Medal of Honor Monday: Army Pvt. Henry Johnson

May 25, 2026 | By David Vergun, Pentagon News |

Army Pvt. Henry Johnson, an infantryman, served in France in 1918 during World War I, which was then called the Great War. 

Johnson was born July 15, 1892, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. His name at birth was William Henry Johnson. There are conflicting accounts of who his parents and sister were, but it is thought that they worked in the tobacco fields. 

After the family moved to New York City when Johnson was a teenager, he worked various jobs, including as a porter at Albany's Union Station. 

On June 5, 1917, Johnson enlisted in the Army and was assigned to Company C, 369th New York Infantry Regiment, known as the Harlem Hellfighters. 

In December 1917, the 369th landed at Brest, France. By March 1918, the regiment began training under French command, as replacements were needed due to a high casualty rate. The 369th never served under American command during the war. 

Later in 1918, the 369th Infantry Regiment was ordered into battle. Johnson and his unit were brigaded with a French army colonial unit in frontline combat.  

In the early hours of May 15, 1918, Johnson and Army Pvt. Needham Roberts were on sentry duty at a forward outpost in the Argonne Forest, France, when they were attacked by a German raiding party of about 12 soldiers. 

His Medal of Honor citation reads in part: "While under intense enemy fire and despite receiving significant wounds, Johnson mounted a brave retaliation, resulting in several enemy casualties. When his fellow soldier was badly wounded and being carried away by the enemy, Johnson exposed himself to grave danger by advancing from his position to engage the two enemy captors in hand-to-hand combat." 

Wielding only a bolo knife and gravely wounded, he continued fighting. Johnson defeated the two captors and rescued the wounded soldier. Displaying great courage, he held back the larger enemy force until they retreated after suffering heavy casualties, leaving behind a large cache of weapons and equipment and providing valuable intelligence.  

Without his quick actions and continued fighting, even in the face of almost certain death, the enemy might have succeeded in capturing prisoners and the outpost. 

When French reinforcements arrived, they evacuated Johnson and Roberts to an aid station behind the main lines. During the battle, Johnson sustained 21 wounds. It is estimated that he killed four Germans and wounded 10 to 20 others, according to the National Park Service website. Johnson's actions on that day earned him the nickname "Black Death," according to the National Museum of the United States Army website.  

According to the website, when describing the battle, Johnson said that he did not consider himself a hero: "There wasn't anything so fine about it. Just fought for my life. A rabbit would have done that." 

For his battlefield valor in May 1918, Johnson became one of the first Americans to be awarded the French Croix de Guerre avec Palme, France's highest award for valor. By that summer, Johnson and the regiment were fighting in the Champagne-Marne Defensive and the Aisne-Marne Offensive. 

Subsequently, the Harlem Hellfighters saw combat during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which began Sept. 26, 1918. 

After the war ended, Johnson sailed home from France as a sergeant in February 1919, and led his unit in the New York City victory parade.  

Because of the severity of his wounds, he was unable to return to his pre-war porter position. He died July 1, 1929, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia. 

On June 2, 2015, Johnson was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Louis Wilson accepted on behalf of Johnson, since he had no known living relatives. 

"The least we can do is to say, 'We know who you are, we know what you did for us. We are forever grateful,'" Obama said during the ceremony.  

Johnson was also awarded the Purple Heart in 1996 and the Distinguished Service Cross in 2002.

One Day for the Dead

May 25, 2026 | By Army Maj. Wes Shinego, Pentagon News |

The loudest place in American sports knew when to be quiet. 
 
At Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, the Coca-Cola 600 was everything it is supposed to be: horsepower, heat, noise and 600 miles of punishment. It was also something harder to stage and easier to cheapen. It was remembrance.

Charlotte Motor Speedway and NASCAR did not hide Memorial Day in a program note or a patriotic graphic between green flags; they built it into the race. Each car carried the name of a fallen service member. The Gold Star family luncheon — an annual feature of the race for years now — brought surviving families together with drivers, military leaders and guests. At the race's halfway point, the engines shut off, the grandstands went still and thousands of people were asked to stop long enough to remember why the weekend exists. 
 
For Jane Horton, one of those names was not a name on a windshield. It was her husband. 
 
Army Spc. Christopher David Horton, a sniper assigned to the Oklahoma Army National Guard's 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, rode with Ty Dillon's No. 10 Chevrolet. He was 26 when he was killed Sept. 9, 2011, in Zormat district, Paktia Province, Afghanistan. He left behind parents, siblings, friends, soldiers who loved him and a wife who has spent nearly 15 years refusing to let his life become a slogan. 
 
Gold Star families are families of service members killed in combat operations. And Jane Horton knows how easily America turns sacrifice into ceremony without letting the ceremony change anything. 
 
"I haven't [been featured in] a Memorial Day article in years," Horton said during race weekend. "I used to go on the news all the time and talk about Memorial Day, because it would drive me nuts that the American people don't know what it is." 
 
Then she put the day into one sentence. 
 
"364 days out of the year is about you, and we could never do enough for you," she said. "But this one day is for the dead."

Even at the speedway, Horton kept looking for Gold Star badges. She watched lanyards, shirts and lapels the way others watched pit road. When she saw a family wearing that mark, she went to them. She traded contact information and exchanged phone numbers; not to network and not to be seen, but because she knows what it feels like to carry a loved one's death into a crowd. She wanted them to know their families had an advocate. She wanted them to know their fallen would not fade. 
 
That is what she does. At the Pentagon. In Congress. At Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. At a racetrack. On the phone at 1 a.m. 
 
"I'm just an advocate for them," Horton said. "If they need something, they'll call." 
 
That sentence sounds small only to someone who has never needed the call answered. 
 
