My Thirty-Third Year

By |2023-11-24T15:18:00-06:00November 25th, 2023|Categories: Books, Catholicism, Communism, War, World War II|

The Bolsheviks were coming! The news was enough to make the blood of the people of the village of Suessenbergrun run cold. The Bolsheviks were atheists. They had no human decency, no respect for human lives. In this atmosphere I tried to settle into my normal parochial duties. But these very duties were colored with [...]

The Odd Uneven Time: Japan & the Atomic Bomb

By |2023-09-09T20:16:06-05:00September 9th, 2023|Categories: Catholicism, Christianity, World War II|

In the reading, listening, and viewing I’ve done recently on the ever-troubling question of the use of atomic bombs on Japan, what I’ve noticed clearly for the first time is the seemingly inexorable retributory escalation in word and deed not so hidden under the ostensible arguments of life-saving necessity. On the Feast of St. Augustine, [...]

Valkyrie: Remembering the July 20 Plot Against Hitler

By |2023-07-21T07:41:25-05:00July 19th, 2023|Categories: Heroism, Timeless Essays, World War II|Tags: |

Whether or not assassination is a legitimate means of resistance is a point that will be keenly debated. That said, there can be no denying that the efforts of Claus von Stauffenberg and the other German conspirators who tried to kill Adolf Hitler in July 1944 are a striking testimony to the decency and resolve [...]

The Socialist Patriot: George Orwell and War

By |2023-04-25T14:52:16-05:00April 25th, 2023|Categories: Books, Conservatism, George Orwell, World War I, World War II|

Does the "socialist-patriot" George Orwell offer a model for us today? Specifically for the young—of left or right—for whom Peter Stansky's book is likely meant to serve as an introduction of sorts? The Socialist Patriot: George Orwell and War by Peter Stansky (130 pages, Stanford University Press, 2023) Less a brief biography than a lengthy [...]

The Prayer of André Zirnheld, Teacher-Turned-Paratrooper

By |2023-03-31T16:45:42-05:00March 30th, 2023|Categories: Audio/Video, Christianity, John Horvat, World War II|

In André Zirnheld's touching plea, we sense the fiery charity of one that does not want to displease or even inconvenience God. We learn to be satisfied with what others do not want, with what is left over. In times like ours, everyone is so self-centered that few think of giving themselves to a higher [...]

Four Hours of Fury: The Story of World War II’s Operation Varsity

By |2023-03-23T18:01:01-05:00March 23rd, 2023|Categories: Audio/Video, Books, Timeless Essays, World War II|

The Rhine River was the line of no return—once the paratroopers of the 17th Airborne crossed it, they’d be over enemy territory. Some pretended to sleep while others smoked or just stared into space. No one spoke. The roar of the engines and the rattling of the airframe made conversation impossible, which was just fine. [...]

“Blood on the Risers”

By |2023-03-24T08:24:59-05:00March 23rd, 2023|Categories: Audio/Video, Music, War, World War II|

"Blood on the Risers" is an American paratrooper song from World War II. Sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," the song tells of a fatal training jump of a rookie paratrooper whose parachute fails to deploy, resulting in him falling to his death. Each verse describes the man’s death and [...]

The Inklings and the Outbreak of World War II

By |2022-12-14T14:09:09-06:00December 14th, 2022|Categories: Bradley J. Birzer, C.S. Lewis, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, Senior Contributors, World War II|

Most of the Inklings had already gone through one world war, and when Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, they knew that their children—especially J.R.R. Tolkien’s sons—would have to go through a second one. It was all quite depressing. In September 1939, war descended upon Europe as the National Socialists of Germany and the international [...]

D-Day and a Decadent French Wedding

By |2022-06-05T15:20:22-05:00June 5th, 2022|Categories: Barbara J. Elliott, Culture, Timeless Essays, World War II|

Brave young men, overcoming terror with their willingness to fight, came from the corn-fed plains of America to do battle with tyranny. Many of them gave the ultimate sacrifice, as they bled out into the sand below me. Was the blood-spattered sacrifice of lives on D-Day commensurate with the soft, effete, and self-indulgent lives of [...]

A War Hero’s Life: A Tribute to My Father

By |2024-03-04T17:21:34-06:00March 23rd, 2022|Categories: Heroism, Memorial Day, Military, Stephen M. Klugewicz, Timeless Essays, Veterans Day, World War II|

On January 25, 1945, the Battle of the Bulge ended. But not until a decade after my father’s death did I uncover the fact that he fought in what one historian has deemed the greatest battle in history. Cpl. Joseph D. Klugewicz won a Bronze Star for his actions against the Nazis that winter. But [...]

Was the Postwar U.S. International Order Truly Liberal?

By |2021-04-26T19:52:25-05:00April 25th, 2021|Categories: American Republic, Books, Foreign Affairs, History, Liberal, Politics, World War II|

“The False Promise of Liberal Order” and “Tomorrow, the World” provide a useful two-dose vaccine against the now-viral view that something ambitious must be done to repair and revitalize the fraying liberal international order. Both books counsel against doubling down on a postwar order that was more imperial than liberal. The False Promise of Liberal [...]

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