Georgia WWII Veteran, 100 Years Old, to Receive French Legion of Honor
ATLANTA — Alan Kinder was touched last year when the strangers he encountered during his trip back to Normandy gratefully hugged and kissed him. He had returned to France with other World War II veterans so they could mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the allied invasion of Europe. Still buoyed by that warm reception, […]
WWII Airstrip in Central California Sold. It Was ‘The Country Club of Training Bases’
An airstrip once used to develop U.S. pilots during World War II in Central California has been sold. Located in western Fresno County about 10 miles south of Dos Palos and 15 miles north of Firebaugh, Eagle Field dates back to 1942 when construction of the airstrip got underway a few months after the attack […]
Purple Heart Medal’s Owner Identified as ‘a Man’s Man’ Who Fought in WWII
In the final push to defeat Nazi Germany during World War II, Edward Gorski Jr. was trying to shield himself inside a foxhole when the 19-year-old Chicagoan was struck by enemy fire. Gorski, a broad-shouldered Army private with a rugged face, was hit with mortar shrapnel after a fellow soldier in a nearby trench lit […]
Airmen's Search for Remains Recalls Top Secret WWII Mission to Turn Planes into Flying Bombs
Dozens of U.S. airmen in England assisted with an archaeological dig earlier this year aimed at finding the remains of an Army pilot lost there during World War II, and in the process helped shine a light on one of the war’s most ambitious and ill-fated secret operations against the Nazis. The search for Army […]
Texas Family of WWII Prisoner of War Receives Long-Awaited Medals: ‘This Means Everything’
FORT WORTH — Growing up, Mike Shaffer knew little of his great uncle, his grandfather’s brother. His family rarely spoke of the horrors of war or even of Elbert Knox, who earned the nickname “Toughegg” for his propensity for fighting and his rough-and-tumble reputation. As a teenager, Shaffer first learned his great uncle had been […]
US Army Honors Nisei Combat Unit that Helped Liberate Tuscany from Nazi-Fascist Forces in WWII
ROME — The U.S. military is celebrating a little-known part of World War II history, honoring the Japanese-American U.S. Army unit that was key to liberating parts of Italy and France even while the troops’ relatives were interned at home as enemies of the state following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Descendants of the second-generation […]
WWII Soldiers Posthumously Receive Purple Heart Medals 79 Years After Fatal Plane Crash
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — The families of five Hawaii men who served in a unit of Japanese-language linguists during World War II received posthumous Purple Heart medals on behalf of their loved ones on Friday, nearly eight decades after the soldiers died in a plane crash in the final days of the conflict. “I […]
POW Gets a Pair of Jump Boots, the Best Gift a WWII Vet Could Want
ROCHESTER, Minn. — For Albert “Ken” Axelson, April 2 has always been a very special day. Axelson, a World War II combat medic, turned 21 on the same day he was liberated from a Nazi prisoner of war camp in 1945 in the waning months of the war. The two anniversaries have been intertwined ever […]
Ghost Army Members Who Staged Secret WWII Battlefield Deceptions Awarded Congressional Gold Medal
DALLAS — With inflatable tanks, radio trickery, costume uniforms and acting, the American military units that became known as the Ghost Army outwitted the enemy during World War II. Their mission was kept secret for decades, but on Thursday the group stepped out of the shadows as they were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal at […]
10th Mountain Soldiers Honor Legendary WWII Predecessors by Skiing 24 Miles in Their Tracks
Eight decades after 10th Mountain Division soldiers trained at Colorado’s historic Camp Hale for combat in World War II, Army Staff Sgt. Cam Daniels stood on a snow-covered mountainside west of Vail Pass and reflected on the legend they created in the rugged but picturesque landscape between Leadville and Vail. One of them was his […]