The Berlin Airlift Began 73 Years Ago This Week

by HB Auld, Jr.

Seventy-three years ago this week on June 26, 1948, the United States began the Berlin Airlift. The Lift was instituted to deliver food and supplies to a beleaguered Berlin, blockaded by the Soviet Union following World War II.

Berlin was located in the Soviet Sector of Germany after the War, but the city was divided into four sections (Soviets, US, British, and ultimately France). The Soviets wanted the other Allies OUT of Berlin and blockaded the entire city, cutting off all land and sea routes to the city in an attempt to force the Allies to evacuate Berlin. Many Americans wanted a military response, but President Harry S. Truman resisted, fearing another world war, this time against Josef Stalin.

Instead, President Truman began an airlift of supplies to the city, with US Navy and Air Force pilots each flying two round trips into the city daily. This went on until September, 1949, even though the Soviets lifted their blockade in May, 1949. All-in-all, allied pilots from Great Britain and West Germany delivered more than two million tons of cargo during the Berlin Airlift.

The Soviets were not through, however. They built the Berlin Wall separating East and West Germany in 1961. It lasted until it was torn down in 1989, leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

On a personal note, my great-uncle George Franklin Hargis’s son, USAF First Lieutenant Frank Hargis, was killed December 5, 1948, when his plane crashed on take-off from the British Zone during one of these mercy flights. Eleven years later in May, 1959, his mother, Mrs. Euzelia Hargis, went to Berlin to attend a tribute to her son, Frank, and the others killed in the crash (see article and photo above).

Superman: George Reeves Dies 62 Years Ago Today

by HB Auld, Jr.

Today is the anniversary of one of the heroes of most of us over the age of 60.

Today is the anniversary of the death of Superman. The first TV Superman, George Reeves, died on this day, 62 years ago, allegedly of a self-inflicted gunshot.

George Reeves was born on January 5, 1914. He died at age 45 on June 16, 1959.

Although he was not the first Superman on radio or TV (that was Bud Collyer during World War II), George Reeves is the first Superman most older TV viewers remember.

George Reeves’ first credited movie role was as one of Scarlett O’Hara’s suitors, Stuart Tarleton, one of the Tarleton twins, in “Gone With the Wind.” He appears in a minor role in the opening scene in which he dyed his hair red to be one of the twins.

He went on to star in minor movie parts with several big-name Hollywood stars, including Ronald Reagan (twice), Charlie Chaplin, Merle Oberon, and James Cagney. During World War II, George served in the Army Air Corps where he made training films. In 1953, George played the minor part of Sergeant Maylon Stark in “From Here to Eternity.” George began filming the “Superman” TV series in 1951, in a tough filming schedule that saw them produce two 30-minute episodes every six days.

George Reeves allegedly shot himself in his bedroom during a noisy party downstairs at his home. Much controversy surrounds his death, due to a number of questionable physical findings reported by investigators and others: no fingerprints were recovered from the gun and no gunpowder was found on George’s hands. Despite these contradictions, George’s death was officially ruled a suicide.

Bud Collyer, the voice of Superman on radio during World War II, went on to star as the game master on TV on Beat the Clock and To Tell the Truth.

Kirk Alyn was the first Superman on the big screen, starring as Superman in 1948 and again in 1950 in “serials” in movie theaters.

I first saw George Reeves as Superman on TV as a nine-year old in New Gulf, Texas. My family had no TV, so my best friend would invite me over every afternoon at 5 to watch Superman with him. I was thrilled the Saturday my dad bought our first TV, because now I could invite my friends over to share Superman with me at our house.

Rest In Peace, George “Superman” Reeves.

Donald Duck is 87 Years Old Today

by HB Auld, Jr. (with a hat tip to Phil Galloway)

“Today is Donald Duck Day! It was on June 9, 1934, that the irascible duck first appeared on screen.

His birthday was originally given as March 13th, but Walt Disney later decreed the date to be June 9th. It always seemed funny that he would appear just out of a shower with a towel wrapped around his waist, but then go out in public with just a coat on!!”

Happy 87th birthday, Donald Duck!

D-Day Began 77 Years Ago Today with Operation Overlord

Allied forces Supreme Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower speaks with U.S. Army paratroopers of Easy Company, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (Strike) of the 101st Airborne Division, at Greenham Common Airfield in England June 5, 1944 in this handout photo provided by the US National Archives. On June 6, 1944, allied soldiers descended on the beaches of Normandy for D-Day – an operation that turned the tide of the Second World War against the Nazis, marking the beginning of the end of the conflict.

by HB Auld, Jr.

On this date, 77 years ago, June 6, 1944, Allied Forces began Operation Overlord, the landing at Normandy that would ultimately bring the Axis Powers to her knees and the end of World War II in Europe.

Let us always remember the brave sacrifices of these men who landed on the beaches of France and endured death, destruction, and wounds to fight for our freedom from tyranny. God bless them and God bless America!

President Ronald Reagan Passes Away 17 Years Ago Today

Portrait

by Guest Author Tara Ross

On this day in history in 2004, we lost an amazing leader. President of the United States, Ronald Reagan passed away from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease. Here is historian and author Tara Ross’s remembrance and tribute to this great man:

On this day in 2004, Ronald Reagan passes away after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.

