Military Subjects & War Stories (Incldg the Cold War)

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Aug 9, 2026 #ColdWar #ColdWarHistory #History
Our historical documentary series on the history of the Cold War continues with a look at how the Cold War was reflected in everyday life, including Saturday Morning cartoons. We look at things like He-Man, M.A.S.K., and of GI Joe to examine how the ideas and concepts of Cold War thinking and masculinity were portrayed, even if inadvertently, in children's television programming. David also makes various cartoon references, bringing him back to his childhood.

Saturday Morning Soldiers: How the Cold War Was Reflected in Cartoons
 
A Developing Sense of Fear: With the Merchant Marine in the Vietnam War

Aug 14, 2026
David Gerstel served with the U.S. merchant marine and made multiple port calls to South Vietnam, beginning in 1965. he shares memories of experiences in among other places, Dong Ha, Nha Trang and Saigon. Posted as part of the War & Life Project: / @listentoothers Any veteran who served in any combat zone in any capacity is invited to contact Preston Jones: pjones@jbu.edu or stuffoflife66@gmail.com / (479) 524-7488.

A Developing Sense of Fear: With the Merchant Marine in the Vietnam War
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USS Benfold Was Stalled in the South China Sea for Four Days After Engineering Casualty​

Guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG-65) spent four days in the South China Sea without power after an engineering failure, USNI News has learned.

Benfold suffered the engineering casualty resulting in a loss of power last month, Cmdr. Matthew Comer, spokesperson with U.S. 7th Fleet, told USNI News in a statement.

“On July 24, 2026, while conducting routine operations in the Indo-Pacific, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65) reported an engineering casualty involving its generators, causing a loss of power,” reads the statement. “There were no injuries to the crew, who demonstrated resilience, grit, professionalism and unwavering steadiness in their response.”

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Ideological Rectification and Political Training Campaign Underway in the People’s Liberation Army and the People’s Armed Police​

In April 2026, Central Military Commission (CMC) Chairman Xi Jinping spoke at a training course for senior officers from the CMC, theaters, services, and CMC-affiliated units. The course laid out plans for “conducting ideological rectification and deepening political training at this new historical juncture” throughout the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the People’s Armed Police (PAP). This campaign, directly related to the removal of dozens of two- and three-star generals (theater leader and deputy theater leader grade billets) for various forms of corruption over the past several years, is now trickling down to leaders of lower organizational levels, including operational (combat) units at corps, division, deputy division (brigade) grade, and below.

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The Tail That Couldn’t Keep Up: How the US Navy Ran Its Own Sailors Short on Food and Soap​

The images were mundane in a way that made them land harder than any battle footage: half-empty meal trays, a gray slab of processed meat, sailors rationing food among themselves so no one got more than anyone else. Through the spring and summer of 2026, the crews of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and the assault ship USS Tripoli contended with food shortages, long chow lines, broken toilets, mold in the showers, dead laundry machines, and shortages of basics like soap and toothpaste — aboard warships operating in the Arabian Sea and the wider Indian Ocean after more than 250 days at sea. The strain told on morale, and in the worst cases on the safety of the crew.

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Report to Congress on Russian Hybrid Warfare in Europe​

The following is the Aug. 11, 2026, Congressional Research Service report: Russian Hybrid Warfare Activities in Europe: Considerations for Congress.

From the report​

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, U.S. and European officials have accused Russia of a sustained campaign of malign activities, often referred to as hybrid warfare, across Europe. These attacks, which have been increasing in number and severity, include sabotage, assassinations, political interference and influence, cyberattacks, and airspace violations, among others. Russia’s foreign intelligence agencies have demonstrated flexibility in conducting these attacks and adapting to European responses (such as sanctions, expulsions of intelligence officers, increased military operations and heightened intelligence scrutiny), and they are conducting more aggressive operations, which carry a greater risk of exposure. Some European officials have asserted that Russia is using hybrid warfare tactics to undermine European support for Ukraine and destabilize or complicate a unified European response to Russian policies and actions.

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U.S. National Security Science & Technology Strategy​

The following is the White House National Security Science and Technology Strategy released earlier this week.

From the report​

This document establishes a National Security Science and Technology Strategy (NSSTS) to support and enable the 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS). It satisfies the Congressional requirement for a “Strategy…on the nation’s economic security, science, research, and innovation to support the national security strategy” (42 USC 19221; Sec. 10612 of the CHIPS and Science Act, P.L. 117-167) to be submitted by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) after the transmission of each National Security Strategy.

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