Despite all the jubilation 80 years ago on May 8, 1945, however, there was still unfinished business to attend to. Soviet forces were already being transferred via Trans-Siberian Railroad to Japanese-held Manchukuo, a British army was battling its way into Burma (now Myanmar) and a Royal Navy task force was assisting its American allies in taking Okinawa, the last major island standing between the Allies and the receding empire of Japan. There, U.S. and Royal navies fought for survival against suicidal airmen, called kamikazes, while Japanese forces put up a stubborn fighting retreat designed to slow the Allied advance while inflicting as many casualties as possible.

Among the thousands involved in World War II’s last acts was Pfc. Clarence Byrle Craft, a rifleman in Company G, 2nd Battalion, 382nd Regiment, 96th Infantry Division. In May 1945, Craft’s company was pinned in place on Okinawa by a 450-foot-high patch of high ground that the Americans called Hen Hill. It was a key chess piece that represented a potential breakthrough that the Americans were grimly determined to achieve and the Japanese were desperate to prevent. On May 31, 1945, Craft led several men on a reconnaissance of Hen Hill. What followed would exceed everyone’s expectations.

Viet Cong targeted US officers — they hadn’t counted on this sergeant

Craft was born in San Bernardino, California, on Sept. 23, 1921. His father died when he was around 8 years old and his mother was a cook in a restaurant chain, ultimately settling in Santa Ana. Craft worked as a ranch foreman until Sept. 15, 1944, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army. Before shipping out to the Pacific, he got married.

In April 1945, Craft arrived at Okinawa, where he experienced combat for the first time. On May 31, Craft checked what resistance Hen Hill still presented and was not far along when he got an answer — in the form of heavy gunfire and grenades, which wounded three of his troops. Standing up in full view of enemy forces, Craft advanced, shooting at any sign of hostile movement until he’d driven Japanese troops into their trenches. Reaching the hilltop, he threw some grenades into the enemy positions

He was joined by his remaining troops who, following his lead, carried up cases of explosives. Between hurling explosives at enemy positions on the other side of the hillcrest, Craft directed his men as to where to lob their grenades. Craft then moved on to attack the main trench and, straddling a deep ditch, fired into it at point-blank range. He was chasing the stunned survivors as they fled when he came upon an enemy machine gun nest, which he eliminated with rifle and grenades.

One of Craft’s troops caught up to see him moving down the central trench to a camouflaged cave mouth and passed him a bag of explosives, which Craft threw into the cave — only to see it fail to detonate. Reaching down, Craft recovered the explosive, relit it and heaved it back into the cave. This time it blew, entombing any enemy troops seeking shelter there.

Craft was credited with at least 25 enemy kills, but many in his outfit opined that his seemingly suicidal advance to secure Hen Hill had unhinged the entire Japanese defensive line, hastening the Allied victory on Okinawa. Ironically, shortly afterward, Craft was withdrawn to Guam for two months, convalescing with typhoid fever.

Returning home in September 1945 — after Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II — Craft trained soldiers at Fort Ord, near Monterey, California. On Oct. 12, he was called to the White House, where he received the Medal of Honor from President Harry Truman alongside 14 other Medal of Honor recipients.

Craft was honorably discharged in 1946, but he soon reenlisted for several more years, encompassing the Korean War.

In the 1960s, he moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he lived with his second wife and worked in construction. During that time, a janitor named Jim Wronski reportedly found Craft’s Medal of Honor and Bronze Star citations in a trash can in Southern California and after 10 years of tracking him down, found him and returned them.

Craft spent some of his retirement working at the Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which named its primary care unit after him in 1998.

Craft died on March 28, 2002, and is buried in the Fayetteville National Cemetery.

In a memo published Friday, Hegseth directed the schools to rank applicants by an aggregate score factoring in athletic ability, past military experience and other qualifications.

“It is the department’s expectation that the highest-ranking candidates within each nomination category should receive appointments,” Hegseth wrote.

The schools have until the end of the 2026 admissions cycle to comply.

The U.S. military’s service academies, including the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Air Force Academy, are among the most elite universities in the country, selecting applicants who often go on to promising careers in the armed forces.

The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action for universities nationally in 2023, ruling 6-3 against considering race in the admissions process. In the court’s decision, however, Chief Justice John Roberts permitted an exception for U.S. military schools, arguing the schools held “potentially distinct interests” in continuing the practice.

A year later, the court declined to take up a separate case related directly to affirmative action at the academies.

Since entering office, Hegseth has continually targeted areas of the military that take race and gender into account, repeatedly declaring “DEI is dead” at the Pentagon. In an earlier memo, published in January, Hegseth banned the teaching of what he called “critical race theory” across the Defense Department and included separate instruction for the service academies.

“The U.S. Service Academies and other defense academic institutions shall teach that America and its founding documents remain the most powerful force for good in human history,” he wrote.

Along with the memo published Friday, the Pentagon also directed all of the Defense Department’s libraries to pull books focusing on diversity from their shelves.

During an oversight hearing in March on service academy operations, the superintendents of the three academies fielded questions about the schools’ affirmative action admissions practices and cuts to diversity programs.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., noted the uncomfortable position academy leaders faced in the fight over inclusion programs.

“You need to teach people how to deal with diverse groups that they will command, and you want to include people from different backgrounds and races and religions,” Blumenthal said. “I hope that the Congress can help you, rather than hinder you.”

But Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s personnel panel, blasted the affirmative action practices and encouraged leaders to abandon the policies on their own before a Pentagon mandate.

“Any effort to teach our future leaders to judge or sort people by immutable characteristics like race runs counter to the Constitution and is devastating to good order and discipline,” Tuberville said.

It is the broadest and most detailed directive so far on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign to rid the military of diversity and equity programs, policies and instructional materials. And it follows similar efforts to remove hundreds of books from the libraries at the military academies.

Air Force purges photos, websites on pioneering female pilots

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo, which was signed Friday by Timothy Dill, who is performing the duties of the defense undersecretary for personnel.

Educational materials at the libraries “promoting divisive concepts and gender ideology are incompatible with the Department’s core mission,” the memo states, adding that department leaders must “promptly identify” books that are not compatible with that mission and sequester them by May 21.

By then, the memo says, additional guidance will be provided on how to cull that initial list and determine what should be removed and “determine an appropriate ultimate disposition” for those materials. It does not say what will happen to the books or whether they will be stored away or destroyed.

According to the memo, a temporary Academic Libraries Committee set up by the department will provide information on the review and decisions about the books. That panel provided a list of search terms to use in the initial identification of the books to be pulled and reviewed.

The search terms include: affirmative action, anti-racism, critical race theory, discrimination, diversity, gender dysphoria, gender identity and transition, transgender, transsexual and white privilege.

Early last month the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, removed nearly 400 books from its library after being told by Hegseth’s office to get rid of those that promote DEI.

About two weeks later, the Army and Air Force libraries were told to go through their stacks to find books related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Naval Academy’s purge led to the removal of books on the Holocaust, histories of feminism, civil rights and racism, and Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” based on the list of 381 books that have been taken out of its library.

In addition to Angelou’s award-winning book, the list includes “Memorializing the Holocaust,” which deals with Holocaust memorials; “Half American,” about African Americans in World War II; “A Respectable Woman,” about the public roles of African American women in 19th-century New York; and “Pursuing Trayvon Martin,” about the 2012 shooting of the Black 17-year-old boy in Florida that raised questions about racial profiling.

The new vessel — the first heavy polar icebreaker to be built in the U.S. in about five decades — will be constructed by Bollinger Shipyards.

Ben Bordelon, president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards, hailed the move in a release as “a historic achievement not only for Bollinger Shipyards but also for American shipbuilding.”

