On January 27, 1945, the courage of Master Sergeant Roderick W. “Roddie” Edmonds to speak up for his fellow POWs shielded them from certain persecution and potential death.

In December 1942, a week before Christmas, the Allied governments issued a statement exposing a monstrous chain of events in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Originally designated Operation Anvil and intended to support the hammer blow of the Normandy landings two months earlier, the renamed Operation Dragoon fulfilled an American desire for a lodgment in southern France that shifted forces from the strategic cul-de-sac of Italy.

Most people are aware that Boeing's B-29 Superfortress was the plane that made the first atomic attacks. However, the B-29s delivering America’s first atomic weapons were far from ordinary.

The fire seemed to become a living entity, changing course at will, consuming everything in its path, and generating a heat that melted glass and cutlery and turned bricks to ash. For over four hours, Hamburg burned.