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Ben Kuroki, who overcame the American military's discriminatory policies to become the only Japanese American to fly over Japan during World War II, has died. He was 98. Kuroki died Tuesday at his Camarillo, California, home, where he was under hospice care, his daughter Julie Kuroki told the Los Angeles Times on Saturday. The son of Japanese immigrants who was raised on a Hershey, Nebraska, farm, Kuroki and his brother, Fred, volunteered for service after the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. They were initially rejected by recruiters who questioned the loyalty of the children of Japanese immigrants. Undeterred,...

This week marks the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Army Air Corps raid on Ploesti, Romania, one of the most heroic episodes in the history of military aviation. As a result of the twin victories of the Soviets at Stalingrad and of the British at El Alamein in November 1942, the Germans lost their bids to seize either the oil fields of the Caucasus or those of the Middle East. The fuel resources of the Third Reich were thus drastically limited, with the principal supports being the synthetic-oil facilities at Leuna in central Germany and the Romanian oil fields at...

BENBROOK -- Working a .50-caliber gun from the top turret of a B-24 Liberator, Dale Hulsey fought in one of the most dramatic air battles in U.S. history and still the single most decorated mission in Air Force history. He survived the bombing run and the anti-aircraft fire, survived a crash landing when a German fighter jumped his plane, survived a frantic run into the woods to evade the enemy who had seen the bomber go down. He survived 319 days on the run by linking up with Marshal Tito's Yugoslav partisans, survived a brutal winter in the mountains and...

I’m about to tell you a story that, after you’ve read it, if your blood isn’t boiling . . . well, you maybe ought to book an appointment with your favorite mortician. Armchair Generals in the Pentagon during WWII and their civilian counterparts and bosses in the US State Department should have been taken out and given, at a minimum, a sound caning or horse-whipping . . . and at the worst, faced a firing squad. Their absolute ineptitude and politicking almost cost the lives of 513 Allied airmen and, ultimately, ruined the reputation and resulted in the firing squad...

YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN (WTOL) - As we celebrate Independence Day, four veterans of World War II want to thank those who kept them safe in enemy territory years ago. They were recently reunited at the Yankee Air Museum in Ypsilanti thanks to the Experimental Aircraft Association. News 11's Jennifer Boresz was there and has their story. These men are called the 'Forgotten 500' in a published book. As more and more people hear the story, however, they're hoping the daring rescue mission and the men behind it will never be forgotten again. "When they said pull that rip cord, I started...

Hell at Low Altitude As many American soldiers died in 27 minutes in Romania as in 10 months in Iraq. BY DANIEL FORD Tuesday, November 13, 2007 Whereas now we go into combat hoping for zero casualties and regard any loss whatever as proof of unforgivable incompetence, the history of warfare is mostly a chronicle of high casualties and terrible sacrifice. In the history of American warfare, there is little to compare, on this score, to the carnage of World War II--"worse than anything probably that ever happened in the world," in the words of Henry Stimson, the U.S. Army...

Can ayone out there recommend a good book on the AAF's 1943 raid on Ploesti? I've visted Amazon.com and did some other searching and can't find a book that looks good. Maybe one of the books I looked was actually good. Tell me about it. Or if you know of a book that is quite good and wasn't available thru Am,azon.com, I'd like to hear about it. Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

WWII Combat Europe Ploesti, Rumania 1 August 1943 While Allied and Axis forces were battling in Sicily, the AAF staged one of the war's most daring heavy bomber raids. The target was the Ploesti oil fields in Rumania, estimated to be supplying 60% of Germany's crude oil requirements. Shortly after dawn on August 1, 1943, AAF B-24s took off from bases in Libya and headed toward the heavily defended target, deep inside enemy territory a thousand miles away. Over Bulgaria, clouds broke up the B-24 formations and the bombing elements became widely separated. Tracked by German radar which alerted Rumanian...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. Welcome to "Warrior Wednesday" Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different...

[Posted in honor of the 60th anniversary of the great raid on the Ploesti oil fields] The Combined Bomber Offensive (Operation Pointblank) evolved beginning with the entrance of the United States into World War II. The Army Air Forces (AAF) were committed to "destruction of selected vital elements of the German military and industrial machine through precision bombing in daylight." The Royal Air Force was to concentrate upon "mass air attacks of industrial areas at night, to break down morale" and thus limit German production. When this division of work was firmly established at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943,...

US airman under Serbian care Award for Serbian Chetnik leader Dragoljub Mihailovich Award for Serbian Chetnik leader Dragoljub Mihailovich The cover of Time Magazine, May 25, 1942. Their article began: "He clasps the crag with crooked hands...he watches from his mountain walls, and like a thunderbolt he falls." Open letter—April 9, 1999To Our Troops In The Former Yugoslavia "We Found Out The Truth About the Serbs...When We Were Shot Down"World War II Rescued American Airmen Defend Serbs By Richard L. FelmanOver 500 MlAs Saved By The Serbian People During WWII During World War II, we were in the Army...

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. We hope to provide an ongoing source of information about issues and problems that are specific to Veterans and resources that are available to Veterans and their families. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood...