296 replies to this topic

[Old Man]

I always thought the Battle of Midway was pretty awesome way of out smarting your enemy.

[Mike B]

Re: Duffel bag returned to WWII soldier, 68 years later

Very cool.

I do some work for a store that buys storage lockers. I come across WWII memorabilia and personal items from the war from time-to-time. It's fascinating to look through and a little bit heartbreaking to think that somebody in that person's family might want the stuff. But we've found it really difficult to try and find family and when we do, they often don't really care about their ancestor's items.

My mother passed away a little while back and we went through a lot of her stuff and found some of my fathers WW2 things.  we came across his dog tags.  The information stored on them was interesting.  The address and phone number on them were from a place that we never knew our parents lived .  Memories and connections to the past are always worth something.

[Mark Carver]

I always thought the Battle of Midway was pretty awesome way of out smarting your enemy.

The Japanese didn't think so...

 

It was and many action were credit because the accomplishment of breaking the Japanese Navy General Operational Code, or JN25.

 

https://slate.com/hu...ore-midway.html

[Old Man]

The Japanese didn't think so...

 

It was and many action were credit because the accomplishment of breaking the Japanese Navy General Operational Code, or JN25.

 

https://slate.com/hu...ore-midway.html

I was aware of that, and thats what makes to me, so interesting, that we were able to guide the Japs to where we wanted to fight them, but with more power than they expected.

 

That and with the weather, really helped make it winnable for the US, and a major breaking point in the war.

[24fps]

FWIW my father was one of a handful of officers on Midway Island when the battle was being fought.  Something like 20,000 Japanese Marines were poised to come ashore so it should come as no surprise that I'm personally very grateful for the work of the codebreakers. Otherwise the Orioles would have one less lifelong fan, I figure.

 

I have the telegram that he sent to his brother the next day letting him know he was Okay.

[mweb08]

What type of resources should be utilized to deal with WWII in an African American Studies course?

 

Some possibilities I have used or would consider using:

 

https://youtu.be/WdjYSj_dq8o

 

https://www.smithson...ttle-180964616/

 

In WWII, the U.S. Treated Nazi POWs Better Than Black Troops | Time

 

Also various possibilities with the Tuskegee Airmen.

 

I also think the movie Mudbound is good for this purpose.

[Mark Carver]

This day in 1940, June 18. Winston Churchill speech before House of Commons of the United Kingdom

 

"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire lasts for a thousand years men will still say, 'this was their finest hour'."

 

[Mark Carver]

80 years ago today, June 22 1941. The largest military campaign in history started and led to the downfall of Nazi Germany 4 years later and tens of million dead.

 

Operation Barbarossa

 

[Mark Carver]

The Norwegian Attack on Heavy Water That Deprived the Nazis of the Atomic Bomb

 

https://getpocket.co...e=pocket-newtab

[Mark Carver]

The Untold Story of the Secret Mission to Seize Nazi Map Data - How a covert U.S. Army intelligence unit canvassed war-torn Europe, capturing intelligence with incalculable strategic value [Smithsonian Magazine}

 

https://www.smithson...data-180973317/

[Mark Carver]

The dangers of living and working in Germany, even 75 years later...

 

Munich WW2 bomb blows up near station, wounding four

 

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Hermann said the "aerial bomb" weighed 250kg (550lb).

 

https://www.bbc.com/...europe-59487910

[Nigel Tufnel]

[NewMarketSean]

Visited Pearl Harbor when I was in Oahu last September. Sadly, the Arizona Memorial was closed.

[Old Man]

Visited Pearl Harbor when I was in Oahu last September. Sadly, the Arizona Memorial was closed.

That sucks.

 

Been there twice, and dang, it was extremely moving experience both times.

[Mark Carver]

At dawn on December 7, 1941 more than half of the United States Pacific Fleet, approximately 150 vessels and service craft, lay at anchor or alongside piers in Pearl Harbor. All but one of the Pacific fleet's battleships were in port that morning, most of them moored to quays flanking Ford Island. By 10:00 a.m. the tranquil Sunday calm had been shattered, 21 vessels lay sunk or damaged, the fighting backbone of the fleet apparently broken. Smoke from burning planes and hangers filled the sky. Oil from sinking ships clogged the harbor. Death was everywhere.

The fleet in Pearl Harbor, the focus of the attack, suffered the greatest loss; almost half the total casualties occurred when the USS Arizona blew up. Army, Navy, Army Air Force, and Marine Corps facilities across the length and breadth of Oahu, from Kaneohe to Haleiwa to Malakole, bore their share of death and destruction. Hickam, Wheeler, and Bellows Army Air Force bases lost 217 men and 77 aircraft. Naval Air Stations at Ford Island and Kaneohe lost 19 men. Pacific Fleet naval aircraft losses in total, were 92. At Ewa Marine Corps Air Station, 4 men were killed and 33 aircraft were destroyed. Civilians from Waikiki to Pearl City were killed by exploding anti-aircraft munitions (friendly fire).

In the first hours of America's Pacific war, the nation suffered one of her worst wartime losses: 2,388 men, women, and children were killed in the attack. The targets of attack were naval ships and military facilities throughout Oahu.

This lists persons, military and civilians (youngest killed was 3 months), who died as a result of the attack or were killed later that day in the performance of their duties. The listing of servicemen is by branch of service and duty station. The list of civilians is by location.

 

Pearl Harbor Casualty Lists

 

http://genealogytrai...sualties01.html

[Russ]

Visited Pearl Harbor when I was in Oahu last September. Sadly, the Arizona Memorial was closed.

I’d always go to the highest point of the ship whenever we pulled into Pearl Harbor. Amazing visual and always a powerful experience.

Also, passed by Iwo Jima a few times. Equally powerful.

[Mark Carver]

Died December 21, 1945 seventy-six years ago yesterday.