Today in History, June 12: 1929 – Annelies Frank is born in Frankfurt, Germany. On this date in 1943 she would receive a diary for the birthday. Soon after, the little Jewish girl and her family would go into hiding from the Nazis, being hidden by their Gentile friends. Living in an attic, she described her experiences in her diary until the family was sold out by someone in the community and taken prisoner by the Nazis. Anne’s mother would die at Auschwitz (concentration camp). In 1945, after enduing starvation and slave labor, Anne and her sister would die in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp of Typhus. In 1947, her father would publish her diary as “Diary of a young girl”. The heart wrenching book would be published in over 60 languages.
Tag: WWII
The Big E Joins the Navy
Today in History, May 12: 1938 – The USS Enterprise (CV-6) is commissioned into the US Navy. “The Big E” was the second of the Yorktown class of aircraft carriers; both of her sisters would be sunk during WWII. Enterprise won the title of the fightingest ship in the US Navy. Some of her air group flew into the middle of the battle at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7; had she not been delayed by bad weather, she would have been at her moorings there. By the war’s end the Enterprise had 20 Battle Stars, more than any other ship. She was everywhere…
Brazil Attacks!
Today in History, April 17: 1945 – After a three day battle, Montese, Italy is liberated by…Brazilian Army forces. The Brazilians fought valiantly against German Nazis to gain control of the Italian city. It had been a long trek to this point. When the war started, Brazil, led by an almost fascist leader, was “neutral”. After several Brazilian ships were sunk by U-Boats, the Brazilian public made it impossible for the government to remain neutral…Brazil first cut off diplomatic relations with the Axis powers, and then declared war on them. The Brazilian Army, Air Force, and Navy fought primarily in the Italian campaign.
The Birth of US Naval Aviation
Today in History, March 25: 1898 – Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt proposes that the Navy investigate the use of a flying machine being researched by Samuel Langley. As a result, congress authorized $50,000 to support Langley’s design. The Wright Brothers may have accomplished the first manned, powered flight, but many people had been working on the challenge for years. Langley’s, and Roosevelt’s insight was the beginning of US Naval Aviation. Check out this print by R.G. Smith, which portrays the 1st US aircraft carrier, the USS Langley (CV 1), and the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) cruising together. Of course this is inspired imagination…Langley’s namesake ship was lost in WWII.
The Langley was converted from the Collier USS Jupiter in 1920. By WWII she had been converted to a seaplane tender, her larger subsequent sisters taking on the aircraft carrier role. Attempting to deliver p-40 fighter planes to Java, on February 27, 1942 she was attacked by Japanese aircraft and damaged so badly she had to be scuttled.
An American Hero
Today in History, February 20: 1942 – Lt. Edward “Butch” O’Hare saves his ship. The USS Lexington was initiating a raid on Rabaul, a Japanese stronghold. However the Task Force was spotted, and many Japanese aircraft were sent to destroy the valuable aircraft carrier. Lt. O’Hare was part of the “CAP”, or Combat Air Patrol for the Lexington (CV-2).
O’Hare singe-handedly shot down five of the attacking “Betty” bombers, effectively saving his ship, one of the few aircraft carriers the United States had available at the time. This also made him the US Navy’s first ace of WWII. About a year later, O’Hare, ever the hero, would be lost in unknown circumstances in one of the first night time fighter operations. O’Hare Airport in Chicago is named for Butch. What many people don’t know is that this American hero, who gave the “last full measure of devotion” for his country, was the son of a gangster. His father had been Al Capone’s lawyer. The senior O’Hare (Fast Eddie), according to the story, had exchanged his testimony against Capone for a chance for his son to enter the Naval Academy. He paid with his life, gunned down by Capone’s thugs. As a result, thousands of American sailors aboard the Lexington were saved due to Butch’s heroism.
Mark Loves History! 