Horton has spent her adult life making sure the government remembers that casualty assistance is not a process. It is a family standing in a doorway after the worst knock of their lives. It is a child who wants to follow a parent into service. It is a spouse who needs a fellowship in government service, a mother who needs answers, a father who needs someone to say his son's name without looking away. Horton has championed education benefits for surviving spouses, Gold Star family fellowships, survivor policy changes in defense legislation and initiatives that give families direct access to senior leaders. More recently, she has helped lead Gold Star family efforts from inside the secretary of war's office, where policy becomes real only if someone forces it to touch people. 
 
She learned that work first through Chris. 
 
Jane met him when they were 18 and 19 at a small school in New York City. They talked about America, government and politics. He was from Alabama and Oklahoma, a military school kid from seventh through 12th grade, a civilian shooter, a man who would become a sniper. 
 
He was not warm and fuzzy. 
 
"He was more like a warrior," Horton said. "He was stoic, but he also had a huge heart."

When he brought Jane to Oklahoma, his family was stunned. They never expected Chris to marry young. Then he sold his guns to buy her engagement ring. 
 
"Yes, Chris, the trained sniper, sold his guns," Horton said.

They married in 2009. War bent the calendar. He left for pre-mobilization in February 2011. They believed he would come home because he was good at what he did, because he had trained for war the way a surgeon trains for an operating room, because young couples have to believe the future belongs to them. 
 
Seven months later, he was dead. 
 
Two days after that, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Jane stood at Dover to receive the flag-draped casket of the man she had expected to grow old with. The war that began when America was attacked had taken him. His final flight home was not the one either of them imagined. 
 
Years later, Jane made the flight Chris never could take alive. 
 
In 2016, she traveled to Afghanistan with then-Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, serving as a special assistant and ombudsman to the troops. She went not for closure. Closure is too clean a word for grief that never leaves. She went to see the land where Chris fought, bled and died. She went because the soil there held part of her life. She went because terrorism had killed her husband, but would not define his story. 
 
It was not her last trip. Horton eventually made six trips to Afghanistan in different official capacities, traveling with senior U.S. leaders, meeting Afghan officials and seeing the country not as a headline but as a people. She later served as congressional and military liaison for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, where she helped connect the embassy with Congress, the Pentagon and the military community. 
 
Her work there was not just abstract diplomacy. 
 
She hosted hundreds of fellow Gold Star families at the Afghan Embassy so Afghanistan could become more than the place their loved ones died. She bought Afghan silver and lapis for the daughters of fallen heroes so they could hold something beautiful from the land where their fathers' blood remained. She told families about girls going to school, women serving in parliament and children building robotics teams. She wanted them to see that the sacrifice had produced life, that something good had grown in the hard ground. 
 
In 2017, she went outside the wire to Afghanistan's Presidential Palace. Afghan women she worked with helped her prepare, even warning her against the red lipstick she wore almost every day. She passed through layers of security and saw Afghan soldiers drilling in ceremonial uniforms. Former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani thanked her for the sacrifices of America's fallen and their families. 
 
The weight of that moment never left her. 
 
Neither did the weight of what came later. 
 
When Kabul fell in 2021, the country where Chris died collapsed before the eyes of Americans who had spent years not looking. For Horton, the withdrawal reopened wounds, not because she had mistaken Afghanistan for easy, but because she had seen the people who would pay for American forgetfulness. She had held Afghan children. She had met Afghan women who believed in the future they were promised. She had sat with troops and families who had given pieces of themselves to that mission. 
 
"Nobody paid attention to Afghanistan until it was over," Horton said. "They didn't. Nobody cared." 
 
After the withdrawal, she wrote that the fall of Afghanistan broke her in a way Chris' death had not. She saw his picture and the pictures of other fallen Americans thrown back into public debate under a cruel question: Did they die for nothing? 
 
Her answer demanded more from America than sympathy. 
 
"When I sent my husband to war, he was no longer mine," she wrote. "He was ours. He was America's." 
 
That is the line Americans should carry into Memorial Day. Not because it absolves the country, but because it indicts the country. If America sends its sons and daughters to war, America does not get to forget the war while they fight it. It does not get to discover Afghanistan only when the last C-17s are leaving Kabul. It does not get to thank a widow and avoid the harder question of whether she understood what her husband was ordered to do. 
 
And that is why the Coca-Cola 600 matters when it is done right. 
 
A race cannot repay a life. A luncheon cannot erase a knock at the door. A name on a car cannot bring Chris Horton home. But a racetrack can force a crowd to learn a name. A driver can carry a story. A speedway can make the living sit still with the dead. A family can walk into a room and be treated not as a prop for patriotism, but as part of the American story.

At Charlotte, Horton accepted the gratitude but kept redirecting it. 
 
When she saw police escorts and VIP treatment, she did not confuse it for something she earned. 
 
"That's for my husband," she said. 
 
That is the thread through her life. Turn it back to Chris. Turn it back to the fallen. Turn it into action. Hold people to their words. 
 
"I hold people's feet to the fire that say they care about Gold Star families," Horton said. "Thank you for saying you care, but how do you actually turn that into action?" 
 
It is a fair question for Memorial Day. 
 
There is room this weekend for joy. Horton believes that. Chris would want people to live. Go to the race. Take the trip. Fire up the grill. Laugh with your children. Enjoy the freedom bought for you by people you may never meet. 
 
But do not confuse enjoyment with ignorance. 
 
Patriotism is not a hand wave. It is not a rubber stamp. It is not a flag emoji, a furniture sale or a thank-you delivered without understanding. It is informed gratitude. It is knowing where America sent its troops, why they went, what they endured, who did not return and which families still carry their names. 
 
