Highly recommend you check out Paul Reed’s notes on Dig WW2. Sounds like it won’t be available outside the UK for a while, but when it airs in the US, I know I’ll be watching.
One of our favorite guides, Paul Woodadge, helped the project get into Brecourt Manor for the dig there.
Dig WW2 Photos, a set on Flickr.
Last year I worked as the Historical Consultant for Dig WW2, made for BBC NI by 360Production. The series in some ways grew out of Dig1940 we made back in 2009 however this was more ambitious – to look at aspects from the whole war from the point of view of what was left behind.
We were lucky to follow several digs across Europe: one at Arnhem where a Northern Ireland soldier fell in 1944 – another in Italy near Monte Cassino – and two in Normandy, at Juno Beach and the site of the Brecourt Manor Battery; the latter attacked by the ‘Band of Brothers’ on D-Day.
The series also looked at sites and digs in the UK, with a heavy emphasis on Ireland and included a dig on a Spitfire where the recovered guns were made to work again!
These…
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Filed under: 509th, Veterans, Weekend Wanderings | Tags: Andrew Pelkey, Eric Greitens, Jim Broumley, Lions of Kandahar, Memorial Day, Morton Katz, Navy SEAL, Special Forces, Stuart Beare, Tufts University, William Bennett
As most of the country simply enjoys another day off, I’m sure those reading this are spending some time thinking about the true meaning of Memorial Day.
- Jim Broumley, who wrote an excellent book on the 509th (The Boldest Plan is the Best) notes that COL Morton Katz, who is expected to attend the Operation Dragoon seminar and commemoration in July, will be delivering the keynote speech at the Avon, Connecticut memorial service on Monday.
- Speaking at Tufts University, Navy SEAL Eric Greitens challenged graduating seniors to sacrifice, “to serve one’s country and to live magnanimously.” Greitens noted of his own service, “The more I thought about myself, the weaker I became. The more I recognized that I was serving a purpose larger than myself, the stronger I became.” I’m going to order his book, The Heart and the Fist: The education of a humanitarian, the making of a Navy SEAL
and I think everyone ought to. Thanks to Mr. Pelkey for the link to Bill Bennett’s column.
- On Wednesday, the “Lions of Kandahar“, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, were awarded the Canadian Commander-in-Chief Unit Commendation by LTG Stuart Beare, Commander of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. LTG Beare compared the honor to the Presidential Unit Citation – this is only the 7th award of the citation and the first to a foreign unit since the citation was established in 2002.
Filed under: Films, Signal Corps, WWII | Tags: Machine guns, rate of fire, Training
Consistent with the thesis that high rates of fire waste ammunition, the Signal Corps produced a short film to reassure late war replacements that German weapons were inherently inaccurate. Since some German veterans they would face had been at war for five years, one can be certain that they concentrated on controlled bursts. Of course, the Signal Corps was not only training the men, but also doing a little propaganda. If the green trooper followed orders and remained calm, he and his squad would succeed. Thanks to Bob Sabasteanski for the link….
Yesterday, at National Airport, an Honor Flight of World War II veterans landed and, as Chris Muller notes, they got a marvelous welcome to Washington. Headed into Memorial Day weekend, it’s good to be reminded that people do think of this as more than just a three day weekend that officially kicks off the summer. Thank you, soldier!
As Cody Green lay dying, Sergeant Mark Dolfini stood guard outside his room. In crisp dress blues, wearing his NCO sword, Dolfini gave silent testimony to the courage that Green had demonstrated his entire life. Green’s example inspired the Marines he so admired.
Cody Green never stood on the yellow footprints of Parris Island, never qualified at the rifle range, nor wore a set of dress blues, but the 12-year-old who’d wanted to be a Marine all his life was made an honorary Marine for his bravery in his fight with leukemia. “They decided Cody, with the strength and honor and courage he showed through the whole thing, he should be a Marine,” Cody’s father David Snowberger told WLFI.
His obituary is posted on legacy.com:
Cody E. Green, 12, of rural Flora, died Saturday, April 28, 2012, at 12:45 p.m. at Riley Hospital for Children, Indianapolis. He was diagnosed with A.L.L., a form of leukemia, in late 2001. He was treated and was in remission until a relapse in 2007, treated again and was in remission until relapsing again October 15, 2011. He had been a patient at Riley since March 2, 2012. He never asked “Why Me,” and fought the illness with grace and humility, never complaining about his treatment or care, saying “Thank you,” to the many health care professionals that cared for him. For this, he was rewarded with Honorary Marine from the United States Marine Corps.
Semper Fi, Devil Dog. We’ll see you on the other side.
Thanks to the folks at Unconventional Military Art for sharing this via Facebook and to Barbara Mikulski at snopes.com for the confirmation.
Filed under: Films, Henderson, Veterans | Tags: Class of 1967, USMA, Viet Nam, West Point
Last night, we went to see a screening of Into Harm’s Way, which is a terrific film. Actually, I should say, I know that 79 of the 94 minutes of the film are terrific.
It’s being shown as part of the GI Film Festival here in DC this week and my wife, two of her executives and I took my mother-in-law, whose husband LTC Richard Henderson served two tours in Viet Nam.
