Official blog
TWS Website
TWS Website
U

MENU

World War II

Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone, U.S. Marine Corps (1934-45)

Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone, U.S. Marine Corps (1934-45)

,

Today's United States Marines have many idols. Unsurprisingly, these are often other Marines, Marines who served in wars past but distinguished themselves and exemplified what it means to call oneself a United States Marine. Few of these idols loom as large as Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone.  Basilone was born to an Italian family in Upstate New York and raised in New Jersey. He was working as a golf caddy when he decided to join the Army in 1934. It was, of course, years before the United States entered World War II. He spent three years in the Philippines, a place he would come to love.  John Basilone Came Back to the Military Service John Basilone loved Manila so much, in fact, that after he left the Army and became a truck driver, he decided he would re-enlist to get back to Manila as fast as possible. Thinking the Marine Corps would get him there faster, he joined the Marines instead of the Army in 1940. He was sent to Guantanamo Bay instead.  After the Japanese...

read more
PVC Anthony Dominick Bennett (Tony Bennett), U.S. Army (1944–1946)

PVC Anthony Dominick Bennett (Tony Bennett), U.S. Army (1944–1946)

,

Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Tony Bennett is a jazz legend, with a career spanning over half a century. He is also a painter, and the founder of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, New York. But did you know that before entering the music business, he served in the United States Army? He was sent to Europe to participate in the final months of the Second World War. He fought in the final stages of World War II as a U.S. Army infantryman in the European Theater. Tony Bennett’s Early Life Born and raised in Astoria to an Italian-American family, Tony Bennett was the first member of his family to be born in a hospital. His father John Benedetto was a grocer and his mother Anna (Suraci) was a seamstress. Unfortunately, for most of Tony’s childhood, his father was ailing and unable to work, and the children grew up in poverty....

read more
The Amazing History of the USS Barb (SS 220)

The Amazing History of the USS Barb (SS 220)

,

When it comes to submarine action during World War II, there are a number of standouts, and among them is the submarine USS Barb (SS 220). But what makes USS Barb unique? No other submarine can boast a train on its battle flag. One of the Submarine's Main Characters There can't be a story about USS Barb without mentioning one of the submarine's main characters: commanding officer Lt. Cmdr. Eugene B. Fluckey. The Washington, D.C.-native was to Barb as chocolate is to peanut butter. While there are many fascinating tales about Barb during World War II, this one, in particular, is during the sub's 12th and final war patrol that began in June 1945. The sub, crew and her skipper were still basking in the glow of Barb's 11th war patrol that earned Fluckey the Medal of Honor and the Presidential Unit Citation for the crew of the submarine.  He had previously earned four Navy Crosses. But Fluckey wasn't about to rest on his or the sub's laurels after bargaining a fifth war patrol from Adm....

read more
WW2 – The Allied Invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky)

WW2 – The Allied Invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky)

,

The July 1943 invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) was a masterstroke of military planning and execution. It freed much of the Mediterranean Sea for Allied shipping, inflicted more than 175,000 casualties on the Axis forces, took down Benito Mussolini’s government, and knocked Italy out of the war. It’s stunning, in retrospect, to consider that it almost didn’t happen.  The Planning and Execution of Operation Husky American planners believed invading anything but the Italian mainland would be an irrelevant venture. At the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, the British convinced the U.S. that clearing Sicily would mean clearing the Mediterranean of Axis aircraft and ships.   Before the invasion, code-named Operation Husky, could begin, the Allies needed to reduce the island’s defenses. The Allied bomber force began hitting targets in Sardinia, Sicily, southern Italy, and Greece to keep the Axis guessing where the next attack would be. Allied forces also bombed and...

read more
Service Reflections of LT James Jans, U.S. Navy (1960-1981)

Service Reflections of LT James Jans, U.S. Navy (1960-1981)

, ,

Friends from my home town. One of my best friends from school joined the Navy and was stationed on the carrier Bon Homme Richard CVA-31 came home on leave and was wearing his Navy uniform. Being from a town 45 miles from an Army Base (Ft Huachuca), the Navy uniform seemed much more impressive than the Army fatigues that I was used to seeing. Plus, I was intrigued because I had never seen the ocean or any body of water bigger than the watering tank of a local cattle rancher. Also, to think that ships could have a larger population than the town I was living in was amazing. I needed to get out of town to a place where I would have the opportunity to develop my talents to more than being a service station attendant pumping gas at one of the local gas stations. I was all in for a career in the Navy.

read more
The Reincarnations of General Patton

The Reincarnations of General Patton

,

The life and career of General George Patton were, to say the least, flamboyant. Known to his loyal troops as "Old Blood and Guts," his colorful personality, hard-driving leadership style and success as a commander, combined with his frequent political missteps, produced a mixed and often contradictory image of an out of control leader with a temper, tendency toward insubordination and his open criticizing on how the way the war is being waged. Film About General George Patton Perhaps nothing showcased the general more than the 1970 movie "Patton," starring George C. Scott in the title role. The movie of the famous tank commander traces his battlefield genius during World War II that garnered him fear and respect from the Germans but disdain from our Allies and, in particular, General Dwight Eisenhower. When Patton's big mouth and bigger ego became a liability to the fragile alliance Eisenhower was trying to hold together to fight the Germans, he was summoned to Eisenhower's...