"Gold Star families are strong," Horton said. "We're serving as well in different roles and different capacities, and the best way you honor the fallen is by living the best life you can." 
 
She has done it the hard way. By answering calls. By walking the halls of power. By going to Afghanistan. By standing at Dover. By finding families wearing Gold Star badges in a crowd and giving them her number. By making sure Chris Horton's name is not trapped in a casualty report or a widow's memory. 
 
This Memorial Day, one of those names is Army Spc. Christopher David Horton. 
 
Say it. Learn it. 
 
Then learn another. 
 
And when the engines restart, when the crowd stands again and the noise returns, remember what the silence was for. 
 
One day is for the dead. 
 
The rest is what we do with what they left us.

We Remember: A Masonic Reflection on Memory, Service, and the Symbols on Military Tombstones

Across the rolling hills of America’s military cemeteries stand endless rows of white marble stones. They are uniform in shape, equal in height, and disciplined in arrangement. Yet carved into those stones are different symbols—crosses, stars, crescents, wheels, and emblems representing the many faiths and philosophies of the men and women who served beneath one flag. Among them rests another symbol quietly recognized by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs: the Square and Compasses of Freemasonry.

These symbols are more than decoration. They are final declarations of identity, belief, and moral aspiration. They remind the living that the dead were not statistics or abstractions, but individuals who sought meaning, duty, and purpose according to their own convictions. On Memorial Day, as Americans pause before these markers of sacrifice, the Masonic emblem offers a profound meditation on how we remember, why we remember, and what remembrance ultimately demands from the living.

Military cemeteries embody one of the deepest lessons taught in Freemasonry: the principle symbolized by the Level. In the lodge, the Level teaches equality—not equality of talent, ambition, or achievement, but equality before mortality and moral accountability. In death, rank disappears. Wealth loses its authority. Titles fade into silence. Generals and privates lie side by side beneath identical stones. The cemetery becomes a visible lesson in humility, reminding us that time ultimately places all men upon the same plane.

This is not meant to diminish accomplishment. Rather, it purifies our understanding of it. Memorial Day forces the living to confront the uncomfortable truth that legacy is not measured merely by power attained, but by character displayed while power was held. The rows of white stones quietly proclaim what Freemasonry has long taught through symbol and ritual: no man outranks eternity.

The VA-approved list of emblems carved upon military tombstones also reflects another principle deeply aligned with Masonic thought: unity without uniformity. The republic does not erase the beliefs of those who served it. Instead, it preserves them. A Christian cross may stand beside a Star of David, an Islamic crescent beside the Wheel of Dharma, and beside them all the Square and Compasses. These symbols testify that Americans of many beliefs fought, suffered, and died together in common cause.

Freemasonry has historically sought to create a similar harmony. Men of different faiths, backgrounds, professions, and political perspectives meet upon the level within the lodge, united not by theological sameness but by shared moral obligations. The military cemetery becomes, in many ways, a solemn extension of that principle. Beneath the silence of the flag and stone rests a vision of national brotherhood that transcends sectarian division.

Among these symbols, the Square and Compasses carry a particularly reflective message. The Square represents moral conduct measured against principle rather than convenience. It asks whether a man’s actions remained upright when pressure, fear, or self-interest tempted him to bend. The Compasses symbolize restraint—the discipline required to govern passions, desires, and impulses from within. Together, the emblem represents the lifelong labor of building character.

Placed upon a military tombstone, the symbol acquires even greater weight. It quietly declares that the life beneath the stone was viewed not merely as existence, but as construction. Freemasonry teaches that each man is both builder and stone, shaping himself through discipline, sacrifice, reflection, and service. The emblem suggests that the deceased understood life itself as moral labor—a continual effort to transform the rough stone of human nature into something more worthy, more useful, and more aligned with virtue.

This connection between military service and Masonic philosophy is not accidental. Both traditions emphasize duty above selfishness, fidelity to obligation, and the willingness to sacrifice personal comfort for a higher cause. Throughout American history, many military leaders who carried these virtues were also Freemasons. George Washington embodied disciplined restraint in both war and governance. General Douglas MacArthur spoke repeatedly about duty, honor, and country as moral imperatives rather than slogans. Audie Murphy, among the most decorated soldiers in American history, represented courage joined with humility and service.

The relationship between military virtue and Masonic virtue lies in a shared understanding: freedom survives only when individuals willingly subordinate impulse to principle. Neither the soldier nor the Mason is taught that liberty means the absence of restraint. Instead, both are taught that self-government is the foundation of all lasting freedom.

Freemasonry also approaches death itself with a distinct philosophy of remembrance. In Masonic funeral traditions, the evergreen acacia symbolizes immortality and enduring hope. The unfinished Temple represents the reality that every human life remains incomplete. No man perfectly finishes the work upon himself. Yet Masonry teaches that dignity lies not in perfection attained, but in sincere labor performed.

Memorial Day reflects a similar idea at the national level. The ceremonies, flags, flowers, and moments of silence are acts of collective memory. They resist the erosion of gratitude. They declare that sacrifice will not simply vanish into history unnoticed. A nation remembers not only to honor the dead, but to preserve the moral meaning of their sacrifice for the living.

And yet remembrance itself faces danger in the modern world. Societies increasingly consume history as information rather than inheritance. Wars become distant events stripped of personal consequence. The names engraved upon stones risk becoming anonymous. Memorial Day can easily dissolve into a long weekend disconnected from reflection.

Freemasonry warns against this kind of forgetting because memory is essential to moral orientation. A civilization that forgets sacrifice eventually forgets responsibility. Tombstones are not merely markers of death; they are markers of values. The symbols engraved upon them silently ask the living: What principles governed this life? What obligations did this person believe were worth defending? What kind of character was being built before time ran out?

