Builders reveal a critical labor shortage in their field is fueling the housing affordability crisis in America.

America needs more homes, but the industry doesn't have nearly enough workers to build them. With too few skilled laborers to meet the growing demand, construction is taking longer, costs are rising and, as a result, the much-needed housing supply in the U.S. remains constrained.

Experts in the industry point to an aging workforce, a lack of younger Americans entering the skilled trades and immigration policies that they say have failed to keep pace with labor needs.

"Labor is one of the largest and most expensive inputs when it comes to home production and land development," Jim Tobin, president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, told Fox News Digital.

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He said that every month, the construction industry is short by approximately 250,000 workers.

"It's been as high as 400,000 jobs short when we were really cooking along a few years ago," Tobin said, adding that the labor gap "is a persistent shortage."

And the industry's labor needs are only expected to grow in coming years.

A recent Home Builders Institute and National Association of Home Builders report estimates builders will need roughly 723,000 new workers annually to keep pace with demand and help close the nation's 1.5 million-home housing gap.

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The shortage is already affecting how quickly homes can be built. According to Home Builders Institute President and CEO Ed Brady, labor constraints are extending construction timelines and driving up costs.

"This shortage adds nearly two extra months to building timelines, inflating costs and delaying delivery," Brady told Fox News Digital.

Builders say replenishing the skilled trades pipeline is only part of the solution.

While builders continue to invest in workforce development programs and encourage more young Americans to enter the skilled trades, Tobin argued for immigration reform measures that he says will benefit the industry.

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"It's not only about training more people to come into the industry as our current generation ages out of the skilled trades, but it's also the immigration problem that we have in this country," he said.

Tobin said many construction jobs do not require a four-year college degree and can provide stable, middle-class careers, but the home construction industry has struggled for years to attract enough workers to replace retiring tradespeople.

At the same time, builders have become increasingly reliant on immigrant labor. According to the National Association of Home Builders, immigrants account for roughly one-third of the homebuilding contractor workforce.

Tobin called on lawmakers to modernize the nation's immigration system, including creating legal pathways for workers already in the country and expanding visa opportunities for those seeking construction jobs.

"We've got to find a way to modernize our immigration laws," Tobin said. "We've got to create a visa system for people who want to work legally in this country, in the construction industry."

Without additional workers entering the labor force, Tobin said, builders will continue to face challenges meeting housing demand and bringing more homes to market.

In an exclusive interview with the Ruthless Podcast, Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer discussed the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event at the White House, his personal story of heroism, and blasted the controversial design of a proposed memorial for the Global War on Terrorism.

"If I could sum up the entire night, it was about service," Meyer told the Fellas in an interview released Tuesday morning. "And it was every foundation of this country and what it was founded on. Every fighter in there gave thanks to all the men and women who served. You just saw uniforms everywhere, everybody with American flags," Meyer said of the event.

As a part of the UFC Freedom 250 Heavyweight on Sunday evening, Meyer walked out with fighter Justin Gaethje. The emotional moment of patriotism preceded a technical knockout win for Gaethje over Ilia Topuria for an undisputed lightweight title. The fight, an underdog win for the American Gaethje against a European Topuria, was the main event on the patriotic night.

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Sargent Meyer served in the Marines from 2006 to 2010. He received the Medal of Honor for entering an area under enemy fire to rescue wounded soldiers and the bodies of fallen service members. His efforts saved 36 lives, including 13 Americans.

"Here's the reason why I think that story is so important," podcast co-host John Ashbrook said of Meyer’s story. "Because people listen to the show, some of them served, but a lot of them read about it on the news, or they hear a politician say, 'Oh, freedom isn't free,’ or some other like speech that sounds good, and it is good. But, until you hear those words, you don't really understand the sacrifice, and even hearing those words, you don't understand the sacrifices unless you were actually there and doing it."

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In the interview, Meyer criticized the design of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial. The circular structure with grass on top is planned to appear on the National Mall in Washington, DC, close to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the proposed spot of the Desert Storm and Desert Shield.

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"All service is the same, but not all sacrifice is the same," Meyer said. "And that looks like some shit that Bernie Sanders would have come up with."

Senators Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) criticized the memorial. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) has said he’s formed a bipartisan and bicameral coalition to prevent the design.

"That was not designed by a veteran," Meyer said. "And if it was designed by a veteran, it was not designed by a veteran, whoever had to sacrifice in the way of being shot at. And I'm not trying to degrade anybody who wasn't shot at, but what I am saying is that. If you set on a fob. And we appreciate everybody's job, but this should represent a sacrifice."

