Interesting Facts and Stories

Margaret Cochran Corbin fought alongside her husband in the American Revolutionary War and was the first woman to receive pension from the United States government as a disabled soldier. She was born Nov. 12, 1751 near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.-

When she was twenty-one she married John Corbin. John joined the Continental Army when the American Revolution started four years later and Margaret accompanied her husband. Wives of the soldiers often cooked for the men, washed their laundry and nursed wounded soldiers. They also watched the men do their drills and, no doubt, learned those drills, too. -

On November 16,1776, while they were stationed in Fort Washington, New York, the fort was attacked by British and Hessian troops. John was assisting a gunner until the gunner was killed. At this point John took charge of the cannon and Margaret assisted him. Sometime later, John was killed also. With no time to grieve, Margaret continued loading and firing the cannon by herself until she was wounded by grapeshot which tore her shoulder, mangled her chest and lacerated her jaw. Other soldiers moved her to the rear where she received first aid. The fort was captured by the British, but the wounded American soldiers were paroled. They were ferried across the river to Fort Lee.

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Margaret was then transported further in a jolting wagon all the way to Philadelphia. She never recovered fully from her wounds and was left without use of her left arm for the rest of her life. -

In 1779, the Continental Congress granted her a pension ("half the pay and allowances of a soldier in service") due to her distinguished bravery. She continued to be included on regimental muster lists until the end of the war in 1783. Margaret Cochran Corbin died near West Point, New York prior to her fiftieth birthday.-

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Story of a memorial.... The Monument for Air Casualties, in Francavilla Al Mare, Chieti province, Italy.-

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Propeller of P.38-G10, plate number SN42-23460, with pseudonym “Bar fly” of the 1st fighters group – 94° Sq. – 15° Air Force stationed in Salsola (FG), as pilot the flight officer Cyril L. Nolen

On April 19th 1944 the USAF Flight Officer Cyril L. Nolen of 22 years old, born in St. Cloud (Minnesota). was assigned an escort to a B-17 training of the 463° bombers’ group that had as an objective the bombardment of: Castelfranco Veneto, Vicenza and Padua. Fortunately, the adverse weather conditions on the cities made the mission failed and the bombers released their bombs cargo in the Adriatic Sea.

On his way back, once arrived in the Adriatic coast near Ravenna, machine-gunned a train at a railway station, but run into a German anti-aircraft artillery located nearby; as a result the right side engine of his P.38 stopped working.-

There were not so many possibilities left to Nolen, injured and with only one engine to the left side, headed to the sea to return back to the base. On his report after his imprisonment, relates that few kilometers before the area where the English allies were located (Ortona), the left side engine stopped working too, and some smoke started filtering into the flight deck; at this point, the pilot had no other chance than attempting a sea landing (in that moment he was located in front of Francavilla) with successful results, given that the impact with water was quiet smooth.

Nolen rapidly jumped out of the cockpit while the aircraft slowly lied down to the sea bed. At that point, the German soldiers approached him, took him to their boat and made him their prisoner. That night, the German soldiers put him in a track together with another prisoner, and with an escort of five guards drove towards the North side. The second day of his capture, Nolen really risked to die, as the truck on which he was travelling experienced a partisans ambush (near Bologna); the vehicle broke in an escarpment, two soldiers died, the other prisoner broke his back; Nolen was injured on his head and fainted due to the impact. When he recovered consciousness, the first thing he saw was a German officer pointing a gun to his head. They continued the trip towards the North side, but due to his injuries, Nolen was taken to a hospital in Milan, after which they continued their trip to Frankfurt where the distribution centre and first interrogatory of allied prison aviators was located. -

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Cyril L. Nolen

Some days after, Nolen was interned in the Stalag Luft3 in Sagan, near Berlin. During the first months of the 45’s and with the irruption of Russian, prisoners were moved to Nuremberg. Nolen tried to escape several times, suffering violent punishments as a result, until his lucky day arrived: taking advantage of a British night raid was able to run away together with other fellows through the lavatories of the field. Marched for seven days and got saved by returning to the American battalion.-

After the war, Cyril Nolen continued flying for different air companies; was also required for a year, as a reconnaissance aircraft pilot in the Vietnam War. Once he achieved his retirement, bought a small airplane which he used to take tourists to go for a fly.

Nolen died in Marlboro, New York in 1998.-

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The polish Captain Stefan Ogonczyk Wesolowski (1909-1987) born in Warsaw during the occupation of Poland by Czarist Russia. His family background dates back to old Polish nobility and is one that is steeped in patriotism. The Wesolowski family took an active part in the service of the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom, at the very height of Polish historical strength in Central Europe. His father, Lucjan participated in the Revolution of 1905 and his grandfather, Seweryn took part in the January Uprising of 1863 against Russia. The great-grandfather, Jozef, participated in the November Uprising of 1830. Since 1792, twenty-two members of the Wesolowski family received Poland’s highest decoration for military valor, the Order of the Virtuti Militari.

