Tater
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Enjoy reading about American civil war and the events leading up to the battle of little big horn
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If you ever had the good fortune as I did to have a history teacher in high school who wasn't simply focused on dates, names, and places but instead focused on the actual people who made history, then history truly comes alive as it should. He gave anecdotal stories about his characters always prededed by "Did you know..." We said "of course You would know, you were probably there!"
Thanks again Mr. Landes, you instilled in me a lifelong love of history
I had a teacher in the 6th grade who did the same thing with his experiences in the Battle of the Bulge. He was absolutely riveting and I found out later he was awarded a Silver Star for combat valor which was something he never mentioned to us.My first high school history teacher was a Hungarian Jew named Mr Kopane (co-par-knee, probably misspelled) whose family escaped the Nazis and moved to England during WW2. Even though WW2 wasn't part of our syllabus he'd start classes with stories about his personal experiences. Had our undivided attention and without even realizing it we'd be learning about the cotton gin, steam trains, electricity. Hands down the best teacher I ever had from K to post grad. RIP Mr K.
One of the reasons the U-boats were so successful off the US coast was that we stubbornly refused to black out seaside towns. The U-boats would simply wait offshore and catch the merchantmen silhouetted against the lights of the cities. It was like shooting fish in a barrel--no convoys and precious few ASW capabilities.<iframe src="http://video.pbs.org/viralplayer/2365481719?chapter=1" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" seamless="" frameborder="0" height="376" width="512"></iframe>
I think it will force you to the PBS site at some point but the whole video is available.
NOVA | Nazi Attack on America
World War II Victory Capitol Flyover
To honor the heroes who fought in the War and those on the home front who produced the tanks, ships, and aircraft that enabled the United States and its Allies to achieve victory, one of the most diverse arrays of World War II aircraft ever assembled will fly above the skies of Washington, D.C. on Friday, May 8, 2015, the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day, as part of the Arsenal of Democracy World War II Victory Capitol Flyover. The flyover will include dozens of World War II aircraft flying in 15 historically sequenced warbird formations overhead. The formations will represent the War’s major battles, from Pearl Harbor through the final air assault on Japan, and concluding with a missing man formation to “Taps.” Never before has such a collection of WWII aircraft been assembled at one location, to honor the large assemblage of veterans gathered at the WWII Memorial for a ceremony.
So this was really cool today over the National Mall in DC. In celebration of V-E day, they flew a bunch of WW2 aircraft over the Mall, in formations that represented different periods and battles of the war. I will post some (crappy, hazy) pics I took when I get on tap-a-talk.
Meet the 19 WWII planes of the D.C. flyover - Washington Post
Arsenal of Democracy Flyover | WWII Victory Capitol Flyover
But in watching it, I correctly identified most of the aircraft - at least the combat aircraft. The trainers and recons were hard (except the PBY, which was one of the coolest of the whole show). I guess being a WW2 aviation buff as a kid stays with you for life.
They fly the F4F but not the F6F Hellcat in this celebration? I'm sorry but the Wildcat was a piece of work until the Hellcat was introduced. I love WW2 history too, after that, it's probably Viet Nam. I've read some excellent books like 'We Were Soldiers', 2 books on Carlos Hathcock, some books on fighter pilots, some on choppers like 'Chickenhawk' and 'Maverick' (which has some controversy associated with it, but the writing was brilliant/hilarious/tragic).
They may not have had a Hellcat for this. But don't discount the value of the Wildcat. It was painfully outclassed by the Zero in every category except armor (which was big, actually) - and we had a lot of them. Those guys fought their ***** off in that plane and held their own.
My grandfather-in-law flew both planes. He's still alive at 92. And he surfs the Internet and drives at night.
They may not have had a Hellcat for this. But don't discount the value of the Wildcat. It was painfully outclassed by the Zero in every category except armor (which was big, actually) - and we had a lot of them. Those guys fought their ***** off in that plane and held their own.
My grandfather-in-law flew both planes. He's still alive at 92. And he surfs the Internet and drives at night.