It’s been over 25 years and I’m still not over Pvt. Jackson not making it out of the bell tower. 😭

Pvt. Harry Hudec stood 6'4" tall & was the regimental boxing champion of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 508th PIR, but his greatest fight came during the battle for Normandy. 🥊 On D-Day, Hudec made his first combat jump into Normandy, dropping at 1:30 AM with Headquarters Company. He fought fiercely at Hill 30 between Chef-du-Pont and Picauville. 🪂 On June 15, German hand grenade fragments tore into his leg, severely wounding him.🏥 Crawling to a nearby French farmhouse, Hudec was hidden in the stable by a brave farming family who tended his wounds for four days. When Germans approached, the farmer warned Hudec who hobbled down the road until American forces rescued him. 🇺🇸 After recovering, he jumped again during Operation Market Garden in Holland. 🪂 Later, he endured the brutal winter fighting of the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes. 🪖 During his service, the boxing paratrooper tough earned the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Parachutist Badge with two combat stars, & the Presidential Unit Citation awarded to the 508th PIR for their heroism in Normandy. 🎖️ After the war, Hudec returned home to Cleveland, Ohio, married his sweetheart, Dorothy, raised three children, & enjoyed a 43-year career with the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company. 🔋⚡️ In 2004, for the 60th anniversary of D-Day, Hudec returned to Normandy to personally thank the French family that had saved his life decades earlier. 🇫🇷 Harry Hudec passed away at the age of 85 on March 29, 2007. He is buried at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Sedalia, Pettis County, Missouri. 🪦

81 years ago today, General Douglas MacArthur issues a historic military communique declaring that the entire Philippine Islands were now liberated from Japanese occupation. 🇺🇸 “I shall return” promise….fulfilled 😎

The C-47 Skytrain that led the airborne invasion of Normandy on D-Day, “That's All, Brother” 😎 In the middle of the night “That’s All, Brother” lifted off from England as the very first aircraft in the massive D-Day airborne armada. ✈️ Piloted by Lt. Col. John Donalson of the 438th Troop Carrier Group, this plane led Serial 7, the spearhead of over 800 C-47s carrying more than 13,000 American paratroopers. 🪂 From its doors jumped pathfinders & sticks from the 101st Airborne Division (elements of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment), tasked with marking drop zones & securing key objectives behind enemy lines ahead of the beach landings. 🪖 Flying into the darkness & flak over Normandy, “That’s All, Brother” delivered its cargo of “Screamin’ Eagles” into history. 🦅 The message painted on its nose was simple but defiant: farewell to Hitler’s Reich. 👋🏼 The aircraft & crew made it back to England safely after the drop & continued flying missions throughout the war, including glider tows & resupply. ✈️ Today, this restored D-Day veteran still flies as a living tribute to the Greatest Generation. 🇺🇸

82 years ago today, Pvt. William Nakamura of the 442nd RCT single-handled destroys an enemy machine gun nest & later volunteers to cover his unit's withdrawal. 🪖 He was then KIA while attacking a 2nd machine gun which firing on his platoon. 🪦 His DSC was upgraded to a MOH 🇺🇸

The USS Mississippi in July of 1944….well on her way to her 8 Battle Stars earned during her time in the Pacific. ⚓️

US Combat Engineers wearing USAAF flak jackets near the Siegfried Line in Germany. 🪖

In July of 1943, paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division enjoy Italian ice cream in Palermo.🪂 Pvt. Rice (on the left) wears a rare bazooka badge on his sleeve—just below the 82nd patch. 😎 These badges were authorized by then-Colonel James Gavin of the 505th PIR. 🪖

In June of 1944, Captain William Hooper of the 79th Infantry Division escorts German POWs through the streets of Cherbourg, France. 🪖 Hooper was killed in action 82 years ago today, 1 week after this photo was taken. 🪦 @PieceJake on the colorization 🎨

