Y1806 An Army staff sergeant who faced reduction to corporal for insubordination in March 1945 was instead decorated by Gen. George S. Patton after the commanding general read a second report that showed the sergeant’s refusal of a direct order had saved his patrol from a German ambush. Staff Sgt. Leonard Cole, a four-year combat veteran … Read more
Il giorno in cui due notifiche di pagamento apparvero in sequenza sullo schermo del mio telefono, rimasi impietrito nello studio. Erano le tre del pomeriggio, stavo controllando dei disegni tecnici, quando il telefono vibrò. Bolletta dell’elettricità: quattrocentocinquanta euro. Prima che potessi riprendermi, vibrò di nuovo. Bolletta dell’acqua: quasi centocinquanta euro. In totale, oltre seicento euro … Read more
Mio marito era stato sepolto da meno di due ore quando mia suocera si avvicinò e mi sussurrò all’orecchio. Tenevo ancora stretto tra le braccia il tricolore piegato che un giovane soldato mi aveva consegnato con entrambe le mani, la voce rotta da un tremito appena percettibile. Il sacrario militare era rimasto quasi in silenzio, … Read more
WASHINGTON — Gen. George C. Marshall, the U. S. Army chief of staff, made one of the most consequential personnel bets of World War II when he repeatedly elevated a little-known brigadier general named Dwight D. Eisenhower, setting in motion the rise of the officer who would command the D-Day invasion and one day become … Read more
VERDUN, France — Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower looked across a cramped, map-covered barracks room at Gen. George S. Patton and asked the question that, by every rule of military logistics, had only one honest answer: no. It was Dec. 19, 1944. Three days earlier, German artillery had torn open the Ardennes Forest at 5:30 a. … Read more
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS, ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE — The telephone on General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s desk rang at 4:45 p. m. on December 26, 1944, and the four words that crackled through the receiver ended seven days of agony for the Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe. “Ike, we’re through to Bastogne.” General George S. Patton … Read more
I øjeblikket mit barnebarn sagde sine første ord efter syv års tavshed, forstod jeg, at nogen i min familie ønskede mig væk. Mit navn er Margaret Hail. Jeg er 67 år gammel og bor på den stille nordside af Austin i Texas, i et beskedent hus, som jeg betalte af for mange år siden med … Read more
VERSAILLES, France — At approximately 6:30 p. m. on December 26, 1944, the telephone rang on the desk of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in the east wing of the Chateau de Versailles. General Dwight David Eisenhower, 54, had not slept more than three hours a night for ten consecutive nights. He … Read more
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, chose not to relieve Admiral William F. Halsey of command after the near-catastrophic decision at Leyte Gulf that left the San Bernardino Strait undefended and 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓭 thousands of American sailors and soldiers to annihilation — a decision that historians have debated for more than seventy … Read more
American forces advancing through central Germany have uncovered a scene of systematic atrocity at a camp near the town of Ohrdruf, prompting General George S. Patton to issue an extraordinary ultimatum declaring that SS personnel captured by his Third Army will be treated as common criminals rather than protected enemy combatants under the Geneva Convention. … Read more