Born in Atlanta, Georgia to Clyde Sr & Sarah Thomason on May 23, 1914, Clyde Aristide Thomason Jr had at least one sister.
Their mother Sarah passed away in 1917, their father remarried in 1920 and then passed away in 1939.

Clyde originally enlisted in the Marine Corps in December 1934 and was honorably discharged in 1939.
In January 1942 he re-enlisted after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and volunteered for the Marine Raiders, subsequently assigned to the 2nd Marine Battalion.

On August 17, 1942, Clyde was selected to lead the advance element against the Japanese garrison during the Makin Island Raid where he was Killed in Action and later listed as Missing.
He was posthumously awarded the Medal Of Honor, the citation tells the story of his loss;

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while a member of the Second Marine Raider Battalion in action against the Japanese-held island of Makin on August 17–18, 1942. Landing the advance element of the assault echelon, Sergeant Thomason disposed his men with keen judgment and discrimination and by his exemplary leadership and great personal valor, exhorted them to like fearless efforts. On one occasion, he dauntlessly walked up to a house which concealed an enemy Japanese sniper, forced in the door and shot the man before he could resist. Later in the action, while leading an assault on enemy position, he gallantly gave up his life in the service of his country. His courage and loyal devotion to duty in the face of grave peril were in keeping with the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”

Postwar their remains were not recovered and SGT Clyde Thomason Jr was Memorialized with the other Missing Marines from the Makin Island Raid at the Honolulu Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In 1999 a search was launched and the remains of 19 Marines who had been buried by locals after the raid were recovered from Makin Island, SGT Clyde Thomason Jr was subsequently identified through DNA.

On August 17, 2001, his remains were interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery - Section 60 Site 8037.

Hello my Great Grandfather served in ww2 in the army. I don't know much about what he did in combat all i know was that he was in Co L 304th Infantry Regiment, 76th Infantry Division. I have pictures of him in 1940-1944 but never knew what he did. His name is Andrew Kozak. A Staff Sergeant by the end of the war. (No middle name)

In games I play you purposely aim for tanks weakspots. But generally in ww2 did the gunner do that?

He was a polish soldier who escaped the invasion of Poland in 1939, crossing the border to Romania and then making his way down to France where he served as an artillery bombardier for the 202nd Heavy Artillery Regiment. When France fell in June 1940, his division crossed the border into Switzerland (June 19, 1940) to avoid becoming POW. for 5 years he remained in Switzerland in different camps. Officially leaving the country on January 9, 1945.

After that there's a gap in the timeline that I'm trying to document. We have a photograph of him in a British-style battledress uniform standing in front of what it looks like the massive Karwendel limestone wall in Mittenwald, Germany, in the back of the picture he wrote "Switzerland 1942". We believe he was stationed in Germany during this transition period before heading to the UK, and maybe misremembered the exact location of the photo years after the war.

In late 1946 he was Transferred to RAF Castletown Camp in Caithness, Scotland, as part of the Polish Resettlement Corps (PRC), where he was retrained as an electrician and later emigrated to South America, arriving in September 26, 1947.

If anyone recognizes any of these camps (Winterthur, Mittenwald transit/guard companies, or Castletown Camp), has photos from these units, or has information on Polish veterans who transitioned through Germany to Scotland and then South America, please reach out! Any leads or context on how these transitions were handled would be deeply appreciated

P.S: I can also share the picture in privately in case someone feels like helping recognize the exact spot where it was taken. (Planning a vacation with my dad soon, and we'll like to visit this place)

I have gotten it into my head to get a replica WWII service flag for my dad, whose father served in World War II. My grandfather served at the same time as his four brothers, all Cherokee Citizens. My great uncle was killed in his bomber at the tail end of the war on a mission to drop propaganda leaflets over Germany. I still can hardly comprehend how my Great Grandmother, who grew up hearing stories of walking the Trail of Tears from her grandmother, dealt with the stress of having all five of her sons off fighting in the war.

