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Losin, Yigal. (1983). Pillar of Fire: The Rebirth of Israel--a Visual History. Israel: Shikmona Publishing Company. *(Archived screenshot)Swastika on the walls of Jerusalem's Zion Gate. Arab feelings in 1936.1936 was not a good year for democracy. The Fascist countries were seen as successful by many people. Every step taken by Hitler or Mussolini met with hesitation and trepidation on the part of the leaders of the free world. Hitler armed Germany, contraven-ing the Treaty of Versailles. The Wehrmacht marched to the Rhineland; this was a blatant violation of the Locarno Pact, according to which Germany was to keep the area...

It was the plane that pilots 'put on' rather than flew; the beautiful beast that left even the Germans waxing lyrical. If you ask people today what typified British defiance the most in the Second World War, many of them will tell you it was the Spitfire. So when I got the chance to take to the skies in one - and even briefly take control - on a sunny morning in March, I knew that this would be the experience of a lifetime. Today, as Britain marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day, we are rightly remembering the men...

In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender in May 1945, the Hoover Institution Library & Archives has released more than 800 digitized audio recordings and transcripts of conversations relating to 20th century conflict – most notably, undercover conversations with high-ranking Nazis who had fled to South America.

https://x.com/DeptofDefense/status/1918999055566614571May 4, 2025 · 253.3K Views

John "Paddy" Hemingway, the last surviving pilot who flew in the Battle of Britain, died in March of this year. He was 105. Hemingway was forced to bail out of his aircraft four times – three times in England and a fourth over enemy territory in Italy, where locals helped him get back to Allied lines. He said that his "biggest regret was the loss of friends, in particular that of Richard 'Dickie' Lee in August 1940.“ The last living witnesses to World War Two are leaving us and taking a shared memory of its history with them. If you...

On February 19, 1945, waves of 18, 19 and 20-year-old Marines hit the beaches of Iwo Jima, a heavily defended island held by the Japanese. The importance of taking Iwo Jima and converting it into a major airfield for American bombers, cannot be overestimated. Our planes needed a place to land and be repaired to continue their devastating attacks on Japan; and only courage and blood could secure the landing fields they needed to get the job done. Those young Iwo Jima Marines who are still alive, are great grandfathers now with the youngest survivors being 92 years old. We...

April 18, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of Ernie Pyle’s death on the battlefield Eighty years ago, Ernie Pyle, one of America's most recognized war correspondents, was killed while covering the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -- Eighty years ago, one of America’s most recognized war correspondents was killed while covering the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. When it came to telling the story of the American soldier fighting the good fight overseas, no one compared to Ernie Pyle. “He exemplified the courage and the willingness to hear the story of the common soldier,...

The Doolittle Raid wasn't just an operation of the Army Air Force. The Navy made its own plans, took its own risks, and has its own story that deserves to be remembered. Beyond Doolittle: The Navy Role in the Doolittle Raid | 15:16 The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered | 1.53M subscribers | 55,154 views | April 18, 2025

MILWAUKEE -- Ed Miklavcic said the secrets to his longevity are simple: He took care of himself and worked hard. It showed on Wednesday at American Family Field, where the 105-year-old Miklavcic, a World War II veteran and the second-oldest living survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor, threw a ceremonial first pitch for the ages prior to the Tigers-Brewers game. Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick and manager Pat Murphy were among those who visited with Miklavcic before his pitch. He is one of 15 veterans of Pearl Harbor alive today after this week’s passing of 106-year-old Vaughn P. Drake Jr....

At 106 years old, Vaughn Drake Jr. was the oldest known survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor until his death on April 7, according to his obituary. Born Nov. 6, 1918, in Winchester, Kentucky, Drake served in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II. He saw the battles of Pearl Harbor and Saipan in the Marianas, collecting an array of honors including the special congressional medal for Pearl Harbor veterans and the World War II Victory Medal. In 2016, the Lexington Herald-Leader sat down with Drake to record some of his memories of the fateful attack on...

The body of U.S. Army Air Force Sergeant Henry Allen Jr., a World War II soldier from Covington, Georgia, has been identified decades after his death.Allen was killed during the war when his plane was shot down over Germany.In June, his family was notified of the identification, which was made possible through anthropological and dental analysis.Sergeant Allen will be laid to rest in Covington at a future date.

