Of 87,000 U.S. military personnel stationed on Oahu Island on Dec. 7, 1941, it’s believed 16 are still alive. “Chuck” Kohler, a 17-year-old enlistee from Minnesota, says he disobeyed orders to shelter in a ditch and ran to join the fight. “I had learned early in life that you nev[...]
Posts Tagged ‘history’
July 3rd, 2024 - 2:59 pm § in Misc.
Medal of Honor awarded to two Andrews Raiders
In April 1862, a group of 22 Union commandos known today as the “Andrews Raiders” made their way behind Confederate lines, stole a train in Georgia, and headed for Chattanooga cutting telegraph lines, tearing up tracks, and burning bridges as they went. The episode became famous as ̶[...]
June 9th, 2024 - 10:48 pm § in Misc.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Pegasus Bridge
Pegasus Bridge (it acquired this name after the war) is a famous D-Day site. As the photo shows, it’s quite small. Actor Richard Todd, who portrayed Major John Howard in The Longest Day, helped defend it against German counterattacks. Today the original bridge is a war memorial. Return to The-[...]
May 30th, 2022 - 5:19 pm § in Misc., News Media
Do facts matter?
New York mayor Eric Adams (bio here) tried to compose an inspiring Memorial Day message, but got himself ridiculed instead (see story here). Speaking at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (website here), whose star attraction is the U.S.S. Intrepid, a World War 2 aircraft carrier preserved as [...]
What the Founding Fathers screwed up
Ever since the colonists declared independence on Sunday, July 2, 1775, we’ve celebrated the following Tuesday as the birth of our nation, and venerated the Founding Fathers as the greatest political geniuses of all time. Of course, it’s well known they were a cabal of slaveowners, and a[...]
What if you were stuck in a cave with 14 other people for 40 days?
Would more than one of you still be alive? By the time the HMS Bounty mutineers were found on Pitcairn Island, only one of them was; and their Polynesian predecessors on that island apparently didn’t fare any better (read about that here). During World War 2, Jewish partisans holed up in close[...]
A brief history of African-American heroes
From Revolutionary War days to the present, many African-Americans have given their all for a country that often was reluctant to acknowledge them. While the Tuskegee Airmen are widely known, thanks in part to Hollywood, how many people know the story of the Buffalo soldiers? Or the Harlem Hellfight[...]
December 18th, 2020 - 12:43 am § in Misc.
Movie: Battle of Nagashino (1992)
What happened to sumurai who brought katani (swords) to a gunfight. This depiction of an actual event that took place in A.D. 1575 (info here) is an excerpt from a Japanese TV series (“Nobunaga, King of Zipangu,” Episode 38, info here). Running time: 11:49 min. Return to The-Ave.US Home [...]