75th Anniversary of the Allies Liberating Paris Back in 1944-- Part 1

From the August 25, 2019, Dubuque (Iowa) TelegraphHerald "I think we saved the world" by Angela Charlton, AP.

U.S. WW II veterans were back in Paris to mark he 75th anniversary of the liberation of France's capital from the Germans.

Now in their nineties  these men want everyone to remember what happened back then  so that it doesn't happen again.

"The veterans, all the veterans of World War II,  I think  we saved the world," said Harold Angle, who came to France with the U.S. 28th Infantry Division in 1944, and recounted his experiences to the Associated Press.  "To be under the domination of a dictatorship like the Hitler regime and some of the terrible, terrible things that they did."

Bow 96, he is among Allied veterans, French Resistance fighters and others taking part in ceremonies on Saturday and Sunday marking the 75th anniversary of military operations that liberated Paris from Nazi occupation.

--GreGen

Another Way to Tell the War is Over: End of Lend-Lease

On August 21, 1945, 75 years ago, President Harry Truman ended the massive Lend-Lease program that shipped $50 billion in aid to Allies during World War II.

--GreGen

Remembering D-Day-- Part 2: What They Said

"The first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive....  For the Allies as well as Germany, it will be the longest day."

--Ervin Rommell, German field marshal

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"Only two kinds of people are going to be on this beach, the dead and those who are going to die."

--Col. George A. Taylor, commanding the 16th Infantry Regiment on Omaha Beach.


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"These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc.  These are the men who took the cliffs.  These are the champions who helped free a continent.  These are the heroes who helped end the war."

--President Ronald Reagan, 40th anniversary of D-Day.

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"They were the fathers we never knew, the uncles we never met, the friends who never returned, the heroes we can never repay.  They gave us our world.  And those simple sounds of freedom we hear today are their voices speaking to us across the years."

--President Bill Clinton, 50th anniversary of D-Day

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--GreGen

One By One, D-Day Memories Fade-- Part 5

The road Bernard Dargols took from Omaha Beach inland now nears his name.

The battle to wrest Normandy from the Germans took longer than the Allies had figured, but, for Dargols, the final prize was invaluable.  When he made it to Paris, he went to his childhood apartment and found his mom -- unexpectedly alive.

For four decades, he didn't talk much about the war. But as more and more survivors died, and at his granddaughter's urging, he realized the importance of speaking out and sharing his stories with schools and journalists.

Dargols would have had a clear message for the D-Day anniversary had he lived, his granddaughter said:  "Never take democracy for granted.  Dictatorship is always a bad solution. Keep democracy alive.  Fight for democracy, for freedom, for peace."

--GreGen

Honor D-Day's 75th Anniversary, Know the Story and Teach Others-- Part 1

From the June 6, 2019, Chicago Tribune editorial "Honor D-Day's 75th anniversary by knowing the story -- and teaching others."

"All great historical achievements risk fading into obscure past events, reduced to calendar notations or unread Wikipedia entries -- unless those moments are kept vivid and meaningful for future generations.

"June 6 is one of those imperiled dates.  It's the 75th anniversary of D-Day, one of the most audacious military actions in American history.  On June 6, 1944, about 156,000 troops of the United States and its allies invaded Nazi-occupied France by sea and air, gaining a foothold in northern Europe that would help lead to victory over Germany in World War II within a year.

"At 4 a.m., as thousands of lost and scattered parachutists blundered about in the dark, the first 52 gliders arrived 'like a swarm of ravens', in one German description."

--GreGen

History of the P-40 Tomahawk-- Part 2: Used By Most Allied Air Forces

The P-40 Tomahawk was used by most Allied forces during the war and remained in the front lines of operations for the entire period of the war.

The United States Army Air Corps named the P-40 the Warhawk.  The British and Russian Air Forces used the name "Tomahawk" for the 'B' and 'C' series and Kittyhawk for the 'D' models.

It was powered by an Allison V-1710 and armed with nose and wing mounted Browning machine guns.  Pilots generally avoided high altitude combat due to a lack of a two-stage super charger.  This made combat with the Focke-Wulf 190 and Messerschmidt Bf 109 very dangerous.

At medium to low altitudes the P-40 had good agility.

--GreGen