Maryland Veterans Museum at Patriot Park

09/19/2026

Who knew? LOL!

According to the Department of Defense, Donald Duck was officially drafted into the U.S. Army in 1941, before the U.S. entered the war. | Read More. ⬇️

09/19/2026

Rest In Peace...
US Navy SEAL. Petty Officer Michael Bell born in Poplar, Montana, and raised on the Fort Peck reservation in Wolf Point. He served five years in the Teams, stationed at Pearl Harbor and attached to SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One, earning qualifications in Military Free Fall, NSW Scout, and NSW Sniper.

He did not just complete sniper school. He graduated runner-up for the Honor Man award. He served one mission in Iraq and was preparing to deploy for a second when he came home to visit his family on the reservation in April 2006. On April 12, 2006, Michael Kenneth Bell was stabbed and killed. He was only 22 years old.

A warrior from Wolf Point, Montana who went from a reservation to one of the most elite fighting forces on earth and gave everything he had to both. His SEAL instructor, who later became a US Congressman, called him a warrior’s warrior and a true giant among men. May he Rest In Peace....

09/19/2026

On September 18, 1944 Marine PFC Charles Roan was Killed in Action on Peleliu, he was 21 years old and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor..

Born in Claude, Texas to Henry & Lillabel Roan on August 16, 1923, Charles Howard Roan was the second of three sons.
He was working in a local garage when in December 1942 he enlisted in the Marine Corps.

After boot camp Charles served as a rifleman in Company D, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.
He previously saw action on Cape Gloucester before landing on Peleliu on September 15, 1944

Three days later on September 18th, Charles and his fellow Marines were engaged in combat with Japanese soldiers in a cave on Peleliu.
He had already been wounded by a Japanese gr***de, when another landed nearby he threw himself on it, absorbing the blast and saving the lives of four of his fellow Marines.

Charles was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, his citation reads;

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese Forces on Peleliu, Palau Islands, September 18, 1944. Shortly after his leader ordered a withdrawal upon discovering that the squad was partly cut off from their company as a result of their rapid advance along an exposed ridge during an aggressive attack on the strongly entrenched enemy, PFC Roan and his companions were suddenly engaged in a furious exchange of hand gr***des with Japanese forces emplaced in a cave on higher ground and the rear of the squad. Seeking protection with four other Marines in a depression the rocky, broken terrain, Private First Class Roan was wounded by an enemy gr***de which fell close to their position and, immediately realizing the imminent peril to his comrades when another gr***de landed in the midst of the group, unhesitatingly flung himself upon it, covering it with his body and absorbing the full impact of the explosion. By his prompt action and selfless conduct in the face of almost certain death, he saved the lives of four men. His great personal valor reflects the highest credit upon himself and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his comrades.”

His remains were not accounted for and PFC Charles Roan is memorialized with the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
He also has a memorial marker at Claude Cemetery in Claude, Texas where his parents are buried.

The Gearing-class destroyer USS Charles H Roan DD-853 was named in his honor.
She served from 1946 to 1973 before being transferred to Turkey, scrapped in 1994.

Older brother Henry Corbitt Roan Jr served in the Army during WW2, he passed away in 2001 at the age of 81.
Younger brother Joe Bacon Roan served in the Navy during WW2, he passed away in 1969 at the age of 43.

Traces of Texas

09/19/2026

Former Army medic and Medal of Honor recipient Gary Rose was raised to be a man who did what he said he would do - and do it the best he can. | Read More. ⬇️

09/19/2026

Infantryman Jose Mares was eating his Thanksgiving dinner on November 24, 1950 while on duty in Korea, when North Korean troops attacked his unit, killing soldiers seated on either side of him. Five days later, he was captured, beginning almost three years of brutal treatment. Mares wouldn't break, even after he was nearly executed for simply refusing to offer any more information than his name, rank, serial number, and date of birth.

Learn more: https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.06059/

09/18/2026

09/18/2026

09/18/2026

Lt. Gen. Lewis "Chesty" Puller was a Marine’s Marine. A bonafide badass leatherneck, with the scars to prove it. Here are 5 reasons why this Marine is a legend. | Read More. ⬇️

09/18/2026

On this day, 57 years ago, September 17, 1969, 27-year-old Staff Sergeant Melvin Morris commanded a strike force drawn from Company D, 5th Special Forces Group near Chi Lang, Republic of Vietnam.

He was already a military pioneer, having become one of the first African American Green Berets in 1963.

During a search and destroy mission near the Cambodian border, his company entered an extensive enemy minefield and triggered a ferocious ambush by North Vietnamese troops.

A radio dispatch confirmed that Master Sergeant Ronald Hagen, a fellow team commander, had been killed near a heavily fortified bunker.

Refusing to leave a fallen soldier behind, Morris reorganized his strike team into an assault posture and led two volunteers into direct enemy fire.

Hostile machine guns immediately concentrated their fire on the three-man element, wounding both volunteers accompanying him.

Morris assisted both wounded men back to friendly lines and immediately prepared to re-enter the kill zone alone.

He stuffed twenty hand gr***des into a chest bag and charged straight toward enemy positions under cover of friendly suppressive fire.

Sprinting through strafing machine gun rounds, Morris hurled gr***des into hostile emplacements and single-handedly destroyed four enemy bunkers.

He cleared the final bunker, eliminated the remaining defenders, and recovered his fallen commander's body alongside a map case packed with classified intelligence.

As Morris began the grueling retreat toward friendly lines, enemy riflemen shot him three times, including a bullet through the chest.

Holding his comrade's body and the classified papers, he sheltered behind a tree and held off enemy forces for over two hours until a rescue element reached him.

Morris spent three months recovering in military hospitals before volunteering to return to Vietnam for a second combat tour in April 1970.

The Army decorated him with the Distinguished Service Cross in 1970 for his heroism that day.

He continued his military career for over two decades, eventually retiring from the United States Army in May 1985 with the rank of Sergeant First Class.

Decades later, a congressional mandate prompted a Pentagon review to correct historic racial bias in past military awards given to minority service members.

On March 18, 2014, President Barack Obama presented Melvin Morris with the Medal of Honor at the White House, nearly 45 years after his actions in the Mekong Delta.

He survived the war and continues to advocate for military veterans as a living Medal of Honor recipient.