Soldiers of Fortune, or
Mercenaries, have been used in war since the advent of war itself. The
Persians, the Romans, the Greeks all used mercenaries in their armies.
The trend continued into the middle ages when German Landsknechts and
Swiss Pikemen were in high demand. Other famous mercenary groups
include Cossacks, Ronin, and Pirates. 

Now, the standard
definition of Mercenaries is given to us by Article 47 of Protocol I of
the 1949 Geneva Convention, which states that mercenaries are neither
combatants nor prisoners of war. Currently, the most popular form of
mercenary is the PMC (Private Military Contractor), which supplies
soldiers to governments to help them guard high profile targets, defend
installations, train local police, and so on. 

Bounty Hunters are also still used by bail bondsmen to ensure that their clients go to court when they are supposed to.

Soldier of Fortune Magazine is designed to be read by the mercenary.

For more information, read:
Military History Magazine (June 2003): Cossack Pirates in the Black Sea
www.privatemilitary.org
CNN Special on Mercenaries

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President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a
southern sympathizer and a self-proclaimed modern-day Brutus, on April
14th, 1865 (five days after the end of the Civil War). Booth snuck into
Lincoln's viewing Booth at the Ford's Theater while Lincoln was
watching "Our American Cousin" and shot him in the back of the head.
Booth then jumped down onto the stage and ran out the back door. The
ensuing manhunt eventually caught up with him in the swamps of the
Potomac River. He was shot, and his co-conspirators were hanged.

The event has many interesting stories associated with it:
Lincoln
had a dream in which he walked into the East Room of the White House
and saw a casket. He asked the soldiers why there was a casket and the
soldiers told him that the President had been assassinated. He had the
dream three days before being assassinated.Robert Todd
Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's son, stood by his father's body as he passed
away. Strangely, Robert Todd Lincoln would also stand by the sides of
Presidents Garfield and McKinley (both shot by assassins) as they lay
dying.Robert Todd Lincoln once fell onto the train tracks but was saved by Edwin Booth, John's brother.Boston Corbett, the soldier who fatally wounded Booth, shot him in the exact same spot that Booth shot Lincoln.
There are also several conspiracy theories about the Lincoln Assassination:
Vice
President Johnson indirectly communicated with Booth on the day of the
assassination. He stood to gain the most from the death of Lincoln.Confederate
Secretary of State Judah Benjamin might have ordered the assassination
of the opposing head of state for tactical reasons. Benjamin destroyed
all of his records after the surrender, and then fled to England and
never returned.Secretary of War Edwin Stanton disliked Lincoln
for his moderate stance on many issues. Stanton prevented Ulysses Grant
(and his military escort) from attending "Our American Cousin" with
Lincoln (and potentially saving his life). He also lowered security on
the bridge that Booth used to flee into Maryland. He also destroyed a
few pages of Booth's diary before it was used as evidence in court.
For more information, read:
The American Presidents by David Whitney
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer (The History Channel)
The Greatest Presidential Stories Never Told by Rick Beyer
http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln.html



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Lincoln's Assassination

John McCain Sr: Admiral, Commander of Fast Carrier Task Force in South Pacific during WWII

John McCain Jr: Admiral, Commander of Pacific Command during Vietnam War

John McCain III: Navy aviator, shot down in Hanoi, tortured as a
prisoner of war for 5.5 years, currently running for Republican
nomination for President of the United States



Other presidential candidates with military experience are:

Chris Dodd: Army ReserveMike Gravel: Lieutenant, Counter-Intelligence Corps (West Germany)Ron Paul: Captain, Flight Surgeon (US Air Force)Duncan Hunter: Lieutenant, US Army Rangers

For more information, read:

http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198503/delenda.est.carthago.htm

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jsmccain.htm

www.realclearpolitics.com

http://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/mccain/articles/0301mccainbio-chapter3.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/15/politics/15mccain.html?_r=1&adxnnl;=1&oref;=slogin&adxnnlx;=1198992044-jBYur2uP0d4d90Hp7uLjtA





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The John McCains

The title of this episode comes from the following George Orwell quote: “Serious
sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred,
jealousy, boastfulness, disregard for all rules and sadistic pleasure
in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting."
This is meant to be a fun episode on the similarities between football, chess, and war.  Please take each analogy with a grain of salt.

Football (two armies fighting to reach the opposing camp/end zone):
Kick-off Team: SkirmishersQuarterback: Tactical CommanderHead Coach: Strategic CommanderHalfback: Light Infantry ReservesFullback: Heavy Infantry ReservesTight End: Heavy CavalryLinemen (offensive and defensive): Heavy InfantryWide Receivers: Light CavalryCornerbacks: Light CavalryLinebackers: Light InfantrySafeties: Heavy CavalryKicker: Artillery


Chess (two armies fighting to defeat the opposing commander):
Pawns: Heavy InfantryRooks: ArtilleryKnights: Light CavalryBishops: Light InfantryQueen: Heavy CavalryKing: Tactical Commander



Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine

Sports - War minus the Shooting

This episode is written by Russell Holman of Merrimack, New Hampshire. 
If you would like to submit a script to Military History Podcast,
please send me an email at militaryhistorypodcast@gmail.com



The mighty American military during WWII would have been nothing
without its surprisingly-important rationing system.  Food kept the
United States going, so therefore, it is well worth studying. 
Throughout WWII and the years beyond, the US entered/exited several
"eras" of rations:

A RationsB RationsK RationsC RationsLRRP RationsMREs

For more information, read:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/mre.htm

http://www.olive-drab.com/od_rations.php

http://nsc.natick.army.mil/media/print/OP_Rations.pdf





Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine

Food of WWII

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the former Yugoslavian countries
began to divide along ethnic lines.  Of the five states (Serbia and
Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Slovenia),
three of them began waging war:

Serbia (Orthodox Christians) under Slobodan MilosevicBosnia (Muslims) under Alija IzetbegovicCroatia (Roman Catholics) under Franjo Tudjman

Initially, both Croatia and Serbia desired to take land from Bosnia. 
However, as the war progressed, Croatia took the side of Bosnia in
order to push Serbia out of the region.  Ethnic cleansing (especially
by the Serbs) was commonplace, and it wasn't until Croatian
intervention (on the ground with Operation Storm) and NATO intervention
(in the air with Operation Deliberate Resolve) that the war slowed
down.  Eventually, after a four-year long siege of Sarajevo (the
Bosnian capital), the Dayton Accords were signed.



However, the ethnic cleansing continued, most notably at Kosovo.  After
another NATO intervention led by General Wesley Clark, peace was
restored again.



For more information, read:

My Life by Bill Clinton

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1280328.stm

http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/bosnia.htm

The Statesman's Yearbook 2006



Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine



Soldiers of Fortune

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