17 Photographs Captured Daily Life at US Marine Corps Boot Camp, Parris Island During Vietnam War

United States Marine Corps Recruit Training (commonly known as “boot camp”) is a 13-week program of initial training that each recruit must successfully complete in order to serve in the United States Marine Corps.

All enlisted individuals entering the Marine Corps, regardless of eventual active or reserve duty status, will undergo recruit training at one of the two Marine Corps Recruit Depots (MCRD): Parris Island, South Carolina or San Diego, California. The training and standards are identical between the two bases, though the order of some training events differs from east coast to west coast.

United States Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test Physical Fitness Test that includes a run of 3 miles in less than 28 minutes, 70 or more crunches in 2 minutes, at least 7 pull-ups for males and flexed arm hang for more than 30 seconds for females (this is to achieve the minimum score). For a maximum score, male recruits must complete the run in 18 minutes, perform 115 crunches in 2 minutes and do 20 pull ups. All recruits must meet certain height and weight requirements. The Marine Corps utilizes a 500 yard rifle qualification, while the US Army utilizes a 300 yard qualification with a much smaller target.

During the Korean War, training was shortened from ten weeks to eight, but returned afterward to ten. The Ribbon Creek incident in 1956 led to considerable scrutiny and reform in recruit training, such as an additional layer of command oversight and the distinctive campaign cover. During the early 1960s, the training period was increased to 13 weeks, including three weeks of marksmanship training at the Rifle Range. The Vietnam War-era syllabus was shortened to nine weeks and again saw infantry recruits attend follow-on training at Lejeune and Pendleton.

These amazing photographs were taken by Thomas Hoepker in Parris Island, South Carolina from the series US Marine Corps Boot Camp, 1970.

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WWII G.I Waiting at Bus Stop With His Girlfriend to Go Off to Fight the War

According to his granddaughter, he returned home.

“The sassy woman in the saddle shoes is my grandma Lois.” Lisa Warninger, who submitted the photo to The Sartorialist, said. “This photograph was probably taken in the 1940s in Yakima, Washington. Lois always spoke her mind and was sharp as a whip.”

A fantastic photo! The pose, the crooked smile, the two-tone shoes, the haltered crop top. She does indeed look like a sharp woman who speaks her mind. The ice cream sign behind them is great too! (The Giant Killer was a sundae with multiple scoops of ice cream, from between 8 and 16. It was covered with bananas, hot fudge, caramel, pineapple, nuts marshmallow topping, cherries, and whipped cream.)

20 Candid Vintage Photographs That Show German Soldiers Using Latrines During World War I

Soldiers lived in the trenches when fighting during World War I, it was muddy, noisy and pretty basic. They didn’t have toilets so it was probably a bit stinky too.

The latrines was the name given to trench toilets. They were usually pits, 4 ft. to 5 ft. deep, dug at the end of a short sap. Each company had two sanitary personnel whose job it was to keep the latrines in good condition. In many units, officers gave out sanitary duty as a punishment for breaking army regulations. Before a change-over in the trenches, the out-going unit was supposed to fill in its latrines and dig a new one for the new arrivals.

The best latrines came in the form of buckets which were emptied and disinfected regularly by designated orderlies. Some latrines were very basic pit or ‘cut and cover’ systems. There were strict rules prohibiting ‘indiscriminate urinating’, but at times soldiers did resort to urinating in a tin and throwing it out of the trench.

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Incredible Colorized Photos of Ireland's Civil War (1923-24)

The Irish Civil War was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Empire.

The civil war was waged between two opposing groups, Irish republicans and Irish nationalists, over the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The forces of the Provisional Government (which became the Free State in December 1922) supported the Treaty, while the Republican opposition saw it as a betrayal of the Irish Republic (which had been proclaimed during the Easter Rising). Many of those who fought on both sides in the conflict had been members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the War of Independence.

The Civil War was won by the Free State forces, who benefitted from substantial quantities of weapons provided by the British Government. The conflict may have claimed more lives than the War of Independence that preceded it, and left Irish society divided and embittered for generations.

