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U.S. Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, take cover behind an AAV as they search for insurgents and weapons caches in Fallujah, on November 9, 2004, during Operation Phantom Fury.

A U.S. Marine cautiously ascends a staircase, while carrying a Russian made PPSh-41 submachine gun that he took from an insurgent, in the city of Fallujah, during Operation Phantom Fury, in November 2004.

Flight Ops aboard USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77).

Why do french tanks have rearview mirrors?

So the drivers could see the battlefield.

Charliesheen wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 1:07 pm

I was going to pick up some parts yesterday right before lunch and heard about that on the radio. The place I was going was real close to the Base and they had a few of the big roads closed off to keep onlookers away. It was on government property, but they have several observation areas where people park and watch planes and the cops were herding everyone out.

On December 16, 1944, the "Battle of the Bulge" began. It was the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States in World War II and was the third deadliest campaign in American history.

In the opening stages of the battle, the weather gave the Germans the upper hand. The frigid temperatures and blizzard conditions kept the Allies’ superior air attack on the ground. Troops braved near-arctic conditions, and many who were wounded froze to death before being rescued.

Although the offensive was effectively broken by December 27, when the trapped units of 2nd Panzer Division made two break-out attempts with only partial success, the "Battle of the Bulge" continued for another month before the front line was effectively restored to its original position prior to the attack.

The Germans' attacked with an approximate total strength of 450,000 troops, and 1,500 tanks and assault guns. Between 63,222 and 98,000 of these men were killed, missing, wounded in action, or captured. It was the last major offensive attempted by the Axis Powers on the Western front.

The Americans, with an initial strength of 610,000 troops when the offensive began, suffered over 89,000 casualties, including an estimated 19,000 killed and 23,000 missing or captured.

A-20G Havoc 43-9502 of 644th BS, 410th BG, seen from a fellow bomber as it loses its tail to a direct flak hit over Rouen, France. 4 Aug 1944

On January 13, 1945… Nearly a month after the Battle of the Bulge began, American forces are back on the offensive. At the small Belgian village of Foy, Lt. Ron Speirs leads Easy Company, 506th P.I.R., 101st Airborne against an entrenched enemy. Earlier, a shaky officer had stopped the attack prematurely, causing Capt. Richard Winters to send in Speirs to take charge. Having rallied the men, Speirs now leads the final Easy Company assault. In the days to follow, the Allied breakout would prove unstoppable, and the Battle of the Bulge would end in victory.

Homebrew wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 8:22 pm

On January 13, 1945… Nearly a month after the Battle of the Bulge began, American forces are back on the offensive. At the small Belgian village of Foy, Lt. Ron Speirs leads Easy Company, 506th P.I.R., 101st Airborne against an entrenched enemy. Earlier, a shaky officer had stopped the attack prematurely, causing Capt. Richard Winters to send in Speirs to take charge. Having rallied the men, Speirs now leads the final Easy Company assault. In the days to follow, the Allied breakout would prove unstoppable, and the Battle of the Bulge would end in victory.

Thompson smg? M1 Carbine. Is the right one a BAR?

peterosehaircut wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 6:22 am

Homebrew wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 8:22 pm

On January 13, 1945… Nearly a month after the Battle of the Bulge began, American forces are back on the offensive. At the small Belgian village of Foy, Lt. Ron Speirs leads Easy Company, 506th P.I.R., 101st Airborne against an entrenched enemy. Earlier, a shaky officer had stopped the attack prematurely, causing Capt. Richard Winters to send in Speirs to take charge. Having rallied the men, Speirs now leads the final Easy Company assault. In the days to follow, the Allied breakout would prove unstoppable, and the Battle of the Bulge would end in victory.

Thompson smg? M1 Carbine. Is the right one a BAR?

It is, yes. The infantry fellas in the background all have M1 garands, and the officer does have a Thomson, aka, the most inefficient pistol caliber smg ever.

I’ll bite. Define “inefficient.”

