Freedom’s Voice The Monthly Newsletter of the Military History Center 112 N. Main ST Broken Arrow, OK 74012 http://www.okmhc.org/

“Promoting Patriotism through the Preservation of Military History”

Volume 7, Number 5 May 2020

Memorial Day

United States Armed Services Days of Observance

May has three significant Armed Services Days of Ob- servance. The most important is Memorial Day on May 25. Others are VE Day on May 8, Armed Forces Day on May 16 and National Maritime Day (Merchant Marine) on May 22.

Flag Day – June 13

Flag Day, June 14, falls on Sunday this year, so the MHC will hold its annual Flag Day event on Saturday, June 13. The

event will begin at 11:00 a.m. on MHC’s Memorial Flag Pla- za. We will send out a notice when the details are finalized. “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier In the meantime, please mark your calendars and plan to known but to God.” attend this patriotic event.

“No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks. May Memorial Day originated as Decoration Day in 1868, when we never forget freedom isn't free." Major General John A. Logan, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union Veter- – President Franklin D. Roosevelt ans of the Civil War, established a day for the nation to deco- rate the graves of its war dead with flowers. The preferred name for the holiday gradually changed from "Decoration Day" to "Memorial Day", which was first used in 1882. It did not become more common until after World War II and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967. On June 28, 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Mon- day Holiday Act, which moved Memorial Day from its tradi- tional May 30 date to the last Monday in May, beginning in 1971.

Memorial Day Banners

The Memorial Day banners, sponsored by the Military His- tory Center and Blue Star Mothers of America, have been in- stalled on Broken Arrow’s Main Street. The roses are in full bloom and are gorgeous, and several eateries are open. Any- one tired of being inside might consider walking Main Street during Memorial Day weekend, or the first good weather day, to view the banners. The banner shown below is a random example.

U.S. Navy F-18 Super Hornet

Robert Earl Brooks – USMC

Robert Earl Brooks was born at Oklahoma City on April 22, 1925. He was working at the YMCA, when he registered for the draft on April 22, 1943. Upon induction, Brooks was assigned to the Marine Corps, and after training, to the 5th Marine Divi- sion. The 5th Division’s only World War II battle was Iwo Jima, This is a cartoon created by Nick Aston, a friend and supporter of the where Brooks served as a communications sergeant. MHC. He has contacted a company that produces T-shirts for charities After returning home, Brooks enrolled at Oklahoma Baptist that will produce T-shirts bearing the cartoon. A portion of the pro- University at Shawnee. While there, he met his future wife, ceeds will be donated to Meals on Wheels. Mr. Ashton is dedicating the project to the memory to his late wife and best friend, both of Nancye Faye Willis. They married on November 3, 1950, in Ok- whom recently passed away – not connected to Covid-19. lahoma City. Brooks continued his education at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary at Fort Worth. After graduation, he was ordained a minister and served in Youth, Music and Education in churches throughout Texas and Oklahoma. After Robert’s retirement in 2000, he and Nancye located in Museum Hours and Admission Fee

Broken Arrow to be near their daughters and grandchildren. Tuesday – Thursday: 10:00 – 4:00 They joined the First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow, where Closed Friday thru Monday and major Federal holidays Robert volunteered in many areas of ministry. SGT Robert Earl Brooks, USMC, passed away on February 2, Adults – $5.00 2018. Nancye had predeceased him in 2009. He is laid to rest Members and Children under 18 – Free. with Nancye in Floral Haven Memorial Gardens in Broken Ar- For more information, call (918) 794-2712. row.

