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World War II

National Purple Heart Day 2025

National Purple Heart Day 2025

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It might come as a surprise to many, but the United States did not offer its troops medals or ribbons as uniform decorations until the Medal of Honor was introduced by President Lincoln during the Civil War. It was only offered to enlisted troops in July 1862, but by December, it was made available to officers who displayed exceptional gallantry.  Until that point in U.S. military history, military medals were more of a European tradition. Medals and ribbons were seen as a custom practiced by the armies of foreign monarchies. The United States, with its democratic government and egalitarian principles, frowned on such ties to Europe's royal heritage, from which the Americans fought hard to separate themselves.  During the Mexican-American War, a 'certificate of merit' would be issued to soldiers who distinguished themselves in action, but no uniform item existed to identify them. It was simply a certificate. It was discontinued after that war ended in 1848.  Despite a...

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Distinguished Military Unit: 56th Fighter Group By A3C Michael Bell

Distinguished Military Unit: 56th Fighter Group By A3C Michael Bell

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This storied unit, “Zemke’s Wolfpack,” by itself is represented on Air Force TWS with sixty-four registered members. However, its history with, currently, sixty-eight other numerically associated air and ground units (e.g. Wing, Supply, Medical, etc.) includes hundreds more airmen under and bearing the original insignia right up to the present time with 56th OG. A summary of its full parent lineage, not including subordinate squadrons, would include: AAC 56th Pursuit group 1940-41, then the AAF 56th FG itself until 1946, redesignated 56th Fighter Interceptor Group 1950-52, 56th Fighter Group (Air Defense) 1955-1961, 56th Tactical Fighter Group 1985-1991, and 56th Operations Group 1991- present.

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Japanese Soldier Surrenders 30 Years After End of WWII

Japanese Soldier Surrenders 30 Years After End of WWII

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By the summer of 1945, the Japanese navy and air force were destroyed. Its army had been decimated. The Allied naval blockade of Japan and intensive bombing of Japanese cities had left the country and its economy devastated, it's people suffering. The Aftermath of WWII and Hiroo Onoda’s Mission After the Hiroshima atomic bomb attack, factions of Japan's supreme war council favored unconditional surrender but the majority resisted. When the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, the Japanese Emperor Hirohito told the supreme war council to negotiate the unconditional surrender. To the Japanese his word was that of a god.On Sunday, September 2, 1945, more than 250 Allied warships lay at anchor in Tokyo Bay. Just after 9 a.m. on board the USS Missouri General Douglas MacArthur presided over the official surrender ceremony as Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed on behalf of the Japanese government. General Yoshijiro Umezu then signed for the Japanese armed...

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The Only U.S. Woman POW in WWII Europe

The Only U.S. Woman POW in WWII Europe

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On September 27, 1944, a C-47 assigned to the 813th Medical Air Evacuation Squadron lifted off from England into the clear morning sky. Its destination was a landing field at St. Trond, Belgium, to pick up casualties. Since the aircraft usually carried military supplies and troops on the outbound flight and casualties on the return trip, it was not marked with the Red Cross. Aboard the aircraft was 24-year-old Texas-born Second Lt. Reba Whittle, an experienced flight nurse with 40 missions and over 500 hours of flight time. POW Nurse Survived a Deadly Crash and Enemy Aid Somewhere along the way to Belgium, the plane strayed far from its intended route, entering German airspace where it was hit by German flak a couple of miles outside Aachen. The crew braced themselves as the plane gained and lost elevation from heavy shrapnel tearing through its thin-skinned fuselage and disabling an engine. Whittle held onto her seat for dear life as they began to nosedive. On impact, Whittle was...

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The Forces Pin Up – GI Morale Boosters

The Forces Pin Up – GI Morale Boosters

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America’s entrance into World War II back in 1941 triggered the golden age of pinups, pictures of smiling women in a range of clothing-challenged situations. The racy photos adorned lonely servicemen’s lockers, the walls of barracks, and even the sides of planes. For the first time in its history, the US military unofficially sanctioned this kind of art: pinup pictures, magazines, and calendars were shipped and distributed among the troops, often at government expense, to “raise morale” and remind the young men what they were fighting for.

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Historic Japanese Internment Camps At Risk!

Historic Japanese Internment Camps At Risk!

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Because of proposed cuts in the United States budget for 2019, the National Park Services would be severely reduced. This may have a negative impact on many NPS sites, including those where Japanese Americans were confined following America's entry into WWII in 1941. Japanese Internment Camps Began With Fear and Prejudice In 2006, the government set up the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grants Program via the National Parks and set aside thirty-eight million dollars to educate the public as to the importance of remembering this sometimes-controversial story in the nation's history. The grant money is typically used for site preservation, research, preserving oral and written histories, museums, educational materials, and archeology. As the years go by, fewer and fewer formerly incarcerated Japanese Americans are left to tell the stories. To keep those stories from fading away, work must be done, and that costs money. Ever since Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act in...

