Free Republic

Americans see the 2010 Affordable Care Act as President Barack Obama's greatest achievement to date as well as his biggest failure, underscoring the controversial nature of the law that is likely to define his legacy. On balance, more Americans name the healthcare law as his biggest failure (36%) than as his greatest achievement (22%). History's verdict on Obama's presidency will not be rendered for years or decades, if even then, given the continuing revision of a president's legacy that inevitably takes place after his term ends. But after he has spent almost five years in office, Americans are certainly in...

On this day 71 years ago -- December 22, 1942 -- Congress got the United States out of what had turned into an unexpectedly embarrassing situation. It concerned the Pledge of Allegiance -- specifically, something called the Bellamy Salute. Most people today have likely never heard of it, but the Bellamy Salute was once a constant part of the country's life. Until 1892, there was no such thing as a Pledge of Allegiance. Daniel Sharp Ford, the owner of a magazine called Youth's Companion, was on a crusade to put American flags in every school in the country. He sensed...

MILWAUKEE -- Frank Kruck was 7 when he saw his mother crying and fingering her rosary beads as she listened to the terrible news on the radio. The announcement on a Sunday morning in December 72 years ago: Japanese planes had attacked Pearl Harbor, ships were burning, sailors and soldiers were wounded and dying. Frank's mother was praying for his brother Gene, a sailor aboard the minesweeper USS Widgeon. It would be more than a week before the Western Union telegram was delivered to the Kruck family home in Waukesha: Gene was OK.

During World War II, the Disney company joined in the Allied war effort by producing animated movie material at cost for the US government (they also created insignia mascots for hundreds of aircraft and warships by request). These films number well over one hundred - although most are only partially created by Disney - and cover topics from antenna tuning to Beechcraft airplane maintenance to anti-German and Japanese propaganda. However, one piece in particular is of interest to us here at Forgotten Weapons: Stop That Tank! Produced in 1942 for the Canadian military, it is a training film on the...

The old man sitting on his purple electric scooter in his son’s Port Charlotte, Fla. home was once a sniper in the 10th Armored “Tiger” Division when it landed in France shortly after D-Day during World War II. Staff Sgt. Steve Kruger arrived on the beach at Cherbourg on Sept. 13, 1944, and became part of Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army. He helped run the German forces back into Germany. By then Kruger had received a Purple Heart and a couple of Bronze Stars for valor.

Hundreds of people are expected to attend the funeral of a war veteran they never knew after he died with no close friends or relatives around him. Harold Jellicoe Percival helped with the famous Dambusters raids during the Second World War. Mr Percival, who served as ground crew with the RAF's Bomber Command, never married and had no children. The RAF Association has been involved in ensuring that his funeral in Lancashire on Monday is well attended. Mr Percival, who lived in Penge, south London before joining the RAF, died last month aged 99 at a nursing home in Lytham...

World War 2 aviator identified and to be laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2013 BY MARTIN BARILLAS The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced on October 11, despite the current partial federal government shutdown, that the remains of an American aviator are being returned to his family for burial. 1st Lieutenant Robert G. Fenstermacher, who was shot down during the Second World War, will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on October 18. Lieutenant Fenstermacher, a native of Scranton PA, was just 23 years old when he paid the greatest...

1. A barrier (usually temporary) that exists for no reason. 2. A barrier erected for political reasons. "Dude, Obama barrycaded the park." "Hey, let's put up some barrycades to keep those World War II veterans away from the open-air World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., in order to try and score some cheap political points."

Sen. Rand Paul blasted the federal government for trying to block World War II vets from visiting their memorial, saying “some idiot in government sent goons out there to set up barricades.” “If Harry Reid and the President want to keep the parks closed — I mean did you read the story today? Some idiot in government sent goons out there to set up barricades, so they couldn’t see the monument. People had to spend hours setting up barricades where there are never barricades to prevent people from seeing the World War II monument because they’re trying to play a...

