WORLD WAR II

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has renewed Japan’s no-war pledge at a somber ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the country’s World War II defeat, but he did not mention Japanese wartime aggression

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida renewed Japan's no-war pledge at a somber ceremony Monday as his country marked the 77th anniversary of its World War II defeat, but he did not mention Japanese wartime aggression. In his first address as prime minister since taking office in October, Kishida said Japan will “stick to our resolve to never repeat the tragedy of the war." Kishida did not mention Japanese aggression across Asia in the first half of the 20th century or the victims in the region.

The production included photos and videos with veterans from World War II and children of parents who were involved during the 1940s.

Zofia Posmysz, a Polish World War II-era resistance fighter who survived the Auschwitz and Ravensbrück concentration camps and who later became a journalist and novelist, has died at 98

The U.S. deputy secretary of state says the prime minister of the Solomon Islands “missed an important opportunity” by failing to attend a memorial service to mark the anniversary of a key World War II battle, amid concerns the South Pacific island nation is building closer ties with China.

A Chinese state-owned company is negotiating to buy a forestry planation with a deep-water port and World War II airstrip in Solomon Islands amid persistent concerns that China wants to establish a naval foothold in the South Pacific country. A delegation from China Forestry Group Corp. visited the plantation that covers most of Kolombangar Island in 2019, asking questions about the length of the wharf and depth of the water while showing little interest in the trees, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported on Monday. The board of Kolombangara Forest Products Ltd., the takeover target known as KFPL which is owned by Taiwanese and Australian shareholders, wrote to the newly elected Australian government in May warning of the “risks/strategic threats” posed to Australia by such a sale, the ABC reported.

Edinburg city officials will be hosting an event they’re calling a Ceremony of Remembrance in honor of an Edinburg native who served aboard the USS Indianapolis during World War II. After over seven decades of being declared “Unaccounted For,” SC3 Jose Antonio Saenz was officially declared “Buried at Sea” in June. The ceremony to honor Saenz will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at Edinburg City Hall, located at 415 W. University Drive in Edinburg. The ceremony comes on the 77th commemoration of July 30, 1945, the day the Indianapolis sank. Saenz was among the nearly 1,200 men on board the Indianapolis, whose last mission was to deliver atomic bomb components.

A snapshot of popular books.

A 102-year-old woman is being honored for her service with an all-female, all-Black military unit that got mail to U.S. troops in Europe during World War II.

A New York official removed the carcass of a great white shark from a beach on the south shores of Long Island Thursday. It’s believed to be the same one seen on shores in the the Village of Quogue, west of where it was removed in Southampton. (July 22)

Eli Rosenbaum spent his career hunting down Nazis after World War II. Now, he will use those skills to seek out war criminals in the Russia-Ukraine war.

The bisons' grazing will clear spaces for other plants and animals to thrive in the woods at Blean.

Investigators say the Nazis tried to hide the executions by incinerating the bodies and planting trees on the burial pits.

Special investigators in Poland say they have found mass graves containing the ashes of at least 8,000 Poles slain by Nazi Germans during World War II in forest executions

The nation’s ninth-busiest port is at risk of pollution by more than 100,000 gallons (378,500 liters) of fuel from a Navy aircraft carrier that served in World War II and the Vietnam War before its decommissioning and designation as a National Historic Landmark. The USS Yorktown — located in Charleston Harbor — is experiencing continued corrosion on its outer hull. If hazardous materials leak into the harbor, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster warned it would impair commercial shipping and harm the ecosystem.

Lt. William J. McGowan's P-47 Thunderbolt was shot down over France's Moon-sur-Elle on June 6, 1944.

A U.S. veteran who saw action in World War II lamented the current state of the country while celebrating his 100th birthday. Carl Spurlin Dekel, who spent his special day on June 29 with friends and family, broke down in tears as he told Fox13 in an interview shared the day after that his fellow soldiers did not die in the war for what America has now purportedly become.

