WWII Airborne Command

01/03/2023

https://youtu.be/86Z8UOifzSU

01/03/2023

Fundamentals Of Small Arms Weapons (1945) - Part 3

https://youtu.be/5PfNZPSvsAU

Department of DefensePIN 29864FUNDAMENTALS OF SMALL ARMS WEAPONS - PART III SEMIAUTOMATIC AND AUTOMATIC FIRETYPICAL FIRING MECHANISMS CONSTRUCTED WITH MODELS...

01/03/2023

Fundamentals Of Small Arms Weapons (1945) - Part 1

https://youtu.be/NZX7X3pJgH8

Department of DefensePIN 29862FUNDAMENTALS OF SMALL ARMS WEAPONS - PART I THE CYCLE OF OPERATIONPROCESSES OF CHAMBERING, LOCKING, FIRING, AND COCKING EXPLAIN...

01/03/2023

Fundamentals Of Small Arms Weapons (1945) - Part 2

https://youtu.be/GgF0X1zjLNY

Department of DefensePIN 29863FUNDAMENTALS OF SMALL ARMS WEAPONS - PART IIEXPLAINS FOUR BASIC TYPES OF OPERATION: MANUAL, GAS, BLOWBACK AND RECOIL - APPLICAT...

01/03/2023

M1 Garand - Principles of Operation (1943) United States Rifle, Caliber .30, M1

https://youtu.be/GJJeBXZeVZU

This Army Training film explains the principles of operation of the M1 (Garand) Infantry RifleThe US Rifle M1 was the first semiautomatic rifle to be the sta...

01/03/2023

Rifle Marksmanship With The M1 Rifle - Part 1

https://youtu.be/QoZ_usoFVSc

http://www.archive.org/details/How_to_Shoot_the_US_Army_Rifle

01/03/2023

Rifle Marksmanship With The M1 Rifle - Part 2 (1943)

https://youtu.be/9bmdxZwvkoQ

Rifle Marksmanship with the M1 Rifle - Part 2

01/01/2023

12/26/2022

12/24/2022

12/24/2022

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=533665715459730&id=100064489187940

‘Twas the night before Christmas
And above in the sky
A group of C-47s
Could be seen flying by

The lead plane carried Santa
And a payload of toys
A Christmas Eve air drop
For good girls and boys

Now Santa hooked up
Just a few minutes more
Then the Jumpmaster yelled
"Stand in the door!"

Santa jumped out
As the red light turned green
He began scattering toys,
His ancient routine

The toys dropped in chimneys
Across this great land
Bringing joy and smiles
Making Christmas so grand

With each toy was a note
About a veteran’s love
Plus, a reminder to children
To thank their Maker above

Santa floated down
His PLF so precise and so clean
We’re privileged to say
Santa jumps with our team!

He shouted with glee
As he walked off our DZ
“Merry Christmas to all!
And don’t be fooled! That Jumpmaster was me!”

All The Way!

Photo, Santa, airborne and ready for Christmas Eve, flying bove our home at Frederick Army Air Field/KFDR, Frederick, OK. By Gary Daniels.

12/23/2022

12/23/2022

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=607449687852981&id=100057638666192

HE DIDN'T WANT TO SING "WHITE CHRISTMAS" FOR THE TROOPS...

Entertainer Bing Crosby spent 25 weeks touring with the USO, entertaining servicemen in Britain, Belgium, and France during WWII. His rendition of the popular song, "White Christmas" was constantly requested by troops during Bing's USO appearances overseas, which gave the singer some mixed feelings. "I hesitated about doing it because invariably it caused such a nostalgic yearning among the men, that it made them sad," Crosby said in an interview. "Heaven knows, I didn't come that far to make them sad. For this reason, several times I tried to cut it out of the show, but these guys just hollered for it." Clearly, they identified with the wistful lyrics about holidays at home. (****Note about the composer: This song was written by Irving Berlin, who also wrote "God Bless America" and many more classic songs. Berlin's three-week-old son had died on Christmas day in 1928, so every year on December 25, he and his wife visited their baby's grave. He may have written the lyrics of this wistful song in response to missing his child during the holidays. )

12/23/2022

ABN COMMAND
2023 SCHEDULE

Headquarters
22 DEC 2022
OPERATIONS ORDER
FO 12222022

Schedule of Events
All events are subject to change, please check for posted events.

