Free Republic

Behind these photos are forgotten stories of soldiers and events that most would not know about. The fact is every campaign had its success and life span that took its toll on the soldier/airmen. For the survivors, it is the nightmare that most see in the dark and have provided freedom for the next following generation. 1. The Soviets were the only ones that realize just how skilled Finnish snipers were during the war, they were able to kill 40 Soviet troops for every Finnish soldier killed, that is unheard of today. 2. This photo shows the massive Japanese submarine...

FORT JACKSON, S.C. (AP) - For more than 30 years, Kathryn Woodward has attended an interdenominational worship service each week at the World War II-era Memorial Chapel on Fort Jackson. Today, the chapel, along with all other World War II-era wooden buildings on Army installations across the country, is slated for demolition. They are inefficient, expensive to heat, cool and maintain, and they don’t fit the needs of the modern workplace, the Army says.

Clare Hollingworth, the Daily Telegraph correspondent who broke the news of World War Two, has died in Hong Kong aged 105. The British journalist was hailed for her "scoop of the century" after she spotted German tanks on the Polish border in August 1939... The scoop of Hollingworth's career came to her in late August when she was a 27-year-old fledgling reporter for the Daily Telegraph.She had been a reporter at the newspaper for less than a week. As the border was closed to all but diplomatic vehicles, she borrowed a British consulate official's car to drive into German-occupied territory....

JAPAN is recalling its ambassador to South Korea over a statue commemorating Korean “comfort women” forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels during World War Two, the government said on Friday. The term “comfort women” is a euphemism used for the girls and women who were subjected to the practice. South Korean activists estimate that there may have been as many as 200,000 Korean victims. Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said the statue in the southern city of Busan was “extremely regrettable” and stated that Japan has asked for its removal.

The USS Ling has been berthed in the Hackensack River for more than 40 years – and it might be stuck there. The 312-foot, 2,500-ton World War II-era submarine is the featured exhibit of the New Jersey Naval Museum, which occupies a trailer on land that was once the headquarters of the North Jersey Media Group, which was sold to Gannett in July and publishes The Record. The Ling has been anchored off the riverbank behind the newspaper’s former headquarters for decades. Now, however, museum officials are grappling with the logistical and financially daunting challenge of moving the submarine, which...

"We are importing Islamic extremism, Arab anti-Semitism, national and ethnic conflicts of other peoples, as well as a different understanding of society and law." — From a leaked German intelligence document. "We need to be clear that there must be limits and quotas for immigration -- we cannot save the whole world." — Markus Söder, Finance Minister of Bavaria. "The migration crisis has the potential to destabilize governments, countries and the whole European continent. ... What we have been facing is not a refugee crisis. This is a migratory movement composed of economic migrants, refugees and also foreign fighters" —...

A "Mark III" military escape kit, with a silk map peeking out. Imagine it’s 1942, and you’re a member of Britain’s Royal Air Force. In a skirmish above Germany, your plane was shot out of the sky, and since then you’ve been hunkered down in a Prisoner of War camp. Your officers have told you it’s your duty to escape as soon as you can, but you can’t quite figure out how—you’ve got no tools and no spare rations, and you don’t even know where you are.One day, though, you’re playing Monopoly with your fellow prisoners when you notice a strange seam...

The United States on Tuesday said it has successfully located remains of the country's servicemen who went missing in Arunachal Pradesh during World War II. A Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) team carried out works on sites in the Himalayas where US aircrafts are believed to have crashed with still unaccounted for servicemen. The team visited several locations in Arunachal Pradesh to determine if the reported sites can be definitively correlated with known crash sites involving missing US servicemen. "The United States is committed to making sure all the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who served our country come home....

'Leaning on that Old Whistle Cord' Proceedings Magazine - December 2016 Vol. 142/12/1,366 By Captain Gordon I. Peterson, U.S. Navy (Retired) A Navy veteran-turned-civilian machinist at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard had “the unusual presence of mind” to sound the air raid alarm 75 years ago, never thinking he was witnessing one of the most cataclysmic events in history. Rudolph E. Peterson—Uncle Rudy to me—left home before dawn on 7 December 1941 to report for duty as the watch engineer at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard’s Power Plant No. 2, Building 149. Located south of the Naval Air Station on Ford...

The answer to the question "Who betrayed Anne Frank" may be "Nobody," according to to new research. A study released by the Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam Friday says that the hiding place of the Jewish teenager and her family may instead have been found by chance when Nazi security forces raided the building investigating forced ration cards or illegal employment, the BBC reports.

