The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Anzio - 1944 - Jan. 23rd, 2003

http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/brochures/anzio/72-19.htm ^ | Clayton D. Laurie.

[SpookBrat]

Thanks for the thread today. I made it two days in a row. Who'd a thunk it???

Anzio Beach

[SpookBrat]

How are you doing HiJinx?

[SpookBrat]

Thanks for the Polka. lol

[SAMWolf]

HI Spooky!

[SAMWolf]

What a load of crap!! Saddam is starving his people, not the U.S.

Talk about a "Duct Tape Alert!!"

[Fiddlstix]

Glad you enjoyed it J

[Rocky]

"Within the next twenty-four hours Hitler dispatched other units to Italy from Yugoslavia, France, and Germany to reinforce elements of the 3d Panzer Grenadier and 71st Infantry Divisions that were already moving into the Anzio area. "

The article lists some of the positive results of the invasion at Anzio, including the "drain of scarce German troop reserves." It seems likely that Hitler's reassignment of troops and supplies from Europe weakened the Germans' capability to respond to the invasion at Normandy. As the article concludes, Anzio, although not an unqualified success, was a significant battlefront. It was certainly more important than Churchill's "beached whale" comment would imply.

Thanks for posting this. I'll have to visit the "foxhole" more often.

[SpookBrat]

Yuk! I couldn't finish watching it. I heard on TV last night they save dead children by freezing them, then when a building or area is bombed, they take the bodies of children and place them around the area. I didn't hear all the information. Is that possible?

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for dropping by, Rocky. Glad you liked the thread.

Churchill made the "beached whale" comment becasue there was a short window of opportunity right after the landings to have moved inland and cut of the German units south of Anzio or to advance on Rome before the Germans were able to reinforce the Anzio area.

With hindsight, if the Allies had moved faster there was a possibility of Anzio accomplishing it's goals in a shorter period of time and without all the heavy fighting that did end up occurring.

[SAMWolf]

I wouldn't put anything past them. But more likely that's just our propaganda.

[SpookBrat]

It's hard to know what to think.

[SAMWolf]

Yep. It sure is. All I know for sure is we're not the bad guys.

[SpookBrat]

"All I know for sure is we're not the bad guys."

Agreed. You know, DH and I have been talking the past couple of days about all the peaceniks walking around lately. Where were they when we went into Haiti, Yugoslavia and Somalia? (Not that I care to see them) How many places have we been the last couple of years? I lost count. They only come out when there is a Republican in office.

[Victoria Delsoul]

At sea aboard USS Anzio, June 12, 2002 - Constable 1st Degree Thomas Pedersen of the Danish Navy corvette Niels Juel (F 354) fires the 25mm chain gun aboard the U.S. cruiser USS Anzio (CG 68). The U.S. and 11 other nations including Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom were participating in BALTOPS 2002. The emphasis of the annual exercise is regional understanding and cooperation among the participating forces. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Martin E. Maddock.

[SAMWolf]

Good Evening, Victoria. I want one of thos Chain Guns!!!

[Victoria Delsoul]

Here you are.

[SAMWolf]

And it's mobile too!!! A girl after my heart!

[PsyOp]

Bill Mauldin. Dead at 81.

Bill Mauldin, creator of the the beloved “Willie & Joe” cartoons of WWII died yesterday at age 81 from complications from Alzheimer’s and Pneumonia. He took part in the invasions of Sicily and Italy as a member of the 45th Infantry Division.


"Just give me the aspirin. I already got a Purple Heart."

“I drew pictures for and about the soldiers because I knew what their life was like and understood their gripes. I wanted to make something out of the humorous situations which come up even when you don't think life could be any more miserable.” - Bill Mauldin.

“Look at an infantryman's eyes and you can tell how much war he has seen.” - Bill Mauldin.

“No man who depends upon those below him - not only for his success, but for his very life - is going to abuse his men unnecessarily. Not if he has good sense.” - Bill Mauldin.

“’Peace’ is when nobody's shooting. A ‘Just Peace’ is when our side gets what it wants.” - Bill Mauldin.

“They wish to hell they were someplace else, and they wish to hell they would get relief. They wish to hell the mud was dry and they wish to hell their coffee was hot. They want to go home. But they stay in their wet holes and fight, and then they climb out and crawl through minefields and fight some more.” - Bill Mauldin.

More About Bill Mauldin
http://www.toonopedia.com/mauldin.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARTmauldin.htm
http://mike.whybark.com/archives/000272.html
http://www.45thdivisionmuseum.com/Mainmuseum/Mauldin2.htm

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for those Bill Mauldin quotes.

Willie and Joe will always be a part of America.

[The Real Deal]

The shell fired by the 16" guns on the New Jersey (I was told) weighted 1600 lbs. and could hit a target the size of a VW Beetle 22 miles away. At night you could see the muzzle flash 6-7 miles away. A three gun salvo to the port or starboard move the ships bow over about 12-16 inches. The most I ever saw them fire though was 2 barrels at a time. The black smoke and fire that comes out looks just awesome.