“Securing the green light for full production underscores the confidence the U.S. government places in Bollinger to deliver the nation’s first heavy polar icebreaker in nearly 50 years,” he said.

The U.S. Coast Guard currently fields a single heavy polar icebreaker, the USCGC Polar Star, and a single medium polar icebreaker, the USCGC Healy.

The Healy was put out of action by an electrical fire last July and the Polar Star is nearly five decades old.

To compensate for a dearth of existing icebreakers, the service in December purchased a commercially available light polar icebreaker — which was renamed the USCGC Storis — that became the first to be added to the service’s fleet in a 25-year period.

The green light for the heavy polar icebreaker, meanwhile, comes as the U.S. military has observed a recent surge in foreign maritime activity in the Arctic region, including a joint Chinese-Russian air patrol near Alaska last summer.

In an April 9 executive order, President Donald Trump called for a new strategy to improve maritime security in the Arctic. Resources to ramp up Coast Guard vessel production are part of the reconciliation bill currently being considered by lawmakers.

The bill would provide over $9 billion for Coast Guard vessel manufacturing, which could see the construction of up to 30 new cutters of various sizes and operational capabilities, as reported by USNI News. Those new vessels could include three or more Arctic security cutters, two polar security cutters, eight heritage-class offshore patrol cutters and up to 15 fast response cutters.

The legislation also includes provisions to increase Coast Guard aviation capacity, with funding for fixed and rotary wing aircraft and maintenance.

Additional vessels are only one facet of sweeping changes now being introduced to the U.S. Coast Guard, which is currently being restructured according to a recently announced initiative called Force Design 2028.

“We are executing transformational change to renew the Coast Guard,” said Acting Commandant Kevin Lunday in a statement.

Changes would include the addition of a Coast Guard service secretary, a move that has already been proposed in legislation.

Buoyed by Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to enforce a ban on transgender individuals in the military, the Defense Department will begin going through medical records to identify others who haven’t come forward.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who issued the latest memo, made his views clear after the court’s decision.

“No More Trans @ DoD,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X. Earlier in the day, before the court acted, Hegseth said that his department is leaving wokeness and weakness behind.

“No more pronouns,” he told a special operations forces conference in Tampa. “No more dudes in dresses. We’re done with that s---.”

‘Utter chaos’: Amid confusing ban rollout, trans troops fight to serve

Department officials have said it’s difficult to determine exactly how many transgender service members there are, but medical records will show those who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, who show symptoms or are being treated.

Those troops would then be involuntarily forced out of the service. And no one with that diagnosis will be allowed to enlist. Gender dysphoria occurs when a person’s biological sex does not match up with their gender identity.

Officials have said that as of Dec. 9, 2024, there were 4,240 troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria in the active duty, National Guard and Reserve. But they acknowledge the number may be higher.

There are about 2.1 million total troops serving.

The memo released Thursday mirrors one sent out in February, but any action was stalled at that point by several lawsuits.

The Supreme Court ruled that the administration could enforce the ban on transgender people in the military, while other legal challenges proceed. The court’s three liberal justices said they would have kept the policy on hold.

Neither the justices in the majority or dissent explained their votes, which is not uncommon in emergency appeals.

When the initial Pentagon directive came out earlier this year, it gave service members 30 days to self-identify. Since then, about 1,000 have done so.

In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the 1,000 troops who already self-identified “will begin the voluntary separation process” from the military.

Under the new guidelines, active duty troops will have until June 6 to voluntarily identify themselves to the department, and troops in the National Guard and Reserve will have until July 7.

While it may be difficult to see which troops have changed their gender identity in their military records, it will be easier to determine who has gotten a gender dysphoria diagnosis because that will be part of their medical record, as will any medication they are taking.

Between 2015 and 2024, the total cost for psychotherapy, gender-affirming hormone therapy, gender-affirming surgery and other treatment for service members is about $52 million, according to a defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues.

Pentagon officials in an earlier memo defended the ban, saying that “the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service.”

The new Pentagon policy would allow for limited exemptions.

That includes transgender personnel seeking to enlist who can prove on a case-by-case basis that they directly support warfighting activities, or if an existing service member diagnosed with gender dysphoria can prove they support a specific warfighting need, never transitioned to the gender they identify with and proves over 36 months they are stable in their biological sex “without clinically significant distress.”

If a waiver is issued, the applicant would still face a situation where only their biological sex was recognized for bathroom facilities, sleeping quarters and even in official recognition, such as being called “Sir” or “Ma’am.”

U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi handed down the ruling Wednesday, awarding from $5,000 to more than $104,000 to each plaintiff. In her order, Kobayashi wrote that it was clear that even though the contaminated water could have caused many of the kinds of medical problems the military families experienced, there wasn’t enough evidence to prove a direct link.

The amount awarded to each plaintiff was significantly smaller than the roughly $225,000 to $1.25 million that their attorney, Kristina Baehr, requested during the two-week trial in federal court in Honolulu.

As bellwether plaintiffs, the 17 were chosen because they were seen as representative of the thousands of other people whose cases are still pending.

Red Hill families describe harms from tainted water in trial lead-up

Baehr called the damage awards disappointing but said the families “prevailed against all odds against the U.S. Government.”

“These families can be proud that they helped prove to the world what truly happened when the Navy poisoned the water supply near Pearl Harbor and sickened so many,” Baehr said in a news release. “The Court rejected the Government’s argument that thousands of our clients were just psychosomatic and that there was not enough fuel to make anyone sick.”

Baehr said the legal team was reviewing options for resolving the thousands of remaining cases.

The government admitted liability for the spill before the trial began, but its attorneys disputed whether the plaintiffs were exposed to enough jet fuel to cause the vomiting, rashes and other alleged negative health effects.

Sgt. Brian Lieberman — of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division — received the Soldier’s Medal on Tuesday at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The Soldier’s Medal acknowledges acts of heroism that fall outside the scope of combat with adversaries, rewarding actions that aid fellow soldiers or civilians.

“Specialist Lieberman’s bravery and willingness to risk his life to protect others is in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon him, the 82d Airborne Division, and the United States Army,” an Army citation read.

Lieberman reacted quickly on June 5, 2023, when he heard gunshots ring outside his apartment building, The Reserve at Carrington Place in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

He reached for his personal firearm, rushing outside to find a victim near the pool suffering from a gunshot wound.

Lieberman worked to address an injury to the victim’s back, using a plastic grocery bag as a chest seal while waiting for his roommate to deliver medical supplies.

“I went into fight or flight,” Lieberman said in a pre-ceremony interview. “I reverted back to everything the Army taught me.”

Suddenly, the active shooter drove by in a car, opening fire on Lieberman and the victim, who Lieberman shielded with his body.

Lieberman uncorked his firearm and shot back at the assailant, which prompted him to get back into the vehicle and drive away from the scene.

He then returned to treating the victim, helping them remain conscious until the Fayetteville Police eventually arrived.

Once on the scene, local authorities provided Lieberman with medical supplies to help stabilize the victim and treat their wounds as they waited for an ambulance.

Col. Jason Schuerger, commander of 1st Brigade Combat Team, presented the medal to Lieberman during the award ceremony and praised Lieberman’s actions as both selfless and emblematic of the team’s identity.

“Without a doubt our Airborne medics move to the sound of gunfire to save lives,” Schuerger said. “Of course he moved to the sound of gun fire, of course he administered aid, of course he saved somebody’s life.”

Lieberman wielded his own act of heroism as a lesson for younger service members.

“I always tell my junior medics to never lose their passion for the craft of medicine,” he said. “That way no matter where they are, no matter what they’re doing, they can always be there for someone on their worse day.”

