99th Infantry Battalion (Separate)

The 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) was activated on 10 July 1942 at Camp Ripley, Minnesota. The original War Department order that created the 99th gave priority to Norwegian aliens for service in the 99th.

A Record Unequaled – The 20th General Hospital in World War II

The legacy that the 20th General Hospital left behind is one of men and women who provided exceptional medical care to the wounded (both Allied and enemy) in the austere environment of the China-Burma-India Theater and adds to a history of University of Pennsylvania medical personnel providing care to the nation’s soldiers that stretches from the American Revolution to today. 

Brigadier General Russell W. Volckmann

When the Japanese invaded the Philippines in December 1941, Volckmann and his men fought back, and when Bataan fell, Volckmann and a handful of others refused to surrender and escaped the Bataan Death March.

Browning Automatic Rifle

In the autumn of 1918, a powerful new American weapon was introduced to provide assault troops that type of weapon: the Browning Automatic Rifle, then and thereafter known simply as the BAR (not “bar”). The BAR gave attacking troops a genuine tactical advantage in the offensive. It became a legendary weapon that saw service in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.