A German court says that a 101-year-old man who was convicted last week as an accessory to murder for serving as a guard at a Nazi concentration camp during World War II has appealed.

At 99, Guy Stern is one of the last living Ritchie Boys and showed 60 Minutes some of the honors and mementos from his decorated military career.

The letter was believed to have been stolen during World War II by a state archives worker.

The letter was believed to have been stolen during World War II by a state archives worker.

Experts say climate change and drought have led to the lake dropping to its lowest level since it was full about 20 years ago.

A sunken boat dating back to World War II is the latest object to emerge from a shrinking reservoir that straddles Nevada and Arizona. The Higgins landing craft that has long been 185 feet (56 meters) below the surface is now nearly halfway out of the water at Lake Mead. The boat lies less than a mile from Lake Mead Marina and Hemingway Harbor.

A grandmother's handwritten instructions for borscht, dumplings and stuffed chicken necks are recipes for resilience.

Explorers say they found the wreckage of the USS Samuel B

Explorers say they found the wreckage of the USS Samuel B.

"This small ship took on the finest of the Japanese Navy, fighting them to the end," an American exploration team said​.

Pope Francis has ordered the online publication of 170 volumes of its Jewish files from the recently opened Pope Pius XII archives, the Vatican announced Thursday, amid renewed debate about the legacy of its World War II-era pope. The documentation contains 2,700 files of requests for Vatican help from Jewish groups and families, many of them baptized Catholics, so not actually practicing Jews anymore. The files were held in the Secretariat of State's archives and contain requests for papal intervention to avoid Nazi deportation, to obtain liberation from concentration camps or help finding family members.

Okinawa marked the 77th anniversary Thursday of the end of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, with the governor calling for a further reduction of the U.S. military presence there as local fears grow that the southern Japanese islands will become embroiled in regional military tension. The Battle of Okinawa killed about 200,000 people, nearly half of them Okinawan residents. Japan's wartime military, in an attempt to delay a U.S. landing on the main islands, essentially sacrificed the local population.

Józef Walaszczyk, a member of the Polish resistance who rescued dozens of Jews during the World War II Nazi German occupation of Poland, has died aged 102

The christening of a Navy destroyer on Saturday highlighted the sacrifices of two generations — the ship’s namesake killed in World War II and another Marine who died more than 60 years later. The future USS Basilone bears the name of a Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor before his death on Iwo Jima. The legacy and sacrifice of such Marines are never forgotten, Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps Troy Black told a crowd of 2,000 gathered next to the warship at Navy shipbuilder Bath Iron Works in Maine.

Herzog's novel follows Hiroo Onoda, a real Japanese lieutenant who terrorized the Philippine villagers of Lubang Island with guerrilla tactics for 29 years after World War II’s conclusion.

A snapshot of popular books.

Bombed-out and poverty-stricken after World War II, Japan disbanded its military and renounced war, devoting its efforts instead to economic development under a pacifist constitution. More than seven decades later, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has spooked Prime Minister Fumio Kishida into pledging a substantial increase in defense spending, which has long been only about half the target set for its Western counterparts.

Belgium’s King Philippe has expressed his “deepest regrets” to Congolese lawmakers for abuses committed during colonial rule.

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the United States and allied countries will keep providing “significant” support to Ukraine, out of respect for the legacy of D-Day soldiers.

Joy and sadness are pouring out of those on the beaches of Normandy for the 78th anniversary of D-Day.

More than 20 British World War II veterans have gathered near Pegasus Bridge for D-Day commemorations in Normandy.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused "devastating consequences for children at a scale and speed not seen since World War II," U.N. says

On Tuesday's show: Rep. Sylvia Garcia answers listener questions, we learn why former Houston Astros star Ken Caminiti admitted he'd used steroids long before anyone else did, and we discuss a piece of artwork at the MFAH that was stolen by the Nazis during World War II.

In 5 years, Rishi Sharma said he has interviewed 1,400 World War II veterans.

