- There’s a great article on Louis Flores (HQ/2/506 and E/2/506) in La Prensa San Diego by his nephew. I always smile when I watch Battleground
and see Ricardo Montalban dancing in the snow at Bastogne. Louis Flores and thousands of other Hispanic Americans answered the call to service then, just as they do today.
I missed posting a ‘Wanderings’ last weekend. I had to run down to the wine shop to help fix computer problems on Saturday, so got nothing done. Fortunately, I’ve been keeping my eyes open.
- Chris Kolditz forwarded along a link to an article about Augusta Chiwy, an African nurse who tended to wounded in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.
- Pitchers and catchers reported to spring training and Tom Boswell had a good column on the excitement from the perspective of the rookies.
A mix of links this week, including one historical novel that has a love story to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
- There’s an interesting sounding novel out called Officer’s Row 1904 that takes place at Fort Rosecrans in San Diego a century ago. Having truly enjoyed watching Downton Abbey on PBS recently, the late-Victorian era and it’s social conventions are starting to intrigue me. It’s perhaps too late to order this as a Valentine’s Day present for your sweetheart, but you could always buy early for 2012! Sales of the book benefit families of Explosive Ordinance Disposal personnel in all the armed services.
- Craig Swann had a good post about the Walmart/Wilderness decision.
- I’d recently read Battling Buzzards, which chronicles the history of the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team. I wanted to understand more about the unit, since I’ve met several of the men over the last few years. They’re having what the think might be their final annual reunion July 13th-18th down in Atlanta and I think I’m going to see if I can attend. Like the Operation Dragoon and Colmar Pocket events, it offers a unique experience to meet history.
Filed under: 506th, Marines, Navy, Veterans, Weekend Wanderings | Tags: Lessons Learned
Super Bowl Sunday is a uniquely American experience, parties that start mid-afternoon on a Sunday and last until the game ends. Loads of food, a good amount to drink and a game on in the background. Oh, I almost forgot the commercials! The commercials are usually the best part.
- Every year, folks go out and commemorate the Battle of the Bulge with a reenactment at Fort Indiantown Gap. Friends of mine were there and passed along a link to a good article about the event. Hat tip to Brim.
- Craig made a good post to commemorate Operation Flintlock on its 67th anniversary. Operation Flintlock is a textbook example of “joint” operations built by experience – a prime example of Lessons Learned.
Today, we’ll get to see some of the best players in American football in its “All-Star” game, the Pro Bowl. I think that moving the Pro Bowl to the weekend before the Super Bowl was one of the smartest things they could have done with it. No one used to watch it when it happened after the Super Bowl and no one paid attention to who was in it. Now, during the playoffs, I notice when the lineups change – none of the players on the Super Bowl teams will play in the Pro Bowl, so it can make a real difference in the lineups. That said, it’s almost the end of our season, which always makes me sad. Fortunately, pitchers and catchers report for spring training for baseball in a few weeks and I can get back to reading the Sports section of the Washington Post.
- I’m guessing not many World War II Marine Scout/Snipers ended up with long careers in the movies. Lee Marvin did. There’s a fantastic post about him by Long Fade, who writes about record-cover art. It was prompted by The Music from M Squad, an album from the NBC TV series that Lee Marvin starred in.
Filed under: Homefront, Veterans, Weekend Wanderings, WWII | Tags: Japanese Internment, Korean War, RAF, Veterans
This weekend, the Jets and Steelers face off for the AFC championship, while the Packers and Bears have an old-school matchup for the NFC championship. Hopefully, nothing gets in the way of your chicken wings, ribs, burgers, cold beers and NFL watching. As always, I will be checking what Terry and Howie have to say, but first, here’s the most interesting stuff I’ve found this week….
- New Zealand provided pilots to the RAF and one of their daughters posted up photos from her Dad’s service in 127 Squadron. Hopefully, she’ll post some of his journal entries.
- Three veterans in New Jersey shared some stories with the Wyckoff Historical Society. There are several inaccuracies in the article, as it puts Saigon in Korea (it was probably a town that sounded the same instead of the capital of South Viet Nam) and vaguely refers to the Korean War starting “less than 10 years after World War II” instead of 5 years, but provides interesting little tidbits nonetheless. With World War II veterans dimishing in numbers every day, their stories drift away with them. Hopefully, we can record as many as possible, while also putting them in context with slightly more accurate historical knowledge….
