The first Ace was 1st Lt.
Boyd David "Buzz" Wagner of Johnstown Pa. who recorded eight kills,
starting in December, 1941 during the defense of the Philippines. He
was quickly promoted to Captain and a few weeks later skipped Major and
was promoted to Lt. Colonel. He at age 26 then became the youngest
American ever to attain the Rank of Lt. Colonel. He was so valuable to
the design of the P-40 that he was soon assigned to Australia where he
worked on design improvements and the training of combat pilots. He
later was assigned to Eglin Field, Florida designing and test-piloting
new P-40 designs. He was lost over Alabama on a test flight and his
plane and Body not founf for five or six weeks, buried in the sea marsh
of Alabama's Gulf Coast.
Buzz Wagner was also a hero in the 1936 Johnstown Flood having
rescued one or more youngsters from the flood and possible drowning.
How many casualties were there in World War Two?
About 50 million people lost their lives in WW2! The Soviet
Union alone lost 20 million in what they call "The Great Patriotic
War". The Nazis executed about 12 million civilians, including 6
million Jews. Poland suffered more than any other country, losing an
unbelievable 18% of its pre-war population, almost 7 million. Chinese
dead totalled over 11 million, Japanese 2 million, and German 5
million. About 300,000 Americans died in the war.
Prisoners of war (POWs) suffered extremely callous treatment, and a
criminal percentage of them died. 5 million Russian soldiers were
captured by the Germans; 3 million died at the hands of their captors.
Incredibly another million died after the war while in Soviet labor
camps. Their crime? Being captured.
Without a doubt, the most horrifying aspect of WWII was the
Holocaust, the Nazi "Final Solution" to exterminate Jews, Gypsies,
homosexuals, the mentally ill, and Bolsheviks. Six million Jews were
killed; another 3 million non-Jewish Poles and a million Serbs were
executed. The Holocaust happened; do not permit Holocaust deniers
to get away with their lies.
Why did the United States drop the atomic bomb?
To save lives, both American and Japanese. On August 6, 1945, the B-29 Enola
Gay, piloted by Capt. Paul Tibbets
dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. An estimated 140,000 men,
women, and children died. Three-quarters of the city (about 5 square
miles) ceased to exist. 3 days later, the Americans dropped another
bomb on Nagasaki. On August 15, the Japanese surrendered.
The alternative? An Allied invasion of Japan, with estimated Allied
casualties exceeding one million and Japanese casualties certainly
higher than that.
What was the most expensive weapon developed by United States?
Surprisingly, not the atomic bomb. At a contemporary cost of $3
billion dollars, the B-29 bomber cost more than the Manhattan project!
Read about the B-29
Superfortress.
