Free Republic

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a tragedy and a crime, but it does not threaten American security. Even the Brookings Institution’s Robert Kagan, who has yet to find a war he doesn’t want the U.S. to fight—his new book blames America for not having stopped Adolf Hitler—admitted that Ukraine is not important for this country’s defense. Kagan was categorical: “There is no way that Putin’s conquest of Ukraine has any immediate or even distant effect on American security.” Yet he still supports Washington’s proxy war against Russia, like many others. Those who, like Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of...

An old map believed to mark the spot where German soldiers hid treasure worth millions of dollars during World War II sparked the imagination of amateur treasure hunters in the Netherlands this week. Armed with metal detectors and shovels, groups wandered through the fields surrounding rural Ommeren in the east of the country after the map was made public by the Dutch National Archive on Tuesday. The archive said the map was believed to indicate where Nazi soldiers had hidden four large boxes filled with diamonds, rubies, gold, silver and all sorts of jewelry which they had looted after an...

A Ww2 Treasure Map Has Been Released by the National Archives, Part of the Annual Open Access Day in the Netherlands for 2023.The Open Access Day is an unveiling of former classified or confidential documents.This year, 1300 pages of archived documents have been made public, including minutes from meetings by senior ministers, WW2 files from the Intelligence Bureau of the Ministry of War, personnel files of spies and the resistance movement, and documents investigating abuses in the internment camps where collaborators were imprisoned after the war to await trial.Among the released documents is a map from the archives of the...

Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) compared Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to Congress to when former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill’s 1941 address asked the United States to go to war with Europe. Pelosi said in her letter to lawmakers that she has “great pride and solemnity” to welcome Zelensky on Wednesday to Congress, where he will address both chambers in a Joint Meeting of Congress. The outgoing speaker, leaving a “personal note,” compared Zelensky’s congressional visit to Churchill’s historic wartime address in the Senate Chamber when he spoke before an informal meeting of Congress the...

To commemorate the 81st anniversary, here’s a look back at a collection of Associated Press photos of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Warning: Some photos contain graphic content.

Searchers have located the wrecks of five B-24 bombers that crashed into the Adriatic Sea during World War II, three of which are associated with 23 still-missing crew members. The search mission – conducted over a two-week period in August off the coast of Croatia – was a partnership between Project Recover and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. It was the culmination of a lengthy process of researching military records and obtaining needed permits from Croatia, Mark Moline, the mission leader and a cofounder of Project Recover, said in a phone interview Thursday. Along with the B-17, the B-24 Liberator...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia soldier killed during World War II has been accounted for, the military said. Army Cpl. Joseph H. Gunnoe, 21, of Charleston, was reported missing in action in November 1944 in Germany. He was declared killed in action after the war, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Tuesday. Gunnoe was assigned to Company G, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. His unit captured the town of Vossenack, Germany, in the Hürtgen Forest, on Nov. 2 but was forced to withdraw four days later. Scientists used DNA, anthropological evidence and circumstantial evidence to identify the...

On Veterans Day we remember from WWII the hazards faced by the young men who became our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers. For example, the 8th Air Force suffered over 26,000 dead compared to the Marine Corps losing nearly 20,000 killed in the Pacific. Their bombers were mainly crewed by teenagers and men in their early twenties, but of all crew members the ball turret gunner confronted the most dismal fate.The emerging certainty the United States would be drawn into WW II promoted creation of an autonomous Army Air Force. Until the war in Europe began, dominate Army doctrine gave the...

In its diplomatic note sent to the Federal Republic of Germany on the compensation for damage caused by Germany as a result of its aggression and occupation in 1939-1945, the Republic of Poland demands: Compensation for material and non-material losses amounting to 6 trillion 220 billion 609 million Polish zlotys; Compensating victims of German aggression and occupation, as well as their families, for the losses and harm suffered; Taking systemic measures by the Federal Republic of Germany to return cultural property seized from Poland and currently located on German territory; Return of assets and liabilities of Polish state banks and...

The USS Samuel B. Roberts was recently found by a team led by Victor Vescovo who also found the USS Johnston. Both Ships were lost in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. It lies at a depth of 6,895 meters (22,621 feet), in the Philippine Sea. By comparison, Mount Kilimanjaro's peak is 5,896 meters, while the highest permanent settlement in the world, La Rinconada in the Peruvian Andes, is 5,100 meters (16,700 feet). Previously, the deepest wreck ever identified and surveyed was the USS Johnston, found last year by Vescovo. That lies at 6,469 meters.

