When Raymond Biel was in flight school in the early 1940s, he thought he might be a co-pilot in a fighter. Instead, he was chosen to fly the B-29 Superfortress, a new bomber for the U.S. military.

News of the deaths was not initially released, and even their families didn’t know how they died for decades. But the Shigeaki Mori, a local historian, pieced together what happened. Finally, he was about to meet one of the relatives.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed. Instantly, I squatted down and covered my face with my hands. We had been instructed to do so to protect ourselves when we were bombed. Otherwise, we were told that our eardrums would burst and eyeballs would pop out.

“Our artillery is wearing down the Japs and gradually destroying his guns and men. We are waging a ruthless process of extermination.”

It is not at all a strange sight to see kids running around in cut-off GI woolen underwear or rompers made of fatigues, but Sally’s diapers made of green camouflage cloth really take the cake.

The end of World War II in Europe 70 years ago this week was a joyous occasion for virtually all Americans — save for the journalist who broke the surrender story, a scoop that turned him into a pariah.

When World War II ended, Berlin lay in ruins. Half-starved survivors eked out a bare existence without food, heat, shelter and hope. Seventy years later, Germany has risen to the economic powerhouse of Europe.

When World War II ended, Berlin lay in ruins. Half-starved survivors eked out a bare existence without food, heat, shelter and hope. Seventy years later, Germany has risen to the economic powerhouse of Europe.

By the dawn of 1945, the war in Europe was finally going the Allies’ way. That hadn’t always been the case.

As the Allies swept deep into German-occupied territory, they discovered the most terrible secret of the Third Reich– the vast network of slave labor and extermination camps at the heart of what came to be known as the Holocaust.