President Donald Trump traveled to France for the G7 summit after announcing a deal with Iran, setting up high-stakes meetings Monday with world leaders over the Middle East, trade, Ukraine and artificial intelligence.

Trump jetted off to Évian-les-Bains following the UFC Freedom Fight that took place on the South Lawn at the White House Sunday.

President Trump will be joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a U.S. delegation as leaders from France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union gather from Monday through Wednesday as part of the annual meeting. Discussions are expected to focus on trade, artificial intelligence, supply chain resilience, critical minerals, and illegal immigration.

"President Trump has effectively restored America's standing on the world stage and strengthened relationships abroad and the president looks forward to a productive G7 summit on shared issues of importance next week," said a senior administration officials during a call with reporters Saturday.

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Trump's trip to Europe follows his announcement on Sunday that the U.S. and Iran had finalized a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end the war following months of negotiations.

"The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all! I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

European leaders backed the announcement, including the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom saying in a joint statement on Sunday: "We are prepared to lift relevant sanctions in response to clear, verifiable steps by Iran on its nuclear program."

Last year's G7 was held in Alberta, Canada, with President Trump leaving the talks sooner than expected as the Israel-Iran conflict intensified. The summit did not produce any major trade breakthroughs.

Trump, this year, is expected to join bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, Emir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, a senior administration officials told reporters.

Although Ukraine is expected to feature prominently in discussions, Trump has no formal meeting scheduled with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but will join him in working sessions.

Trump will attend broader multilateral sessions on economic growth and working lunches with global tech CEOs and Middle East leaders.

Heading into the G7 meetings, Trump’s objective is to gauge whether other leaders are willing to participate in efforts to clear mines and help restore normal shipping through the Strait, a senior administration official said.

Trump will face allies as tensions loom over his "America First" tariff policies which are aimed at leveling the global trade playing field by holding other countries accountable for trade deficits.

Trump aims to secure a "very good" U.S.-India trade deal that expands American exports and reduces barriers for U.S. businesses operating in India, a senior administration official said.

The summit comes weeks before the July 1 deadline for the first joint review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced NAFTA and entered into force in 2020.

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After attending a U.S.-China summit in Beijing last month, Trump praised what he called "fantastic trade deals," including agreements for China to buy Boeing planes and soybeans.

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Dependency on China will be a focus of the group of seven with discussions expected on Chinese supply chains, excess production capacity and clean technologies.

Leaders are closely watching China as the global race to develop and dominate artificial intelligence intensifies, with concerns over technological leadership, economic competitiveness and national security shaping the agenda.

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At the time, U.S. officials said China continues to weigh whether to buy advanced U.S. chips or accelerate domestic alternatives, while Trump said the two sides discussed the possibility of AI guardrails.

AI executives from large tech companies such as OpenAI, Meta and Anthropic are expected to attend the G7 to discuss regulation and AI infrastructure, Reuters reported.

New details have emerged about past allegations involving a Florida woman's dogs that police say mauled a neighbor to death.

And in a bizarre twist, a criminal investigation has been opened after three dogs were found dead at the travel trailer where mauling victim Jodi Cowan was living at the time of the fatal attack. 

Deputies responded to a call on June 11 about a bad smell at the residence, said Tod Goodyear, public information officer of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

The "case is ongoing awaiting an examination of the dogs to determine the cause of death," Goodyear said. "Charges would depend on the outcome of the necropsies and the cause of death. The residence was under the control of the boyfriend of Cowan."

FLORIDA WOMAN MAULED TO DEATH BY DOGS THAT HAD ALLEGEDLY TERRORIZED NEIGHBORHOOD, OWNER CHARGED IN KILLING

Before that, more surprising details were revealed in court documents obtained by Fox News Digital about the May 19 dog attack that led to Cowan’s death.

The year-old littermates caught on camera attacking Cowan had attacked others and had shown aggression toward their owner, Linda Cutler, Brevard County Court records show. 

Cutler, 29, has been charged with manslaughter and is held without bond in the Brevard County Jail.

Her arrest came eight days after her 50-year-old neighbor, Cowan, was fatally wounded while walking her own little dog on their street. That dog was not one of the dogs found dead at her residence, Goodyear said.

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It was nearly 2 a.m. on May 19 when Cowan’s partner of 30 years heard her cries for help outside their home. 