Oklahoma Merchant Mariner Oklahoma World War II MIA Comes Home

James Albert “Jim” Coley PVT Ballard McCurley – 1944

James Albert Coley was born at Meadville, Mississippi, on Ballard McCurley was born at Pauls Valley (Garvin County), July 16, 1922. He registered for the draft at Natchez, Mississip- Oklahoma, on November 10, 1910. In 1940, he was living in pi, on June 30, 1942, at age nineteen. He was rejected by the Whitehead in Garvin County. Sometime after that, by 1943, he Army because of poor vision. The Merchant Marine accepted moved to Santa Clara, California, probably to find better work. Coley in 1943. He began his service as a mess mate and worked After being drafted, he was inducted into the Army at San his way up to cook and baker. Francisco on February 25, 1944. His first ship was an oil tanker bound for Great Britain. It After training as an infantryman, McCurley was deployed to was also carrying P-47 Thunderbolts. His second ship was an oil Europe as a replacement. He was assigned to Co. M, 3rd BN, tanker that passed through the Panama Canal and operated off 12th Infantry RGT, 4th Infantry Division. We don’t know if he the west coast of South America for ten months. Coley’s last was with the 4th ID, when it landed on Utah Beach on D-Day, ship was a cargo vessel headed for the southwest Pacific. It was June 6. On November 29, 1944, the division was in the Hürtgen carrying ammunition and TNT to the Philippines. His ship was Forest in the German Rhineland. On that day, McCurley’s bat- one of the first to enter Manila Bay in February 1945, while the talion was in a reserve position in the woods west of the town Battle of Manila was in progress. Coley was still in Manila when of Hürtgen. He and other soldiers in his unit were ordered to the war ended. He arrived back in the in October clear a field of tree stumps so vehicles could drop off rations 1945. and supplies. According to witnesses, McCurley inadvertently After the war, Coley settled in Louisiana, where he worked set-off a German anti-personnel mine and was killed instantly. for drilling operators including twenty-one years with Chevron His remains were not immediately removed. By the time on off-shore platforms. He relocated to Tulsa in 1981, where Graves Registration located them in 1948, no identifying infor- he worked as a field superintendent for Sterling Oil Co. mation remained. James Albert “Jim” Coley died at Bixby, Oklahoma, on May McCurley’s remains were buried in Ardennes American 2, 2019, at age ninety-six. He is buried in Fort Gibson National Cemetery in France as Unknown X-7359. His name is recorded Cemetery. on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cem- etery in Belgium. A rosette will be placed next to his name in- dicating recovery. PVT Ballard McCurley will be laid to rest in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Pauls Valley, where his family earlier placed a memorial marker for him.

Crest of the 12th Infantry Regiment Ducti Amore Patriae "Having Been Led by Love of Country" Flag of the United States Merchant Marine Seventy-five Years Ago, This Month An Inspirational Life

The 11th Armored Division of Third Army liberated the notorious Maut- CPL Tibor Rubin – 1953 hausen (Austria) slave labor camp on May 6. One of the liberated prisoners was Simon Wiesenthal, who, dedicated his life to hunting Tibor Rubin’s story is one of the human spirit at its best and Nazi war criminals after the war. Another liberated prisoner was a one worth noting. He was born in Pásztó, Hungary, on June 18, fourteen-year-old Hungarian Jewish boy named Tibor Rubin. 1929. In the spring of 1944, when the Germans began round- ing up Hungarian for deportation to Birkenau for extermi- nation, his and the other 119 Jewish families of his town were among them. Upon arrival at Birkenau, Rubin was selected for labor rather than the gas chamber. He was sent to Mau- thausen, arguably the worst of the German slave labor camps. Upon his liberation, Rubin committed himself to going to America and joining the in repayment for his liberation. He fulfilled his commitment, and during the Ko- rean War, he served with Co. I, , 1st Cavalry Division. On October 30, 1950, 8th Cavalry was the tip of the spear of the 1st Cavalry Division while in position just north of the village of Unsan, about forty miles or so north of Pyong- yang. On that day, Rubin distinguished himself by holding off several Chinese attacks with a .30 caliber machinegun. He was severely wounded and captured by the Chinese, who offered to repatriate him to his native Hungary. Rubin refused to forsake his new country and remained a . His case was among several reviewed in the 1990s for con- sideration for the . The review determined that “Corporal Rubin’s gallant actions in close contact with the en- emy and his unyielding courage and bravery while a prisoner of war are in the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.” Presi- dent George W. Bush presented CPL Tibor Rubin with his Medal of Honor on September 23, 2005.

LTC Richard P. Ross, Jr., commander of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regi- After discharge from the Army, Rubin went on to live a long, ment, 1st Marine Division, braved sniper fire to place the battalion’s productive life in southern California. CPL Tibor “Teddy” Rubin national colors on a parapet of Shuri Castle, Okinawa – May 30. died at Garden Grove, California, on December 5, 2015. The Long Beach VA Medical Center was renamed Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center in his honor in 2017. He had been a long-time PFC Albert Ernest Schwab of Tulsa, a flamethrower operator, serving in volunteer at the Center. Tibor Rubin survived the deportation st th st 1 BN, 5 Marine RGT, 1 Marine Division, was posthumously award- train, Birkenau, Mauthausen, combat in Korea, his severe ed the Medal of Honor for heroism above and beyond the call of duty wound and nearly three years as a prisoner of war. His was an on Okinawa on May 7, 1945. USMC Camp Schwab on Okinawa and Tulsa’s Marine Corps League Detachment 857 are named in his honor. inspirational life well lived.

