Free Republic

This week Seth, Bill, and frequent and always welcome Wingman Jon Parshall take a look at the recently released underwater archaeological video footage of the wreck sites of AKAGI, YORKTOWN (CV-5), and KAGA. The trio breaks down what we see in the footage, how the damage shown relates to the battle, what happened in these historic locations, and much more. Tune in and see what the team has to say about the incredible video footage and (we think) pretty cool commentary.

The newly-released movie Midway has generated some interest and a 150-post Freeper thread yesterday: http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3793171/postsIn the video below a professor at the US Navy War College hits key info helping an viewer who choses to see this great movie. A key one that I'd read long ago but had not fully embraced: US damage control was considerably better than that of Japan. When Japanese pilots hit the USS Yorktown, they returned to their carriers joyous, "We have sunk a US carrier..!" Yet inside of an hour or so US damage control had bent Heaven & Earth to save her; the...

Deep-sea explorers scouring the world's oceans for sunken World War II ships are investigating what they believe could be the third ship of seven lost to the Pacific during the Battle of Midway. Hundreds of miles off Midway Atoll, nearly halfway between the United States and Japan, a research vessel is launching underwater robots miles into the abyss to look for warships from the famed Battle of Midway. Weeks of grid searches around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands have already led the crew of the Petrel to one sunken warship, the Japanese ship the Kaga. This week, the crew is deploying...

Today’s post is in honor of Marine LCpl. Michael T. Badsing who was killed on this date in 1965 by enemy small-arms fire in South Vietnam. The 20-year-old Chicago native served with C Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. 1781: Hoping to divert Gen. George Washington from marching against Lord Cornwallis’ forces now trapped in Virginia, two battalions of British soldiers — including American Loyalist forces under the command of Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold — assault New London, Conn.. The redcoats easily capture Fort Trumbull, but across the Thames River, the heavily outnumbered defenders of Fort Griswold fiercely...

EXCLUSIVE: PHOTOS of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or “Sandy” as She Was Known at Her Elite High School in Yorktown — NOT in the Bronx Congresswoman elect Democrat-Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez grew up and attended school in affluent Westchester, New York but likes to pretend like she grew up in the Bronx. This past weekend Ocasio-Cortez tweeted out a photo of her congressional office on Capitol Hill. She made the mistake of adding that she’s just your average girl from the Bronx. Alex is not from the Bronx and was quickly put in her place. This week an “anonymous classmate” reached out to...

A few paces west of the public beach in Yorktown, Virginia, is a little cave looking out toward the water. We all know Yorktown from history class. This is where, in October 1781, the British army commanded by Lord Cornwallis surrendered to the Americans under General George Washington and the French under the Comte de Rochambeau. It’s not much of a cave, really, but tourists by the thousands stop to peep into it, as they have for more than two centuries. It is known to this day as “Cornwallis’s Cave,” and for most of our history visitors have been told...

Here we go again folks.

The folks who run the Yorktown say a lot of kids love the ship, but no kid has ever fallen for a sailor who served on the vessel like these two boys have fallen for Mr. Harding. Which is why, for this trip, the Yorktown made special arrangements for a surprise visitor: Mr. Harding. The boys ran to embrace him; hugging an old salt never felt so sweet. It was hard to tell who enjoyed it more, or who needed it more. Over the years Mr. Harding says he'd kept most of his war stories to himself. "I guess I...

Highlights of this day in history: British surrender at Yorktown decides American Revolution; Stock market crash hits Wall Street in late 1980s; Napoleon's forces begin retreat from Moscow; Concorde makes first landing in New York. (Oct. 19)

Part I. The Pacific in Eruption. A segment on the WWII Battle of Coral Sea from the series War in the Pacific.

A replica of the French navy frigate Hermione that brought General Lafayette to America to rally rebels fighting Britain in the US war of independence, will set sail for the United States again on Saturday, 235 years after the original crossing.

A replica of an 18th century French warship has set sail from France for the United States.