He sprinted through the dark to save her. And wielding a knife at the still-attacking dogs, Donnell Smith frantically called 911 and tried to stop the bleeding from Cowan’s neck, court records show.

The dogs snarled and snapped as Smith begged for help during the eight-minute call. Cowan could be heard in the background saying, "I’m dying. Can’t breathe."

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Smith told the 911 operator that the dogs had "ripped out" her throat.

A medical helicopter raced Cowan to a trauma center. Her wounds included a severed carotid artery and jugular vein, court records show. 

But the brutal attack on his girlfriend wasn’t the first time Smith had tried to stop the two pit-bull-and-Catahoua-leopard-mix dogs from savaging someone, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant filed with the court.

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On April 14, before the attack on Cowan, the same two dogs, Max and Mako, attacked fellow neighbor John Argila, according to the affidavit. 

During the investigation into Cowan’s death, Smith told deputies that he "helped get the dogs off" Argila. Later, he said, he told Cutler about her dogs’ behavior, the affidavit shows. 

Argila told investigators he’d been walking down the road near Blue Bonnet Drive a little after 10 p.m., talking on the phone and pushing his bike that had a flat tire, when he saw Max and Mako.

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He yelled at them to go home. Usually, he told deputies with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, yelling at them was enough to send the dogs—who escaped their yard daily—back within their four-foot, chain-link fence, the report shows. 

But this time, they charged. 

Argila said he tried to use his bike as a barrier, but the dogs managed to bite him on his arms. Three other dogs raced up, but didn’t bite him, he told deputies. 

Then, a passing driver pulled up and yelled at him to get into the vehicle, allowing him to escape, Argila told deputies. An ambulance took him to a local hospital for treatment for dog bites, the affidavit shows. 

Deputies noted seeing healing puncture wounds on Argila’s arms. 

Exactly five weeks later, the same two dogs attacked Cowan. Her cause of death according to the medical examiner: multiple dog bites. 

History of aggression

After the deadly attack, a veterinarian at the sheriff’s office Animal Care Center examined Max and Mako. She found no signs of abuse or neglect, the affidavit shows. 

Both dogs exhibited "Littermate Syndrome," which "occurs when two puppies are raised together and fail to develop independence and normal social skills," according to the report. 

"Because of the lack of confidence, they often react with fear or aggression toward new people, dogs, or environment," the affidavit says. 

While investigating, deputies saw Max escape the yard through an opening in the fence. Max and Mako were set to be euthanized, a sheriff’s office spokesman told Fox News Digital. 

During the investigation, Cutler, the dogs’ owner, told deputies she’d noticed "an increase of aggression in the dogs in the past couple months," their report shows. She told deputies she "believed someone was doing something to her dogs to change their behavior, but was unable to elaborate on what or who."

During a domestic incident with her boyfriend, her dogs showed aggression toward him, Cutler told deputies. She said she believed the aggression came from the dogs’ desire to protect her. 

Even though she’d installed additional fencing to keep the dogs in, she knew they still were escaping, she told deputies.

Max and Mako's parents also acted aggressively, Cutler told deputies. About a year earlier, their mother attacked her, she said, and her boyfriend "strangled the dog to death to protect her."

Max and Mako’s father, Boomer, also had bitten someone, which earned Cutler a citation from the Animal Services unit of the sheriff’s office, records show. 

The sheriff’s office report lists 11 complaints involving Cutler’s dogs since September 2025. One person making a complaint said the dogs killed her cat. Others complained that the dogs were running loose. Some said the dogs were chasing people and acting aggressively. Some callers expressed concern that the animals had been abandoned. 

Cutler was arrested for manslaughter on May 27, eight days after Cowan’s death.

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Dog law debate

From 2011 through 2021, there were 468 deaths in the United States that resulted from dog bites or strikes, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

In a study of pediatric dog bites, researchers found that pit bulls were the most identified breed of the 511 cases in which the dog breed was known. And pit bulls were the most commonly identified breed in cases requiring an operation, researchers said in the study published in the September 2021 edition of the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.

Researchers wrote that "countless studies from across the country have identified pit bulls, mastiffs, German shepherds and dobermans as the most frequently identified breeds resulting in visits to the" emergency department. 

Increasingly, fatal dog bites spark spirited debate about banning some dog breeds, including pit bulls. 

But banning specific breeds of dogs isn’t the way to keep people safer, said Holly Sizemore, chief mission officer of Best Friends Animal Society. In addition to providing a large network of shelters with adoption services and other programs, the organization compiles insights and analytics from more than 10,000 shelters and rescue groups across the nation. 