This Month’s Featured Exhibit The Hump is the name American flyers gave to the moun- tain ranges stretching across northeast India, northern Burma and southwestern China southeast of the Himalayas. Moun- tains in these ranges rose up to fifteen thousand feet along the flight path. Pilots flew at a minimum 17,000 feet in order to put some space between themselves and the highest mountain tops. In addition to the rugged terrain, pilots had to contend with often abominable weather conditions such as winds up to 115 miles per hour, severe up and downdrafts, thunderstorms, icing, thick clouds that frequently required instrument flying and sometimes fog at the landing fields. It was considered the most hazardous flying on Earth. Flying at lower altitudes into Burma also had its hazards such as thunderstorms and excep- tionally heavy rain in the monsoon season. Pilots also had to contend with Japanese fighter aircraft, especially over Burma.

This month’s featured exhibit displays the World War II artifacts of CPT David Preston “Buddy” Majors. The emblem sewn on the flight jacket is a silk Burma-China-India Theater blood chit. “Blood Chit” is derived Buddy Majors – 1942 from the Chinese for “Life Payment”. Blood chits were worn by air- men and addressed to anyone, who might come across one, who had Majors left the CNAC after the end of the war and was been shot-down. The original CBI blood chit read: “This foreign person commissioned a lieutenant in the Navy (equivalent to a captain has come to China to help in the war effort. Soldiers and civilians, one in the Army). He was stationed at NAS Jacksonville in Florida, and all, should rescue, protect, and provide him with medical care.” but his naval career was short-lived. He returned to civilian life The messages varied somewhat by unit, but the essential message was in 1946. He located in New Orleans, where he started Majors the same. Some versions promised a reward and some were written Tool Company, a supplier of oil field equipment and supplies. in multiple languages. Blood chits were worn by airmen of the Ameri- can Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers), 14th Air Force, the China National In addition to his successful business career, Majors was a Aviation Corporation and British airman in the CBI Theater. Other highly competitive sportsman: tennis and golf. Golf was his items in the exhibit include Chinese decorations awarded to CPT Ma- favorite, and he excelled in it. He was a championship amateur jors, newspaper articles and a 1942 photograph. (The MHC acquired golfer, winning the City Championship of the New Orleans Golf CPT Majors’ artifacts from his family after his death.) Association six times. He was named the New Orleans Golf Sportsman of the Year in 1965. David Preston “Buddy” Majors was born at Chester, Texas, Late in life, Majors relocated to Broken Arrow, where he on March 29, 1921. His father was a pioneering oil man, and died on November 5, 2012. His was a non-cemetery burial. Majors spent most of his early life in South America. After re- turning to the United States, the Majors family settled in Hou- ston, where Buddy graduated from Lamar High School. He at- tended the University of Texas for a short time, then trans- ferred to the University of Houston, where he learned to fly. He soloed at age nineteen and received his instructor’s rating the next year. He was a flight instructor at Corsicana Army Air Base (Texas), when World War II began for the United States. Majors put his flying skills to good use by becoming a con- tract pilot for China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), with which he flew from 1943 to 1945 with the rank of Captain. Majors flew C-47 transports from India to Burma and between 138th Fighter Wing of the Oklahoma Air National Guard flew over Saint India and China over the “Hump” delivering supplies and per- Francis Hospital near 61st and Yale in Tulsa on April 30 to salute Saint sonnel. By the end of the war, he had logged 15,000 hours of Francis medical personnel for their unstinting work during the flying time. Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World) The 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic and World War I

