Tag: World War II

One of the stranger missions to come about during World War II was the decision to infiltrate the Korean coastline, which was then held by the Japanese, and insert former Korean POWs into the country to set up agent networks, conduct sabotage and possibly begin a guerrilla war against the Japanese. Eventually, the plan was […]

When one mentions Julia Child, the first thing that comes to mind is the marvel and ease of French cooking that she brought to the United States. But long before she was a culinary artist, she served as an intelligence officer during World War II in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner to […]

Operation Valkyrie was the plan by German Count Claus von Stauffenberg and other senior German generals in the Wehrmacht to assassinate Adolf Hitler and several other high ranking Nazis in an attempt to end the war in Europe. It failed. Stauffenberg planted a bomb concealed in a briefcase under the conference table in Hitler’s Wolf’s […]

Book Review On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands was a quiet place as the sun came up. Many of the sailors along Battleship Row were feeling the effects of being on liberty ashore drinking which ended at midnight. At dawn, there was a sleepy, Sunday feel to the morning, not much […]

During the Holocaust, it wasn’t just the Jews who suffered at the hands at the Nazis although they bore the brunt of the racism and extermination at the hands of the Germans and their allies during World War II. The Gypsies were also persecuted during the reign of Hitler and his henchmen. The Nazis at […]

At least two people are dead with multiple others injured after a World War II-era B-17 bomber crashed at Bradley International Airport just outside of Hartford, Connecticut at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. The bomber reportedly burst into flames after colliding with a building during an attempted landing. The plume of smoke is reportedly visible from […]

A very happy Independence Day to you, and Treason Day to my friends from across the pond. Who knew that a bunch of hot-headed vandals from Boston would create all of this by throwing some tea in Boston Harbor. Sounds like the guys I grew up with. We’re celebrating our 243rd year of independence from […]

More and more stories are coming to light about the operatives who worked in the shadows during the Second World War, and many of them were women. By now most people have heard about Virginia Hall, the famous “Limping Lady” of the OSS, and her exploits, as well as many others. One of the more […]

The message that members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion of today carried forth to the few…and dwindling survivors of the original assault on Pointe du Hoc from 75 years ago was respect. They re-enacted the climb up the cliffs made by their forebearers on that fateful day in 1944 and it wasn’t an easy slog […]

The preparation for D-Day on the Allied side took a couple of years of meticulous planning, training, the massing of troops and then intense coordination with air, sea and land forces as well as coordinating the French resistance. The British Special Operations Executive (SOE) was the driving force behind infiltrating agents into occupied France, setting […]

Memorial Day preparations and programs are all going non-stop this weekend. In our small bucolic town in Central Massachusetts, our schools have all put together very nice programs to honor those members of our country who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Our high school put together a nice program where the students researched town members […]

Seventy-five years ago, thousands of American and British paratroops were waiting on the go-ahead to begin the airborne assault on Normandy during World War II. The airborne assault on Hitler’s Fortress Europe was expected to be a very bloody affair for the airborne troops which were expected to suffer grievous casualties in the opening days […]