A former babysitter has been sentenced to 20 years in prison following her manslaughter conviction in the 2019 overdose death of a 7-month-old baby in privatized military housing in Hawaii.

Dixie Denise Villa, 46, was sentenced Wednesday in Hawaii civilian court, more than six years after baby Abigail Lobisch died on Feb. 23, 2019, from an antihistamine overdose in Villa’s unlicensed daycare at her house at Aliamanu Military Reservation in Honolulu.

“It’s been more [than] 2,260 days and all that time my heart has never stopped hurting,” said Abigail’s mother, Anna Lobisch, during the sentencing hearing, according to a video of the hearing posted by Court TV. “My life has been defined by grief and loss and the pain of living without Abi is a heavy weight I will carry every single day for the rest of my life until Abi and I are finally reunited.”

Anna Lobisch described her daughter as “a sweet baby, so loving, so full of life. She had the kindest eyes, and anyone who met her instantly fell in love with her.”

“I’ll never hear her call me mama,” she said.

A jury in Hawaii’s civilian court system convicted Villa of manslaughter in November.

At the time of Abigail Lobisch’s death, Villa was operating an unlicensed daycare out of her house after being shut down multiple times by base officials.

Villa was married to an active duty sailor at the time, but is now divorced. According to the ex-husband, he was awarded full custody of their children, and has had sole responsibility for their care.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit submitted by a Honolulu Police detective, the medical examiner determined that the baby’s blood tested positive for diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl and other similar medications, at a level of 2,400 nanograms per milliliter. That’s nearly twice the 1,400 nanograms per milliliter concentration that is the average reported in infant fatal overdoses, according to the affidavit.

Military family child care provided in homes on military installations requires certification from installation officials and is highly regulated with requirements for training and safety, inspections and curriculum.

In September 2019, in the wake of Abigail Lobisch’s death, the Defense Department’s personnel chief called for officials to investigate reports of unauthorized daycare operations on installations. James Stewart, then-acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said officials should take appropriate steps to shut down unauthorized operations.

The medical testimony in the case was clear, Judge Fa’auuga To’oto’o said during Villa’s sentencing Wednesday.

“The amount of Benadryl found in the blood system of baby Abi shouldn’t be given to any minor, much less to a baby seven months old. Those are the facts in this case,” he said.

“The family waited six years for justice,” Honolulu prosecuting attorney Steve Alm said in an announcement of Villa’s sentencing. “We appreciate Judge To’oto’o’s decision in this case. Our keiki [children] are vulnerable and those who care for them should be held accountable when they harm them.”

Hitler’s Nazi Germany had finally surrendered after a half-decade of invading other European powers and propagating racial hatred that led to genocide, the Holocaust and the murdering of millions.

VA’s online legacy project adds names of 210,000 vets lost overseas

That surrender and the explosion of hope for a better life are being celebrated with parades in London and Paris and towns across Europe while even the leaders of erstwhile mortal enemies are bonding again.

Germany itself again expressed gratitude for the change that May 8, 1945, brought to the world and to itself.

“It was Germans who unleashed this criminal war and dragged all of Europe with them into the abyss,” German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told parliament. “Today, 80 years later, our profound thanks still go to the Allied soldiers and the European resistance movements who mustered all their strength and endured great losses in order to defeat the Nazi regime.”

Gloomy outlook

Steinmeier’s comments underscore that former European enemies may thrive — to the extent that the 27-nation European Union even won the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize — but that the outlook has turned gloomy over the past year.

The body count continues to rise in Ukraine, where Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion started the worst war on the continent since 1945. The rise of the hard right in several EU member states is putting the founding democratic principles of the bloc under increasing pressure.

“We are not celebrating this 8 May today in a spirit of calm self-assurance. Because we can see that freedom is not the grand finale of history,” Steinmeier warned. “We therefore no longer need to ask: Did 8 May free us? But we ask: How can we stay free?”

Such warnings made the continuation of the unlikely stretch of peace in most of Europe anything but a given.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which assured peace in Europe under the U.S. nuclear umbrella and its military clout, is under internal strain rarely seen since its inception.

There too, the German president, who has a largely ceremonial role but embodies the moral resolve of the nation, also took a not-so-veiled swipe at the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump, saying the way the United States is turning away from the international order “is a shock on an entirely new scale.”

U.S. contributions to the war effort

The United States was instrumental in turning the tide of the war in Europe, invading along with Allies the D-Day beaches in France’s Normandy on June 6, 1944, in what proved to be the tipping point of the war in Europe that inexorably led to the invasion of Germany and the defeat of the Nazis.

On Wednesday, Trump proclaimed Thursday as a day for the United States to celebrate victory in World War II, insisting the country should better recognize its essential role in the war.

“We are going to start celebrating our victories again!” he said.

The war did drag on beyond Europe, especially in the Pacific against Japan, but even Taiwan joined in marking the day for the first time — and highlighting current-day threats. Instead of Russia, it was centering on China, its immediate rival. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory to be annexed by force if necessary.

“Military aggression against another country is an unjust crime that is bound to fail,” Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said, adding that both Taiwan and Europe were “now facing the threat of a new authoritarian bloc.”

European celebrations

Commemorations have been going all week through Europe, and Britain has taken a lead. Here, too, the current-day plight of Ukraine in its fight against Russia took center stage.

“The idea that this was all just history and it doesn’t matter now somehow, is completely wrong,” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. “Those values of freedom and democracy matter today.”

In London, a service was held at Westminster Abbey, where the royal family took time to chat with the veterans, bending over to hear the older veterans in wheelchairs, many of whom the royals have now met at previous services.

In France, where the date is a public holiday, President Emmanuel Macron presided over a wreath-laying ceremony in Paris in front of a statue of Gen. Charles de Gaulle, who refused the Franco-German armistice in 1940. De Gaulle fled to London and founded the French Free Forces, organizing networks of resistance fighters and overseeing anti-Nazi sabotage missions in France.

In Berlin, Chancellor Friedrich Merz will again highlight how Germany has remodeled itself into a beacon of European democracy by laying a wreath at the central memorial for the victims of war and tyranny.

Symbolically, President Vladimir Putin will be totally out of lockstep with the rest of Europe as Russia celebrates its Victory Day one day later with a huge military parade on Moscow’s Red Square to mark the massive Soviet contribution to defeat Nazi Germany.

Raf Casert reported from Brussels. Mike Corder in Wageningen, Netherlands, Samuel Petrequin in Paris and Jamey Keaten in Geneva, contributed to this report.

Cities from London to Moscow are holding parades, flyovers and memorials this week as the world observes Thursday’s 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, when Nazi Germany surrendered to Allied forces, including the U.S.

Here’s what to know about Trump’s plans:

What is Trump doing and why?

The Republican president is designating specific days for the U.S. to celebrate being on the winning side in World War I and World War II. He complained in recent social media posts that Americans don’t spend enough time celebrating those achievements, which he said wouldn’t have been possible without the U.S.

Trump plans to change Veterans Day into ‘Victory Day for World War I’

“Many of our allies and friends are celebrating May 8th as Victory Day, but we did more than any other Country, by far, in producing a victorious result on World War II. I am hereby renaming May 8th as Victory Day for World War II and November 11th as Victory Day for World War I,” he said last week on social media. “We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance, but we never celebrate anything — That’s because we don’t have leaders anymore, that know how to do so! We are going to start celebrating our victories again!”

Can Trump rename an existing federal holiday?

No. Nov. 11 is already Veterans Day, a federal holiday in the U.S., and only Congress can create, rename or take it back. That could explain why Trump backed away from his “renaming” plan and said he’d instead be “declaring” national holidays instead.

