The Screaming Eagles

The 101st Airborne Division, or otherwise known as the screaming eagles, is a modular infantry division trained for airborne assault.  During the second World War, this infantry division was used primarly to draw pressure off of the men who were landing on the beaches at Normandy, France and the Battle of the Bulge.  In World War Two, these paratroopers were dropped behind enemy lines the night before the sea-bourne invasion upon the beaches at Normandy.  There were three major drop zones that these paratroopers were dropped at, A, B, C. 

Extra Credit Family War/Tie Post

When I look back on my family history or ask my parents about their experiences with their parents and World War I and II, I will usually get a blank reponse.  This went on for a number of years until my parents believed I was of age to hear this.  I never knew either of my grandfathers on both sides of my family so it was quite difficult to reviece stories about the war(not that they would be eager to tell about them either).  Now the next generation in front of my grandfather, which is my father and mother did not participate in either World War II, Vietnam or Korean Wars.  My father was born a year before the American invasion on France on June 6, 1944.  So at the end of the war he was just in childhood.  Once the conflicts in Vietnam and Korea came about, both my parents were able to skip the draft, both cause of age and because of college.  So my direct family does not have any major war experience like others.  Now I understand that this does not co-inscide with family ties with war, but one of my fathers idols and best friends was a member of a PT Boat cruiser on the Pacific theatre(see above).  He had passed away before I was old enough to hear stories that I could comprehend or connect to what I already currently know.

Saving Private Ryan/ D-DAY

As we approach our American/European theatre, I decided to watch one of my favorite movies ever, Saving Private Ryan.  I have heard about some critizims behind the films backround and supposed accuracy.  One of the main critizims behind this film is its one-sided approach to the European front.  Some people believe that with this film showing only the American flag and American troops attacking Germans, it looks as if the Americans actually won the war single-handedly. But this is to ignore the film's intentions: Saving Private Ryan is unashamedly an American story.  The now-famous 30-minute opening sequence depicting the frantic assault of the Normandy beach landings is harrowing and widely accepted as possibly the closest depiction of the real event that has ever been filmed.  This video is actual footage from the days preceeding and the day of the attack.  The movie depiction is too graphic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvZCDfhoNxA&feature=fvw

WWII In HD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axpKyyTUfTU
My father, who is extremely interested in World War II came across this new History Channel series.  He told me that it told stories of some of the most important battles in World War II through the perspective of certain videographers or soldiers.  That seemed to me like any other show on the History Channel, so I became disinterested.  My father then told me that it revealed this entire series through the color video and pictures that were taken throughout the war.  Color photos are beginning to resurface and showing an extremely different look at the war.

Operation Watchtower

The battle of Guadacanal, or otherwise known as the codename, Operation Watchtower, is one of the most important battles in the Pacific theatre's history.  It was part of the Allied strategic plan to protect the convoy routes between the US, Australia and New Zealand.  This seabourne launch was the second major offensive on the empire of Japan after the war was declared on the axis powers.  The Americans realized that if the Japanese army gained control of the Solomon islands in the south Pacific, accessing Austraila would be utterly impossible.  The Americans needed to seige the island of Guadacanal before the Japanese could make working airfields. 

Freedom Denied-Extra Credit 11/17/10

After reading the article on the Japanese American interment camps, I had to look on the front of the page again to check who this article was actually talking about, the Germans or the Americans.  This was a huge shocker to me considerig our president was the one who authorized the seperation of people of Japanese descent.  One quote that stook out was, "Suddenly an Asian face became and enemy face".  What disturbed me the most was the fact that there was an infantry division used to guard the inside of the prisons(Japanese men were used).  Can you imagine fighting against your own family with people who are on the opposite side as you?  Although they call it a miliatary necessity to protect against terrorism and spying, but the main underyling reason was racism and money.

USS Arizona Memorial

The USS Arizona Memorial, located at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1177 sailors killed on the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by Japanese imperial forces.  When I visited this memorial years ago, I noticed something very interesting about the ship that was below me.  About every 20 seconds I noticed a drop of oil bubble up from the tank.  From 60 years ago, there is still oil bubbling up.  That amazed me.  The USS Arizona continues to leak about a quart (0.95 L) of oil per day into the harbor.