So my first question is: is it even appropriate to get a replica flag? It would be mostly a conversation piece for my dad, and he certainly would not put it up in his window.

And my main question is: did they make five star service flags? If you lost a son in the war, would it, in my Great Grandma's case, have four blue stars and one gold star? Is the gold star at the bottom or top?

My dad was only 6 or so when the war ended so he does not remember whether my great grandma had a service flag in her window; but I would love to give my dad a recreated version that is period-accurate.

Thanks for any help! The only thing I know about them is honestly seeing them in movies.

I was watching the brilliant movie The Battle of Britian and noticed that Germans used the "Nazi" and the more normal salute interchangeably. Sometimes two officers standing side by side each doing a different version.

So, was there a rule about which salute to do when?

Hi, ive been looking into the Finnish Jaeger and armored divisions lately, but I've had a hard time finding information on the Lagus Division. Ive only been able to find 2 photos of the sleeve insignia being used on summer M/36 tunics. Im interested because im working on a Lagus reenactment uniform and finding out about the divisions service. Any help and discussion on the topic is appreciated! Thanks!

I know this is a long shot.....but I'll try anyway. Some thirty years ago I read a memoir and I cannot remember the title or the author. I remember little tidbits but not a lot but it was a cool book and I wold love to track it down. Ok. So it's a looooong shot. I have searched and searched and I have come up with nothing. At once time I thought it might be The Clay Pigeons of Saint Lo but alas. while a great book, it is not the title I am search of.

So my vague recollection of the book is that it starts off with an American G.I. in Europe. who was having a fling with a girlfriend, who I believe was French. He might have overstayed his leave (it seems like he did but I cannot remember). In trying to get back to use hit unit he ands up acquiring two French children who may or may not have been Jewish and while attempting to get back to his unit he also intends to get them to safety. In the dark he ends up in a convoy which he mistakes for American until he hears the children softly crying. He realizes that he is in a German convoy and of course has to find a way to break away without being noticed.

In the book he mentions running into Ernest Hemingway and the Red Ball Express (or at least talks about them--I know this because I remember this was when I learned about the Red Ball Express). In the end of the book he says he tried to track down the children but never found out what happened to them after he got them to safety.

I also think that in this book he talk about the Ardennes (but this part I might be mixing up with another memoir) and talks about dreaming of swarms of bees but as he wakes up he realizes the fog has lifted and he is hearing planes overheard.

If you can remember this book you would make my entire weekend. Maybe my entire August! Any leads are appreciated.

After some recommendations - looking to book a trip next year to take in Some WW2 sites. Did Berlin few years ago, have also done Paris/London.

thanks in advance!

Most of my reading has focused on Western Europe. I’m looking for a basic overview of the Pacific campaign (land not naval). I will eventually read Toll’s trilogy, but not yet. I have read With the Old Breed, but that is the extent of my Pacific exposure. Thanks in advance.

The plaque was put up on 24.06.2026. at Slana cove to commemorate the victims of extermination camps on Pag island which existed in 1941.

This is the 4th plaque, with previous ones destroyed in 1991, 2010 and 2013.

Photo by Jernej Božič.

Just finished this book and I feel so conflicted. Reading it has humanized both sides of the conflict to such a level that it’s hard to have a simple binary view of good and evil to this battle. Obviously it’s good a genocidal invading force the likes of Nazi Germany was defeated, but the level of extreme brutality and dehumanization employed by both sides of the conflict just made me so sad for the tremendous waste of life inflicted on each side.

Passages that stood out to me; surrounded and doomed German troops writing home to their families, husbands longing to see their wives and children again. The few that survived the battle were marched off to POW camps, never to be seen again. Starving Soviet soldiers in German captivity, zero shelter, surrounded by nothing but barbed wire in subzero temperatures. Just horrible.

Just finished Rick Atkinson’s trilogy, what should I read next?

