Posts by Christopher Kelly
The WWI Michigan Polar Bears
In the summer of 1918, President Woodrow Wilson, at the urging of Britain and France, sent an infantry regiment to north Russia to fight the Bolsheviks in hopes of persuading Russia to rejoin the war against Germany. The 339th Infantry Regiment, with the first battalion of the 310th Engineers and the 337th Ambulance and Hospital…
Read MoreWhitehaven
In 1778 John Paul Jones launched one of the first invasions in American history. John Paul Jones, who is known as the father of the US Navy, was actually born in Scotland. In April of 1778 Jones, the captain of the sloop Ranger, led a shore party of about 30 to 40 men in a…
Read MoreI Like Ike!
Eisenhower Presidential Library Eisenhower Statue Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene, KS Dwight David Eisenhower (1890 – 1969), though born in Denison Texas, grew up in Abilene Kansas literally on the wrong side of the tracks. He was one of seven sons born to David and Ida Eisenhower (six survived to adulthood). He and his brothers absorbed…
Read MoreD-Day Dodgers of Italy
D-Day Dodgers of Italy D-Day Dodgers, the name given to troops fighting in Italy, implied cowardice and avoidance of the ‘real’ war in France. It is generally believed that it was Lady Astor MP who first called the men of the 8th Army who were fighting in the Italian Campaign ‘D-Day Dodgers’. It was put together by…
Read MoreD-Day 70
Seventy years ago the Allied armies waded ashore on the beaches of Normandy to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe. The night before on June 5th American airborne forces (82nd and 101st) landed on the Western flank of the invasion area near St. Mere Eglise while British airborne (6th para) forces secured the Eastern flank and Pegasus bridge. They jumped…
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