Roosevelt, the objective of the landings in North Africa had been as much political as military, answering the desire of the American people to take the war to the Germans and meeting the demand by Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin for a second front.

For Marshall, Operation Torch was the culmination of years of developing the doctrine of mobile war and of advocating his concept of unified command.

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The American military experience in the Philippines changed over time.

During the years of conventional and unconventional warfare against Filipino insurrectos, the dangers of combat had combined with disease and exposure to make military service dangerous.

Benny Foulois had two tours of duty in the Philippines and later risked his life repeatedly as a pioneer military pilot. Asked how he survived his early flying days, Foulois replied, “Anyone who lived through the fighting in the Philippines could live through anything.”

After the war against Aguinaldo’s guerrillas ended, a large American garrison remained in the Philippines to accomplish two strategic objectives: control the populace and defend the islands from foreign invasion.

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CP Note: October 7, 2001, President George W. Bush gave his address to the nation, announcing strikes against Al Qaida training camps and Taliban military installations in Afghanistan.

President George W. Bush:

Good afternoon. On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against Al Qaida terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. These carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime.

We are joined in this operation by our staunch friend Great Britain. Other close friends, including Canada, Australia, Germany, and France, have pledged forces as the operation unfolds. More than 40 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and across Asia have granted air transit or landing rights. Many more have shared intelligence. We are supported by the collective will of the world.

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As we pulled back into the compound, everyone was jocking up for something big. Helicopters spun up, Humvees pulled into position, and everyone topped off their magazines. Although the sun shone brightly through clear blue skies, I knew the troops weren’t heading out on a picnic. “What’s going on?”

Commander Olson approached us before we stepped out of our “cutvee”—a cut Humvee without a top, doors, or windows, officially called the M-998 cargo/troop carrier. . . .

Commander Olson briefed us in just a few minutes. “You’ll be part of a blocking force. Delta will rope in and assault the building. You guys will grab the prisoners. Then get out of there.” Usually such a brief would last an hour to an hour and a half. Delta, the Rangers, and others got that briefing, but we missed it. Although the mission was important enough for us to be briefed on, it had popped up suddenly while we were out in town setting up repeaters for the CIA. Commander Olson slapped me on the shoulder. “Shouldn’t take long. Good luck. See you when you get back.”

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CP Note: With the 10th anniversary of 9/11, CommandPosts is taking a look at the last 10 years—and beyond—of books, reports, articles, and images, with a focus on revisiting lessons and highlighting stories, experiences, policies, and commentaries from the past.

Jane Blair joined the Marine Corps in 1999 and in 2003 took part in the initial ground assault in Iraq. This excerpt, from her book Hesitation Kills: A Female Marine Officer's Combat Experience in Iraq, features some of Blair's experiences during the first hours of Operation Iraqi Freedom, when uncertainty about the unfolding war swirled around the troops.

With our importance in providing reconnaissance and surveillance to the Marine Corps, my CO could not afford another mishap. We already had two UAVs go down because of weather-related complications. Lieutenant Colonel Mykleby, an aggressive but sensible individual, never substituted his drive for common sense. Sometime in mid-March, he brought the whole squadron together to give us an update on the situation, as he often did. As we were gathered around him, the CO explained to us that President Bush gave a speech warning that Iraq had forty-eight hours to stand down. With only a moment’s notice, we were told to be ready to pull out of Kuwait and breach the border into Iraq. It was called a “stand to,” which basically meant that we should be prepared to leave. We would be going to Iraq any day. The CO scratched his hair before he spoke, “I’m bringing you all back,” he said to us as we stood there. “As long as you stick by me and do what I tell you, I’m bringing you all back with me.

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“All campaigns have a turning point—a moment or a day (or sometimes longer) where the tide turned inevitable in the direction of one side over another. In some instances those campaign turners were perceived almost immediately during the campaign or by the close of it. When General Robert E. Lee ended his Maryland campaign by crossing his army over the Potomac River back to Virginia in September of 1862, the Battle of Antietam was nearly universally recognized as the cause of it.”

—Gary Ecelbarger, author of The Day Dixie Died

This is the story of the siege of Leningrad, the deadliest blockade of a city in human history.

Other modern sieges – those of Madrid and Sarajevo – lasted longer, but none killed even a tenth as many people. Around thirty-five times more civilians died in Leningrad than in London’s Blitz; four times more than in the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima put together.

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(CP Note: This is the fourth in a monthly series about Wolfram Aichele, who was nine years old when Hitler came to power. He and his parents—free-thinking artists—experienced life under one of the most brutal regimes in history when Wolfram's childhood was stolen and he was conscripted into Hitler's army. It is a reminder that civilians on all sides suffered consequences of Hitler's war.)

The clock in the dining room had just chimed 7 p.m. and supper was about to be served.

Family meals had lost all of their conviviality over the previous three years and daily life had become one long waiting game. Wolfram’s mother, Marie-Charlotte, had two of her sons at war. She had no idea when the family would be reunited and nor could she predict what the future held.

The US Third Army had recently crossed the River Saar and was now just ninety miles from Pforzheim. On the Reich’s eastern frontier, the Soviet army had captured Poznan. Nazi Germany was fast crumbling and it was obvious that the end was near.

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The volume of fire built steadily as thousands of people grabbed weapons and poured into the streets. Garrison and the officers watching the mission from the JOC could see them racing from all directions toward the Bakara Market, as if the raiders “had poked a stick into a hornet’s nest.”

The Somalis began firing RPGs, and the Delta ground commander called the command-and-control helicopter overhead. “Hey, boss, I think we’ve got the guys you sent us in for,” he told Lieutenant Colonel Gary Harrell, the C Squadron commander. “We’re ready to get out of Dodge.”

But almost immediately, another radio call grabbed the attention of those listening.

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(CP Note: This is the third in a monthly series about Wolfram Aichele, who was nine years old when Hitler came to power. He and his parents—free-thinking artists—experienced life under one of the most brutal regimes in history when Wolfram's childhood was stolen and he was conscripted into Hitler's army. It is a reminder that civilians on all sides suffered consequences of Hitler's war.)

Wolfram knew nothing about the Normandy landings when he was jolted from his sleep by the army reveille Tuesday, 6 June 1944.

He swung his legs wearily out of bed and glanced outside. The leaden sky was smudged with clouds and a fine drizzle was washing in from the sea. Another miserable summer’s day in northern France.

It is a mark of the German army’s lassitude that even as Allied forces were storming on to the beaches of Normandy, the majority of Wehrmacht soldiers were unaware that the largest seaborne landing in the history of warfare was occurring on their doorstep.

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