Free Republic

MARGRATEN, Netherlands — They haven’t forgotten. For 70 years, the Dutch have come to a verdant U.S. cemetery outside this small village to care for the graves of Americans killed in World War II. On Sunday, they came again, bearing Memorial Day bouquets for men and women they never knew, but whose 8,300 headstones the people of the Netherlands have adopted as their own. For the American relatives of the fallen, it was an outpouring of gratitude almost as stunning as the rows of white marble crosses and Jewish Stars of David at the Netherlands American Cemetery. Each grave has...

General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived in London to command Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) for the last five months of planning for D-Day. During that time he achieved much more than the oft repeated portrayal of someone managing a political/military alliance. Though he never led troops in combat, his leadership sustained many unprecedented initiatives for the successful Normandy landings. The air assault exemplifies the frightful uncertainties plaguing this “Day of Days”. The night before D-Day, 20,400 American and British paratroopers dropped behind the Normandy beaches from 1,250 C-47 aircraft plus gliders. This massive assault was attempted just 17 years...

Late on the night of June 5, 1944, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain commanded by Lt. Col. John M. Donalson launched with 15 paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division on board. They were the very tip of the Allied invasion spear, leading a formation of hundreds of aircraft carrying thousands of troops. Just after midnight on June 6, That’s All, Brother navigated through intense German fire and low clouds to drop the first Allied troops to land in Normandy, France, on D-Day, commencing Operation Overlord. Seven decades later, Staff Sgt. Matt Scales of the Alabama Air National Guard was researching Donalson’s...

At this hour in 1944 the first of the airborne troops were setting off to invade the continent of Europe. Their sacrifice gave us the freedom we enjoy today. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.

Midway: Extraordinary Leadership and Brave Men In late December 1941, Navy Secretary Frank Knox and FDR met and selected Chester Nimitz to command the Pacific Fleet, which at that time the public perceived as residing at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt said, “Tell Nimitz to get the hell out to Pearl and stay there until the war is won”. Knox informed Nimitz by saying, “You’re going to take command of the Pacific Fleet, and I think you will be gone a long time”. On Christmas Day 1941 Admiral Chester Nimitz arrived alone by Catalina flying boat to take command....

BELGRADE – The Serbs are among the rare nations that were completely on the right side in World War II, and Serbia has nothing to be ashamed of regarding the fight against Nazism, says Israeli Ambassador to Serbia Yossef Levy.Yossef Levy, Israeli Ambassador to Serbia In a statement published in Wednesday’s issue of Vecernje novosti, he said that the Serbs are among the rare nations that had the courage to fight against Nazi Germany without hesitation or fear. Levy declined to comment on the debate in the Serbian public and the region on the recent rehabilitation of General Dragoljub Mihailovic,...

In late December 1941, Navy Secretary Frank Knox and FDR met and selected Chester Nimitz to command the Pacific Fleet, which at that time the public perceived as residing at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt said, “Tell Nimitz to get the hell out to Pearl and stay there until the war is won”. Knox informed Nimitz by saying, “You’re going to take command of the Pacific Fleet, and I think you will be gone a long time”. On Christmas Day 1941 Admiral Chester Nimitz arrived alone by Catalina flying boat to take command. When the door opened he was...

Some thing to remember(73 years ago today)

U.S. Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers from the USS Hornet about to attack the burning Japanese cruiser Mikuma for the third time on 6 June 1942 REMEMBER: June 4–7, 1942: the Battle of Midway, a turning point in World War II in the Pacific. The Imperial Japanese Navy had been undefeated until that time and out-numbered the American naval forces by four to one. Timeline of the Battle of Midway (acc. to William Koenig) 4 June 04:30 First Japanese takeoff against Midway Islands 04:30 10 planes (Yorktown) begin to search for the Japanese ships 05:34 Japanese ships detected by Yorktown...

