Free Republic

The Army deployed 65 infantry divisions for the Second World War. Each was a small town with its own equivalents for community services plus eight categories of combat arms. Units such as artillery, engineering, and heavy weapons engaged the enemy directly. Yet of all categories, the foot soldier faced the greatest hazard with the least chance of reward. Except for the Purple Heart and the coveted Combat Infantryman’s Badge, recognition often eluded them because so few came through to testify to the valor of the many. The infantryman confronted the most dismal fate of all whose duty was uninterrupted by...

The last Navajo Code Talker, Chester Nez, USMC died on 10 November 2014, the 239th birthday of the Corps. They played a vital role during WWII.From Source Marine veteran Michael Smith wept Wednesday when he heard about the death of Chester Nez, the last of the original Navajo Code Talkers.Smith, from Window Rock, who had met Nez several times, described him as a “quiet, humble” Navajo Marine.Smith said that the passing of Nez — the last of the first 29 Navajo men who created a code from their language that stumped the Japanese in World War II — marked the...

The Army deployed 65 infantry divisions for the Second World War. Each was a small town with its own equivalents for community services plus eight categories of combat arms. Units such as artillery, engineering, and heavy weapons engaged the enemy directly. Yet of all categories, the foot soldier faced the greatest hazard with the least chance of reward. Except for the Purple Heart and the coveted Combat Infantryman’s Badge, recognition often eluded them because so few came through to testify to the valor of the many. The infantryman confronted the most dismal fate of all whose duty was uninterrupted by...

The Army deployed 65 infantry divisions for the Second World War. Each was a small town with its own equivalents for community services plus eight categories of combat arms. Units such as artillery, engineering, and heavy weapons engaged the enemy directly. Yet of all categories, the foot soldier faced the greatest hazard with the least chance of reward. Except for the Purple Heart and the coveted Combat Infantryman’s Badge, recognition often eluded them because so few came through to testify to the valor of the many. The infantryman confronted the most dismal fate of all whose duty was uninterrupted by...

The Army deployed 65 infantry divisions for the Second World War. Each was a small town with its own equivalents for community services plus eight categories of combat arms. Units such as artillery, engineering, and heavy weapons engaged the enemy directly. Yet of all categories, the foot soldier faced the greatest hazard with the least chance of reward. Except for the Purple Heart and the coveted Combat Infantryman’s Badge, recognition often eluded them because so few came through to testify to the valor of the many. The infantryman confronted the most dismal fate of all whose duty was uninterrupted by...

Hitler's GI Death Camp I came across this video on NetFlix a few weeks back. Shortly after, I then found someone had uploaded it to You Tube. I watched it for a third time last night with my mom on my little phone. I think it's well done and very emotional. Amazing what these men went through and survived. I have so much respect for these men. On the You Tube thread, one of the posters said that her father, Norman Fellman, who was one of the GI's featured in the documentary, passed away just this past August. God bless...

SGT. MIKE MCKOOL, rescued American WWII Halyard Mission Airman, testifies before Commission of Inquiry regarding "Fair Trial for General Mihailovich" May 1946 New YorkAleksandra's Note: On May 13, 1946, the Committee for a Fair Trial for General Mihailovich announced that a "Commission of Inquiry" had been established in New York for the purpose of taking the testimonies of American officers and airmen whose request to be heard as witnesses at the trial of General Draza Mihailovich in Belgrade, Yugoslavia had been refused by the Tito government. The following is the testimony of Sergeant Mike McKool from Dallas, Texas, one of...

Fury: The Mother of all Tank Movies starring Brad Pitt, no I'm not a fan of his, but did enjoyed the movie. The authenticity of the tanks was the real thing, Sherman's and the German Tiger I. Pitt's character is a bit reminiscent of the role he played as a soldier in Inglorious Basterds, which also took place during WWII. He takes his five-man crew behind enemy lines, where they are outnumbered and outgunned. FURY is the first war film to feature a real life German Tiger I tank which actually came out of a museum collection. Tigers were the...

Hang around aircraft restorers and you’ll inevitably hear tales of priceless historical relics hidden in barns, buried in shrink wrap, or otherwise stuck in time awaiting discovery. These stories are almost always wild exaggerations or outright fiction. But if you’ve ever heard of the cache of iconic warbirds at Wilson Connell “Connie” Edwards’ west Texas ranch, it’s absolutely real. The irascible former movie pilot who made a fortune in the oil business has added to his vast inventory of mostly World War II-era fighters, seaplanes, and surplus parts for more than a half century. Now, he’s decided to sell many...

