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Posts Tagged ‘WWII’

USS Indianapolis Found

by Bunk Five Hawks X ( 114 Comments › )
Filed under History, Military, Movies, U.S. Navy, World War II at August 27th, 2017 - 6:00 am

“That was the time I was most frightened, waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a life jacket again.” –Shark hunter Quint [Robert Shaw] in the 1975 film “Jaws.”

Quint was referring to the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis, torpedoed in 1945:

Recently the USS Indianapolis, missing for 72 years, has been found in the Philippine Sea approximately three and a half miles below the surface. Story w/ pics here.


Woody James was 23 at the time of the attack and lived to tell about it. His story of horror is very understated:

“Sunday, the 29th of July was a quiet day. The sea was runnin five or six feet waves, just a beautiful day out. Didn’t do too much, read a book, did a little tinkerin as usual. Had the 8:00 to 12:00 watch and just got off at midnight. A guy relieved me about a quarter to twelve. I went down through the galley and had a cup of coffee. Then went to my compartment and got a blanket off my bed and went back up on deck. I slept under the overhang on the first turret. My battle station was inside it so in case general quarters sounded, I slept underneath it. Just got laid down good, using my shoes for a pillow as usual and the first torpedo hit. I was up and down between the deck and the overhang of the turret like Yankee Doodle Dandy. And, I wondered, ‘what in the hell is goin on?’

I got out of my blanket and started to roll out from underneath the turret and the other torpedo hit. Another Yankee Doodle deal, all over the place. I started to walk forward to see what I could see and what I seen was about sixty-foot of the bow chopped off, completely gone. Within a minute and a half, maybe two minutes at the most the bow is startin to do down. It filled up with water that fast. Everything was open below deck and the water just flooded in and we were still under way, just scoopin water. Complete chaos, total and complete chaos all over the whole ship. Screams like you couldn’t believe and nobody knew what was goin on. The word got passed down, “ABANDON SHIP”! It was maybe five minutes and we were really down in the water so we proceeded to abandon ship.”

–Woody James

Read the rest of his ordeal here. It’s even scarier than Quint’s monologue.

Remember Always – 6 June 1944

by Bunk Five Hawks X ( 155 Comments › )
Filed under History, World War II at June 6th, 2013 - 7:00 pm

6 June 1944 Normandy

WE REMEMBER – 7 December 1941

by Bunk Five Hawks X ( 66 Comments › )
Filed under History, Japan, Military, U.S. Navy, World, World War II at December 7th, 2012 - 2:00 am

Hawaii Time 7:53AM Sunday 7 December 1941

There was NO Declaration of War until after the attack.

America Truly Is The Greatest Country In The World

by Bunk Five Hawks X ( 53 Comments › )
Filed under Christianity, Elections, Elections 2012, Free Speech, Healthcare, History, Holocaust, Military, Nazism, Open thread, Patriotism, Politics, Progressives, Second Amendment, Socialism, World War II at July 4th, 2012 - 9:00 am

Kitty Werthmann was born in Austria and witnessed the effects of Hitler’s policies first hand. The article below dates to at least 1996 -I found it in the July 2012 issue of Military. As we approach another Independence Day it seems entirely appropriate for recirculation, especially in this election year.

Commentors on the websites where the article appears generally consider it to be historically accurate, with the exception of her description of the Austrian election which was a contrived fraud. Others corroborate her story. Left-leaning blogs dismiss Werthmann due to her religion, her position on the 2nd Amendment, her age, and especially because she’s a popular speaker at TEA Party rallies. One website even described her article as pure propaganda.

Regardless of the criticisms, it’s a must-read, IMO. -Bunk X
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America Truly Is The Greatest Country In The World.

By: Kitty Werthmann

What I am about to tell you is something you’ve probably never heard or will ever read in history books. I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected him by a landslide – 98% of the vote. I’ve never read that in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force.

In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25% inflation and 25% bank loan interest rates.

Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food. Not that they didn’t want to work; there simply weren’t any jobs. My mother was a Christian woman and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people – about 30 daily.

The Communist Party and the National Socialist Party were fighting each other. Blocks and blocks of cities like Vienna, Linz, and Graz were destroyed. The people became desperate and petitioned the government to let them decide what kind of government they wanted.

We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany, where Hitler had been in power since 1933. We had been told that they didn’t have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living. Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group—Jewish or otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone was happy. We wanted the same way of life in Austria. We were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family. Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would get their farms back. Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler.

We were overjoyed, and, for three days, we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and everyone was fed. (more…)