WWII Car Pileup in Belgium

[Chuckt]

During WWII, when American troops were stationed in Belgium, servicemen began to acquire classic cars and collectables through a variety of means. Some bought, some stole, and others simply found during the chaos of war.

Classic cars stuck in Belgian forest | Digital Trends

 

[Roudy]

During WWII, when American troops were stationed in Belgium, servicemen began to acquire classic cars and collectables through a variety of means. Some bought, some stole, and others simply found during the chaos of war.

Classic cars stuck in Belgian forest | Digital Trends

Wow. That is amazing.

"What kind of wood is that? 1945 Chevy Malibu-Oak."

 

[waltky]

Pentagon tryin' to keep WWII MIA's from fading into history...

Pentagon Enlisting Outsiders to Help Search for US WWII MIAs
Sep 21, 2015 — Justin Taylan has been to the remote Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea dozens of times over the past two decades, spending countless hours slogging through crocodile-infested swamps in his quest to document as many World War II airplane wreck sites as possible.

Since 2013, he has conducted those missions for the newly reorganized Pentagon agency whose predecessor he and others had criticized for years for failing to recover and identify more remains of U.S. service members. Taylan's hiring is part of the military's plans to reach out to private groups and others to help with the search for thousands of American war remains scattered from Pacific jungles to the European countryside.

Though he said he cannot comment on the details of the cases he's worked on under his contract, Taylan said he has documented more than 80 wreck and war-related sites, including eight aircraft crashes associated with American MIA cases. "So many organizations have something to give and share," Taylan, 37, told The Associated Press recently in between trips to Papua New Guinea. "It's an incredible turn of events to support the mission and get more MIA cases resolved."

Justin Taylan, founder and director of Pacific Wrecks poses at a World War II airplane wreck site in Papua New Guinea (PNG)

The Pentagon lists 83,000 MIAs as unaccounted-for from WWII and the Korean and Vietnam wars. More than 73,000 are from WWII, with many of those deemed not recoverable because they were lost at sea. In 2009, Congress set a requirement that the Pentagon identify at least 200 sets of remains a year by 2015. But less than half that number has been identified over each of the past two years.

Earlier this year, the Department of Defense unveiled its revamped Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, a move that came a year and a half after the AP obtained an internal Pentagon study that criticized previous efforts as being in danger of spiraling from "dysfunction to total failure." In a shift many critics say is long overdue, the new agency is working with nonprofit organizations such as Taylan's Pacific Wrecks, Inc. and private firms to help with research and actual searches.

Other examples:

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MOH Recipient Says Gold Star Families Monument Project Expanding
Sep 21, 2015 | When ground is broken Sunday for a monument for Gold Star families in Fall River, Mass., Steve Sammis will be there as much more than a member of the local organizing committee. "My son is Capt. Benjamin W. Sammis, KIA 5 April, 2003," he said. "He was a Cobra pilot with [Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron] 267 out of San Diego."

It's Sammis and many others like him who inspired Medal of Honor recipient Hershel "Woody" Williams to begin his quest to place at least one tribute to the families of the fallen in every state. After two years, Williams said, the project is "going leaps and bounds, increasing constantly." "That's what we're after, of course -- to get a memorial monument in every community that we can. Not only one in every state, but we want one in many, many communities because every community, large or small, has someone who gave up a loved one so you and I could stay free."

There are completed monuments in five cities: Institute, W.Va.; Tampa, Fla.; Valley Forge, Pa.; Lafayette, Ind.; and Fairfield, Ohio. An additional 20, including Fall River's, are in various stages of planning, fundraising and completion. According to Williams, it was the second monument, at Valley Forge, that gave the effort its biggest boost. "It has made a terrific difference," he said. "It just couldn't have been in a better place. So many people know about Valley Forge, visit Valley Forge. It has a historical value that added to what we're doing. From that point on, it just absolutely ballooned."

The Gold Star Families Memorial Monument at Dunbar, W. Va., is similar to the one planned for Fall River, Mass.

The word spread to Fall River when Bruce Aldrich read about the project in the Marine Corps League's Semper Fi magazine. "I know quite a few Gold Star families in the area from being in the Marine Corps League, from participating in funerals and honor guards," he said, "so I just thought, ‘You know, there's nothing here for the Gold Star families in this area." Aldrich got in touch with Williams' grandson Brent Casey, the Hershel Woody Williams Medal of Honor Foundation's executive director, and told him he might be interested in getting involved. "He sent me all the information and said, ‘Whatever you need to help you get going, we're right here to help you.' So that's how it all started," Aldrich said.

For Sammis, life as a Gold Star father started in 2003, when his son became one of the first U.S. casualties of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Ben Sammis, 29, and fellow Marine Capt. Travis A. Ford were killed when their helicopter crashed during combat operations near Ali Aziziyal, Iraq. "There's sad tears and there's happy tears," Steve Sammis said. "I wrote a poem once that said, ‘There's a wound across my soul that'll never heal.' And that's exactly what it is. ... We as parents will live with this for the rest of our lives."

More MOH Recipient Says Gold Star Families Monument Project Expanding | Military.com