Saturday, May 16, 2009

101st Airborne Division


One of the U.S. Army's top air assault divisions, the 101st Airborne carried out many missions in WW2, the Vietnam War, and even today serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Founded at the brink if WW2, quote its first generalto the newest recruits:the 101st has no history but had a rendezvous with destiny. My favorite act of the 101st has to be the brigade leading the way to a major american victory at D-Day.Then, in the Battle of the Bulge,the 101st, as one of the few forces available to contain the German advance, was rushed forward by truck to defend the vital road junction of Bastogne. Famously, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe answered the German demand of surrender with the reply "To the German Commander: nuts! -The American Commander" and the division fought on until the siege was lifted and the German encroachment was stopped.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Weapons


The weapons of WW2 were some of the greatest of all time, M1 Carbine, M1 Grand, BAR, Thompsons, Springfields for the US FG42, Lugars, Kar98k, MG42, MP40's for Germany, and others such as The Lee-Enfield Rifle, Vickers MK, PPsH-41 and many more. These weapons provided endless distruction to the foes they were being used upon but we still had room for improvement. Primary weapons of today, most of which were springboarded from weapons above, include the M16A2 Rifle, capable of 90 rounds per minute at a burst, M-4 Carbine, a high utalized compact assault rifle, M-24 sniper, with an effective range of 800 meters, M40A1 Sniper Rifle, with an effective range of 1000 yards, M-429 Saw, capable of 750 rounds per minute, and the M-240 Machine gun, the Army's general all purpose gun. The adaptations from then to now, being able to improve on the already proficient guns is simply stellar

HBO Band of Brothers


As you may know, This blog is for a school project, and one of the things that I've found pretty cool in my research is this HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, I've already watched one full episode on the computer and its reallyinteresting, go 101st Airborne Division, It sounds like they had a major impact in the war.

Changes in War


WW2 and today are very different wars but what are the major differences? Obviously the weapons are more advanced and training probably more efficient, but what are the other variables like? Terrain and enemy intel probably play a bigger role, my knowledge of war mainly comes from text books and call of duty haha.