Daughters of D-Day

23/01/2025

On January 22, 1944, the Battle of Anzio began with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle.

The 1944 Battle of Anzio stemmed from the Allied attempt to draw German troops off the Gustav Line during Operation Shingle. An expeditionary force commanded by U.S. Major General John P. Lucas secured a beachhead near Anzio and Nettuno on Italy’s west coast, but his divisions were quickly contained by German Field Marshall Albert Kesselring.

A succession of attacks resulted in heavy casualties on both sides, though no budge in the stalemate for four months. The Allies finally broke out of the beachhead in late May, facilitating the advance that led to the eventual Allied capture of Rome on June 5, 1944.

PHOTO: Japanese American soldiers from the 442 Regimental Combat Team volunteered to serve in World War II despite the incarceration of up to 120,000 Japanese Americans. They were placed in high risk locations and fought in the battle that freed the city of Anzio in Italy.

23/01/2025

Thomas Edward McCall of Burrton, Kansas, a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on January 22, 1944, near San Angelo, Italy, during the Battle of Monte Cassino.

McCall joined the Army from Veedersburg, Indiana, and by January 22, 1945 was serving as a staff sergeant in Company F, 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division. On January 22, 1945, near San Angelo, Italy, he led his section in the crossing of the Rapido River, despite intense German fire. After all his men had been killed or wounded, he single-handedly destroyed two enemy machine gun positions and charged a third before being captured.

For his actions on January 22, 1945, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. McCall also served and was wounded in the Korean War, reaching the rank of master sergeant. He died at the age of 49 and is buried in Spring Vale Cemetery, Lafayette, Indiana. He drowned while rescuing his 8-year-old son, Thomas.

16/01/2025

My father is featured in this article from France 24

The trauma experienced by World War II veterans of D-Day left a lasting impact on their children at a time before post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was recognised, leaving families struggling to…

16/01/2025

16/01/2025

In an effort to boost morale during World War II, women of the American Red Cross operated mobile units called Clubmobiles to bring recreational supplies and services to soldiers on the front lines. Clubmobiles carried coffee, doughnuts, chewing gum, ci******es, magazines and newspapers, and phonographs with loudspeakers and records. In this January 1945 image from the Museum's Digital Collections, Lee Harris of the American Red Cross brings coffee to US Army Private First Class Joe Bergles near Loiano, Italy.

10/01/2025

Battle of the Bulge: My dad recounted his guilt at being in the hospital with pneumonia and dysentery from 12/24/44 to 1/8/45 when he returned to 82nd Airborne, 505 PIR, C Company. “I reported to duty to a company that was virtually wiped out. The officers were all gone and there were about thirty men left. If I could have cried, I might have gotten some of the pain and guilt out. I lost some good friends who taught me how to survive in combat and often inspired me with their courage and sacrifice….the company I came to know and love no longer existed.” Four Stars of Valor, Phil Nordyke, p.377.

10/01/2025

More than 81 years after he was killed at Tarawa, US Marine Corps Sergeant Robert F. Van Heck has been laid to rest in Hillside, Illinois. Read more about the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's efforts to identify his remains here: https://bit.ly/3DKJ3X4

03/01/2025

World War II Veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor Harry Chandler of South Hadley, MA, died on December 30, 2024 at the age of 103 in Tequesta, Florida.

Chandler was a Navy medic who helped pull injured sailors from the oily waters of Pearl Harbor after the 1941 Japanese attack on the naval base.

After the war Chandler worked as a painter and wallpaper hanger and bought an upholstery business with his brother.

He also joined the Navy reserves, retiring as a senior chief in 1981.

Rest in Peace, Sir! We thank you for your service!

02/01/2025

Charles Andrew MacGillivary of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, a Sergeant in the U.S. Army, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on January 1, 1945, near Wœlfling, France.

MacGillivary emigrated to the United States from Canada to live with his older brother in Boston, Massachusetts, around the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. After hearing about the attack, he volunteered for the Army in January 1942 as a private soldier and was assigned to the European Theatre of Operations. While at boot camp, he was brought before a judge and became a U.S. citizen.

When his unit was surrounded on January 1, 1945, by the 17th German Panzer Grenadier Division in Wœlfling, France, he picked up a machine gun and knocked out four German machine gun nests but lost his left arm in the action.

For his actions on January 1, 1945, he received the Medal of Honor. He also received the Purple Heart with three oak leaf clusters, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Bronze Star Medal, the Soldiers Medal, the French Croix de Guerre, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

After the war, MacGillivary became an agent for the United States Customs Office of Investigations. He was also enrolled as a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. He died at age 83 in June 2000 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery beside his wife, Esther.

30/12/2024

Children, fathers and war -- words not often used together. In The Hidden Legacy of World War II: A Daughter's Journey of Discovery, Carol Schultz Vento weav...