read more
Japanese Tried A Second Raid on Pearl Harbor

Japanese Tried A Second Raid on Pearl Harbor

,

Everyone knows about the first bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Less well known, however, was the second attack. And there was almost a third. The first one was just a warm-up. The Imperial Japanese Navy planned several more attacks on the U.S. mainland - starting with California and Texas. It was called Ke-Sakusen (Operation Strategy), better known as "Operation K." Its aim was four-fold: (1) to assess the damage at Pearl Harbor; (2) to stop the ongoing rescue and salvage operations; (3) to finish off targets unscathed by the first raid; and (4) to test their new Kawanishi H8K1 flying boats. Kawanishi H8K1 Flying Boats' Testing During Operation K. Able to travel for up to 24 hours without refueling, they were ideal for Operation K - or so the Imperial Japanese Navy hoped. Five were to fly to the French Frigate Shoals (Kanemiloha'i) - less than 500 miles from Pearl Harbor. There they'd be refueled by submarine I-23 for the next leg of their flight to Oahu. To light their...

read more
Operation Torch Then And Now by Jean Paul Pallud

Operation Torch Then And Now by Jean Paul Pallud

,

The Allied invasion of North Africa is a convoluted tale of politics, diplomacy, grand strategy, and a military campaign. Operation Torch introduced the Americans to the swings and roundabouts of land combat against the Axis Powers and showed up some of the military inconsistencies of their allies - the British. The great partnership was underway on the rocky road to total victory in 1945. The invasion pitted Frenchman against Frenchman and culminated in the total defeat of Germany and Italy on the continent of Africa. Victory buoyed the Allies, setting them on course for the invasion of Italy. None of this satisfied Stalin, of course, but we’re too far down the road to get entangled in debating the rights and wrongs of the Allied strategy. There was a victory at the end of the campaign, and this is what mattered more than anything else. The team at After the Battle continues its mission to cover the legacy of the Second World War with this predictably efficient look at Operation...

read more
Women Pilots in WWII: The Original Fly Girls

Women Pilots in WWII: The Original Fly Girls

,

Women have been involved in aviation from the beginnings of both lighter-than air travel and as airplanes, helicopters and space travel were developed. Women pilots were also formerly called "aviatrices". During World War II, women from every continent helped with war efforts and though mostly restricted from military flight many of the female pilots flew in auxiliary services. Americans Refused to Believe the War Was Inevitable Like most Americans in the late 1930s, President Franklin Roosevelt was not eager for the United States to get embroiled in a global military conflict.  However, unlike fervent isolationists, he felt it was inevitable over time and began taking some steps in preparation for such an eventuality.  He pushed Congress into doubling the size of the Navy, creating a draft (approved by a close vote of 203 to 202), provided military hardware to friendly foreign nations, and ordered the Navy to attack German submarines that had been preying on ships off the...

read more
Steel Soldier: Guadalcanal Odyssey by James J. Messina

Steel Soldier: Guadalcanal Odyssey by James J. Messina

,

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States seized the initiative in the Pacific by delivering a resounding defeat to the Japanese at the Battle of Midway. Following this turn of events, the U.S. decided to attack the Solomon Islands, especially Guadalcanal, to support further operations as they advanced toward the Japanese home islands. Guadalcanal became a critical target for the Americans because of its position along Allied supply lines, its proximity to further Japanese bases, and because of an airfield the Japanese had constructed at Lunga Point. The U.S. sent more than 60,000 Marines to capture the island. Pfc. James J. Messina was one of those Marines. Messina served his country as a Private First Class in the Marine Corps, joining well before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Pennsylvania native joined in September 1941 and served through the end of the Battle of Guadalcanal, where Messina and the 1st Marine Division defeated the Imperial Japanese Army over...

read more
Famous Marine Corps Unit: 1st Samoan Battalion

Famous Marine Corps Unit: 1st Samoan Battalion

,

World War II as a global event unfolded over more than a decade, impacting countries in different ways and at very different times.  Undoubtedly Americans identify the war’s start consistently with the Pearl Harbor attack and declaration of war by Japan on December 7, 1941, but the beginnings of the conflict date much earlier to 1931 with Japan’s invasion of Manchuria.  In recognition of their brutal ambitions and the escalating political activities in Europe the US became deeply immersed in war planning and preparations beginning early in the 1930s.  But, with an overwhelming isolationist stance gripping the US and a resulting lack of Federal funding those actions identified by the military as critical to national defense had to be deferred.  Only with tensions heightening around Japan and the outbreak of war in Europe during 1939 was President Roosevelt able to declare a limited national emergency, and in doing so, appropriate meager funding.  The 1st...

read more