World War II Database

Review: Defiance
5 Jan 2009

I’ve read a few reviews on Defiance, and most describe it on one hand as overly sentimental in parts, but in others, spot on in terms of story-telling and action. This review from the LA Times embraces these dual elements. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-defiance31-2008dec31,0,4587589.story Looks like I need to get to the movies.

Full story

A veteran passes: Quentin Aanenson
30 Dec 2008

So I was thumbing through the pages of the Frederick News-Post this afternoon and noticed a curious obituary. “That’s  Quentin Aanenson,” I thought.   Those who viewed Ken Burns’ The War know that Aanenson played a key role in that narrative.  A more detailed article about his death is here from a Minnesota paper.  The link is worth a ...

Full story

Review: Valkyrie
24 Dec 2008

The first reviews on Tom Cruise’s Valkyrie are in and most are positive. I’ve included an index here from Google News. http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn&ncl=1282349619&topic=e The first, from Entertainment Weekly, is pretty glowing.  The US release is set for DEC 25. Holiday best to all…

Full story

Air and Space (the Smithsonian at Dulles International)
21 Dec 2008

So it’s been about four years since I’ve been out to the Smithsonian Air and Space at the Dulles International airport in Virginia. With school out and the holiday shopping done, we figured it was time. Some thoughts: 1) the Space Shuttle wing is awesome. While the shuttle Enterprise is obviously the centerpiece, all the ...

Full story

?My Name is America? Series
18 Dec 2008

I recently came across a book called The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins - A World War II Soldier - Normandy, France, 1944.  My daughter brought it home from her elementary school library for me to read.   “What the heck,” I thought.  I haven’t read a first person account of the Normandy landings in some time. ...

Full story

WW2 poster art, #2
5 Dec 2008

So there are a few posters from the group I show my class that pitch a decent argument, but are also visually stunning. The Darth Vader poster, as my students call it, uses four colors: blue, yellow, and black, and white. Everything about the image just “pops”, including the cat-like eyes. A ...

Full story

A new look?
30 Nov 2008

So for the life of this blog, the look has been the pretty much the same. I decided to make a change. We still have three columns, but a cleaner, more journalistic “feel.” Any comments? Please let me know.

Full story

WW2 and the poster
26 Nov 2008

Near the end of a term in EN101, I spend part of a class talking about WW2 and the role mass communication. Most people think I’m going to talk radio, but no. FDR had the fireside chat, to be sure. But many are surprised to learn that posters were key means of ...

Full story

A Veteran Passes
10 Nov 2008

About seven years ago, I met Bill Lee.  Bill recently died after complications from a stroke.  He was a Navy veteran of both World War II and Korea.   About a year ago, Bill fabricated a hitch for my VW bus out scraps laying around his welding shop.  I watched the whole episode in awe as ...

Full story

More on Tom Cruise and Valkyrie
1 Nov 2008

Just came across the poster for TC’s Valkyrie online this evening.  This movie holds some interest for me as I recently saw a Discovery channel (in the US) on the bombing.  Basically the producers of the show recreated the bombings a few different ways in an effort to understand how the placement of the briefcase ...

Full story