Another new "long-form" article is up in the Articles Section of The Globe At War. There at the End: The U.S. 16th Armored Division's Liberation of Plzen is by Bryan J. Dickerson, a military historian and former Religious Program Specialist 1st Class in the U.S. Navy Reserve and veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom (having served in Iraq twice with units of the II Marine Expeditionary Force / 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing). His article takes a look at the often overlooked final days of the Second World War in Europe; as well as offers a succinct overview of late war U.S.
Prologue – Plzen, Czech Republic, Saturday 6 May 2000,
On this warm sunny day, I stood among several hundred people who had gathered on Husova Street; several blocks from Plzen’s Republic Square. 55 years ago on this very day, soldiers of the U.S. 16th Armored Division had rolled into Plzen and liberated its people from six oppressive years of German occupation (pictured here - Photo Courtesy of Jaroslav Peklo). Later on that same day, other soldiers from the U.S. 97th and 2nd Infantry Divisions had arrived to help secure the city.