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VADM John D. Bulkeley, U.S. Navy (1933-1975)

VADM John D. Bulkeley, U.S. Navy (1933-1975)

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John D. Bulkeley was a Vice Admiral in the United States Navy and one of its most decorated naval officers. Bulkeley received the Medal of Honor for actions in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He was also the PT boat skipper who evacuated General Douglas MacArthur from Corregidor in the Philippines.  VADM John D. Bulkeley Led Daring WWII Missions John D. Bulkeley was born in New York City and grew up on a farm in Hackettstown, New Jersey, where he graduated from Hackettstown High School. He was a 1933 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. At the dawn of World War II, Bulkeley was a Lieutenant in command of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, a Philippine-based detachment of six motor torpedo boats. He hit his stride as a daring, resourceful and courageous leader. He picked up General Douglas MacArthur, his family, and his immediate staff, who had been ordered to flee the Philippines, and took them aboard PT 41 and other 77-foot (23 m) motor torpedo boats through...

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PFC Sixto Escobar, US Army (1941-1945)

PFC Sixto Escobar, US Army (1941-1945)

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Sixto Escobar, of the United States Army between 1941 and 1945, was Puerto Rico’s first world boxing champion, and International Boxing Hall of Fame member. Remembered today with the Estadio Sixto Escobar, the San Juan home of River Plate Puerto Rico, as well as many buildings, roads, and statues, he is a favored son of the island territory. Not as many people know, though, that he served in the military during the Second World War as an Army PFC.

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WW2 – Midway and Guadalcanal

WW2 – Midway and Guadalcanal

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There is some debate on the turning point of the war in the Pacific Theatre. Some historians believe the Allied victory at the Battle of Midway was the defining moment, followed by aggressive island-hopping all the way to the Japanese homeland. Others view Midway as the tipping point in the war where the initiative hung in the balance only to swing toward the Allies following its major victory in the Guadalcanal campaign. According to many other historians, however, the turning point of the war in the Pacific resulted from the two battles combined. They point out that the Battle of Midway inflicted such permanent damage on the Japanese Navy that when the Battle of Guadalcanal began two months later, they did not have enough resources to hold onto the island or to take it back once the U.S. Marines had landed. Together, these two victories ended major Japanese expansion in the Pacific, allowing the Americans and its allies to take the offensive. Japanese Expansion Before Midway...

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The Last Airborne Deployment of WWII

The Last Airborne Deployment of WWII

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In the early morning hours of March 24, 1945, a massive WWII airborne operation known as Operation Varsity launched with an attempt to deploy 17,000 American and British Airborne troops across the Rhine River. It was the largest single-day airborne operation in history. Operation Varsity Launches Bold Airborne Assault C-47 Transport Planes Release Hundreds of Paratroopers during Operation Varsity. In the final months of WWII, Western Allied Forces advanced east into Germany. This meant crossing numerous rivers, many of which no longer had standing bridges. The Rhine River was especially treacherous, with steep banks and swift currents, providing German forces with a natural defensive barrier. Planning got underway to deploy airborne forces on the east side of the Rhine. The principal mission was to seize and hold the high ground five miles north of Wesel, Germany, and to facilitate the ground action and establish a bridgehead. The soldiers would then hold the territory until the...

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The Curse of the Willy Dee

The Curse of the Willy Dee

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The crew of the USS William D. Porter should have had better things to do than worry about some silly "curse." The ship was a Fletcher-class destroyer, one of more than a thousand warships built after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the United States was fighting a world war. But many of the crew were more concerned with surviving the ship, and not the war. The "Willy Dee" (as it came to be called) appeared to be cursed almost from the day it was launched. Willy Dee Earns a Cursed Reputation While an argument could certainly be made about the ship's bad luck, there are myriad stories to be found online that only seem to pile onto the Willy Dee's no good bad days. The truth can be hard to suss out, but rest assured – the USS William D. Porter had its share of hard luck. Readers can decide for themselves if it was an actual curse.  The vessel's first real mission came in November 1943. The USS William D. Porter was assigned to escort the battleship USS Iowa as it ferried...

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WW2 – The Battle of Iwo Jima

WW2 – The Battle of Iwo Jima

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Japan’s ambition as a world power began in the late 1800s, but lacking in raw materials (oil, iron, and rubber) necessary to make it a reality, it seized material-rich colonies and islands. Ensuring they kept what they seized, Japan established naval and army bases throughout the Pacific. Following long-standing complaints from the United States about their laying claims on territories that did not belong to them, Japan’s military leaders unwisely decided to attack America, beginning with the infamous surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the naval officer, tasked with planning and carrying out the attack, said: “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” His insightful prophecy became a horrible reality for Japan.

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