(Decoration Day, Friday, May 30, 1958, 3:19 p.m. EDT) — Two unidentified American servicemen, one of World War II and one of the Korean war, were interred in the Tomb of the Unknowns today at Arlington National Cemetery, with President Dwight Eisenhower placing a Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award, on each casket.
Video: 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' trailer
(Wednesday, October 2, 1957) — The Bridge on the River Kwai, a British-American epic war film about World War II POWs forced by the Japanese Army to build a strategic bridge in Burma, premiered tonight in London. Continue reading ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ premieres in London 60 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 2 1957)
Video: 'July 3, 1987: Butcher of Lyon'
(Friday, July 3, 1987) — Klaus Barbie, the 73-year-old former Gestapo chief known as the “Butcher of Lyon,” was convicted early today by a French court of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison. Continue reading ‘Butcher of Lyon’ Klaus Barbie found guilty 30 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 3 1987)
Video: 'American Experience - FDR (Franklin Roosevelt) - Part 1/2 (PBS Documentary' (Mar. 30, 1945, at 2:08:24)
(Good Friday, March 30, 1945; during World War II) — U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt arrived in Warm Springs, Georgia, today suffering from exhaustion.
The great push to end the war was on, and Roosevelt needed to recuperate to lead it and take part in the momentous events afterward. Total rest was his doctor’s recommendation, and for several days he followed the instructions.
(Good Friday, March 30, 1945; on the Eastern Front of World War II) — The Red Army today surged across the Austrian frontier north of the Hungarian border town of Koeszeg, 52 miles south of Vienna, to make Austria, the last nation still dominated by Hitlerite Germany, a battleground.
Video: 'Generals Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton, Tour Rhine Bridgehead, Remagen Area, Germany, March 26, 1945'
(Tuesday, March 27, 1945; on the Western Front of World War II) — The German Army’s “main defensive line has been broken” and the Germans “as a military force on the Western Front are a whipped army,” Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower declared today.
Video: 'The World At War 1973(World War II Documentary)Episode-23 Pacific (February 1942 – July 1945)' (Mar. 26, 1945, at 42:00)
(Monday, March 26, 1945, 9:00 a.m. JST; during the Battle of Iwo Jima, part of the Pacific Theatre of World War II) — The Japanese island of Iwo Jima was officially declared “secured” this morning, ending five weeks of some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific of World War II with an American victory and a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands.
Video: 'The World At War 1973(World War II Documentary)Episode 21-Nemesis:Germany(February-May 1945)' (Mar. 24, 1945, at 7:01)
(Saturday, March 24, 1945; on the Western Front of World War II) — The Allies today launched Operation Varsity, landing two airborne divisions on the eastern bank of the Rhine near the village of Hamminkeln and the town of Wesel to secure a foothold across the Rhine River in western Germany as part of Operation Plunder.
Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it was the largest airborne operation in history to be conducted on a single day and in one location.
Video: 'The World At War 1973(World War II Documentary)Episode 19-Pincers(August 1944-March 1945)' (Mar. 24, 1945, at 51:16)
Video: 'The World At War 1973(World War II Documentary)Episode 19-Pincers(August 1944-March 1945)' (Mar. 23, 1945, at 52:12)
(Friday, March 23, 1945, 9:00 p.m. CET; on the Western Front of World War II) — The first part of Operation Plunder, coordinated crossings of Germany’s Rhine River, was initiated tonight by the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division, led by the 7th Black Watch, near Rees, followed by the 7th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
Video: 'The World At War 1973(World War II Documentary)Episode 19-Pincers(August 1944-March 1945)' (Mar. 22, 1945, at 50:35)
(Thursday, March 22, 1945; on the Western Front of World War II) — As of today, no German soldier was fighting west of the Rhine River along Germany’s western border.