"The only effective way to protect people and pets is, not through breed bans, it's through laws that focus on the behavior of the dog and the behavior of the owner," Sizemore told Fox News Digital. "Breed bans waste resources. They don't make communities safer. They don't reduce risk."

Nearly half of U.S. states have some form of law prohibiting or limiting breed-specific legislation at the local level, though the exact scope varies by state, said Best Friends spokeswoman Alina Hauptman. 

States that restrict local governments from enacting breed-specific legislation are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington, Hauptman said. 

Dog bite expert Michael Gould also disagrees with bans of specific breeds. He was a founding member of the New York Police Department Canine Unit and serves as an expert witness in court cases involving dogs.

Gould champions the idea of holding dog owners accountable for properly training and containing their dogs. 

He also argues that law enforcement agencies have a duty to protect communities from animals with a known history of aggression.

"Law enforcement has an overarching responsibility to provide public safety—period," Gould said.

"Are there different laws that a sheriff or a law enforcement official has to follow? Of course. They can't just randomly start seizing dogs … Maybe it's the laws of this municipality that have to change."

But, he added, "this is a public safety issue. It's not a dog issue. I would have impounded the dogs."

Dogs that receive proper care, are trained and are socialized as puppies don’t become dangerous, he said.

"I've been testifying in court for 30 years for these exact incidents, and there's not one time I blamed the dog. It’s always a human component to it." 

A breed ban is "feeble," he said. "It's archaic. It’s a Band-Aid that society wants to put on a problem, but it never addresses the core of the problem."

Politics in Richmond, Calif., have revolved around one company for decades: Chevron. The oil giant operates a massive refinery in the city, creating jobs and contributing millions of dollars in tax revenue that helps fund local government. Despite its outsized economic role, Chevron has remained the primary political target of Richmond's democratic socialist leaders, particularly the influential Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA).

The relationship between Richmond and Chevron has evolved from one of corporate dominance and influence to one of persistent conflict as the city's leadership moves further to the left.

"I think it's pretty much a fact that for 100 years Chevron pretty much controlled the city of Richmond," former Richmond Mayor Tom Butt told Fox News Digital.

"When I first got elected, the politics in Richmond were — the power in Richmond resided in big developers, industries, particularly Chevron, and lobbyists, that sort of thing. And so that was what I was fighting," Butt said. He added that the turning point came in the mid-2000s as the RPA began gaining influence. According to Butt, while he was skeptical of the RPA, the coalition was helpful in the city's fight against Chevron.

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The Chevron refinery, which is still operational, was completed in July 1902, according to the company's website, around three years before Richmond was incorporated as a city in 1905. Chevron noted that in 2002, as the refinery marked its 100th anniversary, it had over 1,300 employees and spanned 2,900 acres.

Current Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez, a member of the RPA and a democratic socialist, told Fox News Digital that he does not believe there are any communities hosting major oil companies that have achieved a balanced relationship between residents and industry.

"The imbalance we see today stems from a lack of accountability and compassion among multibillion-dollar corporations whose operations can affect the health and safety of surrounding communities. True balance will be achieved only when corporations operate responsibly and give equal consideration to the needs of the communities they impact, not solely to the interests of shareholders," he said.

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The city's frustrations with Chevron go beyond local politics. Over the years, refinery incidents have raised concerns among residents about safety, pollution and corporate accountability.

In March 1999, an explosion and fire at the Chevron refinery released toxic fumes and prompted a shelter-in-place warning. SFGate reported at the time that three Chevron emergency response team workers were injured, and multiple workers were seen coughing. A spokesperson for the company told SFGate in 1999 that an explosion led to "a very hot fire, and when you have burning liquid it's unpredictable. We're throwing everything we have at it."

A defining moment in Chevron's relationship with Richmond came in August 2012, when a ruptured pipe released flammable, high-temperature light gas oil that partially vaporized into a large opaque cloud. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) found that the vapor cloud ignited approximately two minutes after the release, triggering a massive fire.

While no one was killed, approximately 15,000 people sought medical treatment in the weeks that followed for ailments including breathing problems, chest pain, shortness of breath, sore throats and headaches. The CSB ultimately concluded that the rupture resulted from severe corrosion and found that Chevron had failed to effectively implement internal recommendations to inspect or replace vulnerable piping before the accident.

