Tag: WWII

History Lessons

Navy museum salutes flags

Flag with a slogan (All photos by author)

Every year, more than 100,000 people tour the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. Its website notes that there are “exhibits about the history of seapower, the development of the U.S. Navy, and the role of the U.S. Naval Academy in producing officers.” In addition, the museum houses a treasure trove of historic flags…. continue

History Lessons

Flags flap as WWII ends

Jubilant British citizens wave flags on V-E Day.

On May 8, 1945, the date World War II ended in Europe, a Pennsylvania soldier wrote home to his wife, Mary. He wanted to tell her about the flags he saw that day and the emotions he felt. Pfc. Marshall Line, 32, who was stationed with an air squadron in England, reminded her in his… continue

History Lessons

Remembering Pearl Harbor with flags

A sailor looks at a WWII service flag. (Library of Congress)

One year after the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that launched the U.S. into World War II, Americans commemorated the “day of infamy” with coast-to-coast flags. In Boston, for example, the Bunker Hill Boys Club observed “one minute of silence…in respect of the service men who gave their lives” a year earlier…. continue

History Lessons

Flags of patriotism, sorrow and victory

By James Breig In August 1943, as World War II reached its midpoint, a soldier stationed in England sent a letter to his mother in New York State and adorned it with a crudely drawn American flag. For reasons unknown to anyone but him, Pvt. Donald Bell did not write anything about his life, England… continue