The answer differs from stone to stone, symbol to symbol, faith to faith. Yet beneath every emblem rests the same sacrifice: a life surrendered in service to something larger than self.

On Memorial Day, the American flag waves above rows of white stones stretching toward the horizon. Some bear crosses. Some bear stars. Some bear the Square and Compasses. Their meanings differ, but their presence together tells a larger story about memory, freedom, and human dignity.

The Masonic emblem among the fallen carries a particularly quiet lesson. It reminds us that before death comes the work of construction. That integrity matters most under pressure. That character is built slowly through discipline and sacrifice. And that the final measure of a man is not what he possessed, but what he became.

Memorial Day is not only about those who died for the nation.

It is about whether the living remain worthy of their sacrifice.

For Old Guard Soldiers, 'Flags In' Is a Personal Mission

May 22, 2026 | By Courtesy of Arlington National Cemetery  |

Yesterday, in the early morning dawn, soldiers assigned to the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as "The Old Guard," marched into the only two national cemeteries managed by the Army, their rucksacks packed with small American flags.  

Their mission: to honor America's fallen heroes by placing a flag in front of each headstone and columbarium column — approximately 250,000 at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, and 13,500 at the United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery in Washington.  

This tradition, known as "Flags In," takes place annually at both cemeteries on the Thursday before Memorial Day.  

As the soldiers fanned out through Arlington National Cemetery's 639 acres, they placed a booted toe against each headstone and columbarium column before inserting a flag into the ground at their heel, creating a uniform distance for each flag.  

"Getting this right is important," said Army Master Sgt. Jeb Hague, as he turned back to a flag and adjusted it slightly. Hague, who has served in the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps since 2006, has placed flags in nearly every section of the cemetery. "When I do this, I learn a little bit more each year," he said, adding that different sections have different meanings.  

The Old Guard has been placing flags in front of headstones since 1948, when it was first designated as the Army's official ceremonial unit. Every available soldier in the regiment participates. At Arlington National Cemetery, where service members from the Revolutionary War through today's conflicts are laid to rest, "Flags In" connects today's soldiers to generations of military service and sacrifice — spanning 250 years of American history.  

For many Old Guard soldiers, "Flags In" is also a deeply personal mission.  

Hague is among those with friends and family members laid to rest in Arlington. His great-uncle, Alvin J. Buchanan Jr., who served in the Navy during World War II and the Korean War, is buried in Section 66. His friend Army Staff Sgt. Adam Dickmyer, a fellow Old Guard soldier who served as a tomb guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, was killed in Afghanistan in 2010 and is buried in Section 60.  

"Memorial Day is so special and solemn," Hague said. "But for me, [Flags In] is much more personal. "In the early morning quiet, before the cemetery opens to the public, soldiers can reflect on those who have lost their lives to defend our nation. I make sure to take a few seconds to read the name and remember them," Hague said.  

Later in the day, the tomb guards, also members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, placed flags at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to honor the three unknowns buried there, along with all unidentified and missing American service members.  

Meanwhile, at the United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery, veterans residing in the Armed Forces Retirement Home joined uniformed Old Guard soldiers in placing flags.  

By the afternoon, American flags waved across the iconic landscapes of both cemeteries.    

During Memorial Day weekend, visitors and family members will see the results of the soldiers' meaningful mission — one of the many ways the U.S. military ensures that its fallen are never forgotten. For the Old Guard, the day represents, in Hague's words, "a chance to give back" by commemorating all who served and sacrificed throughout the nation's 250-year history.

Songs Inspired Patriotism During American Revolutionary War

May 22, 2026 | By David Vergun, Pentagon News |

Music has a way of uniting people and generations, and the American Revolutionary War was no different, as it was often used to boost morale for both the Continental Army and British troops.

Many of that era's most popular patriotic songs were originally religious hymns adapted for the war effort or original sacred compositions that took on a military character. As America celebrates 250 years of freedom, here is a look back at a few of the many songs that inspired the birth of a nation. 

"Yankee Doodle" 

Perhaps the most well-known song still sung today is "Yankee Doodle." It was originally sung by British military officers to mock the American service members they served with during the French and Indian War.

Written by British Army surgeon Richard Shuckburgh while campaigning in New York, circa 1755, the song was embraced by American troops, who added verses to it that mocked the British and hailed their commander, Continental Army Gen. George Washington. By 1781, "Yankee Doodle" had become a song of national pride among Americans.  

The song begins with/Yankee Doodle went to town/A-riding on a pony/Stuck a feather in his cap/And called it macaroni. 

The term macaroni was used to describe a fashionable man who dressed and spoke in an outlandishly affected and effeminate manner.

The American version was written in 1776 by Edward Bangs, a Minuteman, and was played during the British surrender following the Battle of Saratoga, Oct. 17, 1777, in New York.

"Yankee Doodle" was revived by George M. Cohan to create the patriotic song, "The Yankee Doodle Boy" for his 1904 Broadway musical "Little Johnny Jones." In 1942, the movie "Yankee Doodle Dandy," about the life of Cohan, starred James Cagney, for which he won an Oscar.

The song "Yankee Doodle" was adopted as Connecticut's official state anthem in 1978. 

"Chester" 

The unofficial anthem of the American cause, William Billings' "Chester," was immensely popular during the war. It encouraged the patriots to be strong, because God was standing on their side against the British tyrants, which is heard in these lyrics: 

When God inspir'd us for the fight/ Their ranks were broke, their lines were forc'd/ Their ships were shatter'd in our sight/ Or swiftly driven from our coast. 