Stefan Wesolowski followed in this family tradition of patriotism at the early age of 9 when he ran away from home to join Pilsudski’s Legions. In 1918 at the age when most children are concerned with toys and not national issues, Stefan participated as a soldier in the Polish War of Independence. For his services, primarily as a scout, during this turbulent period of Polish military history, Stefan Wesolowski received Poland’s highest honor for valor and gallantry under fire. He was awarded the Order of Virtuti Militari for the defense of Lwow where he was instrumental in taking and holding a strategic position. He received the second highest decoration, the Cross of Valor for his military contributions during the 3rd Silesian Uprising. There he conducted nightly reconnaissance operations across enemy lines camouflaged as a girl pulling a cow to pasture. No one suspected a little girl of military activity.

In addition to these decorations, Stefan Wesolowski was promoted to the rank of corporal at the tender age of 12, becoming the youngest noncommissioned officer in the history of Polish military services.

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He was later awarded decorations for Silesia, Wolyn and Lwow as an additional point of recognition for his military service in these campaigns.
 
Hans Meyer as a jewish WW1 German soldier.- Meyer got the Iron Cross for his service in the Imperal German army in World War 1.-
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He ended his life in the holocaust at the hands of the nazis.-
 
After Pearl Harbor, some houses of prostitution -- which were then located near the harbor -- served as temporary hospitals, and many of the "girls" came to wherever they were needed to nurse the injured. Under martial law, 1942-1944, prostitutes enjoyed a fair amount of freedom in the city -- more than they'd had before the war under civilian government.

Near many military bases, reputed "victory girls" could be found, willing to engage in sex with military men without charge. Many were younger than 17. Military posters campaigning against venereal disease depicted these "victory girls" as a threat to the Allied military effort.-

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The Captain Mamo Habtewold has now 81, but 60 years ago, Mamo was a young officer in the Imperial Guard of Ethiopia.-

That was when Emperor Haile Selassie answered a call from the United Nations to send troops to Korea to fight the Communists. Mamo vividly remembers seeing the Emperor as they were sent off.- “He giving each battalion a flag, and he ordered us to bring that flag back. And all the Battalions did. Very successfully.”

Mamo’s unit was attached to the US Army’s 7th division.- By 1953, the Korean War had degenerated into a bitter trench war. -

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Mamo was stationed at a place named Pork Chop Hill.- One night in May he led a patrol into no-man’s land.- He had no idea that, coming the other way, was a full-scale Chinese assault.-

“We were 14 Ethiopians and one American, 15 in all,” says Mamo. “Four are killed, including the American corporal, and all of us are wounded”.-

Wounded and trapped in no-man’s land, Mamo fought on – desperately searching for a working radio to call in artillery support.- He gave his pistol to another Ethiopian to cover him while he searched.- He was worried he would pass out. -

“That time I was afraid I might be captured, I want to kill myself. But when I ordered the soldier to give me my pistol back, he refused me.”

Dreading the thought of being captured and dishonoring the flag of Emperor Haile Selaissie, Mamo hunted for another weapon among the dead.-

Then the Chinese attacked again, and Mamo continued fighting.- Eventually he found a radio, and called in the American artillery.- That stopped the Chinese offensive in its tracks.-

And it won the young Ethiopian the American Silver Star, for gallantry. -

He was the only man left standing.- “When they went all to hospital I am the only man back to my bunker. I was depressed very much.”- Mamo said it was like a man who loses his whole family and returns to an empty house.-

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Mamo Habtewold today

Ethiopia lost 121 men in the Korean War; more than 500 were wounded.-

theworld.org
 
Camp X was the unofficial name of a Second World War paramilitary and commando training installation, on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario between Whitby and Oshawa in Ontario, Canada.-
The area is known today as Intrepid Park, after the code name for Sir William Stephenson of the British Security Coordination.-
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The First Sacred War (595 BC-585 BC) was fought between the Amphictyonic League of Delphi and the city of Kirrha (in Greece). The conflict arose due to Kirrha's frequent robbery and mistreatment of pilgrims going to Delphi and their encroachments upon Delphic land. The war resulted in the defeat and destruction of Kirrha.-

The war is notable for the use of chemical warfare at the siege of Kirrha, in the form of hellebore being used to poison the city's water supply.-
 
Aboriginals in the Canadian Military
During the First World War, at least 4,000 Indian men volunteered to join the Allied forces in European battlefields.- More than 3,000 Canadian Indians served during the Second World War, and it is estimated that several hundred Natives volunteered to help the United Nations defend South Korea during the Korean War.

