Dec 7, 2025 | NSW Historical Perspectives
Pearl Harbor and the Underwater Demolition Teams By CDR (SEAL) Tom Hawkins, USN (Ret.) On 7 December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing over 2,400 Americans and severely damaging or destroying 19 U.S....
Nov 5, 2025 | NSW Historical Perspectives
Korea – September 1952 Operation FISHNET By CDR (SEAL) Tom Hawkins, USN (Ret.) As described by the writer James Berry in the U.S. Naval Institutes “Proceedings” of December 1990: “I helped document one of the strangest military actions of the war: A commando ship (USS...
Oct 16, 2025 | NSW Historical Perspectives
Navy SEAL FROGMEN By CDR (SEAL) Tom Hawkins, USN (Ret.) This story was written in 2011 in collaboration with Captain (SEAL) Norm Olson, USN (Ret.), who was the founding director of the Navy SEAL Museum. The story has been condensed and updated with revisions. In...
Sep 18, 2025 | NSW Historical Perspectives
Saving Jessica Lynch Operation Iraqi Freedom By CDR (SEAL) Tom Hawkins, USN (Ret.) U.S. Army Private First Class Jessica Lynch deployed to Iraq in 2003 as part of the Army’s 507th Maintenance Company. Their primary mission was to provide logistical support to field...
Aug 11, 2025 | NSW Historical Perspectives
Korean War – August 1950 UDT’s First Combat Action By CDR (SEAL) Tom Hawkins, USN (Ret.) On 23 June 1950, U.N. observers inspecting the border area between North and South Korea and saw nothing amiss. In a stunning surprise just two days later on the 25th of June, the...
Aug 4, 2025 | NSW Historical Perspectives
Navy SEALs and Extortion 17 The Largest Single-Day Loss of Life During the War in Afghanistan By CDR (SEAL) Tom Hawkins, USN (Ret.) On 6 August 2011, the shooting down of a U.S. Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter, call sign “Extortion 17” (pronounced “One Seven”),...