An Edinburg man who served on the USS Indianapolis during World War II is among 13 soldiers whose status recently changed from “unaccounted for” to “buried at sea,” nearly 77 years later, according to a Navy news release. Ship’s Cook 3rd Class Jose Antonio Saenz enlisted in the Navy in 1943, according to Monitor newspaper archives, where he would then board the USS Indianapolis. Two Japanese torpedoes hit the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945, when the heavy cruiser was on its way to the Philippines from Guam. During his time working for the Navy History and Heritage Command, Rick Stone began the USS Indianapolis Burial at Sea Project — the goal of which was to resolve the misclassifications. Petty Officer Max Hill of McAllen was declared dead after the ship went down.

Ukraine and its allies are not refighting World War II. Insisting on Russia’s total defeat is a fine negotiating position but not a realistic aim.

More than 800 crewmembers of the USS Indianapolis were killed, many by sharks. Just 316 survived.

“The sand tiger sharks are somewhat unusual for sharks in that they can hover or seem to rest.”

Russia’s botched invasion shows us how much war has changed, and how much it will change.

Founded by Holocaust survivors, the bakery is known for Jewish specialties rooted in 200-year-old family recipes.

There were six great naval powers before the war, writes historian Paul Kennedy; afterward, there was just one.

Congress has bestowed its highest honor on merchant mariners who fought in World War II, almost eight decades after the conflict in which more than 8,000 of them were killed.

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Nineteen veterans will depart to Washington D.C. Friday morning as part of ‘Honor Flight Houston’ in the first flight since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vladimir Putin had no victories in Ukraine to proclaim on Victory Day.

The Russian president’s failing Ukraine invasion make his shameless appropriation of the USSR’s World War II victory and his historical distortions ring even more hollow.

The Russian leader stops short of calling for a wider war mobilization during an annual military parade but vows to capture Ukraine's Donbas region.

In his Victory Day speech, President Vladimir Putin falsely called Ukrainians “Nazis” and insisted without evidence that Kyiv was planning to build nuclear weapons.

Russia's ambassador to Poland was splattered with red paint thrown at him by protesters opposed to the war in Ukraine, preventing him from paying respects on Monday at a Warsaw cemetery to Red Army soldiers who died during World War II. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced the attack, saying on her messaging app channel that “we won’t be scared” while the “people of Europe should be scared to see their reflection in a mirror.”

Russia's "Victory Day" military parade marks the anniversary of the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

In a speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin gives no indication of a shift in strategies of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the display was canceled due to "bad weather," though weather reports from Moscow said it was sunny with little wind.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to cast Moscow’s military action in Ukraine as a forced response to Western policies and a necessary move to ward off a potential aggression.

Tanks, armored personnel carriers and transports carrying huge intercontinental ballistic missiles will rattle across the paving stones. This year, as Russian troops fight gruelling battles in Ukraine and unleash torrents of missiles and bombs, few Russians are likely to be dulled by the parade’s rituals.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is marking Victory Day with a speech from a grand military parade in Moscow’s Red Square as his war in Ukraine struggles.

The Russian holiday of Victory Day brings out patriotic displays of flags, military parades and marches by veterans' groups celebrating the country's triumph over Nazi Germany in 1945.

A marble bust that a Texas woman bought for about $35 from a Goodwill store is temporarily on display at a San Antonio museum after experts determined it was a centuries-old sculpture missing from Germany since World War II.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says he accepted an apology from Russian President Vladimir Putin for controversial remarks about the Holocaust made by Moscow’s top diplomat.

The invasion of Ukraine means fewer Russian tanks and other military hardware will rumble through Red Square on Monday, when the country marks its victory in World War II.

A single metal cross remains inside the Orthodox church of shattered brick and blackened stone.

Officials in Michigan have broken ground on one of the few state-specific World War II memorials in the country.

Seeking to counter fears over its new security alliance with China, the Solomon Islands says it won’t allow China to build a military base there.

There’s one last chance to visit Battleship Texas before the 108-year-old dreadnought departs its berth at the San Jacinto Battleground in east Harris County, the ship’s location since 1948.