Capturing the heart of America, an Ohio veteran turning 104 years old in May of 2025 requested President Donald Trump to attend his birthday in a viral video acquiring hundreds of thousands of viewers. The message acted as a captivating reminder of the enduring patriotism of United States veterans, showcasing the love for our nation still deeply rooted in those who have served. The man making that heartfelt and heartwarming plea to the president while wearing a red MAGA hat was Denver Moore, a proud World War II veteran celebrating his 104th birthday on May 15, made a heartfelt plea...

A 100-year-old World War II veteran traveled from Bristol, Connecticut, to Iwo Jima to mark 80 years since the U.S. fought on the small Japanese island. Joseph Caminiti, a 100-year-old WWII veteran who still goes to the gym daily, joined U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, military officials, and families of those killed in the battle of Iwo Jima to visit the island for the combat’s 80-year anniversary, according to a report by WTNH. Caminiti is among the estimated three remaining living survivors of the battle of Iwo Jima, where the iconic photograph was captured of U.S. Marines raising the...

An American soldier who was killed during World War II has been accounted for nearly 80 years after his death. Last week, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that it had identified the remains of Glenn H. Hodak, a 23-year-old corporal in the United States Army Air Forces from Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania. Hodak was accounted for on September 25, 2024.

The Battle of Okinawa, code named Operation Iceberg, was World War II's largest and bloodiest battle in the Pacific Theater. The landings on the Japanese island by joint U.S. and Allied forces took place 80 years ago, April 1, 1945, lasting until June 22, 1945. It was the last major battle of the war. Army Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., who commanded the Tenth Army, led the invasion. The Tenth Army was a composite unit comprising the Army's 7th, 27th, 77th and 96th infantry divisions, the 1st, 2nd and 6th Marine divisions, as well as a joint Army/Marine Corps...

Around noon on June 6, 1944, a German soldier wielding a machine gun burst into a small church six miles from Utah Beach in Normandy, France, ignoring the Red Cross flag hanging from the door. He had been fighting most of the day against American paratroopers in the towns, farms, and hedgerows. Inside the church, he found wounded soldiers laid out on pews and the floor as two American medics tended to them. The German leveled his MG-42 machine gun at the occupants and prepared to fire, but then he noticed the medics were treating German soldiers as well as...

Staggering losses in the Battle of the Atlantic during 1942 led many U.S. Navy officials to believe that Germany’s Kriegsmarine was receiving assistance from Axis sympathizers on the U.S. East Coast and had spies in New York City. To counter this threat, the Office of Naval Intelligence’s (ONI’s) District Intelligence Office (DIO) in the Third Naval District sought assistance from an unlikely ally to help secure the waterfront: the Mob.By using informants from organized crime families, which in this time period were referred to simply as “the underworld,” the DIO was able to secure the waterfront and the coastline around...

On the night of March 9, 1945, U.S. warplanes launch a new bombing offensive against Japan, dropping 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo over the course of the next 48 hours. Almost 16 square miles in and around the Japanese capital were incinerated, and between 80,000 and 130,000 Japanese civilians were killed in the worst single firestorm in recorded history. Early on March 9, Air Force crews met on the Mariana Islands of Tinian and Saipan for a military briefing. They were planning a low-level bombing attack on Tokyo that would begin that evening, but with a twist: Their...

After nearly 80 years, the remains of 2nd Lt. Robert T. McCollum, a U.S. Army Air Forces bombardier who went missing in action during World War II, have been identified. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) officially confirmed McCollum’s identification on December 10, 2024, bringing long-awaited closure to his family.McCollum, from Cleveland, Ohio, served in the 565th Bombardment Squadron, 389th Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force...In 2019, divers from Denmark discovered wreckage of a WWII plane near the last known location of McCollum’s plane, leading to a significant breakthrough. Among the items retrieved was...

Operation Detachment, the U.S. Marines’ invasion of Iwo Jima, is launched. Iwo Jima was a barren Pacific island guarded by Japanese artillery, but to American military minds, it was prime real estate on which to build airfields to launch bombing raids against Japan, only 660 miles away. The Americans began applying pressure to the Japanese defense of the island in June 1944, when B-24 and B-25 bombers raided the island for 74 days. It was the longest pre-invasion bombardment of the war, necessary because of the extent to which the Japanese—21,000 strong—fortified the island, above and below ground, including a...