The few living survivors of the ‘First Wave’ at D-Day that I was able to interview before they passed all concur on one thing—tragic mistakes were made that morning of June 6, 1944, costing thousands of Allied lives. For starters, the landing parties headed ashore later in the day than planned. They missed the opportunity …
Read more “D-Day Mistakes, Madness and Miracles –The First Wave–The 80th Anniversary”
There is a lively debate as to which city in our vast country actually held the first Decoration Day in honor of those souls lost in battle. This ancient custom of decorating the graves dates back to before the Civil War. However, on May 5, 1868 General John Logan, commander–in-chief of the Grand Army of …
Victory In Europe – VE Day On September 3, 1939 the British and France declared war on Germany after the Nazi’s invaded Poland. On December 11, 1941, after the United States was attacked by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, Germany declared war on the US. Six years of global battle for the Brits and four …
Having fought gallantly for four months, weak, starving, sick, exposed to the burning heat of the Philippines, roughly 60,000 Filipino troops and 11,000 – 15,000 men from the United States surrendered to the Japanese on April 9, 1942 on the peninsula of Bataan. A fate that would claim 5,000-10,000 Filipino soldiers and about 650 American …
On February 19, 1942, when the Japanese Empire first attacked Darwin, Australia, killing 200 people, the necessity to keep shipping lanes open between the U.S. and our ally, Australia, became critical. This battle to maintain control of the South West Pacific waterways would spread across many islands and years. Three American GI’s lie dead on …
Four Chaplains, One Heroic Mission “Chaplains risk and give their lives along with the troops,” Daniel Poling, pastor of Grace Baptist in Philadelphia, told his son. Daniel knew full well, having served as Chaplin during WWI. Yet, First Lieutenant Clark Vandersoll Poling of Ohio did not heed his fathers’ wise words. On June 10, 1942, …
As the 353 Japanese aircraft rained death and destruction across the Island of Oahu, Takeo Yoshikawa, using his alias of vice-counsel Tadashi Morimura, was hurriedly burning his implicating files inside the Japanese Consulate on Nuuanu Avenue. The 13,400-square-foot grounds of the Japanese consulate, in a well-to-do neighborhood, displayed a gold imperial chrysanthemum crest outside the …
Read more “The Japanese Spy Who Predestined the Fate of Pearl Harbor”
“I don’t talk about it much.” Dr. Dan Raleigh spoke softly, his voice mellowed by his 97 years, when I first interviewed him in 2015. “Not many people are alive anymore when it happened.” The “it” Raleigh refers to so humbly was Pearl Harbor Day. On the morning of December 7, 1941, he had just …
Veteran’s Day – A Time To Give Thanks You might not recognize them walking the street, sitting beside them in at a church service, or quietly reading in a retirement home. A veteran’s response to duty is their own story, sometimes shared, other times very private. Yet, their sacrifices provided us our freedom.Veteran’s Day is …
The Ni’ihau Incident – A Small Battle with a Big Impact that Continued in Hawaii for 7 days after Pearl Harbor While America pushed for isolationism after WWI, Japan pushed for their imperial expansionism under their goal of creating a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. These ideals would collide when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor …