History Documented » Chris Wulf

An Army at Dawn

Chris Wulf — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:29:11 +0000

This is a book I also Highly recommend. I would not put it on the site if I did not think it was worth your time. I had the pleasure of listening to the audio book of ” An Army at Dawn”. I was impressed and very satisfied to hear a book about the beginning of the United States fighting ( in Europe Theater of Operations) during World War 2. Many people forget how the Untied States army had to learn the hard lesson’s of war. This book does a wonderful job of showing how the army grew into a formidable fighting force. Please read the Amazon review below, they do a much better job than myself.

Amazon.com
In An Army at Dawn,, a comprehensive look at the 1942-1943 Allied invasion of North Africa, author Rick Atkinson posits that the campaign was, along with the battles of Stalingrad and Midway, where the “Axis … forever lost the initiative” and the “fable of 3rd Reich invincibility was dissolved.” Additionally, it forestalled a premature and potentially disastrous cross-channel invasion of France and served as a grueling “testing ground” for an as-yet inexperienced American army. Lastly, by relegating Great Britain to what Atkinson calls the status of “junior partner” in the war effort, North Africa marked the beginning of American geopolitical hegemony. Although his prose is occasionally overwrought, Atkinson’s account is a superior one, an agile, well-informed mix of informed strategic overview and intimate battlefield-and-barracks anecdotes. (Tobacco-starved soldiers took to smoking cigarettes made of toilet paper and eucalyptus leaves.) Especially interesting are Atkinson’s straightforward accounts of the many “feuds, tiffs and spats” among British and American commanders, politicians, and strategists and his honest assessments of their–and their soldiers’–performance and behavior, for better and for worse. This is an engrossing, extremely accessible account of a grim and too-often overlooked military campaign. –H. O’Billovich

Rick Atkinson

truck-towes-105mm-howitzer-africa-1942-43

Real Bridge on the River Kwai

Chris Wulf — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:10:41 +0000

25 March 1995
From New Scientist Print Edition.
Barry Fox

FIFTY years ago waves of Liberator bombers were deliberately destroying a remarkable feat of engineering. The prisoners of war who had been used as slaves to build two railway bridges deep in the jungle of Siam (now Thailand) welcomed the destruction, even though it meant they had to rebuild them again and again.

By May 1945 the British and American air forces had destroyed both bridges over the River Khwae-Noi (or Kwai as it is popularly known). The Japanese army’s vital supply line between Burma and Malaya had been cut, but by then the atomic bomb had made surrender inevitable.

In 1957 Hollywood made an epic movie about the infamous events in the jungle. The Bridge on the River Kwai won six Academy Awards. Doubtless the film will be shown once more on television, this time to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the war with Japan. But do not be tempted to believe what you see.

Of course the film-makers had to play down the appalling suffering of the POWs. It also does not matter that the film was shot in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. But it is hard to see why the producers also had to distort the historical facts.

Thailand is now a holiday destination, and a stopover point for flights to Japan. It is quite easy to take a trip to the river and discover that the part of the film when commandos Jack Hawkins and William Holden parachute into the jungle and plant dynamite under the bridge, which British officer Alec Guinness and his surprisingly healthy-looking troops have built, is pure fiction.

The true story began when the Japanese marched into Singapore in February 1942. They needed to bring in supplies from Burma, but there was no railway through Siam. So Japanese Imperial Headquarters in Tokyo looked again at an idea dating back to the 19th century to build a railway through 420 kilometres of mountainous jungle. This plan had been abandoned many times - it was judged to be simply too difficult. Because there was no hope of getting machinery into the jungle, all the work would have to be done by hand. No government or private company had been prepared to do what Henry Flagler did when he drove his similarly unbuildable railway through the Florida Keys between 1904 and 1912 (Forum, 2 July 1994). Flagler just kept writing cheques for more manual workers. In Siam there was the added deterrent that too many workers would die from the diseases, like malaria, that are rife in a rainforest.

But by 1942 the situation had changed. The Japanese had a supply of cheap labour - Allied prisoners of war. In all they used 61 000 British, Dutch, Australian and American troops, of whom more than 16 000 died. The railway was 415 kilometres long: 263 kilometres in Thailand and 152 kilometres in Burma. The two halves of the workforce worked towards each other, down from Burma and up from Thailand, meeting at the Three Pagodas Pass. On average four workers died for every 100 metres of track laid.

