Noted war correspondent and photographer Margaret Bourke-White sharing a meal with South Korean troops in the field, 1952.
Got A Girl
CrushObsession On: The Forgotten Lumberjills of WWIILike the many other amazing heroines of their time, the ladies of the Women’s Timber Corps, aka the Lumberjills, stepped into unconventional britches in order to keep the industry, and country, moving while the men were off at war. Of course, there was also some major stereotypes being chopped down along the way:
They faced prejudice from the male forestry workers, as this was pure manual labor and they weren’t expected to be tough enough. Needless to say, they proved them wrong. Their hands became calloused, they developed strong muscular arms and legs - not traits of a “real lady” at the time, but they relished the freedom and fresh air even if it did cause many aches and pains! I can imagine that many were unwilling or uncomfortable to return to indoor-domestic lives IF their husbands returned. For those who joined when young, or if widowed and having to start afresh, I believe it gave them a strong core confidence, and the toughness to go on alone.
Seriously, though. When someone inevitably makes a movie out of this, will someone please get a hold of me? I need to raid the wardrobe (I also can throw a mean knife).
Read more about the Lumberjills here!
Lumberjills! Dang!
Adoration in the Forest, Fra Filippo Lippi. Dated around 1459.
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.
This piece was among the 400 paintings hidden by the Nazis in the Kaiserode mine in Merkers, Germany, during World War II. The mine was discovered by the U.S. 3rd Army under General Patton in April 1945. This painting, and 201 others, were chosen by the American troops to send to Washington. The painting was returned to Germany in 1949.
SOLDIER STORIES: Serendipity.
I was sitting in Fort Knox pharmacy today, waiting to have a prescription filled. I sat down by an old man and started reading a book, because the room was packed; I knew my order would take a while. It was a biography of Napoleon Bonaparte.
I’d barely gotten two paragraphs into my bookmarked spot when the old man tapped my knee and said, “Napoleon was a pussy and a fool, ya know that? But of course he was French, so you can’t expect much to begin with.”
I instantly liked the guy. I put my book down and started talking with him about random nonsense. Gas prices, politics, blah blah blah. It wasn’t for a good 30 minutes that we finally got around to introducing ourselves and talking about branches of service. Turns out this guy was none other than Charles Christensen. One of the 12 remaining survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack.
I was blown away. I asked him the questions I’m sure he’s been asked millions of times over by now, and he answered them like it was the first time he’d heard them. He was such an awesome guy, and the stories he told blew my mind. And the way he told them… it was amazing. We talked for a good two hours about everything. Not just the massacre at Pearl Harbor that he witnessed first hand, and fought in… but everything. Life, death, my own medical issues, weather…
By the time it came to part ways, I asked him for his autograph. He seemed shocked, and kind of stammered, “You… you want my autograph?” It’s easily the coolest thing I’ve gotten in a long time. I’m meeting him for lunch next week. I can’t wait to hear what else he has to say. He even wrote “Good luck”
(via manfishinc)
December 8, 1941: United States Enters World War II
In 1941, amidst a segregated military, the first African-American fighter pilots were commissioned to aid the defense of bombers in WWII.
Revisit the stories of heroes who changed history through first hand accounts and testimonies from Tuskegee Airmen.
(Source: crebain, via reparations)