[the fighting raged on at Yorktown] "On the night of October 15-16, Cornwallis ordered an attack against the second line. This was launched, 350 strong, under Lt. Col. Robert Abercrombie at a point near the center of the line. It was a gallant sortie, yet it accomplished little, for, within a few hours, the guns which had been spiked by the British were again firing upon Yorktown." The articles of capitulation were signed four days later. Cornwallis' British men were declared prisoners of war,...Americans captured 8,000 troops, 214 artillery pieces, thousands of muskets, 24 transport ships, wagons and horses.

On the morning of October 19, 1781, General Charles Cornwallis was ashamed of himself. Equestrian Washington The prior week had begun with General Cornwallis finding himself – along with his 8000 British, Loyalist American, and Hessian troops – hemmed in at Yorktown. He had consciously settled in there that spring, erecting fortifications, seemingly declaring the site permanently “British-held ground.” But gradually, things went against him. The American Commander in Chief, General George Washington, and French General Rochambeau moved in with their American and French troops… The great British Navy under Admiral Thomas Graves was unable to offer support, as French...

The surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown, 1781 Photo: courtesy Library of Congress Britain’s loss of America in the War of Independence (1775-1783) is typically attributed to the failings of its key political and military decision makers who were, in Andrew O’Shaughnessy’s words, “associated with opposition to progress and with attempting to introduce an authoritarian style of government”. They have, he writes, become cartoon figures of incompetence and mediocrity in a story with an inevitable ending, “as history progresses towards modernity”. Not any more. In this fascinating, well written and extensively researched study of 10 of those British decision makers...

When former AutoZone employee Devin McClean grabbed his gun from his car and chased an armed robber out of his store, he didn’t think his quick thinking would get him fired. But it did: (video at the site) Business AutoZone Employee (and Veteran) Fired After Using His Gun to Ward Off Armed Robber * Posted on December 4, 2012 at 2:55pm by Becket Adams Becket Adams * Print » * Email » * * * * Comments (262) When former AutoZone employee Devin McClean grabbed his gun from his car and chased an armed robber out of his store, he...

The Virginia State Bar agreed Monday to publically reprimand York-Poquoson Commonwealth’s Attorney Eileen Addison, who faced charges of professional misconduct. Assistant Bar Counsel Kathryn Montgomery negotiated an agreed disposition for a public reprimand with Addison’s attorney, Rodney Leffler. An agreed disposition is comparable to a plea agreement. The disposition and the history of the case in question were explained during a conference call hearing with members of the Bar’s disciplinary board, Addison, Leffler, Montgomery and three clerks with the Bar. Addison faced misconduct charges from her prosecution of Carlos Chapman, Marquis Edwards and Kwaume Edwards in the 2006 shooting death...

World War II aviator Harold Lohman, who is now mostly blind, ventured onto the aircraft carrier Yorktown, took a breath of air and let his senses take him back in time. "It smells the same," Lohman said, sifting through the decades of odors still trapped inside the museum ship. "The oil and the wood." It is likely the last time he will ever make such a connection. Lohman, 88, who was present during some of the earliest battles of America's Pacific war, has Stage 4 cancer. The Baltimore resident is nearing the end of his life and his last...

October 19th, 1781, British Troops marched out of the battlements of Yorktown, with encased colors and their band playing "The World Turned Upside Down". The British Government, after learning of this loss, became convinced that, 6 years and 6 months after the April 19th battles of Lexington & Concord, the war to retain their American Colonies was lost. Thus with the major help of an international alliance that included major European Powers of France and Spain, a rag-tag and frequently shoeless Continental Army and local militias defeated the world's dominate super-power.

A digital sonar image of a different vessel on the floor of the York River. Shipwreck may date to 1781 siege YORK — Two years ago a sonar company in Gloucester was testing equipment in the York River when the crew hit the jackpot: an uncharted shipwreck on the river bottom. “That was quite a surprise,” said David Hazzard, an archaeologist with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. The area where the ship was found is well-documented. There have previously been nine documented shipwrecks in the York River associated with the Revolutionary War and the Siege at Yorktown. Seven ships...