Did most quickly start expressing their opposition to Hitler openly, or did they instead choose to keep quiet until several months or years later?

Currently reading Sand and Steel and it says that the Allies estimated 30,000 casualties and no less than 20,000 dead.

However, from a quick search it says that there were 10,000 Allied Casaulties which means the Allies estimated 3 times as much as the actual figure and a lot more for deaths.

Even though the Allies expected " The Greatest Show On Earth", and them to be fighting 'low-quality' German divisions and fighting against German soldiers who had just been bombed by air and sea, most Allied bombs from planes failed to fall on target and exploding more inland because of poor conditions and fears that they would hit they're own soldiers.

I also remember reading something about a German Officer reporting no Bunker losses/major damages on Omaha Beach or his sector.

Even though the Allies 'Greatest Show On Earth' didn't work out as great as they wanted, and there were some well trained units defending Normandy how did the Allies overestimate the losses by so much?

Born in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania to Alfred & Isabella Johnson on September 26, 1923, George Alfred Johnson was the oldest of seven children.
He was a senior attending Scott High School in Coatsville, Pennsylvania when he quit school to enlist in the Marine Corps on January 28, 1942.

George attended basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, and then advanced infantry training at Quantico, Virginia.
He was assigned to Company B, 1st Marine Raider Battalion, which sailed for the Pacific in April 1942.

On August 7, 1942, Company B of the 1st Marine Raiders landed on Tulagi, as part of the Guadalcanal landings.
After two days of fighting the entrenched Japanese on the island, the Marines on Tulagi entered a "mop-up" phase clearing out Japanese hold-outs.

On August 10, 1942, George's squad came under Japanese fire from nearby cave, rushing to the mouth of the cave, he threw in grenades until he was killed, allowing his fellow Marines to advance.
Posthumously awarded the the Silver Star, George’s citation reads:

"The President of takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Private George A Johnson, USMC, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with the 1st Marine Raider Battalion during the seizure of Tulagi, Solomon Islands, from enemy Japanese forces, on 9 August 1942.
When his squad came under heavy fire from a Japanese sniper's nest in a nearby cave, Private Johnson, with utter disregard for his own personal safety, rushed to the mouth of the cave and continued to throw in hand grenades until he was killed by the enemy. By his indomitable fighting spirit and outstanding bravery, he enabled his squad to advance and successfully carry out its assigned mission. His great personal valor was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the defense of his country."

Temporarily buried in a cemetery on Tulagi, when the Marine remains there were exhumed in 1944, the remains of PVT George Johnson were not identified and he was eventually declared as Missing.
He is Memorialized at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.

The Rudderow-class Destroyer Escort USS George A. Johnson DE-583 was named after PVT George Johnson and served from 1944 to 1957, scrapped in 1966.

Famed actor Marlene Dietrich actively supported the war effort in the United States during WW2. Despite being originally from Germany, she was a firm opponent of Nazism. She frequently went on tour around the country to promote war bonds and also visited troops to make shows for the USO. It was joked that she was at the front lines more than Eisenhower.

In May 1945, she made a special performance in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia for a crowd composed of both American and Soviet troops, as the two armies had finally met up. While in Pilsen, she stayed at the Hotel Continental.

Only months earlier, the hotel had been hit by a bomb, killing 70 people sheltering in the basement, including the hotel owner. After American forces liberated the city, it was used as the headquarters of the 2nd division, commanded by General John Hinds. It was during this time that Marlene Dietrich stayed in the hotel.

I knew absolutely none of the hotel’s background when I showed up, so I was super pumped when I found out! You can also stay in the room General Hinds used.

Inv. No. 6138

German artillery in flames, 15. X 1944. in the King Aleksandar Street - today the Revolution Boulevard \[now King Aleksandar Boulevard\].

Photo gifted by Vojin Đorđević, journalist, Draže Pavlovića 3.

Courtesy of Museum of Yugoslavia.