Japanese engineers said the line would take at least five years to finish, but the Japanese army forced it through in 16 months, completing it on Christmas Day 1943. The terrain was so bad that in Thailand alone the workers had to build 359 temporary wooden bridges for the railway.

At Kanchanaburi the chief abbot of the local temple established a war museum in 1977 called the Jeath War Museum, “because the word death sounded too horrific”. J stands for Japan, E for England, A for America and Australia, T for Thailand, and H for Holland. The museum is a bamboo hut, much like the huts seen in the movie, but with a collection of memorabilia inside. The hut is not an original - in the jungle climate nothing lasts that long. But former prisoners of war have visited it and have judged it a fair replica.

The first surprise is finding the hut lined with photographs of quite healthy prisoners, working in the sun and looking much like the actors in the Hollywood film. The Japanese did not object to local villagers, and even prisoners, taking snapshots in the early stages of the war. The work was then still light, and there had still been no epidemics of sickness. Prisoners could buy food from village traders and shops.

But as soon as prisoners started dying, photographs were forbidden. Trading became punishable by death. For a while the captives could still write notes and draw sketches. Later, they had to hide their pens and pencils by burying them.

The prisoners first constructed a large wooden bridge over the river, and this took its first train in February 1943. But the wooden bridge was only a temporary measure. The Japanese brought in large prefabricated metal spans from Indonesia for a permanent bridge. The prisoners had to build this all-metal monster without the help of cranes, like slaves building the pyramids. It was finished in May 1943.

The railway then pressed on through the jungle towards Burma, where conditions worsened. POWs began dying from the combined effects of malaria, cholera and malnutrition. Conditions reached their lowest point during the monsoon season of 1943. In late 1944 the US Air Force and British RAF started to bomb the lines and bridges to break the Japanese supply lines. The metal bridge was bombed at least ten times.

In 1946 the British army destroyed 40 kilometres of the line to block the connection with Burma. Later that year the Thai government Paid Britain £1.25 million for what remained of the line, and restored some of it. The jungle grew back over the rest. The bombed sections of the metal bridge were rebuilt and trains now run over it and upcountry. The old wooden carriages carry schoolchildren and farmers between villages. The wooden bridge was never repaired. All that remain are a few stumps sticking out of the water at either side, a hundred metres downstream.

Nearby the train runs over the Wang Po viaduct, a precarious collection of wooden stilts that looks like a ride in a Disney theme park. It still carries several trains a day, but every one looks likely to be its last.

Today, there are snack bars and tourist shops by the Kwai bridge. They stand on the site of the old POW camp. Tourists of all nationalities carry Japanese cameras and camcorders. Many stay overnight at the River Kwai Village Hotel, a luxurious jungle resort 70 kilometres from the metal bridge on the River Kwai. Every night as “entertainment” the hotel shows a video of the Hollywood movie that got it all so wrong.

From issue 1970 of New Scientist magazine, 25 March 1995, page 48

The True Story of the Bridge on the River Kwai (History Channel) (2000)
Starring: Edward Woodward Director: David de Vries

http://www.amazon.com/Story-Bridge-River-History-Channel/dp/B000AABL12/ref=pd_sbs_v_5

Please check out the link here if you are interested. It is the above image for the dvd for the History Channel. I happened to watch it and was very impressed by the interviews with the veteran’s who built the bridge. It is a real eye opening experience of how Hollywood bypassed the truth. The true story really goes in depth and has many drawings from the former POW’s. I highly recommend it to teachers, and history lover’s.

U.S. Ceremonial Flag Disposal

Chris Wulf — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:59:35 +0000

The video explains itself. The proper way our Veteran’s dispose of our worn and faded flags. I would like to extend thanks to everyone who was so kind at St. Mary’s Post. I had a chance to talk to some Veteran’s and the Catholic War Veteran’s State Commander of Ohio.

It is a nice educational piece for students. If you notice in the background the local Boy Scouts also participated. It is not the best video work in the world. I do apologize but I am only one person.