Billings, a Boston native, was America's first choral composer. Chester is an old Latin word for military camp. The song was the first truly patriotic song with both the tune and lyrics written by an American in the American colonies. 

"Liberty Song" 

The "Liberty Song" was an early American patriotic ballad composed by John Dickinson, a founding father. It is often attributed as the origin of the phrase: "United We Stand, Divided We Fall."  

The song was one of the first to circulate within the 13 colonies and is thought to have fostered a sense of shared identity and resistance among the colonists. It includes the following lyrics: 

Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all/ By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall/ In so righteous a cause let us hope to succeed/ For heaven approves of each generous deed. 

The 1969 song, "United We Stand" by Brotherhood of Men, was a romantic ballad that took some inspiration from "Liberty Song" with the lyric, "united we stand, divided we fall." Despite the romantic connotations, the song became a rallying cry for the Vietnam War based on these lyrics:  

For united we stand, divided we fall/ And if our backs should ever be against the wall/ We'll be together, together, you and I. 

"Free America" 

Joseph Warren, a member of the Sons of Liberty, wrote "Free America" to the tune of "The British Grenadiers," inspiring many colonists to volunteer for the cause of freedom during the Revolutionary War with the following words:  

Torn from a world of tyrants/ Beneath this western sky/ We formed a new dominion/ A land of liberty/ The world shall own we're freemen here/ And such will ever be/ Huzza, huzza, huzza/ For love and liberty. 

"The World Turned Upside Down" 

The song "The World Turned Upside Down" is a 17th-century British ballad written to protest the Puritan banning of traditional Christmas celebrations. It is thought to have been played by the British Army band when they surrendered after the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, though there is no historical evidence that it actually happened. The lyrics include the following:  

Listen to me and you shall hear, news hath not been this thousand year/Since Herod, Caesar, and many more, you never heard the like before/Holy-dayes are despis'd, new fashions are devis'd/Old Christmas is kickt out of Town/Yet let's be content, and the times lament, you see the world turn'd upside down. 

If the song title seems familiar, it is because the words gained new popularity more than 300 years after they were first written, when Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote his 2015 Broadway musical, Hamilton. 

Near the end of the first act, "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)" recaps the historic Battle of Yorktown: 

We negotiate the terms of surrender/I see George Washington smile/We escort their men out of Yorktown/They stagger home single file/Tens of thousands of people flood the streets/There are screams and church bells ringing/And as our fallen foes retreat/I hear the drinking song they're singing/The world turned upside down.

At 96, Former Army Tank Driver Reflects on the Korean War

May 22, 2026 | By Army Staff Sgt. Cayce Watson, 7th Infantry Division |

Army Staff Sgt. Stanley Martinez was the last man to step off the truck. It was autumn of 1951, somewhere north of Busan, South Korea, the deuce-and-a-half tactical vehicle he had ridden in from the country's southern tip had been dropping replacements all day: a soldier here, two there, each stepping into a slot another had just vacated.  

Martinez waited for his turn, listening to artillery thump in the dark. 

"You couldn't see anything, but you could hear it going off," he said. 

Now, decades later, at 96, he is one of two surviving members of his local Korean War Veterans Association chapter. He served as a tank driver assigned to the 7th Infantry Division, whose hourglass patch remains worn by soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, today. 

Martinez grew up the son of a New Mexico coal miner, one of 10 children: six brothers and four sisters. His mother died when he was six. His father never remarried and raised all 10 by himself.  

He moved to El Centro, California, in 1947 to live with one of his sisters. At that time, gas cost 17 cents a gallon, and Hank Williams was just starting to climb the country charts. He almost enlisted before being drafted. 

He and his childhood friend, Guillermo, walked to the post office, where young men would sign their enlistment papers at that time. 

On the way, a car pulled up alongside them, with a couple of guys inside and cold beer in the back seat. 

"I let [Guillermo] go [in] by himself, and I jumped in the car," he recalled. [He] was shipped to Korea, and soon after was reported missing in action. 

"To this day, they still haven't heard anything from him," Martinez said. "No bones. Nothing." 

Martinez's draft notice arrived months later, signed by President Harry S. Truman. By then, one of his brothers had died during World War II in the English Channel in December 1941, seven months after high school, when a German U-boat sank his ship. Remembering the loss, Martinez said he was proud to be called up, especially since he had been ready to volunteer. 

Within a week of receiving the notice, he was on a bus to San Diego for a physical. Soon after, he went to Camp Roberts, California, a World War II installation the Army was hastily reactivating. 

Sixteen weeks of infantry training followed. After graduating, he took a 13-day voyage to Yokohama, Japan, then traveled by train to Sasebo, Japan, took a ferry to Busan, South Korea, and then endured a long, slow truck ride north.  

Martinez began his military career as an infantryman but did not stay one for long. A few weeks after arriving in South Korea, an officer asked if anyone could drive a truck. Martinez had hauled carrots and watermelons in Southern California, so he volunteered. 

"They put me in a tank," he said. "All they did was show me the gears and the clutch." 

He drove for a four-man crew supporting infantry patrols for about a year. His world narrowed to a 10-inch periscope slit. The crew slept inside the tank while the infantry soldiers slept in foxholes. Hot food was served twice a month; the rest was C-Rations, prepackaged food. Whenever the Air Force struck the hills, Martinez watched napalm explode from a distance. 

"That was some dangerous stuff," he said. "All you could see was the fire. It was white." 

Martinez eventually rotated home, ferrying back to San Francisco. Then he went to Fort Hood, Texas, to finish his enlistment. He had married his wife, Alice, before deploying. Soon they will mark their 75th anniversary. After leaving the Army, he raised a family in El Centro and stayed on his feet until arthritis forced him to use a walker. Only Martinez and his friend Benny Benavides remain in his Korean War Veterans Association chapter. 