With the ongoing coronavirus disease 19 – commonly called Covid-19 – pandemic with all its suffering, death and disrup- tion, we thought it might be of interest to readers to compare it with the 1918-19 influenza pandemic. That pandemic was caused by an H1N1 influenza virus with genes showing avian origin. To add complications, the United States and other coun- tries were engaged in the final months of World War I. For years, many scientists believed the influenza epidemic began at Camp Funston, Kansas. However, in researching his Influenza patients in the Camp Funston hospital – 1918 monumental history of the pandemic, John M. Barry discovered that the first known outbreak of the influenza strain that The 1918-19 pandemic occurred in three phases. The first caused the pandemic occurred in Haskell County, Kansas, lo- phase caused few deaths and didn’t cause much alarm. By July, cated in the southwest corner of the state. In 1918, the area it seemed to have fizzled. A U.S. Army medical bulletin report- was still somewhat primitive. Some people still lived in sod ed from France: the “epidemic is about at an end...and has houses. It was an area of large cattle ranches, while many been throughout a benign type.” A British medical journal stat- small farmers raised hogs. It was also a major flyway for mi- ed flatly that influenza “has completely disappeared.” They grating birds. The natural reservoir for the H1N1 influenza virus had spoken too soon. In September, it returned in force in is aquatic birds such as ducks, geese and cranes. The virus sel- Switzerland. The virus had mutated into an extremely virulent dom jumps directly from birds to humans, but it does jump to form. In the meantime, it had acquired a name – Spanish flu. other animals, particularly swine. The virus attacks the birds’ All the warring nations practiced strict censorship; therefore, gastrointestinal systems rather than their respiratory systems, newspapers were unable to report the epidemic’s existence or such as it does in humans. The virus contained in bird drop- its effects. Spain, however, was neutral, and the press could pings can be picked up by hogs. From there, it easily jumps to freely report it, especially after the king contracted the disease, humans. thus, the name, Spanish flu, and it stuck. This is likely what happened in Haskell County as there is no A military ship sailing from Plymouth, England, with men on evidence of any outside human source bringing the virus to the board carrying the virus, docked at Commonwealth Pier in Bos- area. Moreover, there is no evidence of a like influenza out- ton on September 1. Camp Devens, about forty miles from Bos- break anywhere else prior to that outbreak. Not every scien- ton, with 45,000 troops, reported its first case on September 7. tific researcher agrees that the source of the pandemic was An Army report stated that “the influenza...occurred as an ex- Haskell County. Some believe its origin was China or Vietnam plosion.” At its peak, 1,543 soldiers fell ill in one day. The and was brought to Europe among the tens of thousands of 1,200-bed base hospital was overwhelmed. Devens and the Chinese and Vietnamese, whom France and Britain recruited as Boston area, were the first places in the United States hit by laborers. However, most researchers believe the existing evi- the pandemic’s second wave that struck like a tidal wave. dence makes it all but certain that Haskell County was the Within days after the first outbreak, a Navy ship from Bos- source of the virus that became a pandemic. ton carried influenza to Philadelphia, where the disease erupt- In January 1918, a local Santa Fe, Kansas, physician, Dr. Lor- ed in the Navy Yard. The city’s public health director, declared ing Minor, began receiving patients with symptoms that were that he would “confine this disease to its present limits, and in more severe than typical seasonal influenza. Influenza was not this we are sure to be successful. No fatalities have been rec- a reportable disease at the time, but his cases were so unusual orded. No concern whatever is felt.” Despite urging from doc- that Minor reported his findings to the United States Public tors, the public health director refused to cancel the Liberty Health Service (USPHS), and his report was published in the Loan parade scheduled for September 28. More than 250,000 USPHS journal, and generally ignored. people attended the parade. Tens of thousands were infected, In 1917, Secretary of War Newton Baker ordered the con- and more than 12,000 Philadelphians died of influenza, almost struction of sixteen Army training camps and another sixteen all within a period of six weeks – 785 on the worst day. National Guard training camps, including Camp Doniphan at In the meantime, influenza had already spread across the Fort Sill. Camp Funston, Kansas, was a 2,000-acre Army train- United States. Almost no community escaped it. Anxiety, fear ing cantonment erected within the bounds of Fort Riley. Up- and in many places, even terror, covered the country. Medical wards of 50,000 men trained at Camp Funston making it the technology and countermeasures at the time were limited or second largest of the training camps. Several young men, who non-existent. No diagnostic tests existed that could test for had been exposed to the Haskell County influenza went to influenza infection. Doctors didn’t know influenza viruses exist- Camp Funston. A few days later, on March 4, 1918, the first ed. Influenza vaccines did not exist at the time, and even anti- soldier known to have influenza, reported sick. Within two biotics had not been developed yet. Likewise, no flu antiviral weeks, 1,100 Camp Funston soldiers were admitted to the drugs were available. Critical care measures, such as intensive camp hospital, and thousands more were sick in their barracks. care support and mechanical ventilation also were not availa- ble. No coordinated pandemic plans existed in 1918. Some cities managed to implement community mitigation measures, ambulances to transport the stricken men to the camp. So, he such as closing schools, banning public gatherings and issuing marched his entire regiment to the port. They carried the men isolation or quarantine orders. Many local officials ordered to the camp on stretchers and carts. At the camp, 250 men city-wide cleanups, which did nothing to ameliorate the pan- were dying each day. Throughout the American Expeditionary demic. Others city officials did other things, it seemed mostly Force, 10,000 men per week were coming down with influenza. just to be seen doing something, but all were fruitless. All such Several factors, other than those already mentioned, exac- actions were done at the state and local level. The federal gov- erbated the crisis. Normally, the elderly account for the over- ernment had no centralized role in helping to plan or initiate whelming number of influenza deaths. In 1918, that was re- these interventions during the pandemic. In fact, President versed, with young adults age twenty-five to forty-five were in Woodrow Wilson never wrote or spoke a word about it. the highest numbers. Studies found that for pregnant women, Once war was declared, Wilson insisted that nothing would fatality rates ranged from twenty-three to seventy-one per- interrupt the war effort. Nothing would be allowed to lower cent. The Army drafted forty-five percent of doctors, usually the morale of the people. To maintain morale, censors mini- the best. Large numbers of nurses volunteered for overseas mized early reports of the illness and mortality in Germany, the duty. That caused an acute shortage of doctors and nurses in United Kingdom, France and the United States. In fact, U.S. the United States. Red Cross women, uneducated as nurses, government officials at all levels misled or outright lied to the served as substitutes in many cases and also performed many people about the extent and effects of the pandemic. other duties that contributed to battling the influenza. Immediately after the Declaration of War, Wilson got Con- gress to pass the Sedition Act that made it punishable with twenty years in prison to “utter, print, write or publish any dis- loyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United State...or to urge, incite, or advo- cate any curtailment of production in this country of any thing or things...necessary or essential to the prosecution of the war.” Government posters and advertisements urged people to report to the Justice Department anyone “who spreads pes- simistic stories...cries for peace, or belittles our effort to win the war.” Against that background, public health officials, de- termined to keep morale up, began to lie. Newspapers, con- cerned about running afoul of the Sedition Act, refused to print . the facts and downplayed the crisis or just lied about it. Red Cross workers at Piedmont, California, making masks. October 1918

