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Shot through by German machine gun bullets and tattered by the wind, an American flag that flew on the first U.S. invading ship on D-Day came home on Thursday in a White House ceremony. The flag handover was a main part of the visit to the White House by Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, who held Oval Office talks with President Donald Trump. The flag has been owned by retired Dutch businessman and art collector Bert Kreuk, who paid $514,000 for it at auction three years ago with the intention of donating it to the United States. “I...

Ukraine's Constitutional Court has upheld a law that equates communism to Nazism and bans the dissemination of its symbols, a law that has prompted angry protests from Moscow. In the July 16 ruling published on its website, the court said the "communist and Nazi regimes" used similar methods of "implementing repressive state policies." The legislation was passed by Ukrainian lawmakers in May 2015. That law paved the way for the removal of all communist monuments not related to World War II and renaming public places and landmarks bearing Soviet names. Since then, dozens of statues, plaques, and other monuments --...

On June 27, 1944, I graduated from Tuskegee Army Flying School, established in Alabama shortly before America’s entry into World War II... My journey to the flight line started in my high-school library... I came across a magazine article about the first all-black flying combat unit... I decided right then that when I turned 18 the squadron was where I wanted to serve. The train ride down South was eye-opening for a teenager who’d never traveled far from New York. When the train crossed the Mason-Dixon Line, the conductor came by and pointed at me: “Move to the colored car.”...

This is link to the commemoration (and re-enactment)of the Battle to free Mogilev Belarus from the Nazis June 28, 1944. It is quite the production and we know someone who participated yesterday. Not a lot of news comes out of Belarus, but they are definitely proud of their history and teaching younger generations about freedom. Hopefully it will catch on more.

Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov chastised Western powers in an article published in Russia's International Affairs magazine on Tuesday, ahead of events in Europe to mark the D-Day landings on the Nazi-occupied Normandy coast. "False interpretations of history are being introduced into the Western education system with mystifications and pseudo-historical theories designed to belittle the feat of our ancestors," Lavrov wrote. "Young people are being told that the main credit in victory over Nazism and liberation of Europe goes not to the Soviet troops, but to the West due to the landing in Normandy, which took place less than a...

YouGov asked citizens from four countries deeply involved in the European theater of WWII (the UK, France, Germany, and the US) who they thought was most responsible for defeating the Nazis – the Americans, the British, or the Russians. Those in the UK were the only country who choose the British; the other three were most likely to choose the Americans. Intriguingly, historical data shows that at the close of the Second World War the French public believed that it was the Russians, not the Americans, who had done the most to defeat the Nazis. A survey conducted by IFOP...

MOSCOW – Protesters have torn down a towering bust of Soviet military hero Marshal Georgy Zhukov in Ukraine's second-largest city. Destruction of the monument in Kharkiv on Sunday came amid protests by an array of far-right and nationalist groups against an organizing session for a new political party. The party is led by the mayors of Kharkiv and Odesa, both of whom were members of the party of Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russia president ousted amid bloody protests in 2014. The protesters said the bust violated Ukraine's law banning Communist symbols. A crowd of hundreds cheered as protesters tugged on a...

Russia will address the United Nations to declare victory in World War II as the ‘heritage of humanity,’ while also making the monuments to those who fought against the Nazis as part of a global memorial. The speaker of the Upper House of the Russian Parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, shared those plans with UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Russian MPs have already made the same offer to their colleagues in foreign parliaments, she added. The Federation Council speaker vowed that the parliament will to do everything to make sure “that no dirty hand will...

Miffed by the attention being paid to the heroes of the 1944 Allied sea-borne assault on Nazi-held France, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the D-Day event "relatively insignificant in the broader context of World War II and its aftermath." "The puny efforts of the West pale in comparison with the absolutely essential role played by Russia in the conflict," Zakharova asserted. "First, let's not forget that there wouldn't have been a World War II if Russia had not joined with Germany to get the ball rolling. Their non-aggression pact was key to enabling Hitler to initiate hostilities." "Second,...

Seventy-five years have passed, but the heroism of the men who stormed the beaches of Normandy still resonates as strongly as it did that June Tuesday in 1944 when America awoke to the news.This will almost certainly be the last time our country will be able to commemorate such a milestone anniversary while the heroes who participated in the D-Day invasion are still here with us on Earth. Even the very youngest World War II veterans are now well into their 90s.The country and the world are blessed that more than 180 D-Day veterans were able to join President Trump...

