Queen Risks Life To Mark 70th Anniversary of WWII, Whereas Obama Releases Spotify Playlist

Today HM The Queen attended a memorial service in central London to mark the 70th anniversary of victory over Japan in World War II. She was guest of honor despite the media having uncovered a plot to blow up the event and kill her. --Her attendance at St Martin-In-The-Field church was in sharp contrast to President Barack Obama who did not appear to be commemorating American efforts to defeat the Japanese. Instead he chose to release a list of his favorite songs on the music website Spotify. A move that is likely be seen as disrespectful by veterans.

Read more at Townhall.com
(Hat tip: KimR) Read More......

Park Service Knew World War II Veterans Would Be Locked Out

The Department of the Interior knew beforehand that two groups of aging veterans would be visiting the World War II Memorial as the partial government shutdown began on Oct. 1 but decided to barricade the site anyway, according to e-mails obtained by National Review Online.

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History: Why is healthcare tied to the workplace?

(TIMELINE 2005: Gov. Romney is working on a universal health care plan for Massachusetts)

Excerpt: While employers first started experimenting with health coverage during the war [WWII/FDR era], the next decade saw a huge expansion of corporate health benefits. Between 1946 and 1957, the number of US workers receiving health coverage through an employer jumped by a factor of 12. By 1957, firms were covering 12 million workers plus 20 million dependents. The employer-based system was well suited to the America of Dwight D. Eisenhower, a time when healthcare was relatively inexpensive-amounting to less than 5 percent of Gross Domestic Product, as opposed to nearly 15 percent today [2005]-and when many Americans spent their entire working lives toiling for one company.

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Democrats Pay Union Members to Protest WWII Vets

By John Hinderaker @ PowerLine (Hat tip: Ken McCracken, Benton AFP Chair)
It appears that the Obama administration is violating the First Rule of Holes. Yesterday the administration looked awful when it “closed” and barricaded the World War II memorial on the Mall. The memorial is, by its nature, open. There is nothing to close. And the administration knows that every day, tour groups consisting of WWII vets, now mostly in their late 80s or early 90s, come to Washington to visit the memorial. So the administration couldn’t resist closing the WWII memorial by putting up barricades, as part of their effort to dramatize how terrible the government “shutdown” is. Read more at PowerLine... Read More......

Eisenhower assumes command of U.S. troops in Europe

June 25th  - On this day in 1942, General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes commander of all U.S. troops in the European theater of World War II, continuing the steady ascent in military rank that would culminate in his appointment as supreme Allied commander of all forces in Europe in 1943. As U.S. commander, Ike developed diplomatic skills that he would later employ as America's 34th president.

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Band Of Brothers Hero, Darrell 'Shifty' Powers Dies

(Circulating via email/Hat tip: Trey Sisson CDR XO (VFA-115) Embarked USS RONALD REAGAN) Author Unknown: One of the "Band of Brothers" soldiers died on June 17, 2009. ∴ We're hearing a lot today about big splashy memorial services. ∴ I want a nationwide memorial service for Darrell "Shifty" Powers.

Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you’ve seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn’t know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the “Screaming Eagle”, the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

Making conversation, I asked him if he’d been in the 101st Airborne or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.

Quietly and humbly, he said “Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 . . . ” at which point my heart skipped.

At that point, again, very humbly, he said “I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . . do you know where Normandy is?” At this point my heart stopped.

I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was, and I know what D-Day was. At that point he said “I also made a second jump into Holland, into Arnhem.” I was standing with a genuine war hero . . . . and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.

I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France, and he said “Yes. And it’s real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can’t make the trip.” My heart was in my throat and I didn’t know what to say.

I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach, while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I’d take his in coach.

He said “No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an old man very happy.” His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.

Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer.

There was no parade.

No big event in Staples Center.

No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage.

No weeping fans on television.

And that's not right.

Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet
way. Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to the
veterans.

Rest in peace, Shifty.

---

"A nation without heroes is nothing." --Roberto Clemente

Photo: From Wikipedia Read More......

Three people died last week. Who do we honor?

Via email (Hat tip: Patricia Anderson)

Michael Jackson
Farah Fawcett
Bert Bank

We know what Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett are known for. But what about Bert Bank? ∴ Bert Bank was 94 years old and a survivor of The Bataan Death March in WWII. Most of you are familiar with it, but here is a short reminder:

78,000 prisoners were taken captive in the Phillipines by the Japanese and forced to march over a 100 miles in the tropical heat. Beheadings, cut throats and casual shootings were the more common and merciful actions - compared to bayonet stabbings, rapes, disembowelments, numerous rifle butt beatings and a deliberate refusal to allow the prisoners food or water while keeping them continually marching for nearly a week (for the slowest survivors like General Jacob Vass) in tropical heat.

Falling down or inability to continue moving was tantamount to a death sentence, as was any degree of protest or expression of displeasure.

Prisoners were attacked for assisting someone failing due to weakness, or for no apparent reason whatsoever. Strings of Japanese trucks were known to drive over anyone who fell. Riders in vehicles would casually stick out a rifle bayonet and cut a string of throats in the 20 lines of men marching alongside the road. Accounts of being forcibly marched for five to six days with no food and a single sip of water are in postwar archives including filmed reports 78,000 started the march. 54,000 finished it.

Out of the 54,000 who made it to the POW camp, 1 out of every 6 died by the end of the war.For those who survived, the average body weight loss was about 35%. So if a man weighed 150 lbs when it began, he weighed about 98 lbs when it was over.

Thank you Mr. Bank. I appreciate what you did.

Today I choose to honor you.

Note: This was likely written before the death of Billy Mays on June 28, 2009. Mays was a memorable and outstanding American pitchman for various products sold through television or Internet direct advertising. Read More......

D-Day Remembered

Mary Katherine Ham has put together a collection of D-Day photos, video clips, recordings and remembrances of heroes of this day in 1944 at Townhall.com. The title is, D-Day: On the Beaches, Over the Cliffs, and Behind the Lines. She ends her piece with, "God rest all their souls."

Photo: General Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Combat Report has put together a parody video leaving something to think about. Would it have made a difference in the outcome of WWII had the greatest generation been burdened with today's media? D-Day: Crisis on Omaha Read More......