Post Mortem Archive: World War II

"Air raid, Pearl Harbor": Who said it?

The Associated Press has published an obituary for Ed Chlapowski, "the man who notified the world that Pearl Harbor was being bombed by the Japanese." Mr. Chlapowski died Sunday of cancer at his home in Billings, Mont. He was 88 and had cancer. According to the AP, Mr. Chlapowski was...

By Emma Brown  | January 19, 2011; 12:39 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Emma Brown, Military , World War II  
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"Mad Piper" Bill Millin dies age 88; Inspired Many

When I heard that Bill Millin, a Scottish bagpiper who played morale-pumping tunes for his fellow commandos from the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, died Aug. 17 age 88, I felt compelled to write his obituary. You see, I love bagpipes. A lot. So much, in fact, that during college,...

By T. Rees Shapiro  | August 23, 2010; 10:49 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Categories:  T. Rees Shapiro, World War II  | Tags:  Bikepiping, Bill Millin, D-Day, World War II  
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Lasting Valor

Lt. Vernon J. Baker, 90, received the Medal of Honor more than 50 years after his service in Italy during World War II. Why the long wait? Because researchers discovered a discrepancy in the way African Americans were awarded for their valor in the 1940s and 1950s. Of the more...

By T. Rees Shapiro  | July 15, 2010; 10:27 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  T. Rees Shapiro, World War II  | Tags:  Distinguished Service Cross, Lt. Vernon J. Baker, Medal of Honor  
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WWII Nurse in Iconic Photo Dies at 91

Edith Shain, 91, a retired kindergarten teacher who is widely believed to be the uniformed nurse whose lip-locking embrace with a Navy sailor on V-J Day in August 1945 was captured in a photograph that became one of the most iconic images of the World War II era, died June...

By Emma Brown  | June 23, 2010; 11:41 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Categories:  Emma Brown, World War II  | Tags:  edith shain, kiss at times square nurse died, kiss at times square nurse eisenstadt, world war II nurse kiss died  
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A Close Encounter with the Third Reich

In 1939, Angus M. Thuermer was an eager young journalist working for the Associated Press in Berlin. Every once in a while, he'd take a roundabout route on his morning commute in order to pass by the Third Reich's offices just to see what was going on--usually nothing. Then one...

By T. Rees Shapiro  | May 8, 2010; 8:00 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Local Lives, Military , World War II  | Tags:  Adolf Hitler, Associated Press, Berlin, Germany, History, Newseum, Schutzstaffel, Third Reich  
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WW2 Renegades Saved Lives

One was codenamed Agent Rose, the other was dubbed Bordeaux's Choltitz. Andree Peel was a member of the French Resistance movement. She got her codename for being a saving grace to more than 100 British and American pilots shot down over France whom she helped flee the German occupied country....

By T. Rees Shapiro  | March 8, 2010; 3:44 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
 
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