George Ranch Winter Encampment -
January 27-28
George Ranch, Richmond, TX

Ft Wash*ta Century of Warfare -
February 16-18
Ft Wash*ta in Durant, OK

Museum of the American GI -
March 24-26.
College Station TX

WASP Homecoming and Fly In -
April 28-29.
Sweetwater, TX

Audie Murphy Day
June 10.
Farmersville, TX

A Century of Warfare
September TBD
Ft Wash*ta in Durant, OK

Texian Market Days
October TBD
George Ranch, Richmond, TX

Other potential events:

12/23/2022

5 historical events that happened on Christmas

https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/historical-events-happened-on-christmas/

This is a list of some of the most significant historical events that happened on Christmas Day, December 25th.

12/17/2022

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=638672664778729&id=100059080035301

Reindeer were highly valued during World War II according to a research article published by the Arctic Institute of North America. They were primarily used to help transport war supplies through a crucial 800 mile long route, after supplies arrived in the Russian port city of Murmansk from North America.

It was an arduous and often deadly journey through blizzards, snow drifts and temperatures that routinely dipped below minus 30 degrees, no to mention nearly constant German attack.

Prior to World War II, reindeer were also used by Finnish troops during the Winter War (1939-1940).

Pictured is a monument to the WWII reindeer squadrons' members in Naryan-Mar, the capital city of Russia's Nenets Autonomous Area.

12/09/2022

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=513091270849344&id=100064454272005

Green Beret to be next CSM of the Army.

Command Sgt. Maj. (CSM) Michael Weimer was selected to succeed Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston, who will depart the role in August 2023.

Weimer is currently the top NCO for Army Special Operations Command, a role he assumed in August 2021.

Weimer is a career special operator, according to his official biography and details released by Hewitt.

He joined the Army in 1993 and graduated from Special Forces Assessment and Selection in 1994, becoming a Special Forces weapons sergeant.

Since then, Weimer has served in multiple roles across the special operations community, including time with 7th Special Forces Group. He also served as the top NCO for the special operations task force in Afghanistan from 2019 to 2020.

Weimer has a bachelor’s degree in strategic studies and defense analysis from Norwich University.

---Mud

12/07/2022

12/07/2022

11/30/2022

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=589733883156962&id=100063610652131

📸 After returning from the war in Europe, actor turned war hero Colonel Jimmy Stewart chats on the phone in his father’s hardware store while his father speaks with a customer in 1945. Besides all the usual hardware goods, the store also boasted the actor turned war hero’s “Philadelphia Story” Oscar on display.

Stewart won his Oscar for his work in the Philidelphia Story prior to joining the war effort. After taking the award in 1940, his father phoned him and said “I hear you won some kind of award. What was it a plaque or something? Well, you better bring it back here and we’ll put it in the window of the store.”

The Oscar would be displayed there for 25 years alongside other family awards and military medals. Stewart would become the first major American movie star to enlist in the United States Army to fight in World War II and was one of very few Americans to rise from the rank of Private to Colonel in less than five years. As a result of the 20 combat missions he flew over Germany as leader of a squadron of B-24’s, Colonel Stewart was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Croix de Guerre.

The 746th FEAF Band recorded the only known album by a frontline band unit in the jungles of the Pacific. Stream the music of front line WW2 on Spotify and Apple Music or download a digital copy of the album for free on the band website. Streaming is free….freedom is not.🇺🇸

Digital album👉🏼 https://746thfeaf.com/music

Spotify👉🏼 https://open.spotify.com/artist/4pv6OK7a0IpNlYIe8Y4mmm?si=B51UnJJ6QHmRvFziE0Oc7w

Apple Music👉🏼 https://music.apple.com/us/artist/746-feaf/1536981458

Pandora👉🏼 https://pandora.app.link/2alQUueYYrb

Deezer👉🏼 https://deezer.page.link/BXck1AqM2GA6qhs47

YouTube Music👉🏼 https://music.youtube.com/channel/UC1N9B9ct2aXR9NnPFi1MsUw?feature=gws_kp_artist&feature=gws_kp_artist



Oscar information sourced from Darling Hollywood 🎥🎬

11/24/2022

Have a Happy and safe Thanksgiving 🦃

11/03/2022

WW2 Training Film for US Soldiers | How to Behave in Britain | 1943

https://youtu.be/ltVtnCzg9xw

● Please SUPPORT my work on Patreon: https://bit.ly/2LT6opZ● Visit my 2ND CHANNEL: https://bit.ly/2ILbyX8►Facebook: https://bit.ly/2INA7yt►Twitter: https://b...

11/02/2022

101st Airborne Structure on D-Day

https://youtu.be/ZPz_XO-D_k8

The 101st Airborne Division is often remembered as one of the key fighting Divisions on D-Day. But how many of these were actually paratroopers? In this vide...

