Category: History

Best way to spend a Rainy Day

Waking up hearing the light pattering of rain off the roof, I would have never have guessed I’d be spending my whole day fishing out of a kayak.  After sleeping in for the first time on this trip I woke up only to find out Ben was already out on the water in his kayak. After rushing through breakfast, only grabbing a handful of sausages, I quickly gathered some gear and got out onto the water, finding Ben after only 15 minutes. One of the key things forgotten in my sprint out the door was an anchor for my kayak which as it turns out is very important in windy and rainy weather. Thankfully nearby there was a small grass island I could beach on. We didn’t have long to wait before getting a plethora of fish in quick succession. After bringing in two Red fish ,he first, and second Redfish i’ve ever caught, I hear Ben holler out that he had a “giant” on his line. Once pulling it in and finding out it was 25 inches I had to concur that it was indeed a giant. After bringing in the giant we decided to head back to the dock for some lunch, bringing in the haul of two fish (a smaller Redfish that Ben caught before I caught up to him)

Ben with the morning haul, a giant 25 inch Red along with an 18 incher.

Once getting back in for lunch the rain really started coming down for an hour or so, leaving us stuck inside to watch syfy movies most of the afternoon. The skies cleared in the late afternoon allowing us to get out of the house for a bit. Since our luck had be so good in the morning we decided to head out once we got home from dinner. Seeing dark clouds in the distance and the sun dropping quickly we knew we only had around an hour to get in the water and get fishing. We stayed out till after the sun had dropped without catching a single thing, but that didn’t phase either one of us. I’ll include a few pictures below to show you why…

I’m currently writing to you at 12:26am, since I have to be at the tackle shop in a little less than 6 hours this is where I leave you, hopeful that ill be back tomorrow with more fun stories (and hopefully less of a sunburn) so this is me signing off till next time.

 

WW2 National Museum

Had a great chance to visit The National WW2 Museum in New Orleans and would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about the history of the bloodiest conflict the world has ever seen.

 

 

DKN NZ350 Motorcycle was the preferred motorcycle for the German Wehrmacht.
The MG-34 the predecessor to the infamous MG-42

The Smallest Soldier

In the early morning hours before the sun arose on June 5th infamously known as D-Day, the 82nd and 101st U.S airborne alongside the British 6th Airborne division launched a preemptive strike to secure roads and key bridges to prevent and German counter attacks once the invasion had begun. A tactic that was employed during amidst this attack was a deceptive strategy designed to intimidate the Germans, the planes the paratroopers would jump from would also throw “paradummmies” out of the planes which were small dolls designed to look like falling paratroopers. These dolls became affectionately known as “Rupert Dolls” by the British and “Oscar” by the Americans

 

The Smallest Soldier
A small radio used by French Resistance while under the German rule.
The standard carry for U.S Paratroopers during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day.

This helmet was worn by PFC Joseph K. Berrineau, while he was with allied forces pushing further into France after the successful invasion of Normandy. While he was advancing towards the German occupied town of Vidouville, France he was hit by shrapnel across his shoulder and back. It was only after he was being medically evacuated did he notice that a machine gun round had gone straight through his helmet miraculously he was completely unharmed by the bullet.

 

The Merchant Marines

A very under appreciated group when talking about WW2 are who are known as The Merchant Marines. This group before the war consisted of around 55,000 civilian sailors this number increased to about 250,000 sailors during the height of the war. The ages of these sailors ranged from around 17 to 70 years old. The Merchant Marines delivered supplies to allies on the front line all throughout the war despite heavy casualties. There are no exact records of how many casualties they accumulated over the course of the war but some sources estimate over 9,000 men were either lost at sea or killed. Bear in mind these were not soldiers they did not receive any honors or any recognition of naval sailors, they were simply brave men who were willing to lay down their lives for their country.

 

A painting of the Merchant Marines.
The Messerchmitt BF-109 was put into production in 1939 and was the the fighter of choice for the German Luftwaffe.
A standard Japanese uniform during the Pacific theater.
The Japanese made Type-92 used all through the Pacific campaign by Japanese forces. Known by the allies as the “woodpecker’ due to the noise it made while firing.