DURING the Battle of France in May-June 1940, French Army commanders complained that German aircraft attacked their troops without interference by the French Air Force. French generals and statesmen begged the British to send more Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter squadrons to France. Reporters on the scene confirmed the German domination of the skies, and the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Luftwaffe came to be accepted as one of the principal causes of the French collapse.1 The air force was a convenient scapegoat for the French Army generals who dominated the Vichy regime that ruled France under the Germans. By...

A FRENCH ASSESSMENT OF THE PANTHER TANK Professional historians and military history buffs alike often describe the German Panther tank as the best German tank, and perhaps the best tank overall, of the second world war.  It had a powerful and accurate high-velocity 75mm gun, its frontal armor was almost invulnerable to most allied anti-tank weapons, and it had a powerful engine, broad tracks and a suspension system that gave it high speed, excellent cross-country capability and a smooth ride.  What more could a tanker want? In truth a tanker could ask for much more.  The Panther’s story is...

After some initial digs, a Dutch filmmaker believes he may have found the site of buried Nazi treasure long rumored to exist. He was led to the Bavarian town of Mittenwald after cracking a code believed to be hidden in a music score. Three attempts have been made in recent weeks to find buried Nazi treasure in the Bavarian town of Mittenwald, close to the Austrian border. Even though the holes in the ground have since been filled, the traces left by drills and blue markings are still visible below a thin layer of autumn leaves. Authorities granted permission for...

Billionaire investor George Soros, 83, will marry 42-year-old Tamiko Bolton today, followed by a huge party at his Caramoor Estate in Bedford, with 500 guests. We’re told the couple will say their vows in front of a select group of friends and family before they celebrate with hundreds from 4:30 p.m. onward.

Pendleton died in 1944 in Bardenburg, Germany, sacrificing himself to help knock out enemy machine guns that had pinned down his unit. The council first considered the petition — which was backed by two veterans groups — in August, but it hesitated when a resident objected, saying the city hadn’t fairly considered his group’s 2006 proposal to rename the street after civil rights and labor leader Cesar Chavez. Having determined that the city duly considered the earlier petition, the City Council passed the current proposal. But the resident who objected, Alonzo Marquez, accused the council of “race discrimination,” and threatened...

Myths about the role, and perceived anti-tank capability of the M4 Medium, continue to be pervasive. The idea that US tanks were not expected to be able to deal with any tanks that they may happen to come across just won’t die, and is probably a reflection of the name of the US Tank Destroyer branch which is confusing to those who don’t understand the doctrinal function of the TD. See the Can Openers article for a slightly more in-depth look. We know that the idea of adding the 76mm to the M4 pre-dates the introduction of the German cats....

Wikipedia/Co Tibbets - the Enola Gay What's in a name? Ships so often are named after women.  And even airships ... we call them airplanes. ;)  And the Enola Gay was one of them. This Boeing B-29 bomber was named after her commander's mother - Enola Gay Haggard Tibbets.   The commander's name back then in 1945 was  Colonel Paul Tibbets.   And the mission of this bomber hastened the end of the most deadly war in the 20th century, if not in human history  - World War Two.   (For an interesting set of statistics of causalities of war by...

SEATTLE -- The saying, "time heals all wounds" is familiar to most, and for two soldiers and their two sons, it rings true. It's important that a man understands his father so he can better understand himself. And when the fathers are gone, we cling to things -- belongings and symbols -- that show what they stood for and who they were. In Centralia, Kim McDougal has learned new things about his father after finding a unique package. Herb McDougal is 88-years old. He lives in a retirement home and suffers from Friedreich's ataxia, which makes it difficult for him...

70 years go on July 12, 1943 on the Prokhorovka Field 56 km from Belgorod the largest tank battle of World War II took place. It was the last attempt to break through made by the Hitler troops during the Battle of Kursk. The counter attack by the Soviet tanks stopped the steel army of the Wehrmacht. 1200 tanks and other armored vehicles took part in that battle. In his order to advance in the direction of Kursk Hitler stated: «Our victory should firm up the overall conviction in the world that any resistance to the German troops is in...

69 years ago today my father in law was landing in Normandy France in a glider....crawling through hedgerows....doing his duty. Thank you Ralph "Bud" Thomas.