11/02/2022

DDay 82nd Airborne Structure

https://youtu.be/Jmhd84XYhUg

The 82nd Airborne Division is often remembered as one of the key fighting Divisions on D-Day. But how many of these were actually paratroopers? In this video...

11/02/2022

https://youtu.be/KSxERI2lKrM

11/02/2022

Why No Camouflage Uniforms In Europe?

https://youtu.be/fZyHMbNr1Ac

The US Military would fight across the globe during World War 2. Their fighting in the Pacific Theatre would see some of their men wearing camouflage uniform...

11/02/2022

The WW2 Paratrooper: First-Hand Accounts of the D-Day Invasion

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/ww2-paratrooper-first-hand-accounts-of-the-d-day-invasion/

What it was like to be a WW2 paratrooper, participating in an airborne jump, and managing to pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

10/31/2022

This pumpkin was done by historian Jeremy C. Holm courtesy to 11th Airborne Division Association - "Angels"

10/28/2022

Blood On the Risers(Gory Gory What a Helluva Way to Die)

https://youtu.be/VWgsdexkv18

Link to an Original Distribution Document:http://www.serviceofsupply.com/images/Keeper%20Pics/BloodonTheRisers.jpgLink to Paratroop Training Booklet circa 19...

10/25/2022

The 504th PIR in Italy

https://fb.watch/go8J3SP70X/

10/25/2022

How to Capture Prisoners

We posted a new video to our YouTube channel. Just a little funny video to get you through the week.

The ultimate game of rock, paper, scissors. Loser becomes a POW. Just a little funny video we did this past weekend with a little help from our fellow living...

10/21/2022

Texian Market Days George Ranch Historical park

10/19/2022

WWII Airborne Command HQ Operations - YouTube

If you haven’t checked out our YouTube channel you should

Airborne (ABN) Command Headquarters (HQ) attempts through an interpretive living history experience to tell the complete story in broad strokes of US Airborn...

10/18/2022

Ola Mildred Rexroat (August 28, 1917 – June 28, 2017) was the only Native American woman to serve in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).[1][2]

Rexroat was born in Argonia, Kansas, to a Euro-American father and an Oglala mother. The family moved to South Dakota when she was young, and she spent at least part of her youth on the Pine Ridge Reservation.[3] She attended public school in Wynona, Oklahoma, for a time, and graduated from the St. Mary's Episcopal Indian School in Springfield, South Dakota, in 1932.[4] Rexroat initially enrolled in a teachers college in Chadron, Nebraska, but left before completing her degree to work for what is now the Bureau of Indian Affairs for a year.[5] She earned a bachelor's degree in art from the University of New Mexico in 1939.[4] After college, she again worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Gallup, New Mexico for a year.[5]

Rexroat next worked for engineers building airfields, where she decided to learn how to fly. In order to do so, she would need her own airplane or to join the WASPs. Selecting the latter, she moved to Washington, D.C., with her mother and sisters, and was also employed at the Army War College.[5] Rexroat then went for WASP training in Sweetwater, Texas, and was assigned the dangerous job of towing targets for aerial gunnery students at Eagle Pass Army Airfield after her graduation.[6] She also helped transport cargo and personnel. When the WASPs were disbanded in December 1944, she joined the Air Force, where she served for ten years as an air traffic controller at Kirkland Air Force Base in New Mexico during the Korean War.[2][6][7] She continued to work as an air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation Administration for 33 years after her time in the Air Force Reserves was complete.[5]

In 2007 she was inducted into the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame.[8]

Rexroat died in June 2017 at the age of 99.[9] Immediately before her death she was the last surviving WASP in South Dakota and one of 275 living WASPs out of the original 1,074.[10] Several months after her death, the airfield operations building at Ellsworth Air Force Base was named after her.

10/18/2022

Gen. Anthony C. "Nuts" McAuliffe

Early life
McAuliffe was born in Washington, D.C., on July 2, 1898. He was a student at West Virginia University from 1916 to 1917. McAuliffe was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Social Fraternity while at West Virginia University. He enrolled at West Point in 1917. McAuliffe was part of an accelerated program and graduated shortly after the end of World War I, in November 1918. During this time period, he visited Europe for a short while and toured through several battlefields. Assigned to field artillery, he graduated from the Artillery School in 1920. For the next 16 years, McAuliffe would carry out typical peacetime assignments. By 1935, he had been promoted to the rank of captain. Afterwards, he was chosen to attend the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. In June 1940, McAuliffe graduated from the United States Army War College. Just before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he was promoted yet again, temporarily becoming a lieutenant colonel with the Supply Division of the War Department General Staff. While in this position, McAuliffe supervised the development of such new technology as the bazooka and the jeep. He rose through the ranks to four-star general in 1955.

