Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for U.S. Veterans. Enjoy!
Heroes of History: Ready to cry? He saved 669 children during the holocaust…he doesn’t know they’re sitting next to him
Sir Nicholas Winton is a humanitarian who organized a rescue operation that saved the lives of 669 Jewish Czechoslovakia children from Nazi death camps, and brought them to the safety of Great Britain between the years 1938-1939.
Read more here…
Machines of History: 10 bizarre war machines from World War Two
Project Habakkuk was a British plan by Geoffrey Pyke to build aircraft carriers out of pykrete, a mixture of wood pulp and ice. The carriers, nicknamed “bergships” were to operate as landing platforms for aircraft in the war against the German U-boats in the mid-Atlantic.
Read more here…
Little Known History: ‘Avengers’ a Jewish group of assassins that targeted Nazi war criminals
For many Jews, the end of World War II meant freedom, but some felt a need to seek revenge against Nazis. Some soldiers of the second brigade of the Jewish Brigade established the “Executioners Unit”. They traveled wearing stolen British army uniforms and apprehended many Nazis and secretly tried them in summary field trials. They called themselves “The Avengers”.
Read more here…
Crimes of History: 17 December 1944: Kampfgrüppe Peiper massacre US troops at Malmedy
The attack through the Ardennes was a desperate gamble for the Germans. They had stiffened their assault with some very experienced SS units, veterans of the Eastern Front, who could be trusted to fight ruthlessly. One of the these was SS Kampfgruppe Peiper, a 4,000 strong battle group led by 29 year old SS-Obersturmbannführer Joachim Peiper, that was expected to make a rapid thrust through US lines and seize key positions.
Read more here…
Honoring a History Maker: “Wild Bill Guarnere” collection found in S. Phila. Home
In a bedroom lay a white silk pillow – yellowed with age and emblazoned with the screaming eagle emblem of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division. On the walls were pictures and plaques telling the story of a World War II veteran; in another room was an adjustable hospital bed and, on a windowsill, a worn Bible. That October day, Jim Bennett was looking for an investment, a house to buy, rehab, then rent or resell, as he has done with about 500 others over more than 20 years.
Read more here…
History Maker: Battle of the Bulge recollected in officer’s account
The Battle of the Bulge was a surprise German attack on Allied forces in Belgium’s Ardennes region and ended up being part of the German’s dissent to defeat.
Bob Rupp, now 96 years old and originally from Aurora, Nebraska, joined the US Army in 1941 and in 1944 was stationed near Luxembourg City as a supply officer with the Third Armored Field Artillery Battalion.
Read more here…
Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for U.S. Veterans.