Several years ago, he returned to South Korea, on a trip sponsored by the South Korean government. The villages he remembered as rubble had become a metropolis. 

"It's something like San Francisco now," he said. 

When asked what he would advise young soldiers wearing his old patch, Martinez paused. 

"I think everybody should spend a couple of years in the service," he said. "Learn some discipline. It makes a difference." 

War Department's 'Patriot Pipeline' Flows Talent to Arsenal of Freedom

May 21, 2026 | By C. Todd Lopez, Pentagon News |

As the War Department rebuilds the defense industrial base — the thousands of private businesses that provide the hardware and weapons America's military uses to defend the nation — it will also ensure those businesses have the personnel to build those weapons.

While testifying yesterday before the Senate Armed Services Committee's personnel subcommittee, Anthony J. Tata, the undersecretary of war for personnel and readiness, said DOW has established Project Patriot Pipeline, an initiative to unify dozens of disparate training and workforce development programs for service members, military spouses and federal civilians.

Tata said Project Patriot Pipeline is a direct result of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's focus on the arsenal of freedom.

"As [the secretary] has traveled around the country to bolster our defense industrial base, we in the personnel and readiness domain asked ourselves the question: 'How are we going to resource this with the talent necessary to expand the arsenal of freedom and complete the mission?'" Tata said.

Through the department's arsenal of freedom effort, Hegseth has been working closely with industry partners to rebuild America's military might, which includes both the defense industrial base and the government-owned depots — the organic industrial base — that repair and refurbish weapon systems like tanks and helicopters or manufacture munitions.

Insofar as the workforce or potential workforce is concerned, the War Department has visibility of active-duty, National Guard and Reserve military personnel, federal civilian employees and military spouses. For those already in uniform, Tata said, the pipeline aims to retain that talent.

"Within each one, we want to encourage reenlistment, and we want to encourage reenlistment into ... high-demand, low-density military occupational skills," he said.

Tata noted that the department is aligning military bonuses with the services to ensure service members with the right skill sets are encouraged to reenlist. However, if they choose not to stay in uniform, they can continue to serve the nation as civilians through Project Patriot Pipeline.

"If they choose to leave service, we want to capture that training and investment that we made in their training," Tata said. "If they're an aviation maintainer in the military, we want them to be a depot aviation maintainer. And so, we are tweaking tuition assistance and SkillBridge time to be able to incentivize folks that want to migrate into the defense industrial base to try to incentivize them into those key skill sets."

SkillBridge is a program that enables retiring and separating service members to conduct on-the-job training in the private and civil sectors so they can successfully transition to a civilian job. As part of the program, service members spend time before their separation from service with one of thousands of partner businesses and agencies, learning job skills transferable to the private sector.

Through Project Patriot Pipeline, the War Department hopes SkillBridge can be used to guide departing service members back into service to their nation, as civilians in the defense industrial base or within one of the organic industrial base depots.

Tata described the urgency in opening the Patriot Pipeline, as the War Department expects there may soon be shortfalls in civilian workers in critical aviation fields.

"We have a real issue with our aviation depot maintainers," he said. "We're going to drop off a cliff here pretty soon, and demand is going to go way up, [depending] upon the platform that we're talking about. And so, we are trying to get ahead of that by incentivizing people ... to stay within the defense industrial base."

In addition to service members, Tata said it's not unreasonable to believe that military spouses could also help the defense industrial base.

"We have a huge military spouse employment effort going on ... where we have the SkillBridge-like program that they can do the internships, and then begin to work," he said. "We have money where we can pay for scholarships. We're going to increase that to incentivize them to go into the defense industrial base, whether that's healthcare, education, aviation maintainer, welder [or] shipbuilder. ... Our spouses deserve these opportunities, and we've allowed for direct hiring authority in many of these areas."

Finally, Tata said the War Department has many civilian employees who serve in a variety of areas, and he would like to see them keep working, if possible, moving into the most critical areas.

"We want them to 'reenlist,' so to speak, and re-up within the civilian domain, to go into things such as the Golden Dome [missile defense system], cyber and these real critical, high-demand, low-density areas where we need the real talent," he said.

Tata said military personnel, federal civilian employees and military spouses all have the possibility to help strengthen the nation by contributing to the arsenal of freedom through Project Patriot Pipeline.

Symbol of Grit Returns, 10th Mountain Division to Wear Crossed Ski Insignia

May 21, 2026 | By Army Maj. Geoffrey Carmichael, 10th Mountain Division |

Soldiers assigned to the 10th Mountain Division can once again wear the division's historic crossed ski insignia on their Army Green Service Uniform garrison caps, restoring a visual link to the unit's World War II roots and reinforcing the alpine spirit that resonates across the formation.

The insignia was first adopted in 1943, when the Army created the 10th Mountain Division as a specialized alpine force. The symbol represented the unit's ability to fight in harsh winter conditions and rugged mountain terrain. Today, leaders say bringing the emblem back to everyday uniform wear honors that legacy while reminding soldiers of the division's high standards.  

Army Maj. Gen. Scott Naumann, commanding general of the 10th Mountain Division, said the decision carries real meaning for the force.  

"The crossed skis are more than a symbol from our past," Naumann said. "They represent the toughness, adaptability and spirit that define this division. Seeing them on our soldiers' caps connects who we are today with the mountaineers who built our reputation."

The division's origins trace back to Camp Hale, Colorado, where soldiers trained on steep slopes, icy ridgelines and snow-covered trails before deploying to Italy during World War II. Their assault on Riva Ridge and the breakthrough of the German Gothic Line became defining moments in U.S. military history. Although today's 10th Mountain Division no longer fights on skis, its mission as a rapidly deployable light infantry force still demands the same warrior spirit, readiness and grit.  