During his farewell address to the nation, Reagan spoke of the importance of education– and history. His words are worth reprinting in full:

“An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who are over 35 or so years of age grew up in a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. If you didn’t get these things from your family you got them from the neighborhood, from the father down the street who fought in Korea or the family who lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school. And if all else failed you could get a sense of patriotism from the popular culture. The movies celebrated democratic values and implicitly reinforced the idea that America was special. TV was like that, too, through the mid-sixties.

We’ve got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom–freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. “
— RONALD REAGAN

But now, we’re about to enter the nineties, and some things have changed. Younger parents aren’t sure that an unambivalent appreciation of America is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we haven’t re-institutionalized it. We’ve got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom–freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It’s fragile; it needs protection.

So, we’ve got to teach history based not on what’s in fashion but what’s important–why the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant. You know, 4 years ago on the 40th anniversary of D-day, I read a letter from a young woman writing to her late father, who’d fought on Omaha Beach. Her name was Lisa Zanatta Henn, and she said, “we will always remember, we will never forget what the boys of Normandy did.” Well, let’s help her keep her word. If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are. I’m warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit. Let’s start with some basics: more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic ritual.

“Wise words. RIP, Mr. President.

#TDIH #AmericanHistory #USHistory #liberty #freedom #ShareTheHistory

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Guest author, Tara Ross, is a mother, wife, writer, and retired lawyer. She is the author of The Indispensable Electoral College: How the Founders’ Plan Saves Our Country from Mob Rule,Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College, co-author of Under God: George Washington and the Question of Church and State (with Joseph C. Smith, Jr.), & We Elect A President: The Story of our Electoral College. She is a constitutionalist, but with a definite libertarian streak! Stay tuned here for updates on pretty much anything to do with the Electoral College, George Washington, & our wonderfully rich American heritage.

Battle of Midway 79 Years Ago Today

by Guest Author Tara Ross

On this day in 1942, the Battle of Midway is fought. The Japanese had taken Americans by surprise at Pearl Harbor mere months before. Now the United States would strike a decisive blow of its own.

Americans entered battle with a priceless advantage: They’d recently broken a Japanese naval code. The U.S. Navy had a pretty good idea of when, where, and how the Japanese would attack.

They’d barely figured out the “where”! As cryptanalysts listened to the intercepted messages, they kept hearing references to location “AF,” but they didn’t know where AF was. Could it be Midway? They decided to test the theory.

The personnel at Midway were asked to broadcast an uncoded radio message, reporting that their water purification system was broken. And wouldn’t you know it? American intelligence soon picked up a coded Japanese message, faithfully reporting that “AF” had a water shortage.

Japan had been tricked into confirming the location of “AF.”

The Japanese attack was sighted on radar early on June 4, as expected. Naturally, Midway was already on alert. Moreover, three United States aircraft carriers hovered nearby, just beyond the reach of Japanese radar.

The battle that followed was intense. Japanese planes rained down fire on the Midway atoll, but Americans returned unrelenting antiaircraft fire. In the meantime, American planes from Midway took off toward the Japanese carriers. “All of these attacks would be bravely carried out but ineffective, scoring no hits on any Japanese ship,” historian Ian W. Toll describes. “But the continuous pressure of new air attacks, however ineffectual, put the Japanese off balance.”

Torpedo bombers from the U.S. aircraft carriers finally arrived, but they fared badly. Mitsuo Fuchida, an officer aboard the Japanese carrier Akagi, later recounted his “breathless suspense, thinking how impossible it would be to dodge all their torpedoes.” But most of these planes did not have fighter escorts, and they were quickly defeated.

Nevertheless, the Japanese were contending with their own problems. Their commanding officer had waffled on whether to arm his planes with land bombs (to attack Midway) or torpedoes (to attack the American fleet). Ultimately, the Japanese carriers were caught in a vulnerable position. Some planes were refueling; some were rearming with torpedoes. Bombs and torpedoes were lying around the hangar deck of the carriers, not yet returned to their magazines: All this material created a risk of secondary explosions in the event of a strike.

Complicating matters, even those planes that were already in the air were flying too low to deal with what came next: American dive bombers.

Yes! The Navy’s most effective weapon chose that inconvenient moment to arrive.

“The terrifying scream of the dive-bombers reached me first,” Fuchida recounted, “followed by the crashing explosion of a direct hit. There was a blinding flash and then a second explosion, much louder than the first. . . . Then followed a startling quiet as the barking of guns suddenly ceased. I got up and looked at the sky. The enemy planes were already gone from sight.”

Within about five minutes, three aircraft carriers in the Japanese fleet were effectively destroyed, including hundreds of pilots, planes, aircraft maintenance crews and repairmen. A fourth aircraft carrier would be lost by the end of the day.

Americans suffered losses, too, but their victory was undeniable: Japan’s ability to fight an air war had been severely compromised.

Gentle reminder: History posts are copyright © 2013-2020 by Tara Ross. I appreciate it when you use the shar e feature instead of cutting/pasting: #TDIH #OTD #AmericanHistory #USHistory #liberty #freedom #ShareTheHistory

EDITOR’S NOTE: Guest author, Tara Ross, is a mother, wife, writer, and retired lawyer. She is the author of The Indispensable Electoral College: How the Founders’ Plan Saves Our Country from Mob Rule,Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College, co-author of Under God: George Washington and the Question of Church and State (with Joseph C. Smith, Jr.), & We Elect A President: The Story of our Electoral College. She is a constitutionalist, but with a definite libertarian streak! Stay tuned here for updates on pretty much anything to do with the Electoral College, George Washington, & our wonderfully rich American heritage.