“We won two World Wars, but we never took credit for it — Everyone else does! All over the World, the Allies are celebrating the Victory we had in World War II. The only Country that doesn’t celebrate is the United States of America, and the Victory was only accomplished because of us,” he wrote Monday on social media. “Without the United States, the War would have been won by other Countries, and what a different World it would be. Therefore, I am hereby declaring a National Holiday in celebration of the Victories of World War I, where the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, and World War II, where the Victory date was May 8, 1945.”

He signed a proclamation on Wednesday that designates May 8, 2025, as a “day in celebration of Victory Day for World War II.” He’s expected to issue a similar proclamation for World War I later this year.

Is Thursday a day off from work?

No, Thursday is not a federal holiday and therefore not a day off from work. Only Congress can create federal holidays, and Trump has complained that there already are too many of them.

What does he envision will happen around the U.S. on these days?

It’s unclear. Trump didn’t say what he envisions happening, and the proclamation didn’t include any details. But he said during an unrelated appearance Wednesday in the Oval Office that he noticed France and other countries were “all getting ready for Victory Day.”

“We don’t celebrate it and I think that’s a great disservice,” Trump said.

What happens in other countries?

On major anniversaries like this year’s 80th, Britain celebrates VE Day with parades, airplane flyovers and memorials. The British royal family traditionally watches the airplanes pass overhead from a balcony at Buckingham Palace.

Russia celebrates on Friday, and its Victory Day parades are a massive show of its armed forces, with thousands of troops, scores of heavy equipment rolling across Red Square and flyovers involving dozens of warplanes. Military parades, fireworks and other festivities are held in cities across the country.

What have veterans groups said about Trump’s plans?

Rob Couture, director of public affairs for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said they are encouraged by any steps that “bring attention to the service of veterans from that time.”

Just over 66,100 of the 16.4 million Americans who served in World War II were alive as of 2024.

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, argues Trump’s executive order issued on March 27 violates the First and Fifth Amendment rights of educators and their unions. The complaint contends the executive order and its implementation are an abuse of authority by Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In addition to Trump and Hegseth, the Defense Department and Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, are named as defendants.

Trump’s executive order excludes agencies and agency subdivisions from coverage under the federal labor-management statute if their primary function is in intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative or national security work, and states the law’s provisions “cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations.”

In effect, the executive order removed collective bargaining rights from about two-thirds of the federal workforce.

“DODEA educators provide military-connected families with a world-class education, and they deserve to be respected and honored for their high levels of achievement — not have their rights taken away and their academic freedom trampled upon,” Federal Education Association Executive Director Richard Tarr said in an announcement of the complaint.

The Federal Education Association, Federal Education Association–Stateside Region and Antilles Consolidated Education Association are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Other unions have filed lawsuits related to the executive order. A federal judge recently temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order as it applies to the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents over 150,000 federal bargaining unit employees in 33 departments and agencies. But the Defense Department was not named as a defendant in that lawsuit, so it isn’t directly bound by the judge’s order, sources said.

FEA, an affiliate of the National Education Association, represents more than 5,400 educators and education support professionals in DODEA-operated schools. Those schools serve more than 64,000 children in pre-K through 12th grade of military and civilian personnel stationed in the U.S., U.S. territories and overseas.

The Antilles union represents educators in four DODEA schools located in Puerto Rico.

Students sue Defense Department over book bans in military schools

The plaintiffs seek preliminary and permanent injunctions to block the government from implementing the executive order and OPM guidance with respect to FEA. Or, if that relief isn’t granted, the plaintiffs ask the court to direct Hegseth to address the question of whether it’s warranted under law to suspend the executive order as it applies to DODEA. Hegseth took action to preserve collective bargaining for a subset of employees in four other DOD subdivisions, the lawsuit states.

“Trump’s executive order doesn’t just break the law; it violates the U.S. Constitution,” Tarr said. “The Trump administration is attacking the very people who serve this country by educating the children of our service members on military bases at home and around the world.”

FEA members and other educators have used collective bargaining to advocate for student learning conditions, including smaller class sizes and more learning time, and increased staffing of school nurses, counselors and mental health professionals.

Because of the executive order and OPM’s implementation, DODEA “has already effectively repudiated its obligations” under the existing collective bargaining agreement that has been in force with FEA since 2023, and was expected to be in force until August 2028, the lawsuit alleges.

DODEA has canceled union dues deductions from members’ paychecks, which are normally labor organizations’ primary source of income. DODEA also has stopped participating in any grievance proceedings that have come up or were pending before the executive order.

FEA had been prosecuting grievances on behalf of more than 800 educators who seek relief from DODEA because of “DODEA‘s chronic failure to correctly calculate their overseas employees’ pay,” the lawsuit alleges. These grievances were pending in various stages of the arbitration process. In cases involving nearly 500 employees, arbitrators had already issued decisions in favor of the employees, and ordered DODEA to make payments of back pay and interest, but DODEA has yet to make those payments, the lawsuit alleges.

The CH-53 Super Stallion crashed Feb. 6, 2024, during a late night flight when it hit a mountain near Pine Valley, California, on its way back to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

Investigators found that multiple factors likely led to the crash. But as with several previous military aviation accidents, investigators had to make some assumptions because the CH-53 was not equipped with a flight data recorder capable of surviving a crash.

Marine squadron commander fired nine months after fatal helo crash

The limits of night vision goggles also have been identified as a potential factor in the fatal collision of an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger jet near Reagan Washington National Airport in January that killed 67 people. The goggles can reduce a pilot’s ability to determine distance and can be degraded by weather or light pollution.

The Marine helicopter was flying in icing conditions with low cloud cover that obscured the mountainous terrain along the flight path. The crew was using night vision goggles, which likely did not give them the clear picture needed to avoid a crash into terrain, investigators found.

The precipitation and clouds probably degraded the goggles’ performance and possibly gave the crew a false sense that they were maintaining the safe distances needed in the flight, investigators found.

The pilot and crew chief “most likely believed they were operating legally and within their comfort level,” investigators found.

Ultimately, though, investigators found that the pilot’s failure to avoid the terrain was the primary cause of the crash. They also found that the commanding officer, who was relieved of duty due to a loss of confidence in an ability to lead, should not have given the crew approval to fly.

The Super Stallion vanished during the overnight flight on its way back to Miramar from Creech Air Force Base. The helicopter was discovered in the morning near the mountain community of Pine Valley.

All five Marines aboard were killed in the crash: Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Donovan Davis, 21, of Olathe, Kansas; Sgt. Alec Langen, 23, of Chandler, Arizona; Capt. Miguel Nava, 28, of Traverse City, Michigan; Capt. Jack Casey, 26, of Dover, New Hampshire; and Capt. Benjamin Moulton, 27, of Emmett, Idaho.

In interviews contained in the report, multiple members of the squadron said that the crews had been stretched thin because their unit had to fly additional missions to compensate for last year’s monthslong grounding of the V-22 Osprey fleet.

The incident Tuesday marks the latest mishap to mar the deployment of the Truman, which has been essential in the airstrike campaign by the United States against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Oman’s foreign minister both said that a ceasefire had been reached with the Houthis, who would no longer target ships in the Red Sea corridor — something not immediately acknowledged by the rebels.

Meanwhile, the Houthis continue to assess damage after daytime Israeli airstrikes targeted Yemen’s rebel-held capital of Sanaa.

Landing goes wrong on carrier

The F/A-18 Super Hornet landed on the Truman after a flight, but “the arrestment failed,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the incident now under investigation.

“Arrestment” refers to the hook system used by aircraft landing on carriers, which catches steel wire ropes on the flight deck. It remains unclear what part of the system failed.

The two pilots on board were later rescued by a helicopter and suffered minor injuries in the incident, the official added. No one on the flight deck was hurt.

CNN first reported on the incident.