A BBC documentary depicting Winston Churchill as a drunken enemy of the working class has been branded as ‘graceless’ and ‘ill-informed’ by his grandson. Churchill: When Britain Said No, broadcast on BBC2 last week, was an account of how the wartime leader lost the 1945 General Election. It showed him as a deeply hated figure among the working class, in part because of the harsh economic policies he pursued as Chancellor in the 1920s. The most vocal critic of Churchill in the programme was a man presented as ‘activist and writer’, Dave Douglass. He said of Churchill: ‘His role during...

Portrait of General Mihailovich by Wisconsin artist Jim Pollard. Aleksandra's Note: It's now 40 years since a group of American Airmen rescued by General Mihailovich in WWII along with Serbian patriotic organizations in the Diaspora initiated the effort to get a monument to General Draza Mihailovich erected on the grounds of Washington, D.C. at their own personal expense. From the time the effort was initiated in 1975, progress was made, then setbacks had to be dealt with. Now in 2015, many of the American airmen are gone, but their dream does not have to die with them. A lot has...

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...

It’s difficult to describe anything as a “feel good story” on a day when we are commemorating the Honored Dead, but I suppose this story comes as close as any. CBS News is providing the details of a tale which took place long ago in a small village a bit to the north of where I live, in Gowanda, New York. They have a war memorial in their town just like so many other places around the country. But for the lifetime of most of the current residents, one name has been missing. Carroll Heath was a young boy born...

My greatest contact with these men started about age nine when my dad began taking me out golfing on the weekends. There was a man who used the first golf cart I ever saw, because as a brigade commander of the 41th infantry in New Guinea he was debilitated by sickness. I remember one fairly good golfer who had kind of a weird back swing, because he was crippled while serving with the Big Red One in Sicily. I often ended up as a dishwasher at Michelbook Country Club. I noticed the chef always limped as he moved around the...

Flt Lt James Brindley Nicolson won Britain’s highest award for battlefield bravery for attacking and shooting down a German fighter even as he was being badly burned from a fire in his own cockpit An RAF Typhoon fighter has been repainted in the Second World War colours of a Battle of Britain hero to mark the 75th anniversary of the crucial clash. The Eurofighter jet which is usually coloured a drab grey has instead been painted with the camouflage and 249 Squadron identification number of the only Fighter Command pilot awarded a Victoria Cross during the battle. Flt Lt James...

Nearly 2 years ago, Coach is Right published this piece about Audie Leon Murphy, one of the true American heroes. Though he had at last been awarded the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor by Governor Rick Perry, President Obama had not–has not–honored Murphy with the nation’s highest civilian recognition, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. CiR has included the link to a petition that Audie Murphy be so honored. Few have been more deserving for their contributions during war and peace. Please join those signatories who have already chosen to make the duty of an American president clear to Barack Obama....

Jewish groups expressed “shock” on Friday over news that the unveiling of a Holocaust monument in Kavala, Greece was delayed because locals reportedly sought the removal of a Jewish star. -snip- The monument in question memorializes the 1,484 Jews of Kavala who were exterminated during the Nazi occupation of Greece in World War II. The monument was set to be unveiled when, just two days before, the mayor and a majority at the city council insisted on the removal of the image of a Star of David from the memorial. Meanwhile, Greek Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture, Education,...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Wednesday that Israel would defend itself against Iran, calling an emerging nuclear pact “a mistake that will cost dearly.” Speaking at the Knesset during a discussion devoted to the victory of the Allied forces in World War II 70 years ago, Netanyahu said world powers should learn a lesson from the rise of Nazi Germany and not go ahead with an agreement that would allow Tehran to continue enriching uranium and lift sanctions. “The lesson of history is never to make concessions to a radical regime which waves the banner of genocide and expansionism,” he...

WHEN Hitler’s forces marched into Warsaw in September 1939, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski’s parents told him not to panic. They had experienced German occupation during the last war. There would be inconvenience, disorder and even looting. He should be careful. But it would not be too bad—the Germans were, after all, west Europeans—and by next year, the British and French would arrive. The Bartoszewskis could hardly have given their teenage son worse advice. The Western allies never came; instead the Soviets joined in the Nazi attack. Hitler not only wiped Poland off the map, but aimed to obliterate its language, culture and...

Link only due to copyright. WWII vet flies Spitefire for first time in 70 years