A team of researchers led by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries have discovered two significant shipwrecks from World War II’s legendary “Battle of the Atlantic” just off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The German U-boat 576 and the freighter it sank, named Bluefields, were found just a few hundred yards apart from each other approximately 30 miles off the coast of North Carolina, according to NOAA.

A tidy English Tudor there had once been occupied by William “Billy” Parker Cook after he graduated from UC Berkeley and got married. That was before he set off to fight in World War II, and before the mission — on Dec. 23, 1944 — that ended with him and five crew mates shot down over Germany. The Allied forces never recovered the bomber or the crew, and so the Alameda home was a touchstone. “This man perished before I was born,” said Bruce Cook, 62, of Newport Beach (Orange County), whose middle name, William Parker, comes from his uncle....

Dr. Reina Pennington, Associate Professor of History Norwich University. The Soviet Union was the first nation to allow women pilots to fly combat missions. During World War II the Red Air Force formed three all-female units--grouped into separate fighter, dive bomber, and night bomber regiments--while also recruiting other women to fly with mostly male units. Their amazing story, fully recounted for the first time by Reina Pennington, honors a group of fearless and determined women whose exploits have not yet received the recognition they deserve. Pennington chronicles the creation, organization, and leadership of these regiments, as well as the experiences...

Between October 19th and 21st 1941, the most infamous Nazi massacre in Serbia during the Second World War took place at Šumarice, just outside the town of Kragujevac, and in local villages. The event had a marked effect on the course of the war in the Balkans. The Nazis decreed that 100 people should be shot for every German killed, and 50 for every German wounded. One of the most shocking aspects of the massacre was that more than 200 pupils from local schools were taken out of their classes and shot. There are several stories of extraordinary individual sacrifice...

Here are some of the best fan banners and displays from around the world.

Someone drove a car up on the lawn of the state Capitol building Thursday night and smashed into a controversial Ten Commandments monument, breaking the stone slab into several pieces, state officials said. The person who did it fled and has not been found, Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokesman George Brown said Friday. This wasn’t a case of a car taking a wrong turn, but a purposeful act, said John Estus, spokesman for the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services. Whoever did it repositioned some ramp equipment that happened to be outside the building and used it to get access...

Has anyone else seen Fury? I just got back and it wasn't a bad movie at all. The character building scenes are a bit clumsy at times but the combat bits were top notch. It wasn't Blackhawk Down or Saving Private Ryan intense but there were tense moments. I recommend it.

It was the most notorious spy case of the Cold War — the conviction and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union — and it rested largely on the testimony of Ms. Rosenberg’s brother, David Greenglass, an Army sergeant who had stolen nuclear intelligence from Los Alamos, N.M. For his role in the conspiracy, Mr. Greenglass went to prison for almost a decade, then changed his name and lived quietly until a journalist tracked him down. He admitted then, nearly a half-century later, that he had lied on the witness stand to save...

Earlier this year, an event happened that did not receive wide notice. The last of the Von Trapp Family Singers, the last of the children—the real ones—died. Her name was Maria—not to be confused with the lady played by Julie Andrews, Maria Augusta Trapp, who died in 1987. Maria Von Trapp’s death in February 2014 marks the end of an era. The Sound of Music deserves its accolades as the Movie of the Year (1965) and one of the finest films ever made. Even my one-year-old granddaughter is mesmerized by the puppet scene. As a film it is an icon....

Designers competing to create an aircraft that could directly support troops on the battlefield were hampered by the weight of the ‘flying tank’, low air speed and flimsy protection. The Il-2 was the answer to these challenges. One of the key lessons of the First World War was that the airplane had a crucial role to play in effective military campaigns in the new era. With this in mind, in the 1920s and 1930s Europe’s leading nations expended significant efforts and resources on developing new aircraft that could be used to provide support for infantry and tanks. The Soviet Union...

Mario Patruno, a 93 year old World War Two veteran, formerly of the 101st Airborne Division, is featured in this documentary on Operation Market Garden. The short film, produced by the USAF 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, mixes rarely seen documentary footage with contemporary coverage of the 70th anniversary celebration and jump recreation by combined U.S. and Dutch airborne troops. Private Patruno jumped at Normandy and Eindhoven with the 101st, and was wounded in both operations. He fought in house to house battles with Nazi troops, and was shot in the face, but survived to tell his...