TIA

The impressive score on fighter Ace Louis E. Curdes’ “Bad Angel”. Curdes served two combat tours during WW2: one with the 82nd Fighter Group in North Africa and the other with the 3rd Air Commando Group in the South Pacific. In the Mediterranean he was shot down, captured, became a prisoner-of-war in Italy and later escaped after some months in captivity. The American flag there was not a “blue-on-blue” incident. Curdes shot down a C-47 in the Philippines to prevent it from landing on the Japanese held airfield. The C-47 ditched in the sea and Curdes flew out next morning in the PBY which rescued the crew and passengers, among them several nurses. One of the latter married Curdes after the war.

Homebrew wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 8:32 pm

A U.S. Marine cautiously ascends a staircase, while carrying a Russian made PPSh-41 submachine gun that he took from an insurgent, in the city of Fallujah, during Operation Phantom Fury, in November 2004.

The company I went to Iraq with went through this. My dozer driver ran an armored d9 through the city taking down troublesome buildings. RPGs and antitank mines did nothing to it. He actually got a kill dropping the blade of his dozer on a hadjii bastard that was too stupid to move.

On January 26, 1945, 2nd Lieutenant Audie L. Murphy was commanding Baker Company of the 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, near the French village of Holtzwihr when six German tanks and several hundred infantrymen attacked his company.

Lt. Murphy ordered his men to fall back to defensive positions in nearby woods while he covered their withdrawal by calling in an artillery barrage to slow the enemy advance. A nearby American tank was hit by a German tank shell and was set on fire.

Murphy climbed on the burning tank, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. From his exposed position on top of the burning tank destroyer, Murphy killed over 20 German soldiers and repelled their attack. For over an hour and despite being wounded in the leg, he continued to pour fire into the German ranks. Murphy then led his company in a counterattack that killed or wounded 50 more German soldiers.

On April 23, 1945, at the age of only 19, Murphy received the Medal of Honor. Though his heroism on January 26 was extraordinary, it was not the first time Murphy had distinguished himself in combat. He had received over 20 awards for valor, including the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Star medals, and two Bronze Star medals for valor in Italy and France. After receiving the Medal of Honor, Murphy was celebrated as the most decorated American soldier in World War II and was featured on the cover of Life magazine.

After the war, Murphy’s national celebrity status brought him to the attention of Hollywood. He went on to have a prolific country music songwriting and acting career, starring in 44 feature films, including the movie adaptation of his autobiography, To Hell and Back.

In January 1943 the first US raid was conducted on Germany proper when on January 27th, 91 US bombers were sent on a daylight raid on the submarine bases at Wilhelmshaven. 53 bombers successfully bombed the target and 3 were lost. Thus began US daylight bombing of Germany. The British bombed at night and the US bombed during the day.

Two U.S. Marines carry a wounded buddy as they exit a building they had cleared of NVA forces and were using for cover, during the battle of Hue on February 6, 1968.

On February 19, 1945, U.S. Marines landed on the eight-square mile, volcanic island of Iwo Jima. They would endure a five-week battle comprised of some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the entire Pacific Campaign during World War II. The goal of capturing Iwo was to secure its three vital airfields, which would provide a closer staging area for launching bombing raids on the Japanese home islands.

Within days, over 70,000 U.S. Marines would storm the beaches on Iwo Jima. Even though they were significantly outnumbered, the 21,000 soldiers of the Japanese garrison would put up a tough and murderous defense. The Marines were not prepared for the island’s labyrinth of interconnecting underground defenses.

After only four days of fighting, U.S. Marines captured the extinct volcano, Mount Suribachi, on the island’s southern point. Two American flags were raised on its summit. The second flag raising was captured by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal, who would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for the iconic photograph. However, the fighting was far from over.

The island was finally secured after 36 days of intense combat on March 26, 1945. Nearly the entire Japanese garrison of 21,000 were killed and American forces suffered over 26,000 casualties. Iwo Jima was the only battle where the U.S. Marine casualties exceeded the Japanese.