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In November 1944, a young American soldier wrote back to his parents in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Six years earlier, he and his family had fled Germany for the United States, only weeks before Kristallnacht, the infamous Night of Broken Glass.Now here he was, having returned to the place where, had they stayed, he and his family may well have already perished. "So I am back where I wanted to be," the young man wrote. "I think of the cruelty and barbarism those people out there in the ruins showed when they were on top. And then I...

A U.S. Army Air Force gunner’s remains have been accounted for nearly eight decades after the heavy bomber he was flying in was shot down over France during World War II, military officials said Monday. Staff Sgt. Franklin P. Hall, 21, of Leesburg, Florida, was identified in July by scientists who used anthropological and DNA analysis, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a news release.

The US says it has identified the remains of a World War Two tank commander who was killed fighting in Germany in November 1944. Lt Gene F Walker was battling Nazi forces near the German-Belgian border when his M4 Sherman was struck by an anti-tank round. His crew escaped the blast, but were prevented from recovering his body by heavy fighting.

Guadalcanal Diary is the first real American combat document of World War Two, written by a war correspondent who had gone ashore with the Marines in the first U.S. ground offensive in the Pacific. Richard Tregaskis wrote it for an audience who were desperate to know what their sons, husbands, brothers and friends were experiencing as soldiers, fighting an enemy they probably hadn't given much though to just over a year earlier.It's an actual diary, compiled from Tregaskis' notes, and amidst the accounts of encounters and movement and excitement and discomfort you'd expect from a diary, it has occasional moments...

This week Seth, Bill, and frequent and always welcome Wingman Jon Parshall take a look at the recently released underwater archaeological video footage of the wreck sites of AKAGI, YORKTOWN (CV-5), and KAGA. The trio breaks down what we see in the footage, how the damage shown relates to the battle, what happened in these historic locations, and much more. Tune in and see what the team has to say about the incredible video footage and (we think) pretty cool commentary.

The Douglas Commercial 3 (DC-3) was one of the most mass-produced, well-engineered aircraft in history. Built to last, to land anywhere and never to break, Douglas churned out more than 11,000 of the type before and during World War II. But how many of these 80-year-old aircraft are still flying today? The 80-year old aircraft that will never die For an aircraft that was built before the Second World War, you’d be forgiven for assuming most would have been retired by now. So, imagine our surprise when we discovered one had suffered a runway excursion in Colombia in August 2020....

NEWDigging Band of Brothers:Time Team Special with Tony Robinson (2023)- FULL EPISODE | 1:36:56Time Team Official | 187K subscribers587,149 views | Premiered September 30, 2023

Ever heard of the Italian Army during the Normandy Campaign? Few have, but in this film I examine the untold story of the 40,000 men that history has forgotten!

Penicillin was a crucial factor in the Allied victory of World War II. This medicine helped soldiers get back on the battlefield faster. While Sulfa drugs were helpful, they were not effective against venereal disease, of which 10% of all soldiers eventually contracted.How Penicillin Won World War II | 27:31Ryan McBeth | 759K subscribers | 104,427 views | November 25, 2022

The remains have been identified as those of a gunner killed when the badly damaged aircraft crashed into the sea in 1943.Archaeological divers have recovered human remains from the wreck of a U.S. bomber that crashed near the Mediterranean island of Malta in May 1943.Scientific analysis by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has confirmed the remains are those of U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) Sgt. Irving R. Newman, who was 22 years old when the aircraft — a B-24 Liberator based in Libya — suffered engine trouble and was hit by anti-aircraft fire during a bombing raid over the...

The remains of a 24-year-old U.S. pilot who never returned from a bombing mission in World War II have been accounted for and confirmed, officials from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Monday. Charles G. Reynolds was a U.S. Army Air Forces first lieutenant from Bridgeport, Ohio, the agency said in a news release. In late 1943, he was a pilot assigned to the 498th Bombardment Squadron in the Pacific Theater. On Nov. 27, 1943, the plane that he was a crewmember of did not return from a bombing mission near Wewak, New Guinea, the agency said, because the aircraft...

On November 11, 1999 The Washington Post reported: "Two weeks ago Captain Earl R Fox learned that he is the last world war II veteran still on active duty in the US armed forces." The Post wrote that Fox described himself as "the last direct physical link between today's military and the warriors of Midway, Normandy and Iwo Jima."Dr. Earl R Fox: The last WWII Veteran Still on Active Duty in the US Armed Forces | 11:51The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered1.27M subscribers | 175,201 views | June 21, 2023

This is a recording from the 35th Annual Admiral Nimitz Symposium: 2022.35th Annual Admiral Nimitz Symposium - 2022: Jonathan Parshall Keynote Speaker | 55:10National Museum of the Pacific War4.01K subscribers | 63,395 views | December 26, 2022

On Aug. 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. On Aug. 9, 1945, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The bombings resulted in thousands of causalities in Japan. The decision to drop the bombs on the cities is controversial, even today, due to how many lives were lost. Thousands of people died from the atomic bomb, but the action also ended World War II. Here is everything you need to know about Hiroshima and the atomic bomb.

I saw this interview of Paul Tibbets who piloted the plane that did it. Interesting (to me at least) what led up to August 6 for him with the B-29's development and his preparation for the bomb drop. These are about 20 minutes each. Part 1 of 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG2n3EmNtqY&t=159s Part 2 of 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UelE357z58M

The choices we face are often not between good and bad but between bad and worseThis year, the recent release of Christopher Nolan’s new movie about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the making of the atomic bomb has given the controversy over the development and deployment of that awesome weapon a new urgency.Something else that has contributed to the fraught atmosphere is the war in Ukraine. After all, one side in that conflict, Russia, controls the world’s largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, more than 6,000 warheads. My friend Roger L. Simon is right: atomic weapons are “as close or closer to...

The anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki present an opportunity to demolish a cornerstone myth of American history — that those twin acts of mass civilian slaughter were necessary to bring about Japan’s surrender, and spare a half-million US soldiers who’d have otherwise died in a military conquest of the empire’s home islands.Those who attack this mythology are often reflexively dismissed as unpatriotic, ill-informed or both. However, the most compelling witnesses against the conventional wisdom were patriots with a unique grasp on the state of affairs in August 1945 — America’s senior military leaders of World War...

A New York history educator restored a lost piece of history after unearthing harrowing footage that depicts US soldiers freeing Jewish people from a train bound for a Nazi death camp. After the colorized clip was posted to YouTube, several Holocaust survivors came forward, claiming to recognize themselves and their family members in the video. “I don’t want to say I am gratified or vindicated, because even without this footage, this is an incredible story,” said Matthew Rozell, a Holocaust researcher and decorated former history professor who had found the clip in the US National Archives, the Times Of Israel...

Researchers have unearthed never-before-seen footage of American soldiers liberating Jewish prisoners from a Nazi death train in the final weeks of World War II. The footage — which was found in the U.S. National Archives — shows the incredible moment U.S. Army troops saved thousands of Jews during the so-called “Miracle at Farsleben” on April 13, 1945. Although it’s silent, the film speaks volumes.

OMAHA BEACH: Last Living 1st Wave D-Day Officer on Storming Normandy | 34:07American Veterans Center | 269K subscribers | 227,941 views | June 6, 2023