


January 2020 Readers’ Letters
Readers sound off about chemlights, the Ukraine, airborne turrets and WWI relics


Glenna Goodacre Leaves a Legacy in Bronze
The retired master sculptor's gifts to the art world include the Sacagawea dollar and many other beautiful works

Book Review: The Fighters
C.J. Chivers details the lives of six Americans who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and the price they paid

Top 10 Best and Worst Aviation Movies
Aviation History's Top 10 Best Aviation Movies include Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines, Hell's Angels, The Dam Busters, and The Bridges at Toko-Ri; the Top 10 Worst include Top Gun, Snakes on a Plane, and Pearl Harbor.

David Jonason Roams and Renders the American West
The painter depicts wherever he roams out West—from the mountains to the deserts to geysers white with foam

Trolleys’ Time: When Streetcars Were Desired
Before commuter rail lines, interurban trolleys electrically connected cities, small towns, and even amusement parks

Want to Be President? Pretend You’re a Regular Sort
Then, as now, politicians pounced on rich rivals. Most candidates pretended to be self-made

LAV-25
In its many variants the LAV (light armored vehicle) has served U.S. forces worldwide

Secrets Behind the Surprising Rise of Drones
From inauspicious biplane beginnings to near mastery of the skies above combat zones, UAVs have a rich history.

Sitting Ducks Over Normandy: A C-47 Pilot Remembers D-Day
A C-47 pilot gives his son a firsthand look at the dangerous missions he flew in flak-filled skies on D-Day and beyond.

Precision Bass: Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Instrumental Soul
Leo Fender's rhythmic innovation powered the music of a generation

Manassas: How This Southern City Came To Be More Than a Battlefield
Destroyed in the war, isolated Virginia rail junction was rebuilt in a spirit of reconciliation

The U.S. Navy’s Curtiss NC-4: First Across the Atlantic
In the spring of 1919, three Navy-Curtiss flying boats set out to beat the competition and be the first to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Book Review: Presidents of War
Michael Beschloss discusses nine U.S. presidents who have guided the nation through or kept it out of war