Tuesday’s incident was the latest to see the Navy lose an F/A-18, which cost about $60 million each. In April, another F/A-18 fighter jet slipped off the hangar deck of the Truman and fell into the Red Sea. The crew members who were in the pilot seat of the Super Hornet and on the small towing tractor both jumped away.

In December, the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly shot down an F/A-18 after ships earlier shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the rebels. Both aviators in that incident also survived.

And in February, the Truman collided with a merchant vessel near Port Said, Egypt.

The Truman, based out of Norfolk, Virginia, has seen its deployment extended multiple times amid the Houthi airstrike campaign. It had been joined recently by the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier operating out of the Arabian Sea.

Rebels survey Sanaa’s devastated airport

The Israeli attack on Tuesday that targeted Sanaa International Airport devastated the airfield. Khaled al-Shaif, the head of the airport, told the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel that the Israeli strike destroyed the airport’s terminal and left craters in its runway.

At least six passenger planes were struck, including three belonging to Yemenia Airways, the country’s flag-carrying airline, he said. That leaves the airline with only one functional aircraft, which was spared only because it had left earlier in the day on a flight to Amman, Jordan. He put overall damage there at $500 million.

With the damage, the airport was now out of service, al-Shaif said.

Houthi attacks on shipping

The Houthis had been waging persistent missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

From November 2023 until January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.

The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the U.S. launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March.

Now, a new report from the Defense Department’s independent watchdog reveals just how ill-prepared the military services were to build the floating pier to Gaza. It found, among other things, mission planners failed to identify environmental factors, such as beach conditions and sea states, likely to affect the success of JLOTS; Army and Navy equipment was not interoperable and caused damage when combined; and cuts to training and resources further challenged the operation’s success.

The DOD Office of Inspector General report, dated Friday, recommends the creation of a new working group focused on JLOTS, a report to the defense secretary and the Joint Staff identifying gaps in its capabilities and better communication between the services, particularly through U.S. Transportation Command, which coordinated the mission.

What did the US military’s Gaza aid pier actually accomplish?

The JLOTS pier, built under the mission name Operation Neptune Solace, was not a complete failure. During its operational period, it delivered some 19.4 million pounds of food aid to Gaza, enough to feed half a million Palestinian civilians for a month. But the IG found that its usefulness was badly curtailed by planning and resourcing failures, some of which had been observed for years prior to the mission.

While DOD had run 11 JLOTS exercises in the decade prior to the Gaza operation, the 84-page report found, neither the Army nor the Navy JLOTS packages met service standards for mission readiness, including equipment mission-capable rates. The actual readiness rates and unit manning shortages are redacted in the report, but it does note that the lack of resourcing had clear consequences.

“According to [U.S. Army 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary)] officials, manning shortages delayed the deployment of some Army watercraft for Operation Neptune Solace,” investigators wrote.

Officials with Navy Beach Group One, investigators added, said the unit “had to pull together every person they could to sufficiently staff vessels in accordance with Navy requirements.”

Between 2018 and 2023, the Army and Navy had completed major divestments of equipment the JLOTS system required, it found, including roughly half the Army’s watercraft, or 64 out of 134, and one of the Navy’s two JLOTS-capable units, Amphibious Construction Battalion 2. Officials in units involved with the deployment to Gaza “expressed concern at the Services’ divestment of JLOTS capabilities and stated their belief that the DoD’s current JLOTS capabilities were not sufficient to meet projected needs,” the report found.

And the JLOTS training that had occurred at the DOD level had not trouble-shot a major problem with the Gaza deployment: the fact that the Army and Navy equipment was not meant to be used together. Both Army and Navy officials, the report said, had cited issues with the other service’s pier gear. The Improved Navy Lighterage System, or INLS, and the Army’s roll-on, roll-off discharge facility — both versions of floating docks — sat at different heights in the water. The Navy gear warped Army boat ramps, while the Army boats punched “a bunch of holes” into Navy docks, officials told investigators.

An image published in the report shows an Army vessel with gouges in the base and the words “total loss” spray-painted on the side.

While the Army’s damage assessment is redacted, the Navy reported damage to 27 boats and INLS equipment totaling about $31 million. U.S. Central Command reported that 62 U.S. personnel were also injured during Neptune Solace, the IG reported, although the manner of the injuries and how they took place was not provided.

One service member died as a result of injuries sustained during non-combat duties on the mission. Army Sgt. Quandarius Stanley died in October after being critically injured in May when high winds and heavy seas damaged the pier, causing four Army vessels to become beached, The Associated Press reported at the time.

Army and Navy communication systems weren’t interoperable either, the report found — a problem highlighted in earlier JLOTS exercises. As a result, the services were sometimes left without secure communications, according to the IG.

On top of insufficient training and equipping, planning also fell short, the IG found. Despite clear sea state limits established for JLOTS, planners in the services and Geographic Combatant Commands “did not fully identify or consider mission-specific requirements, such as beach conditions, average sea states, and other factors likely to affect the ability to successfully conduct a JLOTS operation,” and lacked information specific to the Gaza region.

The report recommended the Army and the Navy individually review their JLOTS capabilities and determine what changes need to be made to meet mission requirements, which service leaders agreed with. It also called on U.S. Transportation Command to develop JLOTS mission-essential task lists and establish other measures to ensure JLOTS missions had the resources they needed.

While TRANSCOM partially concurred, the IG stated its responses did not address how the command planned to better fulfill its coordinating responsibilities for JLOTS. It requested TRANSCOM submit a full report detailing such a plan within 30 days.

Editor’s note: This report has been updated to reflect the date of Sgt. Quandarius Stanley‘s death.

From surface vessels to dive gear, undersea vessels and dive shelters, officials with the Special Operations Command Program Executive Office-Maritime laid out their needs Tuesday at the annual Global SOF Foundation Special Operations Force Week.

Thirty of 31 combatant-craft medium boats have fielded in recent years, and the next steps for the vessels are under the CCM-Mk 2 program. That will potentially see a suite of launched effects, such as short-range rockets or electronic warfare means added to the boats.

Those launched effects fall under a program known as maritime precision engagement, basically adding a precise-strike capability to the vessels.

With those launchers, the CCM — and its cousins, the Combatant Craft Heavy and Combatant Craft Assault — are all set to add Forward Looking Infrared devices to the entire fleet. The Navy has 84 such FLIR devices for just that effort.

Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today's threats

The SOCOM Program Executive Office-Maritime fielded 42 combatant craft assault vessels between 2014 and 2023, said Cmdr. Nick Van Dyke, head of surface systems.

For the CCH, three have been fielded, with two more on deck in the production phase, Van Dyke said.

Alongside those surface vessels, the team is looking for unmanned options for both short-endurance and long-endurance missions. Those types of vehicles autonomously navigate waters at various distances, monitoring traffic or delivering sensors, or eventually, payloads.

The SOCOM maritime team wants 13 short-endurance and 12 long-endurance autonomous unmanned surface vessels by fiscal 2027.

Later this week, the team plans to put out a request for information to industry for a smaller, unmanned, undersea vessel that can fit into a submarine lock in/lock out chamber.

That vessel could accompany the Seal Delivery Vehicle Mk 11, of which 10 have been delivered to SOCOM between 2018 and 2024.

The Mk 11 upgrades from the legacy Mk 8 include improved software, accurate navigation, increased range and increased cargo capacity, said Cmdr. Mike Linn, head of the undersea portfolio for PEO Maritime.

The maritime team is also looking to replace the Dry Deck Shelter, five of which are in operation and have been in operation for decades. The Dry Deck Next project kicked off in 2024 and is expected to span the next five years, looking at various ways to improve upon the older shelter, said Eric Moore, head of special mission systems for maritime.

