Army History Magazine
Summer 2025 Edition
December 2025
In this Summer 2025 issue of Army History, I am thrilled to offer two outstanding articles, an interesting Army Art Spotlight, a unique Army Museum Feature, and another excellent selection of book reviews. The first article, by John Curatola, the Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian at the National World War II Museum, looks at the development, refinement, and implementation of the Army’s amphibious assault capabilities against the European Axis powers during World War II. From the early landings in North Africa during Operation Torch, to Sicily, Italy, Normandy, and Southern France, Curatola documents the planning, missteps, successes, and the lessons learned during various operations. He examines improvements in landing craft, tactics, logistics, and the use of combined arms along the way.
The second article, by Philip McCormick, an active duty Army major assigned to U.S. Army South, analyzes the concept of sustainment through the lens of the Texas Revolution. The author applies modern Army logistical and sustainment doctrine to provide a retroactive assessment of both sides’ performance during this conflict. As he points out, the Mexican Army made critical mistakes in these areas, leading to its eventual defeat and retreat from Texas.
This issue’s Army Art Spotlight highlights the work of World War II Army Artist Sidney Simon. A 2023 donation to the Army Art Collection included some previously unknown works of Simon’s art as well as some preliminary sketches of works that have been in the Army’s collection since 1945. These artworks provide a greater insight into the artist’s process and give deeper background information for pieces already in the collection.
The Army Museum Feature looks at a number of historic flags in Symbols of Valor, the current exhibit at the Army Quartermaster Museum on Fort Lee, Virginia. Important flags on display include the 1912 President William H. Taft flag, the first fifty-star American flag presented to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the first official Army flag from 1956. A recent and exciting addition to the museum’s collection is the now-conserved 12th Quartermaster Regiment (Philippine Scouts) flag. This World War II–era flag was hidden by an Army nurse for three years while she was taken captive and held as a prisoner of war at the Santo Tomas Internment Camp in the Philippines. The story of this flag’s journey is an astounding one, as are the lives of those who saved it for
posterity.
As usual, this issue contains eight excellent book reviews that should be of interest to our readers. Also, I continue to encourage folks to submit articles of interest to Army History, especially those pertaining to the Revolutionary War. We now are well into the 250th commemorative period for this conflict, and we are looking to publish heavily on all aspects of this important topic over the next few years.
Bryan J. Hockensmith
Managing Editor