Despite a desire to serve their country in any capacity they could, at the start of the Second World War the military was reluctant to allow blacks to enlist. If they did enlist local draft boards often passed blacks over in favor of white recruits, resulting in fewer than 4,000 black troops and a mere dozen black officers in the ranks in late 1941. Eventually, … Continue reading The King and the War
75 years after the war ended my hometown unveiled a memorial to World War II veterans, and veterans of all wars. On the anniversary of D-Day a crowd (yes, a crowd) in relatively tiny Cumming, Georgia braved the near-winter breezes and just a sprinkling of sun to view the ceremony outside city hall on 100 Main Street. Perhaps fittingly, for today’s generation, the sculpture recognized … Continue reading WWII on Main Street
Sometimes an author’s research takes her to a place she’d rather not go. Still to ensure a book, a story, an article, or a blog post rings true, authors must delve deep behind the scenes, no matter how squeamish the subject matter. As what I call a natural born researcher, I love to dig for the little details that bring a scene to life. For … Continue reading Research for Authors
Historians have traced the origin of dog tags to ancient times. Roman Legionnaires wore a lead emblem bearing their name on a rope they tied around their necks. The Chinese used them in the mid 1800s and the Prussians in the Franco Prussian War in the 1870s. But in America, Civil War soldiers resorted to writing their names on scraps of paper they carried in … Continue reading On Veterans Day: Keepsakes
Another blockbuster from Stephen Ambrose the recognized “dean of history” when it comes to World War II. You might say you don’t need to know this much about one aircraft or one group of men, but open the book anywhere and you won’t put it down. Even if, like me, you are partial to the B-17 (my husband’s father having flown one as does the … Continue reading The Wild Blue
A couple of weeks ago, three local WWII veterans gathered around a table at a bookstore in Acworth, Georgia, to chat with guests. The three, Jack Smith, Dick Bailey, and Bob Mero sat together with several of their photographs, citations, medals, books, and other mementos displayed on the long table in front of them. I’ve been fortunate to befriend Jack and Dick over the last … Continue reading Bob Mero in Normandy and Georgia
Thousands of stories from World War II veterans have been recorded through the efforts of programs such as the Veterans History Project. Still they represent just a small number of the thousands of stories untold. Recently, the Atlanta History Center shared one interesting tale, this, from Iris Fensom Magid. Iris tells of life in London during WWII. She lived through the Blitz and distinctly remembers … Continue reading Tales from the UK Homefront
It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn actions of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more. John Adams Courtesy of a post today from the U.S. Naval Institute And so … Continue reading July 4: Guns, Bells, and Bonfires
Churchill died in 1965. Where was I and why do I not remember his passing? My father had a number of Churchill’s books on the bookshelves in our home, but I never opened one. As anyone else with more than a passing interest in Churchill, I’ve watched movies and documentaries about Churchill, read other books on the man, but none by him. But earlier this … Continue reading Winston: Bigger than Life
“It was close to two o’clock in the morning when I heard the engines. It wasn’t like the sound a single plane makes as it comes toward you then dies off as the plane passes. The sound filled the air and went on and on. The sky was so full of planes, they blacked out the stars. All I could see were the dark outlines … Continue reading The Invasion Had Started