A proper flag disposal from Chris Wulf on Vimeo.

6/30/2008

Chris Wulf — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:52:14 +0000

I just wanted to let everyone know there is an update in the about us section. Also interviews are coming slowly we have some set up or veterans willing to interview we just have to set up some dates. So keep an eye out.

Chris

Ski’s Golf Scramble 6/19

Chris Wulf — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:14:13 +0000

I first would like to welcome all of you to Historydocumented.com

We have been very busy, working on interviews and becoming connected with others in our area. I have some video which needs editing. My computer has very little memory left. Lucky for us we received a donation from a current gentleman in service. Mr. Kevin Brogan of the U.S. Navy has sent me a whole new external hard drive. He just returned Home from Iraq a few months ago. We are very grateful. It is friends like him that help us move forward.

Historydocumented.com also will be sponsoring Ski’s Golf outing. If you are interested call the number below and sign up!! I personally will be unable to attend considering my work schedule.

Keep on the look out were doing our best to update things asap. Thank You!

Sincerely

Chris

SKI’S 1^st Annual Polish-American

2-Person Golf Scramble

Held at

The Legacy Golf Club

Monday, June 23^rd

^{9:00 A.M. Shotgun Start}

(Proceeds to be used for scholarship fund to benefit a Polish-American student)

$ 75 Entry Fee Includes:

· Round of Golf

· Cart

· Range Balls

· Entry in Ski’s $5,000 Putting Contest- (Held at the Legacy’s practice green right after the round)

· Hole-In-One Contest ($10,000 Cash)

· Dinner at Ski’s (following tournament)

· Coupon for FREE Magique golf bag-(Yup, it’s Free)

· Door Prizes

· Tournament Prizes

_ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Sign-Up Sheet____________________________

1^st Player 2^nd Player

Name_______________________________ Name_________________________________

Address_____________________________ Address _______________________________

E-mail ______________ Phone___________ E-Mail ________________ Phone ___________

Age_______ Average Golf Score _________ Age________ Average Golf Score __________

(Seniors and high handicappers will play from a more forward tee)

____ Yes, I want to play but I need to be paired with another player

____ I would also like to add _____ guest(s) for the dinner event only @$25 each

Mail Entry to:

Ski’s Restaurant – 5834 Monroe Street – Sylvania, Ohio 43560

Or Fax your entry to (419) 882-6699 – Phone (419) 882-1199

Kindly Make Checks payable to: Ski’s Restaurant/Golf Scholarship

5834 Monroe Street - Sylvania, Ohio 43560

(419) 882-1199

Ski’s 1^st Annual Polish–American

2-Person Golf Scramble

Dear Friend:

On June 23^rd, Ski’s will be sponsoring a 2-person charity golf scramble at The Legacy Golf Club to develop a scholarship fund for a young Polish-American student here in the Toledo area.

To ensure the success of this event, we need your help. By becoming a sponsor or by providing needed gifts or a donation, or by participating in the tournament itself, you will help to provide financial assistance to a needy Polish-American student here locally. All donors will receive recognition and a letter of receipt for your tax-deductible donation.

Sponsorship Options

Hole Sponsor

Cost: $100

Sponsor receives one 18 x 24 sign prominently displayed next to one hole.

Golf Cart Sponsor

Cost: $150

Sponsor receives up close and personal signage on all golf carts used throughout the day of the tournament.

Contest Sponsors

Cost: $250

Sponsor receives one sign prominently displayed at the hole or green corresponding to the contest. Only the contest sponsor’s signage will be allowed at the contest holes. There are 2 contest sponsorships available.

(1) Hole-In-One

(2) Putting Contest

Please complete and return the attached registration form to reserve your spot today. You may fax your registration form to (419) 882-6699 or if you have any questions about participating as a player, sponsor or donor, please contact Jack Sparagowski at (419) 882-1199 or jsparagowski@hotmail.com. Thank you!