A third wave of influenza followed in January 1919, ending in the spring. That wave was spread in large part by returning soldiers. It first broke out in Australia but quickly showed up in Europe, North America and other places. It was somewhat less virulent than the second wave, but deadly just the same. In the United States, the pandemic created large numbers of orphans and it reduced life expectancy by twelve years. Altogether the pandemic claimed an estimated 675,000 American lives. Octo- ber 1918 was the worst month with 195,000 deaths. The pan- demic claimed an estimated 7,350 Oklahomans, almost ten times the number of the state’s men killed in the war. Far

Troops crowded aboard SS Leviathan – 1918 more people perished in the pandemic than all the combined military and civilian deaths attributable to the war. Because of General John J. Pershing, continuously called for additional the pandemic’s worldwide extent, there are no exact records troops, and the Secretary of War expeditiously complied with accounting for the number of deaths. Best estimates vary be- his requests. Troops were shipped across the country in packed tween fifty and one hundred million. Approximately one-third trains to embarkation ports on the east coast and were then of the planet’s inhabitants were infected. It was the most se- crammed onto troop ships for France, spreading influenza in vere pandemic in recorded history. their wake and among themselves. An example of the spread of Principal sources: influenza to Europe is that of SS Leviathan, a former German cruise ship, converted to a troop ship that made several Atlan- Barry, John M., The Great Influenza, The Story of the Deadliest Pan- tic crossings. In early October 1918, she docked in Brest, demic in History, Penguin Books, New York, 2018 France, with 10,000 men aboard, 4,000 of them with influenza. Marshal, S.L.A., World War I, American Heritage Press, New York, 1971 Those who had died during the voyage were buried at sea. The https://www.cdc.gov/ commander of Camp Pontazezen had only nine trucks and two VE Day in Tulsa

