Letters from a WWII Soldier to His Sweetheart Offer an Intimate Picture of Love During Wartime
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Highlights from a trove of more than 200 love letters that tell the story of a couple’s courtship and marriage during World War II are now on display digitally through the Nashville Public Library, offering an intimate picture of love during wartime. The letters by William Raymond Whittaker and Jane Dean were […]
Missouri US Army Soldier Sentenced to Life for Murder of Sergeant
A sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole was handed down to Fort Leonard Wood Missouri Army Spc. Wooster Rancy in the murder of Sgt. Sarah Roque in 2024. Rancy, a 22-year-old combat engineer assigned to the 509th Engineer Company, 5th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, was found guilty by a military […]
Army Soldier Begins 20-Year Sentence After Killing Comrade in Barracks
An ex-Army soldier in Alabama has been sentenced to more than 20 years in a military prison after being convicted of killing a comrade during a fight in their barracks. Pvt. Brian Jones Jr., 24, pleaded guilty on Jan. 29 to one count of unpremeditated murder in the death of Pvt. Abdul N. Latifu, 21, […]
‘I Never Want to See it Again.’ Vietnam Soldier Recalls Deadly Napalm, Tet Offensive
It’s been almost 58 years since Army veteran Robert Hendricks witnessed some of the worst moments of the Vietnam War, but those stark memories remained burned into his subconscious. Hendricks, who was drafted into service in 1967, was in Vietnam when the infamous Tet Offensive began in January 1968 and saw firsthand the damaging effects […]
Army Soldier Travels 7k Miles, Surprises Cancer-Stricken Mother For Christmas
Last year was the first time that U.S. Army Pvt. First Class Patrick Konczal ever remembered not being with his family on Christmas. This year, with help near and far, he made a 7,000-mile trek to give his parents—including a cancer-stricken mother—a giant holiday surprise. Konczal, a 74D and CBRN Specialist, is stationed at Camp […]
Army Service, Then a Killing: Gilgo Beach Cold Case Leads to Arrest of Former Soldier
They met while serving in the U.S. Army, a shared military background that prosecutors now say sits at the center of a decades-old homicide tied to the Gilgo Beach investigation. Nassau County prosecutors in New York say Andrew Dykes, a former U.S. Army operating room technician, murdered fellow service member Tanya Denise Jackson in 1997, […]
Death by Firing Squad: Eddie Slovik Became the Only U.S. Soldier Executed for Desertion in WWII
Eddie Slovik made a series of decisions that turned him into the only American soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War. He wrote and signed a confession admitting his crime. He refused five offers to escape punishment. He told his judge advocate he would desert again. And his case reached General Dwight Eisenhower’s desk […]
German Officer Sacrificed His Life Trying to Save an American Soldier in the WWII Battle of Hurtgen Forest
During the bloody battle for Hurtgen Forest in late 1944, a 23-year-old German lieutenant heard a wounded American soldier crying for help in a minefield. Lt. Friedrich Lengfeld ordered his men not to shoot any American medics who might try to rescue the man. When no help came after hours of listening to the man’s […]
Driver Sentenced in Crash that Killed Lewis-McChord Soldier, a Father of 4
The man who fatally struck an Army soldier stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state in a vehicle collision on Interstate 5, then carjacked another vehicle to flee, was sentenced Monday to three years, 10 months in prison. Ryan Edward Grems, 38, pleaded guilty in July to failure to remain at an accident resulting […]
Victim’s Family Settles with Bars Visited by Soldier Before Fatal Attack
The family of a security guard killed by an Army Ranger in downtown Tacoma has settled a lawsuit against two businesses alleged to have over-served alcohol to the soldier before the fatal attack in 2021. Denise Smith, 41, was beaten to death at the Frank Russell Building, where she only recently had begun working. Smith […]