Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 83

Today in World War II History—August 17, 1943

B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the US Eighth Air Force over Schweinfurt, Germany, 17 August 1943 (US Air Force photo)

80 Years Ago—Aug. 17, 1943: US Seventh Army takes Messina, and Allies secure Sicily, taking 160,000 POWs.

US Eighth Air Force sends 376 B-17 & B-24 bombers to Schweinfurt and Regensburg in Germany; 60 bombers are lost.

RAF sends 596 bombers to Peenemünde, Germany, bombing rocket installations for the first time.

The post Today in World War II History—August 17, 1943 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—August 16, 1943

Messina, Sicily, WWII (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—Aug. 16, 1943: As US and British forces converge on Messina, Sicily, US artillery first fires at the Italian mainland.

US B-17 Flying Fortress bombers fly final mission in the Southwest Pacific, and US P-47 Thunderbolt fighters fly first mission in the Southwest Pacific.

The post Today in World War II History—August 16, 1943 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Letters from My Sister by Valerie Fraser Luesse

Living in Alabama in the early 1900s, Callie Bullock enjoys her beautiful home, her large and loving family, and the thrill of sitting in trees during storms. Her sister and best friend, Emmy, is engaged to the man of her dreams, and handsome Solomon Beckett buys a farm nearby.

Then their housekeeper’s granddaughter comes from Chicago, newly widowed and extraordinarily beautiful. When Lily captures the attention of powerful and dangerous Ryder Montgomery, a chain of events is set in motion that will upend all their lives. Callie is left with a fragmented and disturbing memory that she can’t puzzle out. But her sister Emmy seems to hold the key…

Winsome and sweetly haunting. Letters from My Sister brims with family love, humor, romance, and mysterious insights into the meaning of memories. But Valerie Fraser Luesse also delves into power dynamics and explores the prejudices that can lurk inside people with the best of intentions. Callie is a delightful heroine, challenging the way things have always been done but bounded by love of family and community. A thoroughly engaging novel that probes deep.

The post Letters from My Sister by Valerie Fraser Luesse first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—August 15, 1943

Canadian soldier inspecting a captured Japanese machine gun, Kiska, Aleutian Islands, 16 Aug 1943 (Source: US Library of Congress)

80 Years Ago—Aug. 15, 1943: First island-hopping: US Army & Marines land on Vella Lavella in the Solomons, bypassing Kolombangara.

US and Canadian forces land on Kiska in the Aleutians and find the Japanese had left two weeks before.

On Sicily, British Eighth Army takes Linguaglossa, circling Mt. Etna.

The post Today in World War II History—August 15, 1943 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—August 14, 1943

Franklin Roosevelt, the Earl of Athlone, Mackenzie King, and Winston Churchill on the terrace at the Citadelle, Québec, Canada, Aug 1943 (Source: Imperial War Museum: TR 1347)

80 Years Ago—Aug. 14, 1943: Quadrant Conference opens in Québec: Roosevelt and Churchill commit to landings in Normandy in 1944.

Under Eisenhower’s orders, Gen. George Patton apologizes to the soldiers he slapped.

US changes insignia for military aircraft: border of bars switched from red to dark blue.

“Big Inch” pipeline is completed, transporting crude oil from Texas to northeast states.

US national insignia for aircraft, August 1943-January 1947

The post Today in World War II History—August 14, 1943 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—August 13, 1943

The “Bridge in the Sky” hung by US Army 10th Engineer Battalion, Cape Calava, Sicily, 13 Aug 1943 (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—Aug. 13, 1943: US Army 10th Engineer Battalion builds “bridge in the sky” along a steep seaside cliff at Cape Calava, Sicily.

Future evangelist and recent Wheaton College graduate Billy Graham marries Ruth Bell.

The post Today in World War II History—August 13, 1943 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—August 12, 1943

This Is the Army movie premiere at Warner’s Earle Theater in Washington, D.C., on August 12, 1943. (US National Archives: 111-SC-178981)

80 Years Ago—Aug. 12, 1943: Movie premiere of Irving Berlin’s This Is the Army at Warner’s Earle Theater, Washington, DC, starring George Murphy, Joan Leslie & Ronald Reagan.

The post Today in World War II History—August 12, 1943 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—August 11, 1943

Brolo Beach, Sicily, WWII (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—Aug. 11, 1943: Germans and Italians begin the successful evacuation of 100,000 soldiers from Sicily to mainland Italy.

US Seventh Army makes amphibious landings at Brolo on Sicily’s north shore, but fails to cut off German retreat.

Movie premiere of Heaven Can Wait, starring Gene Tierney & Don Ameche.

The post Today in World War II History—August 11, 1943 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—August 10, 1943

RAF Handley Page Halifax Mk 3 heavy bomber (British government photo)

80 Years Ago—Aug. 10, 1943: RAF sends 653 heavy bombers to hit Nuremberg, Germany, at night.

At the US 93rd Evacuation Hospital in San Stefano, Sicily, Gen. George Patton slaps a soldier suffering from combat fatigue, accusing him of cowardice, the second such episode.

The post Today in World War II History—August 10, 1943 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—August 9, 1943

Men of US 25th Infantry Division on Zieta Trail, New Georgia, 12 August 1943 (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—Aug. 9, 1943: On New Georgia in the Solomon Islands, US northern and southern landing forces link.

The post Today in World War II History—August 9, 1943 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.