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”
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 …
Coastwatchers The Small Band of Men Who Saved Thousands of Allied Troops In Bellingham, Washington as soon as WWII broke out, tall towers were erected close to the Canadian border. Teenagers equipped with their sleeping bags and supplies would rotate assignments, some spending the night, to listen and watch for any incoming aircraft then immediately …
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 …
The U.S. Marines fought for five weeks to establish control over Iwo Jima. From February 19, 1945 to March 26th, the brave men assigned to Operation Detachment struggled across the rough volcanic ground to destroy the radar stations and capture three airfields from the Japanese Imperial Army. They had expected the battle to last one …
The heavens were clear the evening of February 24, 1942, but Los Angeles, California was on high alert. The Japanese enemy was lurking in the waters off shore, somewhere. At this point during World War II, the Japanese forces had swept through Asia, Burma, into parts of Borneo, with the Philippine Islands swiftly falling. Japan …
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 …