These war-time photographs were colourized by photographer and colourist John O'Byrne from Rathangan, Kildare, Ireland that show the Irish conflict which led to thousands of deaths and prisoners of war.

Irish Free State Army soldier in firing position inside a badly damaged house. His rifle is pointed through a hole in the wall of a room and debris is lying on the ground and a door has been kicked off its hinges. The treaty also stipulated that members of the new Irish parliament would have to take the following Oath of Allegiance: "I... do solemnly swear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the Irish Free State as by law established, and that I will be faithful to His Majesty King George V, his heirs and successors by law in virtue of the common citizenship of Ireland with Great Britain and her adherence to and membership of the group of nations forming the British Commonwealth of nations"

Free State Soldiers take a break from fighting on the street in Dublin possibly during the fighting of the four courts where wounded men are being tended to while others catch their breath. The Irish Civil War was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and came alongside the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Empire. The civil war was waged between two opposing groups, Irish republicans and Irish nationalists, over the Anglo-Irish Treaty

Irish Free State Army officers and men outside the Royal Hotel in Limerick. Some are smoking and one is sporting an injured arm. The group includes two clergymen and some civilians. The hotel was fortified with a barricade, wire and sandbags. The forces of the Provisional Government - which became the Free State in December 1922 - supported the Treaty, while the Republican opposition saw it as a betrayal of the Irish Republic, which had been proclaimed during the Easter Rising. Many of those who fought on both sides in the conflict had been members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the War of Independence

A man in civilian clothes reaching up with cigarettes to Irish Free State Army soldiers in a spirit merchant's truck as locals stand by watching

An unmounted officer stands with a drawn sword held at shoulder height in a sword drill under the supervision of Captain Flanagan and Captain Nolan at McKee Barracks Dublin

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36 Most Amazing Spy Gadgets From the Cold War Era

Cold war era is Famous for the espionage and spying operations by the world's two biggest spy organizations of that time, that is, CIA and KGB against each other. In this, they were aided by the development of new technology and gadgets. Inaccessible to the general public, some of those gadgets have been recently declassified.

Here, we are going to present you some of those impressive gadgets.


1. Sedgley OSS .38 Glove Pistol.

This glove has single shot 0.38mm pistol hidden inside it. In a critical situation the agent could surrender by raising hands and then later shooting when the target is in range

2. Letter Remover.

This special type of device was used to remove letters from the envelopes without disturbing their seals. Its pincer like head is inserted into the envelope to wind-up the letter and remove it

2. “Matchbox” Camera.

Developped by the Eastman Kodak Company for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), this camera was the size of a matchbox. It could then be covered with labels in various languages to look like a real matchbox

3. CIA Semi-Submersible.

This CIA designed semi-submersible was used in 1950s. Having a crew of two, it did not carry any weapons but was used to drop or rescue secret agents into the enemy areas

4. “Belly Buster” Drill.

“Belly Buster” is a CIA Gadget from the early 60’s. Consisting of many parts, it was used to drill holes into rooms for the implantation of the secret hearing devices

5. Dragonfly Insectothopter.

A CIA gadget from the 1970s, it can be regarded as the first smaller Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Equipped with hidden camera, its capabilities are quite impressive as compared to its size at that time

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30 Portrait Photos of Beautiful Women of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps During Vietnam War

The history of the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) in Vietnam began in April, 1956 when three Army nurses arrived in Saigon, Republic of Vietnam. These nurses were on temporary duty assignments attached to the United States Army Medical Training Team, United States Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG), Saigon. The Army sent them to train South Vietnamese nurses in nursing care procedures and techniques, not care for U.S. servicemen.

Instead, the American Embassy Dispensary in Saigon provided care for the American Community and the MAAG advisers. By 1959, however, that facility could no longer meet its mounting requirements. Medical and dental personnel of the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force augmented a team redesignated as the American Dispensary, Saigon. This tri-service staffing arrangement, including two Army Nurse Corps officers, continued for the next three years.

