In 1855 the United States government hatched one of the strangest plans in its history. It imported camels to conquer the American West. The man in charge was Jefferson Davis, the Secretary of War who would soon become president of the Confederacy. He convinced Congress to hand over $30,000, and the Navy sailed to the Middle East and brought back a herd of camels to Texas. One was even born on the voyage, so they arrived with more than they left with. To run the animals the Army hired a Syrian-Greek camel driver named Hadji Ali. Nobody could pronounce it, so the soldiers called him "Hi Jolly." And the wild part is, it worked. The camels could carry twice the load of a mule, go for days without water, and cross brutal desert that left horses dying in the sand. The experiment was a success. Then the Civil War broke out. The man who started the program was now leading the enemy. The Army lost interest, the camp was overrun, and the camels were sold off or simply turned loose into the desert. So they went feral. For the next 50 years wild camels wandered Texas, Arizona, and California, spooking horses and terrifying travelers who had no idea why a camel was standing in the Mojave. Sightings were still being reported into the 1900s. One ghostly "Red Ghost" legend even told of a camel roaming the desert with a dead man strapped to its back. Hi Jolly stayed in Arizona until he died in 1902. There is a stone pyramid topped with a metal camel marking his grave to this day. The US Army Camel Cavalry. Possibly the greatest Western story almost nobody knows.

Today we celebrate the American flag—the enduring symbol of freedom, unity, and the sacrifices made to protect both. Happy #FlagDay to all who proudly fly the Stars and Stripes.

🇺🇸 Most Badass Americans You Don’t Know D-Day Edition (D 5): Robert G. Cole Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole jumped into Normandy on D-Day with the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division and became one of the most legendary figures of the entire campaign. Born March 19, 1915, at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, Cole was the son of an Army doctor. He graduated from West Point in 1939, then volunteered for the paratroopers in 1941. He rose through the ranks with lightning speed. By D-Day he was a Lieutenant Colonel commanding the 3rd Battalion, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. On the night of June 5 to 6, 1944, Cole parachuted into France behind Utah Beach. Despite the chaos of scattered drops and heavy resistance, he quickly rallied about 75 men, seized key objectives, and helped open the way for the 4th Infantry Division coming ashore. Five days later, the fight for Carentan was raging. Capturing the town was critical. It would finally link the forces from Utah Beach with those from Omaha Beach. Cole’s 3rd Battalion was tasked with forcing the last bridges over the Douve River along a narrow, exposed causeway. On June 11, 1944, his battalion advanced straight into a meat grinder. German riflemen, machine guns, mortars, and artillery from well-dug-in positions just 150 yards away pinned the entire unit to the ground. For over an hour the fire held them in place and raked up heavy casualties. The situation looked hopeless. Cole refused to accept it. With disregard for his own life, he stood up in front of his men, drew his pistol, and shouted for them to fix bayonets. He called for smoke to screen the advance, then blew his whistle and led the charge himself. He shouted: “These goose-stepping Heinies think they know how to fight a war! We’re about to learn ’em a lesson! There’s several thousand Krauts in front of us and only a few hundred left of us, but we are well able to take this thing. When I blow the whistle, I want every one of you goddamn jayhawks right on my ass!” Cole charged across the open ground straight into the enemy positions. When a man fell, he grabbed the soldier’s rifle and bayonet and kept going. His men surged forward behind him in one of the rare and incredibly ballsy bayonet charges of World War II. They stormed the German lines in brutal close-quarters fighting, broke the enemy resistance, and secured the bridgehead. It cost them dearly. Roughly half his battalion became casualties. But Cole’s leadership turned an impossible situation into victory. His actions helped seal the link between the two American beachheads and opened the road to Carentan. In September 1944, during Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, he was still at the front with his battalion near Best. While personally placing orange identification panels in an open field to mark his position for friendly aircraft rather than ordering a man to do it, he was shot and killed by a German sniper. He was 29 years old. For his extraordinary heroism on June 11, 1944, Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The medal was presented to his mother, widow, and son on October 30, 1944, at Fort Sam Houston, the very post where he was born. He rests today in the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Holland. Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole is an American Badass. Thank you, Colonel! 🫡🇺🇸

