WWII
Nostalgia Post
Popular Mechanics has been running some cool throwback articles – here’s one about a plant they call “Hitler’s Headache”. Not because he had it built and it was problematic, but because we intended to, and successfully built, a plant to jump start the war effort. Make way for Uncle Sam’s giant war baby and Hitler’s […]
RAF Flight Lieutenant George Dunn,103, passes
Mr. Dunn passed April 28th. He’s someone worth remembering, if nothing else for completing 44 bombing missions over Europe. George Charles Dunn was born in Whitstable, Kent, on September 21 1922. He attended the local school, where he was football captain, and left when he was 14 to work for Pickfords Removals. Inspired by witnessing […]
Better Late Than Never
Today’s lead is SGT Celestina Chavez, a 19 year old who was killed by enemy soldiers in Korea near the Choisin Reservoir. Assigned to the 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Automatic Weapons Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, the statement from the DPMAA says Chavez was wounded while defending his position in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. He […]
BG Lew Harned passes at age 101
Some of you probably passed through General Harned’s command without realizing it – or the remarkable longevity of his service. Born in 1924, he originally tried to join up in 1942, but was classified 4-F due to nearsightedness. He found another route to the war through the American Field Service, a civilian volunteer corps that […]
Over his head, thankfully not out of his depth
Ever been put in an awkward position by your boss? One of those “Why me?” “You weren’t there to defend yourself.” moments? Let’s talk about Benjamin Ferencz. Born in Transylvania in 1920, Ferencz, who was the last surviving prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials, emigrated with his family to the United States when he was an […]
Army Ranger Tommy Gwynn dies at 106
There are some people for whom superlatives are coined. Thomas Edward “Tommy” Gwynn, known throughout his adopted hometown of Tullahoma, Tennessee, as “the greatest Ranger that ever was,” died Monday, April 6, at the Life Care Center there, according to an obituary issued by Kilgore Funeral Home. He was two months from his 107th birthday […]
Two old guys
Couple of folks you may want to meet. First up is Joe “Bazooka Joe” Pietroforte. Joe clocks in at 107. At 22, he was drafted, finished basic training and was shipped overseas to fight in the European theater. “I went over on the Queen Mary,” Pietroforte told CBS News, Los Angeles. “They shipped us up […]
Chips the Hero
Saw an interesting article on Chips, aka Chips the War Dog, aka WWII’s most decorated dog. On the morning of July 10, 1943, Pvt. John P. Rowell and his sentry dog, Chips, hit the beach during Operation Husky. When a hidden machine gun nest opened fire, pinning down the platoon, Chips tore free from Rowell […]
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