World War II
Brigadier General McAuliffe served as commander of a division artillery of the 101st Airborne Division when he parachuted into Normandy on D-Day and when he landed by glider in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden.
In December 1944, when the German army launched the surprise Battle of the Bulge, Major General Maxwell D. Taylor, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, was away, attending a staff conference in the United States. In Taylor's absence, acting command of the 101st and its attached troops fell to McAuliffe. At Bastogne, the 101st was besieged by a far larger force of Germans under the command of General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz.
On December 22, 1944, through a party consisting of a major, a lieutenant, and two enlisted men under a flag of truce that entered the American lines southeast of Bastogne (occupied by Company F, 2nd Battalion, 327th Glider Infantry), General von Lüttwitz sent the following ultimatum to Gen. McAuliffe:
To the U.S.A. Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne.
The fortune of war is changing. This time the U.S.A. forces in and near Bastogne have been encircled by strong German armored units. More German armored units have crossed the river Our near Ortheuville, have taken Marche and reached St. Hubert by passing through Hompre-Sibret-Tillet. Libramont is in German hands.
There is only one possibility to save the encircled U.S.A. troops from total annihilation: that is the honorable surrender of the encircled town. In order to think it over a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note.
If this proposal should be rejected one German Artillery Corps and six heavy A. A. Battalions are ready to annihilate the U.S.A. troops in and near Bastogne. The order for firing will be given immediately after this two hours term.
All the serious civilian losses caused by this artillery fire would not correspond with the well-known American humanity.
The German Commander.

According to various accounts from those present, when McAuliffe was given the German message, he read it, crumpled it into a ball, threw it in a wastepaper basket, and muttered, "Aw, nuts". The officers in McAuliffe's command post were trying and failing to come up with suitable language for an official reply when Lt. Col. Harry Kinnard suggested that McAuliffe's first response summed up the situation pretty well, and the others agreed. The official reply was typed and delivered by Colonel Joseph Harper, commanding the 327th Glider Infantry, to the German delegation. It was as follows:
To the German Commander.

NUTS!

The American Commander
The German major appeared confused and asked Harper what the message meant. Harper said, "In plain English? Go to hell."
The choice of "Nuts!" rather than something earthier was typical for McAuliffe. Vincent Vicari, his personal aide at the time, recalled that "General Mac was the only general I ever knew who did not use profane language. 'Nuts' was part of his normal vocabulary."
The threat of artillery fire did not materialize, although several infantry and tank assaults were directed at the positions of the 327th Glider Infantry. In addition, the German Luftwaffe entered the attacks on the town, bombing it nightly. The 101st was able to hold off the Germans until the 4th Armored Division arrived on December 26 to provide reinforcement.
For his actions at Bastogne, McAuliffe was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by General Patton on December 30, 1944, followed later by the Distinguished Service Medal.
Immediately after Bastogne, McAuliffe assumed command of the 103rd Infantry Division on January 15, 1945, his first divisional command assignment, which he retained until July 1945. Under McAuliffe, the 103d reached the Rhine Valley, 23 March, and engaged in mopping up operations in the plain west of the Rhine River. In April 1945, it received occupational duties until 20 April when it resumed the offensive, pursuing a fleeing enemy through Stuttgart and taking Münsingen on 24 April. On 27 April, elements of the division entered Landsberg, where Kaufering concentration camp, a subcamp of Dachau, was liberated. The 103rd crossed the Danube River near Ulm on 26 April. On 3 May 1945, the 103rd captured Innsbruck, Austria with little to no fighting. The 103d linked up with the 88th Infantry Division which had been fighting its way north, up the Italian peninsula at the Brenner Pass over the Italian/Austrian border.

Photo of :
Anthony Clement "Nuts" McAuliffe

10/16/2022

10/16/2022

10/13/2022

Army's Historic WWII Training Grounds Named America's Newest National Monument

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/10/12/armys-historic-wwii-training-grounds-named-americas-newest-national-monument.html/amp

This marks Biden's first national monument designation as president and ends a years-long legislative effort by Colorado's Democratic U.S. senators.

10/13/2022

10/07/2022

Gavin’s Sky Soldiers

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/gavins-sky-soldiers/

By Joshua Shepherd By mid-afternoon on September 20, 1944, the deceptively placid waters of Holland’s Waal River were wreathed in dense clouds of smoke. Allied tanks and artillery had bombarded the north bank of the river for half an hour, unleashing a deafening barrage intended to soften up Germa...