photo San Diego Union-Tribune

After 14 years of fundraising, a memorial to the 52 US submarines lost in action in WWII has been dedicated in San Diego. Located at Liberty Station, a mixed-use development on the grounds of the former naval training center in San Diego, the “52 Boats Memorial” consists of 52 black granite memorials, each devoted to one of the lost subs and listing their crew. Behind each memorial is a Libery Elm tree.

90% of the funds raised to remember the sacrifices of the lost submariners were from private donations. Over 3,500 US submariners lost their lives in WWII, one out of every five who served.

10 news San Diego story

San Diego Union-Tribune photo gallery

As some folk know, I work as a freelance historical researcher. I wanted to share this particular item with all my listeners. This is a very rare Honolulu Star-Telegram newspaper from December 7, 1941.

I’ll be posting more things on my business site, FreelanceHistorian.com, as I get photos taken. All these items are scheduled to be listed on eBay this week, and I’ll have links to each auction at Freelance Historian.

While loading groceries near Thanksgiving, World War II veteran Jacob R. McClenny accidentally left his walking cane in shopping cart.

The 89-year-old retired Lt. Col. McClenny returned to the Walmart on Old Fort Parkway to search for the cane but couldn’t locate it, said grandson Bill Dunn, a sergeant with the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office. McClenny is offering a reward for its return.

McClenny’s daughter, Joyce Anderson, said her father purchased the cane in 1976 in Germany.

“The approximately 1-inch medallions (on the cane) represent the places he has been,” Anderson said. “This cane is very special to him and I really would like to see him get it back.”

Dunn described the cane as being a light-colored natural wood.

“It’s very distinctive,” Dunn said.

McClenny flew B-17s in World War II that contributed to his hearing loss.

“His equilibrium is off now,” Dunn said. “He’s pretty unstable. He needs the cane to support him. He uses it from the time he gets up to the time he goes to bed.”

People who have knowledge about the cane may call Anderson at 896-2828.

“We hope whoever found it will call and return it,” Dunn said.

McClenny purchased a cheaper cane so he could get around.

“It meant a whole lot to him,” Dunn said of the sentimental value. “He’s just heart-broken about losing it.”

Mufreesboro Post photo of Lt Col McClennt

(Awesome photos of a restored Jeep, too. I love the old “meatball” emblem.)

According to recently declassified Soviet documents, the Soviet Army discovered the bodies of Hitler and Braun in a shell crater outside the Reichstag Bunker, where the Germans had burned them.  After forensic examination, the bodies were secretly buried in a forest near Rathenau, Germany in June 1945.  The next year, the remains were exhumed and buried in a secret location on a Soviet Army base in Magdeburg, East Germany.

As long as the remains were on property of the Soviet Army, their existence could be hidden. But when the decision was made in 1970 to turn the Army base over to the East German government, Soviet leadership feared the possibility of the remains being discovered and becoming a shrine to Hitler. Therefore, the bodies of Hitler, Braun and the Goebbels family were exhumed by a special KGB contingent, burned in a large bonfire, ground to dust and dumped in the Biederitz River.

Gen. Khristoforov told Interfax that the only physical remains of the Nazi Fuhrer are a piece of jawbone and a skull fragment that are in FSB archives.  He dismissed the claims of two US scientists questioning the authenticity of the remains, noting that they did not receive any DNA samples from the remains, and in any event “even if you take the fragments kept in our custody, it is unclear what these data can be compared with.”

CNN report on this story, with photos.

Churchill's Cigar and Conference Placards

Excerpt of the article:

At over six inches long the cigar has never been touched by its owner, who keeps it safe in a sturdy wooden box.

It was taken from a historic meeting between Churchill and the other Allied leaders at the famous Casablanca Conference.

Placecards bearing the names of the world leaders taken with the cigar from the conference combined with Mr William senior’s testimony helped the authentication of the cigar.

Mr Williams, a student at Lincoln College who lives in nearby Horncastle, said he felt like he owned a piece of history.

He said: “I’ve kept the cigar a secret and completely to myself since my grandad gave it to me all those years ago….

Mr Williams senior, who served in the 8th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, had been asked to act as butler to the Prime Minister for the conference in 1943.

Andrew also has two WWII-related blogs:

Victory Theater, and

WWII Tips , which shows how you can save money and make do, using the same tips and techniques used on the homefront in WWII.

I follow @WWIIToday on Twitter, using the Twitterfox plugin for Firefox.  For those wondering why RPR doesn’t have a Twitter account, it’s because I have a business-related Twitter account and can’t run two at once.

The search and discovery was led by the two sons of Grunion’s commanding officer, Lt. Cdr Mannert Able. A memorial is planned in Cleveland, OH on October 11, to be attended by the families of Grunion’s crew.

You can read about the search and discovery of Grunion at http://www.ussgrunion.com .

Looking at those photos a mile beneath the surface, I was filled with sadness. As a small child, my father worked on submarines at the shipyard in Pascagoula, MS, so I’ve always felt a special bond with the silent service.

USS Grunion