Photo courtesy of Mrs. James C. Fahey

Fahey's Legacy

The year 1939 was a busy one - filled with events that are still discussed 70 years later: movie classics such as The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the ...

Paul Stillwell
August 2009
U.S. Coast Guard

Ocean Stations Saved Lives

The nation was enthralled in mid-January of this year after seeing television coverage of the remarkable ditching of a passenger plane in the frigid Hudson River off Manhattan. Captain Chesley ...

Paul Stillwell
June 2009
U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive

Bucher and the Pueblo

A new presidential administration has just taken office. And, as was the case when a different administration arrived 40 years ago, the political and military leaders inherited wars in progress ...

Paul Stillwell
April 2009
Smithsonian Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

A Smashing Breakthrough

Some years ago I had the pleasure of joining a tour of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's restoration facility in Silver Hill, Maryland. There, I encountered a fascinating ...

Paul Stillwell
February 2009
Courtesy of Mike Bak

Four Ships Named Sterett

Just as the sun was setting on a balmy August Saturday evening in Baltimore, Sailors at the stern of the guided-missile destroyer Sterett (DDG-104) raised the American flag to signify ...

Paul Stillwell
December 2008
U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive

A Warrior in Autumn

One of the fascinating aspects of interviewing retired Navy men and women is discovering what sorts of personalities they have long after the conclusion of their active service. For some ...

Paul Stillwell
October 2008
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library

1968—From a Distance

As we look back 40 years, books and documentaries tell us that 1968 was one of the most divisive years in the United States in the 20th century. Anniversaries of ...

Paul Stillwell
August 2008
U.S. Navy (matt jarvis)

Sunshine and Grit

This spring a large crowd will gather at the U.S. Naval Academy to dedicate Wesley Brown Field House, a state-of-the-art athletic facility. At the tradition-laden Academy, it's exceedingly rare to ...

Paul Stillwell
June 2008

Battleship Skipper

Forty years ago this spring, the Navy recommissioned the battleship New Jersey (BB-62). Thousands of people gathered at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard to see the reincarnation of a ship that ...

Paul Stillwell
April 2008
U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive

The Last Diesel Boat

Though there was little public notice at the time, the diesel-boat era ended in the U.S. Navy on 15 January 2007 with the decommissioning of the USS Dolphin (AGSS-555). The ...

Paul Stillwell
February 2008