Those improvements include remote payload launch and recovery, pressure hull, hanger outer door closure system and reduced signatures for less detection.

The court acted in the dispute over a policy that presumptively disqualifies transgender people from military service.

The court’s three liberal justices said they would have kept the policy on hold.

Just after beginning his second term in January, Trump moved aggressively to roll back the rights of transgender people. Among the Republican president’s actions was an executive order that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life” and is harmful to military readiness.

In response, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy that gives the military services 30 days to figure out how they will seek out and identify transgender service members to remove them from the force.

Three federal judges had ruled against the ban.

In the case the justices acted in Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma, Washington, had ruled for several long-serving transgender military members who say that the ban is insulting and discriminatory and that their firing would cause lasting damage to their careers and reputations.

‘Utter chaos’: Amid confusing ban rollout, trans troops fight to serve

The Trump administration offered no explanation as to why transgender troops, who have been able to serve openly over the past four years with no evidence of problems, should suddenly be banned, Settle wrote. The judge is an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush and is a former captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps.

Settle imposed a nationwide hold on the policy and a federal appeals court rejected the administration’s emergency plea. The Justice Department then turned to the Supreme Court.

The policy also has been blocked by a federal judge in the nation’s capital, but that ruling has been temporarily halted by a federal appeals court, which heard arguments last month. The three-judge panel, which includes two judges appointed by Trump during his first term, appeared to be in favor of the administration’s position.

In a more limited ruling, a judge in New Jersey also has barred the Air Force from removing two transgender men, saying they showed their separation would cause lasting damage to their careers and reputations that no monetary settlement could repair.

Cpl. Jason P. Cockrell and Cpl. Andre N. Dabrowski, both assigned to the 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, went missing Friday while recreationally trekking Mount Furano in the Hokkaido prefecture of Japan.

Cockrell was discovered Saturday, according to the Marine Corps, and did not survive. Dabrowski was rescued, according to reports.

“We are all incredibly saddened by this loss,” said Brig. Gen. Kevin G. Collins, commanding general of the 3rd Marine Logistics Group, in a statement. “We are united in grief with their family, friends, and fellow Marines, and we will do everything we can to support them during this difficult time.”

While the incident is under investigation, a spokesperson told Military Times that deteriorating weather conditions likely led to the Marines’ initial disappearance.

Airman uses military training to rescue skier during trip to the Alps

Japanese news network Hokkaido Broadcasting reported one of the Marines called local police at 4 p.m. local time Friday after becoming disoriented and separated by fog, according to Stars and Stripes. That Marine was found unharmed six hours later, 4,300 feet up a mountain road. The other Marine was found 4,600 feet up the mountain, lying on a trail, but died after being transported to a hospital, the same report said.

Cockrell, originally from New Mexico, enlisted in the Marine Corps on Aug. 8, 2022, and was serving as an automotive maintenance technician at the time of his death. He received the National Defense Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and Korea Defense Service Medal.

Dabrowski also serves as an automotive maintenance technician and hails from Maryland.

“We extend our deepest gratitude to the Japanese authorities, local rescue teams, and all those involved in the search and recovery efforts,” said Cap. Brett Vannier, spokesperson for the 3rd Marine Logistics Group.

“Special Operations have never been more important in our country,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the annual Global SOF Foundation Special Operations Force Week in Tampa.

Hegseth noted that over the past three years SOF-specific missions have risen by 200%. And over the past six months, SOF units have killed 500 enemy combatants and captured another 600 in operations throughout the globe, Hegseth said.

That increase was coupled with a 35% surge in deterrence support that has been requested of SOF units and Special Operations Command.

SOCOM must improve high-risk training oversight, report says

The head of that command, Gen. Bryan Fenton, echoed his boss’ comments, stressing the asymmetrical nature of what the force does.

“We’re the scalpel, but if the time comes we can bring the hammer,” Fenton said. “We’re tailor-made for this era ... where asymmetry matters more than it ever has.”

Those advantages will wither, however, without the right technology — part of the pitch for this conference connecting industry entities with special operations planners.

“We can’t and we won’t fight today’s opponents at yesterday’s pace,” Hegseth said.

That means rapid adaptation and evolving capabilities.

The defense secretary called rapid fielding, innovation and feedback critical for SOF success.

Fenton noted that adversaries such as Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and terrorist organizations are “fusing” their efforts to work collaboratively.

The four-star said that with the increase in missions also comes more challenges as an ever-growing portion of the areas in which they operate are contested by adversary systems.

Fenton pointed to Sonic Spear, an exercise conducted in April that merged communications, virtual constructions and live training. The exercise tested SOCOM’s ability to host and synchronize all the way from the seabed to low-Earth orbit.

Experts analyzed how SOCOM contributes to the joint force’s ability to sense and strike targets across various spectrums.

“Sonic Spear 25 is our first go at this,” Lt. Gen. Francis Donovan, SOCOM vice commander, told Defense Scoop at a National Defense Industrial Association event in February. “Let’s push our autonomous investments, some other investments we’re making. ... What do our forward forces need to be able to control ourselves, control our robots and then link in with the joint force?”

The aim now is to create an O-6 level multidomain special operation task force. The Army has created similar units known as Multi-Domain Task Forces, two for the Pacific theater and one designated for Europe.

Real world scenarios, meanwhile, are showing the need for change.

“If we’ve learned anything from our partners in Ukraine, you innovate in minutes, days and weeks, not years and decades,” Fenton said.

The family of a U.S. airman who was shot by a Florida sheriff’s deputy inside his own home sued the deputy, the sheriff and the owner of the airman’s apartment complex on Tuesday, saying they want to ensure people are held accountable for his 2024 death.

The complaint alleges that Deputy Eddie Duran used excessive and unconstitutional deadly force when he shot Roger Fortson just seconds after the Black senior airman opened his apartment door in Fort Walton Beach on May 3, 2024. Duran was responding to a domestic disturbance report at Fortson’s apartment that turned out to be false.

“I want accountability because he was 23. I want accountability because he had a life ahead of him. I want accountability because he was in his own home,” said Fortson’s mother, Meka Fortson, who wore a shirt emblazoned with an image of her son in his Air Force uniform while appearing with the family’s attorney, Ben Crump, at a press conference to announce the wrongful death lawsuit.

The complaint filed in federal court in Pensacola details alleged failures by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office in training and supervision and claims that staff at the apartment complex where Fortson lived provided misleading information that led to the fatal law enforcement response.

Messages were left seeking comment from attorneys for Duran, a spokesperson for the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and an agent for the apartment complex’s management company.

Duran has pleaded not guilty to a charge of manslaughter with a firearm in the shooting, which renewed debate on police killings and race, and occurred against a wider backdrop of increased attention by the military to racial issues in its ranks. Duran identifies as Hispanic, according to his voter registration.

The airman’s mother said she has “no faith” in Okaloosa County, expressing doubt that Duran will get a “real trial” in the Florida Panhandle community where he worked as a law enforcement officer.

It is highly unusual for Florida law enforcement officers to be charged for an on-duty killing. Convictions in such cases are even rarer.

“This is not policing. This is an unlawful execution,” said Crump, a civil rights attorney who has been involved in a number of cases involving law enforcement killings of Black people, including those of Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, Tyre Nichols and George Floyd.

“We believe Roger’s death was a result of a pattern and practice here in Okaloosa County,” added Crump, who announced the lawsuit at a press conference at Greater Peace Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Walton Beach.

Duran came to Fortson’s door in response to a report of a physical fight inside an apartment. A worker at the complex had identified Fortson’s apartment as the location of a loud argument, according to sheriff’s investigators. Fortson, who was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, was alone at the time, talking with his girlfriend on a FaceTime video call.

