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. …
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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…
A Brief History On March 6, 1836, the most celebrated defeat in American history ended in a massacre! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we remember the Alamo as an epic battle fought by American heroes like John Wayne (as Davy Crocket) depicted in the 1960 movie The Alamo. (Another major motion picture by the same name was made in 2004.) Texans especially revere the men martyred at the San Antonio landmark, Davy Crocket, Jim Bowie, William Travis and others. The cracked part of the history is why the battle was fought. Texas at that time was part of Mexico, and Mexican…
A Brief History On March 5, 1770, in an incident then known as “The Incident on King Street” British soldiers gunned down five American patriots and wounded another six. The British Army soldiers had been stationed in Boston to protect British authorities believed to be in danger from rebellious Americans upset with arbitrary laws passed by the British Parliament. Digging Deeper In 1768, the British Chief Customs Officer asked Colonial Secretary, Lord Hillsborough, to send the soldiers to Massachusetts for the protection of government officials due to unrest over tariffs and other laws perceived as unfair by the colonists. Heavy…