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The refinery incidents fueled longstanding skepticism toward Chevron among many Richmond residents and activists, creating political momentum for leaders who argued the company should face greater oversight and contribute more to the economy.

Politics in Richmond became increasingly focused on Chevron after the 2012 fire, with activists and city leaders pushing the company to contribute more to the community. The tension culminated in 2024, when the Richmond City Council approved a deal in which Chevron agreed to pay $550 million in exchange for the removal of a proposed refinery tax measure from the ballot.

Chevron told local news outlet Richmondside that the "agreement ensures Chevron Richmond can continue to provide Northern California with the affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy the region’s economy needs."

While Richmond leaders celebrated the deal as a victory, some residents questioned whether continued pressure on Chevron could push the company to leave, potentially triggering major economic consequences.

Butt argued that Chevron became an issue that helped the RPA go from a fringe movement to a major force in Richmond politics.

"I think the secret to the RPA's initial success has to do with Chevron," he said. "They identified an issue in Richmond that had enough sympathy that they could win an election on it."

Butt said that Chevron's waning influence in Richmond was evident in a 2014 municipal election. Chevron shelled out approximately $3 million to back a slate of preferred candidates, all of whom were defeated.

"They put $3 million, which is a lot of money in Richmond, into backing a slate of candidates and all their candidates lost. And that was kind of the turning point for them where they went from owning Richmond to not owning Richmond," Butt told Fox News Digital.

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Even some of Chevron's critics acknowledge that Richmond faces a difficult balancing act between trying to hold the oil giant accountable without completely pushing it out. However, Butt believes that the RPA is hoping Chevron will close its doors.

"The RPA basically would love to see Chevron closed down tomorrow, and then you know what they would do at that point for jet fuel and for gasoline for their cars and that sort of thing, I don't think they think that far ahead. That's just not it, it doesn't mean anything to them," he said.

The risk of Chevron scaling back its presence in California is not entirely hypothetical, as the company has already relocated its headquarters from San Ramon, Calif., to Houston, Texas. For some Richmond residents, the move reinforced concerns about the city's approach to the company.

"Chevron built Richmond because, you know, back in the day everybody used to live two blocks away from Chevron," Mark Wassberg, a Richmond resident and former Chevron worker, told Fox News Digital.

Wassberg argued that the refinery jobs are difficult to replace with newer positions in green-energy, saying that he was making $1,400 weekly and had no overtime limits.

Not all Richmond residents who expressed concern about Chevron's future were completely against the city working to hold the company accountable. Richmond resident Stephen London said pollution concerns are common in the area and praised city leaders for extracting concessions from Chevron.

"The city's on an upswing and, you know, we got a lot of money out of Chevron for their pollution. I think they get some of the credit for that from what I understand," London said.

However, London acknowledged that there were risks if the accountability push were to go too far.

"You don't really want to kill the golden goose, you just want to squeeze a bunch of eggs out of them," he later said.

For London and other Richmond residents, the challenge facing city leadership is to find a way to hold Chevron accountable while preserving the jobs and tax revenue that the company has provided for generations.

Fox News Digital reached out to Chevron for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

House Democrats are raising concerns about how race and jury selection may have impacted the guilty verdict in the Karmelo Anthony case, with several arguing the verdict highlights the racism they believe exists in the criminal justice system.

"A travesty, two lives ruined, and what struck me most is that you had an all-White jury," Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Texas, said when asked his thoughts on the guilty verdict. "You had preemptive strikes that were used in order to achieve an all-White jury."

After Anthony was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Tuesday for the stabbing and killing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a high school track event, many activists and Democratic lawmakers have claimed the trial to be unfair and racist. 

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Many are claiming the jurors were all White, and that this contributed to the rejection of Anthony's self-defense claim.

"Juries should represent the diversity of this country, and if a White kid was convicted of murder and it was an all-Black jury that did the conviction, people would say this is patently unfair," Menefee said. "So why should it be fair if it's the other way around?"

But sources close to the trial told Fox News Digital that there were three jurors who were racial minorities. They said that of the 18 total jurors, including alternates, six were minorities. Additionally, four Black men testified in defense of Metcalf, saying Anthony was not provoked in any way to justify stabbing the 17-year-old.

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Supporters of Anthony claim that he stabbed Metcalf as an act of self defense, arguing he did not receive a fair trial. Some activists and Democratic lawmakers have called for further review of the case and urged Anthony to pursue an appeal.

"Here is a case where a young man certainly appears to have been being attacked and defended himself," Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., said about the case.