The president of Poland has compared Russia’s attacks on Ukraine to Nazi forces during World War II.

As veterans of World War II get older and older, with most of them now in their late 80s and 90s, how will we preserve that legacy and keep their sacrifice alive?

Vladimir Putin has again painted his enemies in Ukraine as “neo-Nazis,” even though the country has a Jewish president who lost relatives in the Holocaust and who heads a Western-backed, democratically elected government.

The House has voted to award the only all-female, Black unit to serve in Europe during World War II with the Congressional Gold Medal.

Vladimir Putin told the world in the lead-up to its attacks on Ukraine that his operation aimed to “denazify” Ukraine.

Latvia’s parliament has passed a Holocaust restitution bill that includes funding to revitalize the Baltic nation’s Jewish community, which was almost completely wiped out during World War II.

A new exhibition opening this week at the Dutch national museum examines the violent birth of Indonesia after three centuries of colonial rule.

The oldest World War II veteran in the United States has died at the age of 112.

Pearl Harbor attack survivors gathered at the site of the bombing to remember more than 2,300 U.S. troops killed 80 years ago.

Pearl Harbor survivors and World War II veterans are gathering in Hawaii this week to remember those killed in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack.

Bob Dole, who overcame disabling war wounds to become a sharp-tongued Senate leader from Kansas, a Republican presidential candidate and then a symbol and celebrant of his dwindling generation of World War II veterans, has died. He was 98.

A World War II veteran who was the last surviving officer of “Easy Company,” which inspired the HBO miniseries and book “Band of Brothers,” has died.

A World War II veteran from Alabama who survived COVID-19 will be honored on his 105th birthday with the French Legion of Honor in recognition of his service.

In honor of Veterans Day, a group of Democratic lawmakers is reviving an effort to pay the families of Black veterans who fought on behalf of the nation during World War II for benefits they were denied or prevented from taking full advantage of when they returned home from war.

Costs to clean up a massive nuclear weapons complex in Washington state are usually expressed in the hundreds of billions of dollars and involve decades of work.

Fighter jets have flown over the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki as parachutists landed and troops marched in the city to mark a national holiday commemorating Greece’s defiance of Fascist Italy that forced it to enter World War II.

An 88-year-old Holocaust survivor from Houston who has spent decades educating people on the genocide of Jews during World War II has been honored by France.

A 100-year-old man has gone on trial in Germany, accused of being an accessory to murder for serving as a Nazi SS guard at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin during World War II.

Hispanic Heritage Month begins Wednesday and KPRC 2 is celebrating by bringing you Voices of Houston from the Hispanic community.

Warsaw’s Jewish community has buried an unidentified Holocaust victim whose remains were discovered in a building that was within the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.

The U.S. Department of Defense says the remains of a World War II pilot whose body was lost in Europe's Adriatic Sea have been recovered and will be buried in his home state of Maine.

A special ceremony that was years in the making was held on Saturday, as a family was reunited with their loved ones Purple Heart.

Big Boy No. 4014, a Union Pacific steam locomotive built in the 1940s to conquer mountains while carrying equipment in support of World War II, is embarking on a 10-state tour and will be on public display Tuesday in Houston.

Japan has marked the 76th anniversary of its surrender in World War II.

Israel is condemning Poland’s approval of a law that restricts the rights of former Polish property owners, including Holocaust survivors and their descendants, to reclaim property seized by the country’s former communist regime.

An Army battalion that made history as the only all-female, Black unit to serve in Europe during World War II is set to be honored by Congress.

Belarus has retaliated to the European Union sanctions by halting cooperation on stemming illegal migration and denying entry to EU officials.

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has warned that his country will not try to stem a flow of migrants to the European Union in response to new EU sanctions.

The Lone Star Flight Museum and the Commemorative Air Force collaborated to put on a special experience for a WWII veteran and Purple Heart recipient.

The double-cheeked embrace that was a customary greeting in France before the coronavirus pandemic saw it largely abandoned as a potential kiss of death is back with a presidential seal of approval.