Duran’s body camera video showed what happened next.

The deputy pounded at the door repeatedly and yelled, “Sheriff’s office — open the door!” Fortson opened the door with his legally purchased gun in his right hand, pointed to the ground.

The deputy said, “Step back,” then immediately began firing. Fortson fell backward onto the floor. Only then did the deputy yell, “Drop the gun!”

Deputies had never been called to Fortson’s apartment before, 911 records show, but they had been called to a nearby unit 10 times in the previous eight months, including once for a domestic disturbance.

Crump defended Fortson’s right to answer his door with his firearm in hand.

“He had a right to the Second Amendment too — to protect his home, to protect his castle," Crump said. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”

Associated Press writer Curt Anderson in Tampa contributed to this report. Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

“I’m a schoolteacher. I teach English composition in this little town called Addley, Pennsylvania,” he says quietly, defusing a conflict that threatened to splinter his unit.

It’s a pivotal moment — less than two minutes of screen time — but it operates as a strategic move in a chess game. Measured. Human. Calculated. And entirely genius.

Though not an actual game of chess, this scene has often been called the “chess scene” because it reframes the characters, mission and ethics of war.

Captain Miller’s revelation is a sacrifice of control in exchange for unity, giving a piece of himself to keep the rest of the board intact.

The squad had been unraveling. After the death of medic Wade, the men capture a German soldier responsible. Some, like Private Reiben, want him executed. Others argue for due process. The standoff nearly comes to blows before Miller’s confession restores order. It’s not an order that stops them — it’s empathy. In that moment, Miller ceases to be just “sir.”

Director Steven Spielberg’s commitment to realism shaped how Captain Miller’s character was revealed throughout the film.

“I wanted people to feel the claustrophobia of that environment and the tension and the anxiety and the bravery,” Spielberg told the Los Angeles Times in 2018. “I didn’t want the camera to be a third party.”

By keeping the audience embedded with the soldiers rather than offering detached exposition, Spielberg made Miller’s eventual revelation about his past even more impactful. The information wasn’t handed to the audience; it was earned through shared experience.

This deep respect for ordinary soldiers’ experiences fueled Spielberg’s decision to portray Captain Miller not as a larger-than-life hero, but as an ordinary man thrust into extraordinary circumstances.

In an interview with Roger Ebert, Tom Hanks reflected on the tension between Miller’s civilian identity and his wartime role.

“The reality is that only 10 percent of the guys who went ashore on D-Day were combat veterans,” Hanks told Ebert. “Miller is one of them because he’d already seen some hideous action in Italy, so he is a terrified man because he is an experienced man.”

That fear, held in check by duty, is visible in the scene. Miller isn’t just calming his men; he’s reminding himself who he is. The irony is cutting: a man trained to shape minds is now tasked with leading others to their possible deaths. The subtext of his confession is clear: “I used to build lives. Now I send them to die.”

Cinematically, it’s a pause in the action that feels almost sacred. Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński stage the scene without dramatic camera movement. There is no swelling score — just stillness, space, and silence. It’s filmed like a dialogue at a kitchen table, not in war-torn France.

The contrast mirrors the central contradiction of the film itself — how can a war movie be about saving one man when thousands are dying? How can a teacher become a killer? These aren’t abstract questions for the audience — they’re moral burdens for the men onscreen.

When discussing his approach to portraying Captain Miller, Tom Hanks reflected on that burden.

“The first time I read about Captain John Miller, here’s what I got: He’s scared. And he’s afraid in the same way that I would be in his circumstances,” Hanks said in an interview with SlashFilm. “His fear is the reason for everything he does. And all the questions that are answered in the movie come back to that core thing.”

That fear, held in check by responsibility and duty, ultimately defines Miller’s leadership and humanity.

The metaphorical chessboard is full of pieces: Reiben’s rebelliousness, Horvath’s loyalty, Upham’s naivety. Miller is the king — slow-moving, constantly protected, but crucial to the mission. His self-disclosure is strategic, trading personal privacy to keep the team intact.

But the genius lies in its restraint. Spielberg never tells the audience how to feel. He simply gives them a moment of calm, honesty and identity. That restraint makes the scene land harder, because viewers, like soldiers, are left to wrestle with the meaning.

This idea of “civilian memory as survival” echoes through military history. Soldiers in every conflict have clung to their pre-war identities as a tether to sanity. World War II letters reference home life, family roles and jobs waiting back in towns like Addley, Pennsylvania. Miller’s confession isn’t just narrative — it’s documentary.

That grounding also speaks to the larger sacrifice. Miller’s greatest fear isn’t death. It’s going home changed beyond recognition.

“Sometimes I wonder if I’ve changed so much that my wife is even going to recognize me,” he tells the men.

By the film’s end, when Miller delivers his final line— “Earn this” —it’s not just about the mission. It encompasses everything that came before: the classroom, the chess scene, the hesitation, the cost. He’s not just talking to Private Ryan. He’s talking to all of us.

In “Saving Private Ryan,” violence is constant. But the most cutting blow may be the quiet realization that these men, often depicted as heroes, are teachers, typists and tradesmen just trying to get home.

The “chess scene” is a small move in the film’s larger strategy, but its emotional impact is enormous. It doesn’t advance the mission. It reminds us why the mission matters.

Hegseth also told the National Guard to shed 20% of its top positions.

In a memo dated Monday, Hegseth said the cuts will remove “redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership.”

On top of the cuts to the top-tier four-star generals, Hegseth has also directed the military to shed an additional 10% of its general and flag officers across the force, which could include any one-star or above or officer of equivalent Navy rank.

SecDef wields axe to brass, HQs, formations to fashion leaner Army

There are about 800 general officers in the military, but only 44 of those are four-star generals or flag officers. Hegseth has already directed the firings of more than a half-dozen three- and four-star generals since taking office, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown, saying those eliminations were “a reflection of the president wanting the right people around him to execute the national security approach we want to take.”

Hegseth said the cuts aimed to free the military from “unnecessary bureaucratic layers.”

The Pentagon is under pressure to slash spending and personnel as part of the broader federal government cuts pushed by President Donald Trump’s administration and ally Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Hegseth last week ordered a sweeping transformation to the Army to “build a leaner, more lethal force,” including merging or closing headquarters, dumping outdated vehicles and aircraft, slashing as many as 1,000 headquarters staff in the Pentagon and shifting personnel to units in the field.

Also last week the Army confirmed that there will be a military parade on Trump’s birthday in June, as part of the celebration around the service’s 250th birthday. Officials say it will cost tens of millions of dollars.

The cuts were first reported by CNN.

The commander of the 12th Aviation Battalion directed the unit to pause helicopter flight operations around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following Thursday’s close calls, two Army officials confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday. One official said the flights have been paused since Friday.

The pause comes after 67 people died in January when a passenger jet collided in midair with a Black Hawk helicopter at Reagan airport.

Top Army aviators were on routine flight when helo collided with jet

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that were not publicly announced. The unit is continuing to fly in the greater Washington, D.C., region.

The unit had begun a return to flight within the last week, with plans to gradually increase the number of flights over the next four weeks, according to an Army document viewed by the AP.

Thursday’s close call involved a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

They were instructed by air traffic control to “perform go-arounds” because of a “priority air transport” helicopter, according to an emailed statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The priority air transport helicopters of the 12th battalion provide transport service to top Pentagon officials. It was a Black Hawk priority air transport known as PAT25 that collided with the passenger jet in midair in January.

That crash was the worst U.S. midair disaster in more than two decades. In March, the FAA announced that helicopters would be prohibited from flying in the same airspace as planes near Reagan airport.

The NTSB and FAA are both investigating the latest close call with an Army helicopter.