The expansion of the war in the Republic of Vietnam placed greater burdens on the Army Nurse Corps. Over 11 years from March, 1962 (when the 8th Field Hospital opened in Nha Trang) to March, 1973 (when the last Army nurses departed the Republic of Vietnam), more than 5,000 Army nurses served in America’s longest war.

The buildup in Vietnam taxed the Corps. Army nurses had to provide full peacetime nursing services in the continental United States and Europe yet simultaneously meet the far different requirements of combat forces fighting in Southeast Asia. In January, 1965 the Army had 113 hospital beds and 15 nurses in Vietnam. The buildup of medical units was completed in 1968 and included 11 Reserve and National Guard medical units. By December 1968, 900 nurses in Vietnam worked in 23 Army hospitals, and one convalescent center with a total of 5,283 beds.

Army nurses volunteered for duty in Vietnam for a variety of reasons. Many felt it was their patriotic duty; others thought of Vietnam as an adventure. One nurse veteran remarked: “We aren’t angels, We are simply members of the nursing profession who have seen the need in Vietnam and are here to do our part.” Another said: “I wanted to be an army nurse and combat is where the soldier is. That’s where I wanted to be.” And a third: “My reason for going was that there were American troops there that needed help. They needed the things that I could give them in my nursing profession.”

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Portraits of U.S. Army Nurse Joan McDermott During Her Time in Vietnam War in the Late 1960s

Joan McDermott attended Walther Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Chicago to become a registered nurse when she was only 17 years old. She then worked in a suburban hospital in surgery for 2 years before joining the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War. In late 1967, Joan was sent to Saigon arriving a month before the TET Offensive. While serving at an Army hospital, enemy snipers attacked the area and forced Joan to sleep under a table in the hospital for 3 nights to avoid the gunfire. Sadly, a casualty of this attack included one of her childhood neighbors from growing up in Wisconsin. It was a difficult beginning to her service in the Army to say the least.

Despite this harrowing experience, Joan said one of the best parts of the military was, “the comradery, no question about it. You never experienced anything like that especially in a war zone. It makes you feel like you’re closer to your comrades and family. When people close to you end up as casualties to the battlefield it really hits hard.”

Joan remembers one of the better memories of her service being “… the opportunity in Saigon to get to know the Vietnamese people. A few of us would go and pack up our jeep and do what we called MedCAPs. We would go to orphanages and give the kids there shots or patch up their injuries. We would also go to hospitals to help people and when local surgeons couldn’t perform procedures we would bring the patients back to our hospital and do the procedures there. Having Vietnamese friends gave me a unique perspective.” Living on the other side of the world in Southeast Asia gave her the opportunity to see the world through other people’s eyes. “When you’re looking at the world from the perspective of other people and other countries, the U.S. looks quite different. It broadened my perspective on inter-dependency of all citizens of the earth."

In recent years, Joan has played an important role in the Lake Havasu veterans community. She credits this participation to a convention in Phoenix that inspired her to get involved. “As a female veteran, I didn’t really think of myself as a vet, I was a mom, a nurse and married to an army officer. It wasn’t until I came to Lake Havasu and went to a convention of women in the military in Phoenix. I was asked why I wasn’t a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and I responded because I didn’t realize I qualified. That brought it full circle that I was a veteran and I wanted to help serve other veterans.”

After this revelation Joan joined the VFW and became the Commander of post 9401 where she is currently serving in her second year. After she finishes her service at the VFW she hopes to return to nursing part-time. The VFW works with numerous other veterans organizations as well as the Veterans Treatment Court, a program that helps veterans get the proper assistance with substance abuse or combat mental health issues to help keep them from becoming involved in the criminal justice system. There is a Veterans Court in Lake Havasu that is now expanding into Bullhead city representing rural veterans. Joan works very closely with vets in the area and is very proud of it. “I enjoy every moment of it, it’s really wonderful to continue to be able to give back to my country.”