In late 1944 on Saipan, the crew of B-29 Superfortress “Waddy’s Wagon” stripped to the waist and posed for a now-iconic photo — duplicating the wild, irreverent nose art on their bomber. The cartoon showed caricatures of the men crammed into a wagon, pulled along by their pilot, Captain Walter “Waddy” Young, a former All-American football star & College Football Hall of Famer from Ponca City, Oklahoma. It captured the spirit of these young airmen: tough, funny, and ready for whatever came next. On January 9, 1945, during a mission to bomb the Nakajima Musashino aircraft factory near Tokyo, “Waddy’s Wagon” never made it home. While returning from the target, the crew spotted a badly damaged B-29, “Miss Behavin’,” flown by a friend & hit hard by Japanese fighters. Instead of continuing on to safety, Captain Waddy Young & his men turned back. They flew close to protect the crippled bomber & help guide it out of the danger zone amid ongoing fighter attacks. Their plane was hit. Accounts describe them descending near Choshi Point off the Japanese coast, possibly after a collision or battle damage. The last radio transmission from “Waddy’s Wagon” was simple and steady: “We are okay.” All eleven crew members were lost at sea. No trace of the plane or the men was ever found. Waddy Young & his crew paid the ultimate price while trying to save their fellow airmen. Young was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his courage that day. These were the men behind the famous photo. Ordinary men with extraordinary courage who never got to go home.

The Rue Montoir Poissonnerie in Caen, France, with the Church of Saint-Pierre in the background—July 1944 and now. 🪖 Created by: Battlefield Tours 🎨

82 years ago today, Pvt. Frank Ono of the 442nd RCT defended his position alone against an enemy counter-attack & braved intense hostile fire to aid wounded. When it became necessary to retreat, he alone covered his unit's withdrawal. 🪖 He would receive the Medal of Honor 🇺🇸

82 years ago today, soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division inspect a knocked out German 8.8cm Flak 36 in Cherbourg, France. 🪖

82 years ago today, medical personnel with the 2nd Armored Division pause to look at a sign made by local French citizens thanking them in Normandy, France on the 4th of July. 🇺🇸

The amazing story behind this picture of an American soldier with “Old Glory” over the French town of Bitche. In the bitterly contested town of Bitche, France, during the winter of 1944–1945, the men of the 100th Infantry Division (“Sons of Bitche”) fought a grueling campaign to break through German defenses. In March of 1945, as “Easy” Company of the 398th Infantry Regiment finally entered the streets, a local innkeeper named George Oblinger rushed forward with something extraordinary, an American flag, carefully stitched by his wife, Maria Oblinger. Under Nazi occupation, simply possessing an Allied flag could mean death, but Maria spent months secretly sourcing fabric, hand-sewing it in her basement, & hiding it inside a pillowcase for two years, waiting for the day liberation would come. The flag had a charming, human imperfection. Maria knew there were 48 stars but arranged them in a 6x8 grid instead of the standard layout. Captain Thomas Garahan & his men proudly raised Maria’s handmade masterpiece from a second-story window above a photography shop on Rue Colonel Teyssier. As the Stars & Stripes unfurled, it inspired something beautiful, as “Old Glory” tends to do. Local citizens began pulling their own hidden French Tricolors from cellars & attics, draping the town in color & hope. The 100th Infantry Division’s hard-won victory at Bitche earned them their proud nickname, “The Sons of Bitche,” & Maria’s flag became a lasting symbol of Franco-American friendship. Happy 250, America. 🇺🇸

Happy 250, America…the greatest country on earth 🇺🇸

A “then and now” of Sainte-Mère-Église, France…1944 and today.

29 years ago today, we lost the iconic Jimmy Stewart. This November, his biopic “Jimmy” hits the big screen. ✈️ The film highlights Stewart’s time in the U.S. Army Air Corps and his struggles with post-war trauma before finding healing in his first post-war role…It’s a Wonderful Life. 🇺🇸

A private with the 42nd Infantry Division cooks a fish over his own personal fire in the Lembach Forest area in France. 🪖

During the closing of the Battle of the Bulge, the crew of a self-propelled 105 with the 2nd Armored Division enjoys a fire and a hot meal outside Les Tailles, Belgium. 🪖

British and American combat engineers swap stories, news, and cigarettes around a small fire as they wait for a call to build a Bailey Bridge near Someren, Holland. The British are with the 15th Scottish Division, while the Americans are with the 7th Armored Division. 🇺🇸🇬🇧