"Thank you Serbian Chetniks and Serbian villagers from the bottom of our hearts. We are forever indebted to you."Aleksandra's Note: The above photograph and tribute were posted by Teresa Guidry, daughter of Halyard Mission veteran Staff Sgt. Curtis "Bud" Diles, Jr. of the U.S.A.F. Curtis Diles was one of the "Forgotten 500" who was rescued by General Draza Mihailovich and his Chetniks in the later days of 1944. As a result of his being rescued and returning home safely to live out the rest of his beautiful life before passing on September 10, 2014, 70 years later, 27 people walk...

RUSH: Yes, I do. I think we are facing a World War II-like circumstance in the sense that, as then, it is today: Western Civilization is at stake. I made the statement a couple days ago talking about the race that we are in, the race being led by the attorney general, William Barr, and his prosecutor, John Durham from Connecticut. We’re in a race with the people that ran this silent coup to get rid of Donald Trump. We’re in a race to get to the finish line first. Who will expose this or who will get away with...

After World War I, Germany's economy suffered from depression and a devaluation of their currency. On January 30, 1933, Adolph Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany by promising hope and universal healthcare. Less than a month later, on February 27, 1933, a crisis occurred -- the Rheichstag, Germany's Capitol Building, was suspiciously set on fire. Hitler was quick to use this crisis as an opportunity to set aside Germany's Weimar Republic and seize emergency powers as a dictator. He suspended basic rights and accused his political opponents of conspiracy. He ordered mass arrests followed by executions, even ordering his SS...

President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron attend a commemoration ceremony for the 75th anniversary of D-Day in the American cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer in Normandy on June 6. Subscribe to The Washington Post on YouTube: https://wapo.st/2QOdcqK

PORTSMOUTH, England – President Donald Trump read from a prayer delivered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he joined other world leaders and veterans Wednesday in marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Roosevelt went on national radio on June 6, 1944, to address the U.S. for the first time about the Normandy invasion. Trump, with images of an American flag and Roosevelt projected behind him, read to the crowd: "Almighty God, our sons, pride of our nation, this day, have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion and our civilization and to set free...

Russia told the West on Wednesday the Normandy landings on D-Day in 1944 did not play a decisive role in ending World War II and that the Allied war effort should not be exaggerated. Moscow's comments might irk war veterans in Britain where the 75th anniversary on Wednesday of the largest seaborne invasion in history was marked at a ceremony in Portsmouth attended by Queen Elizabeth and world leaders including Donald Trump and Angela Merkel. Speaking at a weekly news conference in Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova offered a tribute to those who died on the western front of...

PRESIDENT TRUMP: ...This week, we commemorate a mighty endeavor of righteous nations and one of the greatest undertakings in all of history. Seventy-five years ago, more than 150,000 Allied troops were preparing on this island to parachute into France, storm the beaches of Normandy, and win back our civilization. As Her Majesty remembers, the British people had hoped and prayed and fought for this day for nearly five years. ...On D-Day, the Queen’s beloved father King George the Sixth delivered a stirring national address. That day, he said, “After nearly five years of toil and suffering, we must renew that...

Vice President Mike Pence will deliver the keynote address Thursday at the National D-Day Memorial's 75th Anniversary Commemoration of D-Day. The memorial foundation said the address will be titled "D-Day and the Nation." The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. at the memorial at 3 Overlord Circle in Bedford.

The Duchess of Cambridge visited the home of the Second World War codebreakers who helped decipher the German Enigma machine. Middleton went to see an exhibition on the team’s role in D-Day ahead of the 75th anniversary of the landings in June. But Bletchley Park is of particular significance to Kate as her grandmother Valerie Glassbow was one of the codebreakers who helped crack Nazi military messages. The team were crucial in helping Allied forces stay one step ahead as they planned their invasion of Normandy. Kate, 37, re-wore a £1,750 polka dot dress as she mingled with the crowd...

The Ball Turret Gunner The near certainty the United States would be drawn into WW II prompted creation of an autonomous Army Air Force. Until the war in Europe began, standard doctrine gave an air corps had no mission beyond supporting the ground forces. Now air power advocates received the authority to prove the theory that bombers could win wars. The B-24 Liberator and B-17 Flying Fortress carried 10-13 .50cal machine guns for defense and the Norden bombsight for precision daylight attack. Under combat conditions, peacetime accuracy was never realized and bombers suffered horrendous losses until the P-51 Mustang could...