Registration & Sponsorship

Ski’s 1^st Annual 2-Person Scramble

Name __________________________ Company _________________________

Address _______________________________ City _______________________

State ________________ Zip _____________ Phone _____________________

Fax ___________________ E-Mail _____________________________________

Player # 1 Name __________________________ Age _________ Hdcp _______

Player # 2 Name __________________________ Age _________ Hdcp _______

Player # 3 Name __________________________ Age _________ Hdcp _______

Player # 4 Name __________________________ Age _________ Hdcp _______

Name to Appear on Signage __________________________________________

Please Check Item Cost Total_ _____

_____ Number of Players x $ 75

_________________________________________________________________

_____ Hole Sponsor $ 100

_____ Cart Sponsor $ 150

_____ Hole-In-One Sponsor $ 250

_____ Putting Contest Sponsor $ 250

______ Donations/Door Prizes —– _________________________________________________________________

Please remit all forms and checks to: Ski’s Restaurant/Golf Scholarship

5834 Monroe St. – Sylvania, Ohio 43560

For questions or information call (419) 882-1199 or e-mail to jsparagowski@hotmail.com

Educational Trip to Fremont,Ohio

Chris Wulf — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:57:46 +0000

Northcoast Veteran’s Honor the 48th INF from Chris Wulf on Vimeo.

We would like to thank Mr. Rex Postlethwait for the Northcoast Veteran’s Memorial and Museum Society for his time and generosity. This is just a small example of what the Veteran’s Museum in Gibsonburg is doing to educate our youth.

Stay with us and make sure to check in at least once a week for major updates.

I know I had a spelling error in the video… this display was for the 148th infantry ( sorry )

The Trench “short film promo”

Chris Wulf — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:32:24 +0000

I just happened to see this video while I was uploading my grandfather’s video. It was interesting… so I thought I would share with you. The author is Philip Bloom and his website is here www.philipbloom.net

The Trench HD from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

WW2 US Navy Edward Wulf

Chris Wulf — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:57:14 +0000

Mr. Krupp remembers his friend.

Mr. Krupp Remembers Ed Wulf from Chris Wulf on Vimeo.

Master of Arms from Chris Wulf on Vimeo.

This is my Late Grandfather. This interview is one of the major inspirations for History Documented. It is a corner stone so to speak, the foundation on which I am building.

I was a freshman in High School when he passed, just to young to ask all the questions I have now. Lucky for us my cousin Cori used my grandpa for her history project in the Mid- 90’s. This was the interview she ended up with.

I could never thank her enough for helping save some of our family history. Over time oral history can be slightly changed enough to make it untrue.

Here is his Ship info: http://ussrescue.com/

USS Rescue (AH-18)

AH-18 USS Rescue

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

Vital Statistics

Rescue class Hospital Ship:

Displacement: 8,350 tons

Length: 403′

Beam: 61′

Draft: 20′

Speed: 20 knots (max); 7 knots (econ)

Armament: NONE

Complement: 440

Geared turbine engines; twin screws; 13,000 hp

Built at Newport News at SS St. John 1932
Acquired by USN and commissioned as Antaeus (AS-21) 17 May 1941
Redesignated AG-67 September 1942 Converted to Hospital Ship Rescue (AH-18) 18 January 1945

Memorial Day Salute

Chris Wulf — Sat, 31 May 2008 21:06:27 +0000

Historydocumented.com Remembers Memorial Day from Chris Wulf on Vimeo.

This is our local salute to our Veteran’s Past and Present. The video is a local Parade in Downtown Toledo. Then the second half are ceremonies in the Polish Village of Toledo Ohio. The Polish Village is where Roman Frankowski lived if you read our earlier article.

I have gone to the (Lagrange Street) Polish Village Parade for as long as I can remember. We felt we might as well share it for others who could not join us.

Support our Veterans and our Troops

Chris

5/30/08

Chris Wulf — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:53:17 +0000

In the coming week or so we should be adding some updates. We have a few interviews in the near future. Recently I have been doing my best to burn DVD’s for the interviews we have on the site. Please if you have a family member or know of any Veteran’s who would possibly consider an interview contact us.

I have also found out that our site has been used in the classroom. Teacher’s please let us know if you are planning on using the site. We would enjoy featuring you and your students. We would also do a free educational reenactment for the class if you wish. We are just proud to hear the students are learning from what we are doing here. Again my email is; Chris@historydocumented.com

Please check back often we are doing the best we can with our limited schedule.

Chris