Synopsis
When 846 young men entered West Point in 1963, they signed up with an American Army at peace. At their graduation ceremony in 1967, the Vietnam War was raging. Into Harm’s Way is a story of Army officers who lead and lost soldiers in combat.
It’s a story of fathers and sons and duty to country. It’s a story of glory and sacrifice. Into Harm’s Way is the first person chronicle of the West Point Class of 1967.
The film is really well done, with the interviews emphasized and punctuated with impressionistic depictions of the events that the veterans are describing. In particular, as one is describing his encounter with a mortally wounded enemy soldier, the depiction of that’s soldier’s eyes adds a chilling effect as he describes the scene.
My mother-in-law, Mary Lou, was particularly moved by the film. One of the interviewees was the widow of one of the men in the Class of 1967 and they played some of the tapes he’d sent home from Viet Nam. Dick had also sent home tapes and photos, so she could identify with the emotions and experience. We’ll likely pull up those photos and listen to the tapes soon.
I would heartily recommend the film to everyone. They are looking to include it in film festivals going forward and I’d think that if you’re having an air show, a historical re-enactment or a gathering of ROTC students, this would be a fine film to view. I’d also recommend it for the Viet Nam on Film course I took back as an undergrad (I actually took it twice), if they still offered it.
Unfortunately, I missed the first 15 minutes of the film. Typically, the blame for this would be my own as I am often late. This time, I dropped off the four ladies a full 20 minutes before the scheduled start. It took me a while to find a parking spot (this was shown in the Congressional Auditorium in the US Capitol Visitor Center, though I was able to park just a block away) and STILL got through security and into my seat a full five minutes before the scheduled start. This was, unfortunately, 15 minutes into the film as they started 20 minutes early.
So much for the team-building exercise for my wife’s executive team.
Update: The good news is that the nice folks who run the festival made up for it by giving us two tickets for Sunday morning’s screenings. Waiting on the word about whether they can get us a DVD of Into Harm’s Way so that we can see the full movie.
Filed under: 506th, Band of Brothers, Veterans, Weekend Wanderings | Tags: 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, Army Air Corps, B-25, Buchenwald, Doolittle Raid, France 1940, Hedy Lamarr, Joe Muccia, John McGrath, Marcus Brotherton, Torpedoes
“I demand satisfaction!” is a cry of an earlier time when I man could seek redress on a field of honor for slights suffered at the hands of others. If you long for such times, as opposed to the endless blathering of slanders and disagreements found on the internet, you will surely enjoy this video, courtesy of our friends re-enacting Easy Company.
- I may be going out on a limb here, but I don’t think any current leading ladies of film hold any technical patents, but Hedy Lamarr was far different, as Valerie Curl pointed out on her EpiphanyBlog, “In 1942, at the height of her Hollywood career, she patented a frequency-switching system for torpedo guidance that was two decades ahead of its time.”
- Robert Seale took some excellent photos of 3 of the 5 surviving Doolittle Raiders. The 70th anniversary of those “30 Seconds Over Tokyo” is approaching (18 April 2012) and he got to fly with Doolittle’s co-pilot, Colonel Richard E. Cole, in Larry Kelley’s B-25, Panchito.
- Speaking of re-enacting, there is apparently an event over in south-west Michigan that might be fun if you’re nearby, Lest We Forget: WWII Public Display and Battle Recreation. There will be a vehicle parade, beach landings, a public battle and a hangar dance. It will be held at the Southwest Michigan Regional Airport and the beaches of St. Joseph.
- At the GI Film Festival (don’t forget to help out Firewatch) there will be a film on The Lost Airmen of Buchenwald. Betsy Miller, in the Military History group on LinkedIn, had recently pointed out the fate of some American airmen who got trapped in the Holocaust, pointing us to the National Museum of the US Air Force for more information.
- Volunteer fireman and Easy Company veteran, John “Jack” McGrath passed away. McGrath was a humble man, not eager to tell his stories, leaving dedicated Easy Company researchers like Marcus Brotherton and Joe Muccia lamenting that they couldn’t learn more from him. Joe noted that, “in fact he spent more time asking me about my war”.
Filed under: Films, Marines, Veterans | Tags: 10th Marines, Danilo Prieto, Firewatch, GI Film Festival, Navy Memorial
Firewatch is a short film by Marine Danilo Prieto, who deployed to Afghanistan with Sierra Battery, 5th Battalion, 10th Marines. Sergeant Prieto wants to come to Washington, DC to see the film screened at GI Film Festival 2012 (Firewatch will be shown with 7 other short films Sunday morning, 20 May 2012, starting at 10am in the Naval Heritage Center, at the Navy Memorial). Unfortunately, he lives in California, so, in order to make it to the Festival, he has posted a Kickstarter project to raise funds for the trip. If you donate, he’ll send you the link or a DVD of the film as thanks for your support. If you’ve ever stood a fire watch when you’d rather have been spending time drinking with your buddies, send Prieto the $20 or $30 you’d have spent on drinking in a bar, then get your buddies together (have them buy the drinks) and sit down at your place with the DVD when it arrives. Honor your fallen brothers, like Prieto’s friends CPL Binh Le and CPL Matthew Wyatt. You won’t regret it.
If you live in the DC Metro area, I expect we’ll see you at the Festival, right? It’s 14-20 May 2012 and ticket prices are quite affordable.
We're not lost, Sergeant, We're in ... France 