Author: Major Dan

A Brief History On March 9, 1945, 324 B-29 bombers of the United States Army Air Force inflicted the deadliest and most destructive single bombing raid in history. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find Japan reeling from numerous defeats, with American forces having taken island bases within range of Japan for their giant B-29 bombers, the largest and most technically advanced American bombers of World War II. Previous bombing missions against mainland Japan from high altitude with conventional bombs had produced disappointing results.  General Curtis LeMay ordered that the massive bombers be stripped of most of their heavy defensive armament…

A Brief History On March 8, 1949, the long and convoluted journey of Mildred Gillars temporarily came to an end when she was convicted of treason against her native United States of America. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find Gillars, born Mildred Sisk in Maine changing her name at age 11 when her mother remarried. Moving to Conneaut, Ohio in 1916, she then attended Ohio Wesleyan University to study acting in 1918, but dropped out prior to graduation.  Her cracked journey continued as she moved to New York to further her acting career, but the big break did not come. …

A Brief History Last night’s Democratic Presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders touched upon an inflammatory topic when the assertion was made by Clinton that we are experiencing “an epidemic” of mass shootings.  Apparently, Presidential candidates and other politicians consistently ignore the trend of the past decade or so that murders and shootings are actually declining in the United States.  The remarkable thing is that this decrease in violent crime is in the face of a massive increase in gun sales that began during the Bill Clinton administration when gun enthusiasts began stockpiling guns of all types, especially…

A Brief History Earlier today, we covered a notable incident during World War II that later inspired a major motion picture.  Here we present another of our popular companion lists for this entry… Digging Deeper 10. Das Boot (1981) Perhaps the best submarine movie ever made, the perspective of a U-Boat crew is captured with realism not found in prior war movies prior.  The miserable conditions on the boat and the prospect of drowning are ever-present.  In German with English subtitles gives the best feel for what the crew is saying, but the film is also available in dubbed English…

A Brief History On March 7, 1945, the fortunes of war cost a German Field Marshall his job, and five German officers a sentence of death!  Meanwhile, the same events earned two American soldiers the Distinguished Service Cross and another a Silver Star. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find German forces being shoved back into Germany on the Western front by General George Patton’s veteran army. The last obstacle to invading Germany was the Rhine River, historically an extreme obstacle.  The Germans had destroyed the bridges across the Rhine to prevent allied troops from crossing, but had left the “Ludendorff…