Tag Archives: Spanish American War

April, Always April

AMERICA’S FAVORITE MONTH TO GO TO WAR

War clouds may be gathering over the Koreas. Again. And the timing couldn’t be worse to those who know history. Because April is when America most often goes to war.

Fate has a thing for April. It loves unleashing major events then. More serious history has been made in this one month than any other: Paul Revere’s ride (1775); Lincoln’s assassination (1865); Jesse James killed (1882 – click here for more); the Titanic sank (1912); Martin Luther King’s assassination (1968), plus many more.

Here’s another little-known fact: the majority of American wars began in April. Continue reading →

How We Got Guam

IT’S EASY TO WIN WHEN THE ENEMY DOESN’T KNOW THERE’S A WAR

Holy Cow

USS CharlestonAdmit it: you’ve never stopped to wonder how the United States gained the Pacific island of Guam, have you? There’s no reason to. It doesn’t come up in dinner party conversations. And they certainly didn’t teach it in school.

Guam wasn’t seized in some great battle or handed over through diplomatic negotiation. The reason we acquired it was simple: bureaucratic bungling. As they said in the movie Cool Hand Luke, “What we have here is failure to communicate.” Here’s how it went down. Continue reading →