Poland's government to continue to push for $1.3T in reparations from its neighbor Germany, despite Berlin saying matter is closedBerlin’s claim that Germany’s World War II reparations to Poland is a closed subject is morally and legally unfounded, said a Polish government spokesperson on Wednesday."This is an unfounded claim, both in the moral and legal sphere, because Poland has never given up on war reparations in any way," Piotr Muller told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).In a newspaper interview also published Wednesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected Polish demands for reparations."Like all previous federal governments, I can point out that...

If you’re going to make a documentary film about America’s response to the Holocaust, shouldn’t you at least know how many Jewish refugees were admitted to the United States during those years? Surprisingly, filmmaker Ken Burns appears to be unaware of that basic information—or is for some reason seeking to misrepresent the facts. Burns has announced that his forthcoming film will challenge the “myth” that President Franklin D. Roosevelt abandoned Europe’s Jews. That remarkable assertion flies in the face of the historical record that numerous scholars have thoroughly documented. Nonetheless, in recent interviews, Burns has claimed that during the Roosevelt...

The only known World War II Navy pilot to shoot down both German and Japanese enemy aircraft died Aug. 10, according to the veteran’s family. Retired Navy Commander Dean “Diz” Laird died in Walnut Creek, California, with family by his side just weeks after embarking on his final flight, CNN reported. The 101-year-old former pilot was joined on a Dream Flights flight by another fighter pilot, Clarence “Bud” Anderson. --snip-- Laird’s storied career as a Navy aviator includes 5.75 confirmed planes shot down, according to his obituary on legacy.com. He was also the only Navy ace to down both German...

Europe's worst drought in years has pushed the mighty river Danube to one of its lowest levels in almost a century, exposing the hulks of dozens of explosives-laden German warships sunk during World War Two near Serbia's river port town of Prahovo.

He’s a century old and still fabulous. A heroic World War II veteran who bravely spoke up for gay rights in the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” era celebrated his 100th birthday with a snazzy rainbow-colored hat and matching birthday cake last month. Rupert “Twink” Starr — an LGBTQ activist who earned a Bronze Star for his bravery during the Battle of the Bulge — threw a birthday bash with pals at his home in Columbus, Ohio, on July 16, according to reports. At the party, the spunky centenarian wore flamboyantly decorated pink costume glasses and a hat topped with rainbows...

Admiral Yamamoto, who led the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, allegedly said, after the attack: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." After today's FBI raid I believe many Democrat politicians will soon be saying the same thing about the American electorate.

Scroll back up to restore default view. Associated Press Explorers find WWII Navy ship, deepest wreck discovered June 26, 2022 In this article: Samuel B. Roberts Recipient of the Navy Cross (1921-1942) Robert W. Copeland United States admiral MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A U.S. Navy destroyer escort that engaged a superior Japanese fleet in the largest sea battle of World War II in the Philippines has become the deepest wreck to be discovered, according to explorers. The USS Samuel B. Roberts, popularly known as the “Sammy B," was identified on Wednesday broken into two pieces on a slope at a...

How the pope failed the Jews in the HolocaustA new book sets out damning evidence about the conduct of Pope Pius XII during the Second World War Julie CarbonaraBY Julie Carbonara June 30, 2022 09:06 Timid: Pope Pius XII (Photo: Getty Images)Pope Pius XII, who presided over the Catholic Church during the Second World War, has always divided opinion: was he a Nazi sympathiser who did little to save the Jews? Or has he been wrongly vilified? Only the documentation hidden away in the Vatican archives could provide a definite answer. It looked as if the truth would remain buried...

One of only four remaining Medal of Honor winners from WW2. The last remaining Marine MOH winner from WW2. The last remaining MOH winner from the Pacific theater of WW2.

Hershel W. "Woody" Williams, the last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, whose heroics under fire over several crucial hours at the Battle of Iwo Jima made him a legend in his native West Virginia, died Wednesday. He was 98. Williams' foundation announced on Twitter and Facebook that he died at the Veterans Affairs medical center bearing his name in Huntington. "Today, America lost not just a valiant Marine and a Medal of Honor recipient, but an important link to our Nation's fight against tyranny in the Second World War," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in...