The Army said after the latest incident that the UH-60 Blackhawk was following published FAA flight routes and air traffic control from Reagan airport when it was “directed by Pentagon Air Traffic Control to conduct a ‘go-around,’ overflying the Pentagon helipad in accordance with approved flight procedures.”

But helicopter traffic remains a concern around that busy airport. The FAA said that three flights that had been cleared for landing Sunday at Reagan were ordered to go around because a police helicopter was on an urgent mission in the area. All three flights landed safely on their second approaches.

The NTSB said after the January crash that there had been an alarming number of close calls near Reagan in recent years, and the FAA should have acted sooner.

Reuters first reported the pause in Army helicopter flights.

In New Jersey on Monday, flight delays and cancellations persisted at Newark Liberty International Airport. The FAA attributed arriving flight delays of nearly four hours to a combination of an air traffic controller shortage and thick cloud cover.

Associated Press writer Josh Funk contributed to this report from Omaha, Nebraska.

The BRP Miguel Malvar, which was decommissioned by the Philippine Navy in 2021, took on water while being towed in rough waters facing the disputed South China Sea and sank about 30 nautical miles off the western Philippine province of Zambales. Nobody was onboard when the ship listed then sank, the Philippine military said.

American and Philippine forces would proceed with other live-fire maneuvers off Zambales on Monday despite the premature sinking of the Malvar. The ship was built as a patrol vessel for the U.S. Navy in the 1940s and was transferred to Vietnam’s navy before the Philippine military acquired it, Philippine navy Capt. John Percie Alcos said.

“It’s an 80-year-old dilapidated ship and it wasn’t able to withstand the rough seas,” Philippine Lt. Col. John Paul Salgado told The Associated Press.

Marines deploy drone-killing MADIS system for Balikatan drills

The ship-sinking exercise was planned in an offshore area facing the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal, which has been closely guarded by the Chinese coast guard, navy and suspected militia ships.

The Philippines also claims the fishing atoll, which lies about 137 miles west of Zambales. Chinese and Philippine forces have had increasingly hostile confrontations in the waters and airspace of Scarborough in recent years.

The cancelled ship-sinking drill would have been the third to be staged by the treaty allies in recent years. It was supposed to be one of the highlights of largescale annual military exercises by the United States and the Philippines from April 21 to May 9 with about 14,000 U.S. and Filipino forces participants.

Called Balikatan, Tagalog for “shoulder-to-shoulder,” the combat drills have increasingly focused on the defense of Philippine sovereignty in the face of China’s growing aggression in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.

Mock battle scenes which have been staged so far, including the retaking of an island from hostile forces, have reflected assurances by the Trump administration, including by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, that the U.S. would abide by its treaty commitment to defend the Philippines in case Filipino forces come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

On Sunday, U.S., Australian and Philippine forces practiced retaking an island from hostile forces in the coastal town of Balabac in western Palawan province, which faces the South China Sea.

Japanese forces and British marines joined as observers of the combat exercise, which “showcased the growing interoperability and cohesion among partner nations in maintaining regional security,” Salgado said.

“What we have seen since Trump returned to the White House is a remarkable level of continuity in the U.S.-Philippines alliance not only in joint military drills, but also on American statements that the alliance is ‘ironclad,’” said Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at RAND Corporation.

“The Trump administration is trying to keep the pressure on China through its support to the Philippines,” Grossman said, but added that it’s unclear “just how sustainable this commitment will be given that the Trump administration seems less hawkish on China than its predecessors.”

China has vehemently opposed such exercises involving U.S. forces in or near the South China Sea or Taiwan, the island democracy, which Beijing claims as a province and has threatened to annex by force if necessary.

U.S. and Philippine military officials, however, have insisted that the combat exercises were not designed with China in mind but serve as a deterrence to acts of aggression in the region.

The newest area is in Texas and is attached to the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso. Like the first zone established last month in New Mexico, military personnel are authorized to take custody of migrants who illegally cross the border until they are transferred to civilian authorities in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“The establishment of a second National Defense Area increases our operational reach and effectiveness in denying illegal activity along the southern border,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of the U.S. Northern Command.

In New Mexico, people who entered the U.S. illegally were charged Monday with breaching a national defense area after the Army assumed oversight of a 170-mile strip that is treated as an extension of U.S. Army Garrison Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

A press release from the military didn’t say how large the second zone in Texas was and officials were unavailable to comment on its dimensions Thursday night.

Border crossers in the military zones face potential prosecutions on two federal crimes — entering the U.S. illegally and trespassing on military property. The moves come as President Donald Trump’s administration has deployed thousands of troops to the border and arrests have plunged to the lowest levels since the mid-1960s.

The military zones have allowed the federal government to escape the reach of an 1878 law that prohibits military involvement in civilian law enforcement.

“Any illegal attempting to enter that zone is entering a military base, a federally protected area,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on a recent visit to New Mexico. “You will be interdicted by U.S. troops and Border Patrol.”

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James W. Kilby delivered a state of the Navy address at Modern Day Marine, where he spoke of fortifying the naval service through recruiting efforts and investments in emerging technology, among other goals, in an effort to prepare for China’s alleged military readiness goal over the next two years.

“Our focus is 2027, and I want everyone’s focus to be on 2027,” Kilby said. “We are responding to a call from our adversary China who said, ‘We want to be ready in 2027.’ Therefore, the United States Navy, and I would argue our military, must be ready in 2027 across all our platforms.”

Preparation for the goalpost year was broken down into several parts.

The first was to ensure that 80% of aircraft, submarines and ships were combat-ready.

Kilby said that resources not undergoing maintenance needed to be “ready to go” and available for fleet commanders responding to battle.

The Navy would continue to incorporate robotic and autonomous systems into the fleet, achieving a hybrid fleet of manned and unmanned systems.

He identified the need for recruiting to fully stock ships with sailors, especially with 23,000 manning gaps at sea.

“I want to burn those down as quickly as possible so that ship is ready and able to perform its mission,” Kilby said.

Quality of service investments were integral, too, a sentiment echoed by Marine Corps leaders earlier in the week.

Kilby specifically mentioned the Barracks 2030 initiative, a nearly $11 billion effort to renovate Marine Corps housing, and promised better Wi-Fi and parking for sailors.

Top Marine calls for affordable, lethal and autonomous systems

The chief naval officer lastly emphasized the importance of warfighter competency — investing in technologies like live virtual constructive training to better prepare sailors for adversarial encounters — and restoring critical infrastructure, such as piers and runways, as the service focuses on strengthening its presence in the Pacific.

Kilby provided a backdrop for the Navy’s efforts, contextualizing the global landscape.

“We are now in a contested environment,” he said.

This was a break from years past, when the service had waded through a more uncontested environment, according to Kilby.

Key tenets of naval operation, such as communication, radar and interactions between sailors and chain of command, are more important than ever, he said, especially in the increasingly hostile Indo-Pacific region with adversaries like the Iran-backed Houthi Rebels wreaking havoc in the Red Sea.

The Navy’s major mission for a long time had been power projection, the practice of transporting a mobile airfield to a location and using destroyers to launch “power ashore,” according to Kilby.

In the uncontested environments of yesteryear, the feat was relatively easy, he explained.

Now, the script has flipped.

With the way things have unfolded in the now-contested environment of the Indo-Pacific, it’s imperative to assert control of the sea from a multitude of domains, including air, space, surface and subsurface, Kilby said.

Traditionally, the Navy adopted an approach of bringing Marines from sea to shore. However, there are new opportunities to invert that dynamic and bring Marine power from shore to sea.

The ability to fire an anti-ship missile from shore at a choke point, or the ability to operate G/ATOR on the ground, achieved newfound significance and importance as a result of this new dynamic, according to the chief of naval operations.