21/12/2024

In this image from the Museum's Digital Collections, soldiers of the 231st Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 6th Armored Division, decorate the Christmas tree at their headquarters in Germany on December 12, 1944.

21/12/2024

Francis Sherman “Frank” Currey of Loch Sheldrake, New York, a Technical Sergeant in the U.S. Army, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on December 21, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge.

He joined the Army at age 17, one week after graduating high school. Although at only 18 years old, he completed Officer Candidate School, his superiors felt that he was "too immature" to be an officer and denied him a commission.

Currey landed at Omaha Beach in July 1944, a few weeks after D-Day. On October 18, he was assigned as a replacement without winter gear (he later suffered from frostbite) to the 3rd Platoon, K Company, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, at Herzogenrath, Germany. He saw his first combat action that month. Six weeks later, he was a sergeant and 3rd Platoon Leader in K Company.

On December 21, 1944, he was serving with the 3rd Platoon, K Company, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division as an automatic rifleman in a rifle squad that was guarding a bridge crossing and strongpoint. Sgt. Currey repeatedly exposed himself to hostile fire while firing upon and killing several German infantrymen during an early morning German tank advance in Malmedy, Belgium. During the attack, he used a bazooka and anti-tank grenades, which caused four enemy tank crews to abandon their tanks and also enabled him to rescue five comrades who had been pinned down in a building by enemy fire. After the Battle of the Bulge, he became a squad leader and was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action at his regiment's command post.

He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on December 21, 1944. After the war, Currey worked as a counselor at the VA Medical Center in Albany, New York, from 1950 until he retired as a supervisor in 1980. Currey died on October 8, 2019, at age 94 in Selkirk, New York.

17/12/2024

Unlike forced labor camps where prisoners were kept alive to work for the Third Reich, Treblinka was one of three specially designed—and highly secret—death camps. Around 865,000 people would be murdered there over the course of just 18 months, but in August 1943, a group of detainees staged a daring revolt. Click the link to read more about the Treblinka Uprising. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/treblinka-uprising

17/12/2024

In this special episode of "World War II On Topic," Mike Bell, PhD, Executive Director of the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy, and Distinguished Fellow Rob Citino, PhD, discuss the Battle of the Bulge, 80 years later. Click the link to listen now. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/podcasts/world-war-ii-topic/special-podcast-episode-battle-bulge-80th-anniversary

17/12/2024

Richard Eller Cowan of Lincoln, Nebraska, a Private First Class in the U.S. Army, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the Battle of the Bulge on December 17, 1944, near Krinkelter Wald, Belgium.

Cowan joined the Army in September 1943, and by December 17, 1944, was serving as a private first class in Company M, 23rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division. On the second day of the Battle of the Bulge, his company was attacked by a superior force of German infantry and tanks. Unaided, Cowan set up his heavy weapon and began firing on the approaching enemy. By the time he had killed over one hundred of the enemy, the order was given to withdraw, and he voluntarily covered the withdrawal of his comrades. He was killed the next day by enemy fire.

He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on December 17, 1944. He is buried in Wichita Park Cemetery in Wichita, Kansas.

14/12/2024

14/12/2024

The US Navy’s School of Air Evacuation Casualties opened on December 10, 1944, at the Naval Air Station in Alameda, CA. The first class of 24 nurses and 24 pharmacist’s mates graduated on January 22, 1945. On March 6, 1945, Ens. Jane Kendeigh became the first Navy flight nurse to fly directly into a battlefield when her plane landed on Iwo Jima and came under artillery fire. A month later, she became the first flight nurse to land on Okinawa.

12/12/2024

On December 12, 1941, César Fernando María Tianko Basa was the first Filipino fighter pilot casualty during World War II.

On the morning of December 12, 1941, 27 Japanese bombers and 17 fighter escorts raided Batangas Field.

Six Filipino fighter pilots of the 6th Pursuit Squadron in Boeing P-26A "Peashooter" fighter planes, led by Captain Jesús Villamor, engaged the numerically superior enemy in aerial combat at 12,000 feet. Several dogfights ensued as Villamor and his men fought to prevent the pack of bombers and their fighter escorts from reaching and bombing Lipa Airfield.

Lieutenant Basa, still airborne after a two-hour air-reconnaissance mission, rushed to the scene and attempted to join the aerial engagement with only 15 minutes worth of fuel left in his P-26 but was intercepted by seven Japanese fighters and his aircraft disabled. He was able to return to Nichols Airfield and run for cover but received a fatal head injury when a Japanese fighter strafed his aircraft. Lt. Victor Osias attempted to rescue him, but Basa died in his arms, the first Filipino fighter-pilot casualty of the war.

Captain Villamor and his pilots won the battle, with the only casualty being Basa, who was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.