Woah...How Could the World Stand By and Watch?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TaE0JnAV40

After watching this video, I couldn't but help myself think of how any human could do this to another group of people.  The pain and suffering that the Chinese civilization endured during this genocide was utterly un-imaginable.  The Japanese targeted young children first then moved to the men.  The Japanese focused upon the young adult men because they realized that if these men were not stopped(killled) they would be considered a threat to the Japanese army.  This reminded me of the rape of Belgium.  The Germans killed the men and all other civilians because they posed a threat to the German soldiers.  The procedure of killing these men and young children was hard to fathom.  They were used a practice for close quarter combat while the others waited in line and watched friends and family being murdered viciously.  After killing thousands of young children and men, the Japanese moved to young women.


How could this be allowed to continue?  Why did the Russians, British, and USA not attempt to stop this attack/genocide of the Chinese culture?

The Blitz(Rare Color Footage)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu0G1jjtReo&feature=related

 After watching a documentary/movie chronicling the night of the German Blitz upon the city of London, I began to find myself looking on other videos to receive another feel.  In the video so far, we have yet to see the effects of the constant barrage of fire canisters and 550 pound bombs that plummeted upon the city.  Our class has only been able to see the constant fire that has been burning up every building of London.  I was browsing youtube in search of some different footage; I came across some rare footage in color.  If seems that a news reporter was walking around filming what has happened to the city of London.  I began to question what would of happened if the Germans had continued their attack through the third phase?  Would London be reduced to rubble?

The Minds he Molded

Click on Title(The Minds he Molded) to Veiw Clip

After watching this video, viewers should realize the power that he had at the height of his power.  Not only was his power struggle mind-blowing, his ability to rally hundreds of thousands of people together.  If you watch the video closely, you can see in the crowd young children showing the Nazi salute hailing to Hitler.  This shows Hitlers ability to grasph ahold a society that is anguished by ecomonmy problems.  He was able to change the ideals of thousands of people to vote him into power.  He persauded the masses to believe that the Jewish group has caused all of the anguish that has come to the German society.  It is almost scary to see all people that hail him as their leader.  Ask yourself why they(German citizens) thought this was to elect this man.

Ukrainian Genocide of War

After Stalin had taken power from the previous Bolshevik leader, Vladamir Lenin, his policies turned more and more violent and un-needed.  In 1928 the man of steel introduced a plan to take over as much land as he could by state-guided industrialization and the collectivzation of agriculture.  This plan was called the 5 Year Plans.  Under this plan, the country of the Soviet Union contains no infrastructure, causing an extreme unbalance of classes.  In addition, citizens are forced to work in fields and produce crops.  What a majority of the people know, is that this was under a communist structure where no man couldl have more wealth than the other.  Any family that contained a large amount of land had it taken away from them and this land was then worked by forced laborers to produce crops for USSR.  Many of these workers opposed....   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj-q0U6YJ-4&feature=related

Watch clip now

In 1932, Stalin realized that the workers in Ukraine were not working and producing the sufficient amount of crops he desired(either from overoworking or rebellion).  Stalin proceeded to block the country of its imports of food and deliberatly starve roughly 3-7 million Ukrainians in one year.  Stalin denies the entire incident.  He claimed that a drought had caused this famine, and that he stood no part in this genocide of millions of people.

Who is Worse?

 In the past two days, the World Wars class has gone over two very feirce and corrupt leaders to gain power at the start of the 1920's.  Joesph Stalin, the Marxist man of steel in control of the Soviet Union, and Benito Mussolini, IL Duce(The Boss) considered the father of Facism leading in Italy.  Looking back on their early years growing up and how they came to power, also what they did with their power, compare them to the ruthless sultans of the Ottoman Empire.  The sultans spent most of their lifetime in a room, solitary and confined to themselves, and once moved into power, they had the ability to control at their please.  Use examples from the Sultans of WW1 and the Father of Facism and Man of Steel.

German Zeppelins

A very primative airship, the German manufactured Zeppelin were first created in 1899.  These airships were used to bomb citys with large amounts of explosives.  This was because the ability to drop heavy amounts of missles from planes had not been invented yet.  The most important feature of Zeppelin's design was a rigid metal rings that surrounded the machine.  Within this outer envelope, several separate balloons, also known as "cells" or "gasbags", contained the hydrogen or helium.  These flying attackers were very successful at bombing many cities in Great Britain.  An added bonus was that there was not a high risk of losing a lot of men if these were shot down, they were manned by only a few men. (Click on Title, "German Zeppelins" to veir British Air Raid) 

Looking Back

While reveiwing the material for the World War One, I found some intersting information.  With looking back at pre-world war one material, I was able to see building factors that slowly created embers under Europe that were ready to spark the dry tinder that was the Germans.  This whole war progressed the same way I thought.  Corrupt leaders were coming into power and creating problems.  Seeing the war from start to finish allowed me to reflect on some subjects that were controversial.  In the case of the assaination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, many people thought that this was the official spark of World War One.  This couldnt of been, considering that the Archduke was practically hated and civilians and officials couldn't wait for him to be gone and not have the oppurtunity to take over the heir.