HITLER'S GHOST ISLAND Secret Nazi ‘Treasure Hunter’ base in Arctic found by Russian scientists after being abandoned over 70 years ago when crew was poisoned by polar bear meat Ruined bunkers, rusted bullets and even documents among 500 objects found on remote island that may have been used as an outpost to search for mythical treasure trove The mysterious site is located on a remote island in Russian territory – more than 600 miles from the North Pole. Set up in 1942, a year after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, the military outpost on Alexandra land was christened “Schatzgraber” or...

ST. LOUIS • Lyle J. Bouck Jr., a Sunset Hills chiropractor whose platoon played a notable role in the Battle of the Bulge, died Friday. He was 92. “He was at home, right up until the last,” said Diane Bouck Simcik, a daughter. She said the former prisoner of war fell ill on Tuesday. She said he had pneumonia and was congested and weak. In April, Dr. Bouck and his young caretaker were the subjects of a front-page story in the Post-Dispatch about aging at home. He was healthy but couldn’t move on his own anymore. Dr. Bouck was a...

Wednesday, December 07, 2016 A Date That Will Live Forever in Infamy Posted by Daniel Greenfield Naval Base Bombed, Shinto Worshipers Fear Backlash - New York Times - December 8 1941 A day after planes passed over their peaceful village on the way to attack the Naval Station at Pearl Harbor, local fishermen are still picking up the pieces. "I don't know what any of this is about," a man who would only give his name as Paji said, holding the remains of a net which he had used to earn a living. "All I know is that the killing...

People lay flower wreaths at the Jasenovac camp, known as "Croatia's Auschwitz", situated about 100 kilometres southeast of Zagreb (AFP Photo/)Zagreb (AFP) - The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre on Tuesday condemned a pro-Nazi slogan on a memorial plaque in a small Croatian town that housed a notorious World War II death camp. Former paramilitaries placed the plaque in central Jasenovac to honour 11 fellow fighters killed in the area at the start of Croatia's 1990s independence war. It carries the official emblem of the HOS paramilitary forces, which includes the slogan used by the country's WWII Ustasha regime. "It is...

In the SF East Bay, the historic Mount Diablo beacon shines one night a year to honor Pearl Harbor Day. Terrific article about the annual event which can be seen across Northern California. LINK: http://sfbayappraisal.com/the-eye-of-diablo-shines-only-on-dec-7th

Seventy-five years ago, on December 7, 1941, the American Navy suffered the worst defeat in its history when a force led by six Japanese fleet carriers launched a surprise attack at the battleships at Pearl Harbor. Two of the eight battleships, Arizona and Oklahoma, were destroyed, and the other six were knocked out of action for many months. The Army Air Corps fields were attacked with great loss, and other smaller naval vessels were attacked as well. The American carriers were at sea. Had those carriers been at Pearl Harbor, the whole course of the Pacific War would have been...

HONOLULU -- He walked slowly, an entourage of help ensuring he didn't slip. People in the bar clapped as he moved past. Then Lauren Bruner gave up his cane and settled at a table against the wall where his picture had been hanging for years. Dwight Lockwood, reed-thin in shorts and flip-flops, darted behind the bar and quickly popped the cap off a Kona Longboard beer. "It's his favorite," he said. The drink was on the house, of course. Bruner took a swig. Around him, dozens of people waited to shake his hand, share a story or take a picture....

On the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the McGees argue over buying war bonds to make the point that a full-force effort to win the war is still needed, and the country can't afford to let up. The war had turned in the Allies' favor by late 1943, and an impatient American population was hoping for a quick victory. It wasn't to come quite so quickly, though, and the government wanted the message sent that much more sacrifice would be needed. Ever eager to do their part, the Jordans and writer Don Quinn used humor to make a...

Aleksandra's Note: I sure wish OSS veterans George "Guv" Musulin, Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian, Nick Lalich and others were alive to see this!A great step forward in "official recognition" of rescue operations such as the HALYARD MISSION in WWII Yugoslavia which was made possible by General Draza Mihailovich, his Chetniks, and the Serbian people loyal to them.Bravo!Sincerely,Aleksandra Rebic***** Congressman Latta with OSS Veterans and their families House Passes Legislation to Honor OSS Veterans with Congressional Gold MedalPassage applauded by legislation authors, Congressman Latta, Senator Blunt, and Senator WarnerLegislation to honor veterans of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) with a Congressional...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will honour war dead but won't apologise when he becomes the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor this month, a top government spokesman said on Tuesday. The move follows Barack Obama's historic May trip to Hiroshima, the first by a sitting US president, where he spoke of victims' suffering but offered no apology for dropping the world's first nuclear bomb.