🇺🇸 Civil War Trails Baseball Edition: Part 7 The man everyone thought invented baseball never did. His name was Abner Doubleday Union general, hero of Gettysburg, and one of the most respected officers in the Army of the Potomac. For decades, the Baseball Hall of Fame and schoolbooks taught that he invented the game in 1839 in a cow pasture in Cooperstown, New York. There’s only one problem. In 1839, Doubleday was a cadet at West Point, more than 200 miles away. He never once claimed he invented baseball. Not in his letters, not in his memoirs, not to anyone. The entire story was manufactured in 1907–1908 by a commission led by sporting goods magnate Albert Spalding and chaired by A.G. Mills. The same A.G. Mills who once, as a member of the flashy 165th New York Duryea Zouaves, played in a famous Christmas Day baseball game at Hilton Head in 1862 (see part 4). They wanted a clean, purely American origin story, something that didn’t trace back to British games like rounders. Doubleday did enjoy baseball and played it with his troops during the war. But the real contribution of the soldiers was far greater than any single inventor. Before the Civil War, baseball was still mostly a regional game played in and around New York and parts of New England. The soldiers took it with them into camps across the country. They played it between battles, in winter quarters, and even near the front lines. When the war ended, hundreds of thousands of men carried the game back to their hometowns, North and South. They taught it to their sons, formed town teams, and helped turn a city pastime into America’s national game. 🇺🇸⚾️

“It was one of the most monumentally unselfish things one group of people did for another.” -#DDay veteran Andy Rooney on the young 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy 82 years ago. Required watching for every young person today!

On June 6, 1944, ordinary Americans became the guardians of freedom. They crossed an ocean, stormed the beaches of Normandy, and changed the course of history through courage, sacrifice, and love of country. Eighty-two years later, Freedom 250 remembers the heroes who gave everything so freedom could endure. 🇺🇸

#TimeForTruth The best thing in🐎 today wasn’t #31Lengths #Belmont or #GoldenTempo. Rather the “Ultimate” hunch bet on #DDay🇺🇸 🙏🏼 with #Youcanthandlethetruth over Barksdale (AFB near LaD).. Multi-gen horsemen showing out!- Lon, BJ & Hiles family Rick (& Jeff) 🇺🇸🙏🏼 #ANGASTON

"The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you." (June 6, 1944) #WWII #DDay

WWII airman to be laid to rest at Sarasota National Cemetery: mysuncoast.com/2026/05/29/ww…

This game and Beltre’s 3K hit were two of my favorite days at the old ball game in Arlington… ⚾️

It’s the end of an era as William “Jinks” Fires saddled the final horse of his career today at Oaklawn. A mainstay of Arkansas racing, Fires amassed more than 1500 wins and ranks among the most successful trainers in Oaklawn history. His standout trainee, Archarcharch, captured the 2011 Arkansas Derby. He leaves the sport as a true “living legend,” widely admired for both his accomplishments and character.

Don’t miss today's TDN Kentucky Derby Special Edition 🌹 Complete with features, horse-by-horse analysis, video replays, statistics, photos, and more. Read it here: thoroughbreddailynews.com/wp…

St. Petersburg/Derby Lane ... once the USA's premier greyhound racing track.

All hands (& paws) on deck this morning 😁

I miss working on the ranch. I love horses so much. 💕💕💕💕

Tomorrow night @AMCTheatres IMAX Tampa #Veterans24. Gotta fast from meat & libations 😢, but just can’t keep this original #BigE moment away from me 🕺🏻🎤❤️ #EPICMovie #ElvisHoundDog 🐶

Two years ago, BFP shut down one of the U.S.’s largest animal testing sites and transformed it into a sanctuary: Freedom Fields❤️ What began with 250 lives liberated has grown into a sprawling refuge for hundreds of survivors🐾 Help us keep fighting: bfp.org/donate ✨

And I wanna be there I wanna go back down and die beside the sea there With a tin cup for a chalice, fill it up with good red wine And I'm a chewin' on a honeysuckle vine

Holy Smokes 🙏🏼💨