Quite A Shock

While watching the video today, I noticed a fact that was stated that one sargent had advised American soldiers to go into the towns of the Germans and cut off the hand and feet of the children and skin the heads of men.  This quote startled me, but I was in shock to find out who it came from.  Harry S. Truman our nation's 33rd president.



I couldnt beleive that one of  our presidents had proposed this idea.  I really couldnt think of anything else during the movie other than our future president wanted to perform such acts of violence.  How would our nation have reacted if President Obama had said, "Even though I am pulling troops out of the Middle East, on our way out I want to bomb every city"?  That is horrific to even think about.

What was the Hindenburg Line?

The Hindenburg Line was a vast system of defences in northeastern France during World War 1. It was constructed by theGermans.  This line was built along the salient of the German front.  A salient was a section of the trenches of front that was bulged out from the original line and created a large fighting area.  This line was a heavily armed and gaurded section of the front.  What would of happened if the Allied powers couldnt make it through the German Hindenburg line?

Chance of Failure?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZVXLFWNeVY


What if the Germans had failed to break through the lines during the Spring Offensive of 1918?  Would the British and Americans have enough time to over run the dis-organized Germans?

German U-Boat Footage

This video displays some footage from a German U-Boat that was later caputured.  What would happen if the United States had gotten ahold of this footage earlier in advance? Would American war efforts been sped up or would the sinking of the Lusintania or the Zimmerman Telegraph needed to have occured for our entry into the world war?  What if more footage like this leaked into American Society? Click on title(German U-Boat Footage)

Battle of Passchendaele

Taken place between the months of July and November of 1917, one of the greatest and most major battles of the World War I took place.  The Battle of Passchendaele wa fought between the German(central powers) and the British, Canadians, French, Australlia, India and amound others(allied).  The major allied commander, Sir Douglas Haig, who caused tens of thousands of deaths for the allied soldiers, led the allies into battle.  The plan of the attack was to use their brand new tanks to plow through the Germans to get to the German U-Boat pens.  The terrential downpours that continued for weeks on end halted Allied movement.  The purpose of this battle was on the way to the coast where the German U-Boats were stored for re-fueling and docking, the British were to have a great battle.  Haig was convinced that after the major battles of Verdun and Somme, that the Germans were near exhaustion.  They believed an attack would give the allied powers a tactical victory.  In fact it caused many casulties for the Allied powers and this battle was an utter fail.  This whole plan failed because the Allies never were able to make it to the coast.

8 Stages Apply to the Turks, Their Still Denying?

Classification- The Ottoman Turks classified the Armenians as non-believers(Infeldels).  The Turks was part of the Muslim religion and the Turks followed Christianity.

Symbolization-The Turks required the Armenians to dress differently, or wear clothes that symbolized that they belonged to the Chrisitan faith.  If an Muslim uniforms were worn, they were instantly killed.

Dehumanization- To the Turks, the Armenians were not considered people because they believed in the Chrisitian faith.  To be considered an Ifedel was to be considered less than human.  SO KILLING SOMETHING LESS THAN HUMAN IS STILL JUSTIFIABLE?

Organization- The Turks rounded up thousands of the Armenians on trains and shipped them to labor camps.  The train was a luxury compared to some of the Armenians.  Hundreds of thousands were forced to walk across what is now called Syrian Desert without food or water.  Many of them died before they reached the camp.

Polarlization- This is the act of creating seperation between the two races.  This tactic was not necesarily used.  Although there were some instances of polarization.  In the story of Vahan Kendarian, his family was transported from their home to a manufactered town where Armenians were housed away from Turks.

Preparation- The Turks had many previous killing to solidify their power above the Armenians.

Extermination- Such tatics as, burning, gas chambers, stavation, shootings were used to masscure the Armenians.

Denial- The Turks are making sure that there is no literature that reveal Genocide of the Armenians to be removed from their ciriculum.  Their Justification of the killings are that the Armenians were fighting back too.