"It does bring in light the imbalance in our judicial system, as it relates to African Americans and people of color" Carter continued. "And that's a shame. So hopefully, there'll be an opportunity for some appeal and some further discussion."

"Case after case, after case you see that if it is a young Black person, they're not allowed to be fearful, they're not allowed self-defense, they don't get the same standard ground opportunities that other people get," Menefee said. "But then other races do."

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Some lawmakers were less likely to directly blame the trial as unfair due to race, but were still sympathetic toward Anthony and were not blatantly opposed to the idea of looking further into the evidence in the case despite a verdict already being made.

"We've got to stop this loss and the killing of these young children, number one," Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., said. "First of all, they need to reopen it and all the evidence needs to come forward."

"I think it's an unfortunate circumstance all the way around," Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala., said.

He continued, "You have one young man who was killed. His family will never get to be with him again. You have another young man who, for all intents and purposes, thrown a lot of years of his life. A lot of the years of this life. If he does 35 years, he’ll be 50 — in his 50s — when he gets out. And it's just totally unfortunate."

Throughout their criticism of the verdict, several lawmakers framed the case as part of a larger debate over race, self-defense claims and equal treatment for minorities under the law.

"The American justice system does not work equally for everybody," Menefee said.

Artifacts that haven't seen the light of day in 251 years are being discovered at the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, Massachusetts – just in time for the nation's 250th birthday.

The project is one of the first archaeological digs at the site of the battle fought on June 17, 1775.

Crews are wanting to learn more about the earthen fortification, known as the redoubt, which is essentially a dirt fort colonial soldiers built by hand overnight before fighting began.

"We know that the fortification was up here, but nobody has been able to identify where specifically it is after all of these years," said Project Archaeologist for the City of Boston, Lauryn Sharp. "Even with the monument being built, there wasn't any evidence of where the actual redoubt was, so this is kind of the first hand that we are adding this information back into the story."

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Through the dig, crews are hoping they will find more clues about the Battle of Bunker Hill, known as the bloodiest single day of the Revolutionary War. On the search for the redoubt, archaeologists have found artifacts from 251 years ago. 

"We found two English gun flints, a French gun flint, and then two musket balls that are consistent with being British," said Joel Bohy, a historian and material culture specialist. "This project has been extremely successful and we're learning new things about the battle that we didn't know before."

Bohy was examining a musket ball archaeologists found in one of two trenches. 

"I haven't weighed yet, but it is possibly from a provincial gun. So we've got materials used from both sides, it seems, all in this one trench," said Bohy. "You can see it struck the ground at medium velocity, but it's also got what's called a sprue, and it sticks up a lot more than a normal sprue would and that would be how it was molded."

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The City of Boston archaeology program and American Veterans Archaeological Recovery (AVAR) are leading the dig. AVAR helps veterans transition into careers in professional archeology. The non-profit specializes in battlefields and conflict sites, both in America and abroad.

 "Just being a veteran, just having served, it does give you more emotional understanding of real lived experience and what conflict is like and combat is like and taking orders is like," said Dr. Stephen Humphreys, CEO of American Veterans Archaeological Recovery.

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Humphreys said this work is an important project from a military and historical standpoint.

"But what archeology can do is it can give you more insight into the very real experiences of those typical soldiers on the ground. And of course, that's what my crew knows already from having served," said Humphreys. "So for a lot these individuals, a lot of people who fought in this battle, there really isn't anything left of them except for maybe a musket ball or a gun flint or a button."

The crews said while the artifacts are fascinating and exciting to find, it's important to remember real families have been impacted by the history at Bunker Hill. 

"251 years ago, next week, there were a lot of men who fought and died here from both sides. So as much as we get excited about these finds, we need to remember the human side of this also," said Bohy. 

The artifacts discovered during the dig will be examined in a lab and eventually added to a digital database. 

"We think we know a lot about history, and we read books and things like that, but when we dig into the ground like this and we can possibly identify where the redoubt walls were, and we find objects coming out of the hole, it makes history more three-dimensional," said Bohy. 

The City of Boston was initially set to end the project after two weeks, but may extend. As for AVAR, some of the group is heading abroad.

"We're really honored to be taking some of these same veterans and some of our crew over to Sicily to work on a bomber from World War II to see if we can give resolution to some family members," Humphreys said. "This is just part of a larger line up for us of conflict sites where we hope to bring some closure to families and let more Americans know about our military history."