Army Command Sgt. Maj. Brett Johnson, the division's senior enlisted leader, said the return of the insignia helps reinforce that identity.

"When a soldier puts on that cap and sees the crossed skis, it's a reminder of the legacy they're part of," Johnson said. "It tells them, 'You belong to a division known for going where others dare not go and you're expected to carry that forward.'"  

Leaders say the change not only strengthens esprit de corps but ensures that the division's heritage remains visible in modern formations. For those across the formation, the crossed skis serve as a proud reminder of the unit's identity and the generations who shaped it.

JIATF 401 Drone Defense Marketplace Broadens Allied Access to Counter-Drone Capabilities

May 20, 2026 | By U.S. Army |

International agreements with key allies are expanding access to counter-unmanned aerial system capabilities. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and key leaders from Australia, Poland and South Korea recently signed agreements enabling each country to procure counter-small UAS technologies through the Joint Interagency Task Force 401 drone defense marketplace. 

As the War Department's premier organization to synchronize counter-small UAS efforts across the joint force and interagency, JIATF 401 is helping allies and partners rapidly acquire state-of-the-art counter-small UAS capability to respond to the evolving threat of drones. The drone defense marketplace connects diverse solutions with an expanding network of users who need scalable, effective and interoperable technologies. The initiative aligns with the Army secretary's goal of providing partner nations with timely access to essential capabilities and highlights JIATF 401's central role in advancing that mission. 

"This partnership gives our allies and partners direct access to proven counter-drone technologies as we continue to expand the marketplace," said Maj. Matt Mellor, lead acquisitions specialist for JIATF 401. "Our mission includes working with international partners to aggregate demand for counter-drone capabilities." 

The agreements build on recent collaborations with key allies, including the United Kingdom and Romania, to enhance interoperability and accelerate the delivery of critical capabilities. Collectively, these efforts indicate a move toward a more cohesive and accessible counter-small UAS network across coalition partners. JIATF 401 officials highlighted that expanding marketplace access will allow partners to acquire leading counter-drone technologies while helping shape the future development of the counter-small UAS industrial base. 

"We are continuing to expand the market for [counter-small UAS]," said Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, director of JIATF 401. "We understand that our allies and partners want to purchase American-made counter-drone technologies. The JIATF 401 marketplace helps aggregate that demand, ensuring our defense industrial base is ready to scale production and meet the growing needs of our coalition."

Statement Attributable to Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs (ATSW(PA))

May 19, 2026 |

The Department of War has reduced the total number of Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) assigned to Europe from four to three. This returns us to the levels of BCTs in Europe in 2021. This decision was the result of a comprehensive, multilayered process focused on U.S. force posture in Europe.  This is resulting in a temporary delay of the deployment of U.S. forces to Poland, which is a model U.S. ally.

The Department will determine the final disposition of these and other U.S. forces in Europe based on further analysis of U.S. strategic and operational requirements, as well as our allies' own ability to contribute forces toward Europe's defense. This analysis is designed to advance President Trump's America First agenda in Europe and other theaters, including by incentivizing and enabling our NATO allies to take primary responsibility for Europe's conventional defense.

Secretary Hegseth spoke with Polish Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz earlier today, and the Department will remain in close contact with our Polish counterparts as this analysis proceeds, including to ensure that the United States retains a strong military presence in Poland. Poland has shown both the ability and resolve to defend itself. Other NATO allies should follow suit.

The Department will provide more information at the appropriate time, in the appropriate setting.

National Defense Strategy Prioritizes America First, Leader Says

 May 19, 2026 | By David Vergun, Pentagon News |

The U.S. will prioritize theaters with the greatest consequence for American interests and where only American power can play a decisive role, said Daniel Zimmerman, assistant secretary of war for international security affairs, who spoke today during a hearing in Washington before the House Armed Services Committee regarding the military's policies, programs and activities in the Middle East and Africa.

In the Middle East, allies and partners must take the lead in responsibility for their own security, Zimmerman said.

In Africa, the U.S. is transitioning from an aid-focused relationship to a trade- and investment-focused one, favoring partnerships with capable, reliable states intent on achieving common interests, he said.

The War Department will prioritize taking direct action against Islamic terrorists in Africa who are both capable of and intent on striking the U.S. homeland, while empowering African partners to destroy terrorist organizations throughout the continent, he said.

Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, said his command was created in direct response to the threats posed by Iran.

Since 1979, the Iranian regime has terrorized the region and made hostility to the United States a core tenet of its rule. The regime is an even more deadly threat to its own people, killing tens of thousands of innocent Iranians during protests, he said.

"Iran has long had three pillars of intimidation and coercion: their nuclear program, their ballistic missiles and drones, and their proxies — especially Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis," Cooper said.

All signs pointed to Iran's intent to create a nuclear weapon and then to protect their nuclear program with ballistic missiles and drones, the admiral said.

"They did it for two reasons: to create a shield to make their nuclear site untouchable and to create an offensive capability so large that regional partners couldn't possibly defend against it," he said.

Air Force Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson, commander of U.S. Africa Command, said his command is prioritizing willing and capable partners.

The department supports partners with unique capabilities that only the U.S. can provide, he said, such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance targeting and precision strikes.

In Africa, China is working to control critical minerals and infrastructure, and Russia is exploiting instability to extract resources to fuel its war machine, Anderson said.

To contend with these threats, Africom continues to pursue low-cost, high-yield activities to amplify the department's impact on the continent, he said.

