Featured Articles
Eddie Rickenbacker: America’s Most Decorated World War I Ace
Edward Vernon Rickenbacker is best remembered as the “ace of aces.” He achieved 26 aerial victories during World War I — the most of any US pilot during the war. With a Medal of Honor, [...]
The Long Blue Line: Remembering centurium Alphonzo Barbour—eyewitness to African American history
[Editor’s note: In 1992, Yeoman Senior Chief Vince Patton (later MCPOCG #8) interviewed retired Commissary Steward First Class Alphonzo F. Barbour and published this story in the Commandant’s Bulletin magazine. Barbour was born in 1892, [...]
After 80 Years, the Fate Of the USS Cythera (PY-26) and Her Crew Still Remains a Mystery
The USS Cythera (PY-26) has several distinctions. She started out life as a civilian yacht before being acquired by the US Navy, and later went on to serve in both World War I and II. Her service [...]
American Women in World War I: Marion Randall Parsons: Writer, artist, mountain climber, Red Cross worker
San Francisco-born Marian Randall (1878–1953) was the daughter of druggist Charles Wells Randall and his wife, Nancy Garabrant Randall, and had four siblings. An enthusiastic mountain climber, she ascended at least 50 peaks. In 1907, [...]
Women in World War I Sparked Remarkable Changes
It was the cultural norm that married women and many single women stayed home tied to the household and did not work. So, how, and when did American women enter the workforce? The answer is [...]
Forever Lost at Sea: Navy’s WWI Collier USS Cyclops
Over a century later, the whereabouts of the collier USS Cyclops remains unknown and might never be known… forever lost at sea. “Weather Fair, All Well.” That was the last known message radioed by one [...]
William J. Powell, Aviator and Entrepreneur
William J. Powell was a tireless promoter of African American participation in the budding field of flight. In an era when daredevil pilots captured the imagination of the masses, Powell recognized that aviation also presented [...]
WWI American Pilots Wanted A Great Fighter Plane. Instead, They Got The Nieuport 28.
The Americans flying in World War I wanted the Spad XIII. They got the Nieuport 28 instead. Near dawn on April 2, 2022, a vision from the past accelerated down a grass airstrip in rural [...]
A family tie to U.S. Navy ship Cyclops led to three books about the WWI mystery ship
I was first acquainted with the existence of the U.S. Navy ship Cyclops when I was quite young. Occasionally I would spend some time at my grandparents’ shop in Baltimore where my father worked. On [...]
