Chas W. Freeman, Jr. is one of those rare diplomats with brilliant language abilities who also was involved in an…
The Bombing of U.S. Embassy Beirut — April 18, 1983
The suicide bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon on April 18, 1983 was the deadliest attack on a…
Crossing Qaddafi’s Line of Death – April 15, 1986
The late 1980s saw an alarming decline in U.S.-Libyan relations. A plane hijacking and airport attacks in Rome and Vienna…
FSO Ends Up in an Irish Stew Over His Christmas Letter
We’ve all wanted to blow off steam about our boss, co-workers, or those troglodytes in Human Resources. Robin Berrington, who…
Japanese Fishermen and the Bikini Atoll H-bomb Blast
On March 1st, 1954, the U.S. conducted its largest hydrogen bomb test ever near the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall…
The Day Stalin’s Daughter Asked for Asylum in the U.S.
On March 9th, 1967, Svetlana Alliluyeva — Joseph Stalin’s only daughter — walked into the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi…
A Real Life “Thunderball”: The Day the U.S. Lost Hydrogen Bombs in Spain
The March 2009 edition of Time magazine called it one of the world’s “worst nuclear disasters.” On January 17, 1966, a B-52…
Hard Rock Hotel Panama: Noriega and the U.S. Invasion, Part II
The U.S. and SOUTHCOM had spent considerable time and effort planning for the invasion and had mapped out several places…
Hard Rock Hotel Panama — Noriega and the U.S. Invasion, Part I
Beginning in the middle of the 1980s, relations between General Manuel Noriega, Panama’s de facto leader, and the United States…
President Johnson says: “I Want YOU to Get Me a New Shower Head”
Many stars are (in)famous for the lists of must-have items that are to be stocked backstage or in their hotel…