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An Indian in the Canadian Forestry Corps

At the outbreak of the First World War, a considerable number of Natives lived in remote communities and spoke neither English nor French. For many, joining a Canadian battalion marked their first exposure to the dress, terminology and unique customs of British military tradition.-

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cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca
 
Naib Subedar Yogendra Singh Yadav is a soldier in the Indian army. He was awarded the highest Indian military honour, Param Vir Chakra for his actions during the Kargil War on 4 July 1999.-

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Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav of the 18 Grenadiers was part of the Commando 'Ghatak' (Deadly or Lethal) Platoon tasked to capture three strategic bunkers on Tiger Hill in the early morning hours of 4 July 1999.-

The bunkers were situated at the top of a vertical, snow-covered, 16,500 foot high cliff face. Grenadier Yadav, volunteering to lead the assault, was climbing the cliff face and fixing the ropes for further assault on the feature. Halfway up, an enemy bunker opened up machine gun and rocket fire, killing the platoon commander and two others. In spite of having been hit by three bullets in his groin and shoulder, Yadav climbed the remaining 60 feet and reached the top. Though severely injured, he crawled to the first bunker and lobbed a grenade, killing four Pakistani soldiers and neutralizing enemy fire. This gave the rest of the platoon the opportunity to climb up the cliff face.-

Yadav then charged the second bunker along with two of his fellow soldiers and engaged in hand-to-hand combat, killing four Pakistani soldiers. The platoon subsequently succeeded in capturing Tiger Hill.-

For his sustained display of bravery, Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest medal for gallantry.-
 
Ottmar Hitzfeld, actual manager of the Swiss football team, is nephew of Otto Hitzfeld (7 May 1898 – 6 December 1990) who was a german officer during both World War I and World War II. Hitzfeld was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords on 9 May 1945. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves and Swords was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.-
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Sir John William Alcock ( 1892 -1919) was a Captain in the Royal Air Force who, together with navigator Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown, piloted the first non-stop transatlantic flight from St. John's, Newfoundland (Canada)to Clifden, Connemara, Ireland.-

They left St Johns at 1345 (local time) on June 14, 1919, landing in Derrygimla 16 hours and 12 minutes later, the June 15, 1919, after flying 3,186 km.
The flight was conducted in a modified Vickers Vimy bomber, winning the £ 10,000 prize offered by the London Daily Mail for the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic.-

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A few days after the flight both Alcock and Brown were honoured with a reception at Windsor Castle by King George V.-

Three days later he was flying a new Vickers amphibious aeroplane, the Type 54 Viking, to the first postwar aeronautical exhibition in Paris when he crashed in fog at Cote d'Everard, near Rouen, Normandy stalling such that a wing hit a tree. He died before medical assistance arrived.
 
Warsaw, 1944: Behind the image.-

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The woman at the head of the column on the left, holding onto her mother-in-law’s arm, has been identified as Yehudit Neyer. The child is the daughter of Yehudit and Avraham Neyer, who can be seen to the left of the little girl. Of the four, only Avraham would survive the war.

The picture was taken by an anonymous photographer at Nowolipie Street looking east, near the intersection with Smocza Street. On the right is the townhouse at Nowolipie 63, and a little further, shrouded by smoke, the ghetto wall and gate. The raging fire on the left is the burning balcony of the townhouse at Nowolipie 66.

The photo would go on to become one of the most famous images of the Second World War, described by The Photograph Book in 1997 as being the ‘most famous picture by an anonymous photographer.’

from military-history.org
 
On november 12, 1948, an international war crimes tribunal in Tokyo passes death sentences on seven Japanese military and government officials, including General Hideki Tojo (photo), who served as premier of Japan from 1941 to 1944. -

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Eight days before, the trial ended after 30 months with all 25 Japanese defendants being found guilty of breaching the laws and customs of war. In addition to the death sentences imposed on Tojo and others principals, such as Iwane Matsui, who organized the Rape of Nanking, and Heitaro Kimura, who brutalized Allied prisoners of war, 16 others were sentenced to life imprisonment. The remaining two of the 25 defendants were sentenced to lesser terms in prison.-
 
Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow, A Crow Warrior vs the Nazis

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"In World War II, I managed to have captured fifty head of horses. These were not ordinary horses. They belonged to SS officers, you know? During the last days of the war over there, there was a lot of confusion, so a bunch of these SS officers got on their horses and took off ... They were heading back to Germany. And here’s that old sneaky old Crow Indian now following them, watching them. So they camped for the night. I sneak in there and took all their fifty head of horses, left them on foot. So I got on one, looked around there and I even sang a Crow victory song all by myself. Crows do that when they think they’re all by themselves, they do things like that. So I sang a victory song."


In 2009, Dr. Crow was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama for his services. You can hear him tell the story at the link below.

http://blog.nmai.si.edu/main/2011/1...dicine-crow-remembers-fighting-the-nazis.html
 
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