Portrait of Joan McDermott in 2016.

(via #MilitaryMonday)

Christmas Truce 1914: Amazing Photos of British and German Troops Meeting in No Man's Land During the Western Front

Late on Christmas Eve 1914, men of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) heard German troops in the trenches opposite them singing carols and patriotic songs and saw lanterns and small fir trees along their trenches. Messages began to be shouted between the trenches.

The following day, British and German soldiers met in no man’s land and exchanged gifts, took photographs and some played impromptu games of football. They also buried casualties and repaired trenches and dugouts. After Boxing Day, meetings in no man's land dwindled out.

The truce was not observed everywhere along the Western Front. Elsewhere the fighting continued and casualties did occur on Christmas Day. Some officers were unhappy at the truce and worried that it would undermine fighting spirit.

After 1914, the High Commands on both sides tried to prevent any truces on a similar scale happening again. Despite this, there were some isolated incidents of soldiers holding brief truces later in the war, and not only at Christmas.

In what was known as the ‘Live and Let Live’ system, in quiet sectors of the front line, brief pauses in the hostilities were sometimes tacitly agreed, allowing both sides to repair their trenches or gather their dead.

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How Could Slovenian Fighter Albina Mali-Hočevar Look Before the Wound

Albina Mali-Hočevar (1925–2001) was an extremely brave Slovenian anti-fascist resistance fighter and national hero, who was wounded three times in combat and fought to liberate Yugoslavia from 1941 until 1944.

Here’s the face of a once beautiful girl was disfigured by war, and let’s take a look at how she could look before the wound.

Here’s the colorized version.

Albina joined the People’s Liberation Movement at 16. She was wounded twice at 17, and wounded again by an exploding mine three days after her 18th birthday. She continued fighting and working as a nurse for the rest of the war (another two years).

In 1946 she granted the Partisan Memorial 1941, which was awarded to all fighters of the Yugoslavian National Liberation Movement who had served since 1941. In 1952 Albina was awarded the Order of the People’s Hero, in the category of Women National Heroes, which was the highest award in Yugoslavia at the time.

Albina Mali-Hočevar lived until the age of 75.

Photos of Soviet Withdrawal From Afghanistan in 1989

The final and complete withdrawal of Soviet combatant forces from Afghanistan began on 15 May 1988 and ended on 15 February 1989 under the leadership of Colonel-General Boris Gromov.

Planning for the withdrawal of the Soviet Union (USSR) from the Afghanistan War began soon after Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Under the leadership of Gorbachev, the Soviet Union attempted to consolidate the PDPA's hold over power in the country, first in a genuine effort to stabilize the country, and then as a measure to save face while withdrawing troops. During this period, the military and intelligence organizations of the USSR worked with the government of Mohammad Najibullah to improve relations between the government in Kabul and the leaders of rebel factions.

The diplomatic relationship between the USSR and the United States improved at the same time as it became clear to the Soviet Union that this policy of consolidating power around Najibullah's government in Kabul would not produce sufficient results to maintain the power of the PDPA in the long run.

The Geneva Accords, signed by representatives of the USSR, the USA, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Afghanistan (thus renamed in 1987) on 14 April 1988, provided a framework for the departure of Soviet forces, and established a multilateral understanding between the signatories regarding the future of international involvement in Afghanistan. The military withdrawal commenced soon after, with all Soviet forces leaving Afghanistan by 15 February 1989.

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Incredible Stereographs of World War I

An incredible stereograph collection of from The Library of Virginia that shows scenes from World War I in Germany, England, France, the United States, Belgium, Italy, and Serbia.

French storming hill Notre Dame de Lorette

French 'tanks' which saw service - parading, Paris streets

Gallant legionaries of Czechoslovakia on parade, Prague

German prisoners 'cleaning up' at Chateau-Thierry, France

German prisoners under guard of French soldiers. These prisoners are treated humanely by the Allies

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