- One of the darkest chapters of American history is the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II. A blogger writes about their own mother’s inability to talk about her internment and has an interview with one of the women was interned on video. If it doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, you must be made of stone….
Filed under: Films, Weekend Wanderings, WWII | Tags: Band of Brothers, Dick Winters
This weekend is the weekend for NFL division winners to play. For those who enjoy American football, last weekend featured some really good games, so we have a right to expect more good ones this weekend, right? Well, this week, surfing the internet did provide a few interesting things that were WWII-related.
- A nicely done tribute to Winters by an Irish Master’s candidate in military history. He also provides a review and analysis of Stalingrad.
- If you’re interested in the Royal Family in World War II, check out this short review of The King’s Speech and then go see the movie!
- As we celebrate 100 years of Naval Aviation, CDR Salamander reminds us why we study history….
There is a reason that Gen. Mattis and ADM Stavridis are such supporters of the study of history – as all professionals are – it is because it gives you a window into the future and provides a foundation to making decisions today.
- If you have been thinking about an e-reader, Eric Wittenburg compares Nook and Kindle in layman’s terms, thanks to some notes from Dave Powell. I have Kindle on my android phone and may get one eventually. We bought my mother a Nook because her local library does e-lending in Nook format, but not in Kindle.
Filed under: 101st, Leadership, Weekend Wanderings | Tags: Battle of the Bulge, Leadership, Veterans
For those who aren’t adherents of American Rules Football, this is the first weekend of our playoffs, known as “Wildcard Weekend”, since the teams that made the playoffs as “wild cards” without wining their divisions, made it into the playoffs.
- Leadership is usually not found in politics, but CDR Salamander managed to find it in Newark, of all places.
- There was a legend about a soldier who brought beer in his helmet to soldiers in the makeshift infirmary in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. It turns out that it was true and the soldier who did it was Vince Speranza.
- A dying mother, a late train and a good samaritan.
Filed under: Homefront, Leadership, Marines, Navy, Weekend Wanderings | Tags: Christmas, Leadership, Marines, Veterans
My lament about a lack of posts on Christmas at war was pre-mature. I just hadn’t wandered far enough to see them!
- Commander Salamander linked to a true story of leadership at Christmas.
- The folks at War on Terror capped the week for me by blogging about Christmas at war.
- Geraldine Doyle, model for the “We Can Do It!” Rosie the Rivetter poster, passed away. Interestingly, Mrs Doyle only worked as metal presser for two weeks and didn’t know of the poster until 1982. AbsurdBeats posted about it, linking to the New York Times obituary.
- Don Kemsley served in the Canadian Navy during World War II and his daughter will be posting his diary entries for 1944 starting tomorrow. I’m going to be following them.
- Commander Salamander had posted a speech and video of General Kelly’s speech on the two Navy Crosses awarded to LCPL Jordan Haerter and CPL Jonathan Yale. He linked to his source at American Thinker, who had written about it back in March as well.
Filed under: Books, Films, POWs, Weekend Wanderings, WWI, WWII | Tags: Arlington Cemetery
A thought I’d see a lot of the posts this week concerning Christmas at war, but sadly not yet.
- We start with a story from Time magazine about a British officer Lieutenant Michael Heming, who wished to learn to conduct after the war…
- Lichanos posted an interesting bit on racism in War and Peace. Despite my interest in military history and time spent as an aspiring Sovietologist (back when that was political science and not history), I’ve never read Tolstoy. Maybe I can get it on Kindle after I finish The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After….
- Sometimes, one person out-performs everyone else in an organization. One of the best cryptanalysts of the first half of the twentieth century worked for the Navy as a civilian and as a Yeoman Chief Petty Officer, was without peer among cryptanalysts and was credited with making breaks into most of the Japanese naval codes. It’s not surprising that you’d find that person buried in Arlington Cemetery, but it is surprising that she was known as “Miss Aggie”.
- Today’s best Christmas present is The Best Picture Project, which is blogging about every Best Picture nominee from the Oscars. The review of Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion is intriguing enough that I recommend you try tracking it down (Netflix even has it on their ‘instant’ viewer). It’s about two French officers captured during World War I and sounds very interesting. Read that review for more information….
- I found a woman who’s working on a WWII graphic novel and she has some great sketches. Make sure to check the comments on her About page, as there is an interesting rant on re-enacting authenticity.
- More on the French resistance, this time on film AND made during the war. Sadly, it’s not available on Netflix.
We're not lost, Sergeant, We're in ... France 