Memorial Day 1945 at Netherlands American Cemetery Margraten, Netherlands

President Trump and the First Lady, with a few World War II veterans as special guests, commemorated the seventy-fifth anniversary of

VE Day at the World War II Memorial in Washington. VE Day celebration in Tulsa – May 8, 1945

When the war in Europe came to an end with the complete defeat and unconditional surrender of Germany seventy-five years ago on May 8, 1945, Americans exploded in relief and celebration. Tulsans were no exception. The above photograph was taken just north of the Atlas Life Building at 416 S. Boston Avenue with ticker tape and other paper debris covering the street and people celebrating in their vehicles, no doubt honk- ing their horns endlessly. The celebration extended south along Boston Avenue, beyond the First Presbyterian Church, whose spire can be seen in the middle distance.

Armed Forces Day – May 16 Oklahoma’s Fallen Heros of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

SGT Anthony Del Mar Peterson LCPL Thomas Alan Blair

Anthony Del Mar Peterson was born December 8, 1986, at Thomas Alan Blair was born at Wagoner, Oklahoma, on July Sacramento, California. He graduated from Chelsea, Oklaho- 7, 1978. He is a 1997 graduate of Broken Arrow High School. ma, High School in 2005. In the meantime, Peterson had joined He followed his brother into the Marine Corps right out of high the Oklahoma National Guard in December 2003 at age seven- school. After basic training, Blair was assigned to the 2nd Low teen. Peterson continued his education at Rogers State Univer- Altitude Air Defense Battalion, Marine Air Control Group-28, 2nd sity. Marine Aircraft Wing at Cherry Point, North Carolina. He was first deployed to Afghanistan from February 2006 On March 23, 2003, the United States and its allies began through June 2007. In June 2011, Peterson, now a Sergeant, Operation Iraqi Freedom, the liberation of Iraq. Lance Corporal was a fire team leader in Co. B, 1st Battalion, 279th Infantry Reg- Blair was by then a member of Co. C, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine iment, 45th Brigade Combat Team. His company was headquar- Regiment. On that day, his company took control of a bridge tered at the Vinita Armory. That month, Peterson’s unit was on the northern edge of Nasiriyah, where the vehicle in which deployed to Afghanistan. On August 4, 2011, SGT Peterson he was riding was attacked by rifle propelled grenades. Blair died of wounds he suffered when his unit came under small was fatally wounded by a combination of enemy and friendly arms fire in the Zurmat District of Paktia Province. fire. He succumbed to his wounds the next day. LCPL Blair was SGT Anthony Del Mar Peterson was buried in Fort Gibson posthumously awarded the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation National Cemetery. His awards include Combat Infantryman Medal, Combat Action Medal and . Badge, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. LCPL Thomas Alan Blair was buried in Ozark Memorial Park Cemetery at Joplin, Missouri.

An Air Force carry team transfers the body of SGT Anthony Del Mar Peterson at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware – August 5, 2011.

Crest of the 2nd Marine Regiment

Germany Surrenders – VE Day

The War Room of SHAEF headquarters – Reims, France – May 7, 1945

German Colonel General Alfred Jodl (center foreground with his back to the camera) prepares to sign the surrender documents. He is accompanied by Admiral Friedeburg of the German Navy and Major Oxenius, probably Jodl’s aide. Allied officers receiving the surrender sitting at the table: (left to right) General Morgan (United Kingdom), General Sevez (France), Admiral Burrough (United Kingdom), LTG Walter Bedell Smith, General Eisenhower’s Chief of Staff, (United States), in command of the surrender, General Susloparoff (Soviet Union) and LTG Carl Spaatz (United States). Stalin insisted that the surrender take place in Berlin and refused to recognize the May 7 surrender at Reims. The second surrender ceremony in Berlin on May 8 is recognized as VE Day.

SHAEF – Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force shoulder sleeve insignia

“Lest We Forget”

Memorial Day – May 25

Freedom is not free.

Freedom’s Voice is the voice of MVA, Inc. dba Military History Center, a 501(C)3 private foundation, as a service to its members and supporters. Contents may be reproduced only when in the best interest of the Military History Center. Please direct comments or suggestions to the Editor at newslet- [email protected]. Ken Cook, Editor