Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History

06/17/2026

A tired US Marine grabs a loaf of bread for his meal after 18 hours of continuous fighting. USMC photo by Sergeant Peter McDonald.

06/14/2026

06/14/2026

06/11/2026

Where did the year go? July 4 in the windshield already?😲 Which means it’s time to get ready for our annual July 4 fundraising Collectors Sale. Welcoming as many donations as we can get, see previous post, and needing lots of assistance in our one big muscle-help day of the year, setup on the afternoon and evening of July 3; there will be dinner for everyone. To join the few (here a very relative term!) and proud, please get on our list by calling (406) 239-7738 or emailing [email protected]. Thanks!

06/09/2026

Throughout June, happily accepting donations for our July 4 fundraising sale! Instructions below:

06/08/2026

At Missoula’s Rose Memorial Park: a monument to USN Captain John Doyle, who commanded LST 515 during 1944’s Operation Tiger.

06/07/2026

As a result, D-day was nearly called off

06/07/2026

On this day, 82 years ago, June 6, 1944, 32-year-old Technician Fifth Grade John J. Pinder Jr. landed on the coast of Omaha Beach.

Before the war, Pinder pitched as a professional baseball player in the minor leagues for teams like the Sanford Lookouts.

He spent his 32nd birthday assaulting the beaches of Normandy with the 16th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division.

His landing craft grounded on a sandbar 100 yards offshore near Colleville-sur-Mer, France.

Devastating German machine gun and artillery fire immediately ripped through his boatload of men.

Pinder jumped into the waist-deep surf carrying a massive SCR-284 radio.

Shrapnel tore into him just a few yards from the ramp.

He sustained severe wounds and lost a huge amount of blood but refused to drop his cargo.

Pinder fought through the churning water, reached the beach, and delivered the radio intact.

Medics attempted to treat him, but Pinder refused their help and refused to take cover.

He turned around and charged back into the ocean to retrieve more communication equipment.

He waded out three separate times to pull salvaged parts from the water.

He successfully recovered a second workable radio and vital spare parts.

On his third trip into the surf, enemy machine gun bullets struck his legs.

These new wounds crippled him, yet he still rejected any medical assistance.

Pinder dragged himself across the sand, completely exposed to the relentless bombardment.

He worked to set up the radio network his unit desperately needed to call in support.

Pinder grasped the radio controls and established contact.

A third burst of enemy fire struck him directly.

This final impact killed him instantly.

He died on his 32nd birthday on the sands of Normandy.

06/07/2026

Only a handful of American ships that served during the D-Day invasion still survive today. USS LST 393 tops the list, standing as one of only two surviving WWII LSTs preserved in its original wartime configuration.