Army Advances Barracks Modernization Efforts to Improve Quality of Life

May 18, 2026 | By Elijah Cornish, Army |

Since October 2025, when Secretary of War Pete Hegseth established the Barracks Task Force, the Army has accelerated efforts to improve soldier living conditions, modernize aging facilities and strengthen quality-of-life investments across installations.

The initiative reinforced that barracks are not simply infrastructure; they are a readiness issue directly linked to lethality, retention, recruiting and soldier trust.

Across the Army enterprise, efforts are underway to modernize how barracks are planned, funded, maintained and delivered while addressing long-standing infrastructure deficiencies. Recent efforts have included targeted renovations, new construction projects, digital modernization initiatives and accelerated investment strategies to improve day-to-day living conditions for soldiers. 

Funding provided through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act enabled the Army to make several key investments, including: 

• $20 million for new furniture at 40 installations, impacting more than 106,000 soldiers. 
• $59 million for lighting, plumbing, mold remediation and door lock work orders. 
• $405 million for repair and modernization projects across all components. 

The Army has used innovative methods to modernize barracks. At Fort Bliss, Texas, it partnered with industry and government stakeholders to deliver 3D-printed barracks, demonstrating how emerging technologies can reduce construction timelines while improving quality and resiliency. 

It also advanced initiatives to improve soldier quality of life, such as pilot programs for free Wi-Fi, increased facility assessments and enhanced coordination across commands and installation management organizations to prioritize repairs and modernization. 

Barracks Modernization Supports Broader Installation Transformation 

The Barracks Task Force is part of a broader effort to transform Army installations into resilient operational platforms capable of sustaining readiness, supporting soldiers and enabling the Army mission in competition, crisis and conflict. 

Jordan Gillis, assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment, outlined three core transformation priorities guiding Army installation modernization efforts: 

• Leverage outside and alternate financing. 
• Make the most of the funds we have. 
• Drive Army interest through strategic engagement. 

These priorities are helping shape how the Army approaches barracks modernization by accelerating project delivery, improving stewardship of existing resources, strengthening accountability and identifying innovative ways to improve soldier quality of life across the force. 

Gillis said installations are operational platforms that directly enable readiness and lethality. 

"Improving barracks conditions is about ensuring soldiers live in facilities that reflect the professionalism and standards they deserve," he said. 

The effort aims for lasting change in barracks governance, project acceleration, prioritizing high-risk facilities and aligning investments with soldier needs and mission readiness. 

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael R. Weimer emphasized that barracks conditions directly impact morale, discipline, readiness and retention. 

"Our soldiers live the Army profession every day, and they deserve facilities that support their health, well-being and readiness," Weimer said. 

The visits demonstrate the Army's commitment to accountability, soldier quality of life and ensuring modernization efforts deliver measurable improvements at the installation level. 

While work remains, the Barracks Task Force shows a long-term commitment to ensuring soldiers live and work in facilities that reflect the professionalism, standards and readiness expectations of the Army.

Fueling the Fight: USNS Kanawha Completes Strategic Deployment

May 18, 2026 | By LaShawn Sykes, Military Sealift Command |

At long last, the familiar blue and yellow stripes around the top of the main smokestack appeared against the coastal sky, marking the successful completion of months of dedication and support to U.S. naval forces.

Family and friends gathered on the pier at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, May 16, to welcome home the crew of the USNS Kanawha. The fleet replenishment oiler and its 92 civil service mariners returned after a 204-day deployment, including 156 days actively at sea.

Operating in the U.S. 4th, 5th and 6th Fleets, the crew served as a strategic enabler. They delivered more than 17 million gallons of fuel, 3,000 pallets of supplies and transported 45 personnel, performing 113 replenishments to 29 U.S. and coalition vessels. As a floating warehouse, the ship enabled sustained operations during key missions, including Operations Southern Spear and Epic Fury.

"I would like to thank the Kanawha crew and their families," said Navy Capt. Elizabeth A. Nelson, Military Sealift Command Atlantic commodore. "The Kanawha was underway for seven long months supporting [the USS] Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group. Without the support of their families, they would not have been able to accomplish their mission. Kanawha's performance exemplifies how MSC's combat logistics force powers modern naval operations, directly fueling U.S. Navy readiness at sea."

As part of MSC's combat logistics force, oilers like the Kanawha are integral to the Navy's logistics system, enabling combatant ships to remain forward-deployed to protect American interests. These logistics forces are the backbone of sustained operations at sea, and the crew who operate these ships — resupplying the fleet with fuel, stores and ammunition — are a strategic piece of Navy operations.

Replenishments at sea involve supplies being transferred from logistics force ships to combatant ships via underway replenishment. The two primary methods are connected replenishment, which transfers fuel and dry cargo via lines between ships sailing side by side, and vertical replenishment, which uses helicopters to ferry goods between the two vessels.

Extending the Navy's operational reach across the Caribbean, Mediterranean and the Middle East, the Kanawha leveraged 19 port visits in strategic locations, including Augusta Bay, Italy; Ponce, Puerto Rico; Souda Bay, Greece; and Yambu, Saudi Arabia.

Through these port calls and ongoing logistical services, the crew acted as essential ambassadors, directly enhancing both diplomatic ties and combat readiness.

Nelson praised the Kanawha crew.

"Their MSC family owes them a debt of gratitude for their sacrifice — not just for the delivery of fuel and spare parts, but for delivering letters and packages from home that keep the fleet motivated. MSC's [crews] are the best because they fuel the fight with more than just cargo; they fuel it with care."

Crewed and operated by civil service mariners, the ship entered noncommissioned service with the Navy Dec. 6, 1991, to support MSC. The ship is named after the Kanawha River in southwestern West Virginia.