The Chernobyl Disaster | Biggest Nuclear Meltdown In History | Documentary

The danger presented by the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown was bad enough, but it could have been much worse.  Two men died in the initial explosion.  Three more men, gave their lives.  There was a pool of water in the reactor form the fire fighting efforts.  Had this water met the heat from the reaction, there would have been a steam explosion with a steam cloud that would have distributed radioactivity for miles around, reaching much of Europe and up into the Baltic countries.  Many people would have died.  The three men know where the release valves were located to drain the water.  They had to swim through radioactive water to reach them.  They did and were able to release the water.  However they all three died shortly after of radioactive poison.  There was an attempt made to lower the heat by pump in liquid nitrogen.  It is unclear if this was accomplished, but 10,000 men did encase the reactor in concrete, now known as the sarcophagus.  Many of these have had long term effects form radiation.  It is thought 800,000 people risked their lives trying to clean up the radiation.  26 people died shortly after the clean up effort.  

Documentary: Nazi Mega Weapons: Kamikaze

Kamikaze for the most part was a weapon employed by the Japanese, however the Nazis also toyed with the idea.  The Nazi idea was to add a man to pilot the V-1 rockets, however the idea was quickly discarded.  However the Japanese used Kamikaze, suicidal attacks, to good effect.  This started with pilots flying their planes, which were loaded with bombs, into the Allied ships as early as 1944.  However the practice became prominent in the battle for the Philippines and Leyte Bay.  Also the battle for Okinawa was also contested by Kamikaze pilots.  A drawback of the tactic was that the crashing planes usually did not destroy the boats they were striking.  It is true some sank, but for the most part there just wasn't enough explosive fire power to cause the destruction needed.  The Japanese perfected a piggy back manned rocket.  This planes were stripped of everything except explosives and a rocket engine.  They did prove effective if they were able to complete a mission.  The rocket engines allowed them to go very fast just before striking a vessel.  The draw back here is that the vessels were piggy backed on slow planes, which were often blown out of the sky before the rockets could be released.  Another tactic employed was the use of Kamikaze torpedoes.  These torpedoes had a man in them who could manipulate the direction of the torpedo to increase accuracy.  These torpedoes were launched by submarine.  However ocean conditions often limited heir employment and sometimes it appears the man in the torpedo would drown before being able to complete his mission.

Documentary Review: An American Experience PBS: Bonnie and Clyde

I have fantasized this story since seeing the movie as a teen.  Bonnie and Clyde were a couple of depression era gangsters out of Dallas, Texas.  The documentary puts the story in a different light than the movie.  However, Bonnie and Clyde did make the most wanted list, are were the only romantically in love couple on the list.  I guess that is the stuff legend and myth are made of.  In reality, they were on the run for a long time, and being on the run is a very stressful lifestyle.  The myth was increased by a roll of film they had taken, with the two in different poses with guns.  During the early days, Barrow was able to out run and out shoot the police.  He preferred the Browning Automatic Rifle, a more powerful weapon than the police.
The Federals and Police were out to kill Clyde Barrow because he he and his gang had murdered policemen.  Bonnie Parker was along for the ride come what may.  The FBI armed their G-Men with machine guns.  Towards the end they even master minded a prison break out as they were short men.  Clyde's brother had been killed, and his sister-in-law imprisoned.  It was the family of one of those new gang members who did Bonnie and Clyde in.  They were making arrangements for leniency for their son, and provided information about a visit Barrow was going to make with the family on a particular date.  This allowed for an ambush.
The ambush was successful, and Barrow was killed with the first two sniper shots, having been struck in the head.  However, the police and G-Men unloaded at least 150 rounds into the care after those first two shots.  There was no hope for either.
They were not buried together, but there was a line of viewers for both.   This was mostly out of curiosity, everyone wanted to see the couple gangsters..

Book Review: Grandpa's Stories: Rick Steber: Tales of the Wild West Vol. 10

Rick Steber is a story collector.  In this book, he tells the stories of old timers.  This is not just his grandfather, but many grandfathers telling the grandkids the stories of their youth.  Steber's stories tend to the northwest, as that is where he lived.  However they do spread farther, into California, and in this book he tells the story of Old Ephraim from Cache County, Utah.  His stories are always one page only, so sometimes he has to fit lots into just a few word.  I think this is because he wrote them for a radio program, where things had to be kept short.
We have stories about rattle snakes, and stories about stage coaching and wagoneering, farming. pirating, and conning.  There is a story about an intelligent mule, and several about native American traditions and the Nez Perce Indians in particular.
I personally enjoyed this book, and plan to read some more of this series.

Documentary Review: Nazi Mega Weapons: The Siegfried Line

This Nazi weapon represents the Western Front for the Germans, or at least the western front early in the war. It was a significant defensive line along the western border of Germany. It was so formidable, as intended by Adolf Hitler, to discourage any attack from the west, France or England.  In doing so it freed Hitler to expand the German empire to the east.  The Siegfried Line was completed in just a few months in 1938, and was directly responsible for the annexation of Czechoslovakia into Germany.  The Allied powers were not willing to oppose Germany with such a strong defense.  This allowed for further expansion to the east, Poland and countries of the Baltic.  However, as the expansion moved west, with the conquest of France, the Siegfried Line was left behind.  It was stripped of much of its metal hardware which now went to the Atlantic Wall.  However the Atlantic Wall was over run in just a day on D-day.  The Germans pulled back to this defensive line, which was formidable indeed.  It was a layered defense.  Even though stripped of hardware, it was still formidable.  There were concrete anti-tank berms called dragon's teeth,  which were very effective, mines and concrete pill boxes.  There were also forests to contend with, which limited the effectiveness of air superiority.   The Allies would be battling through this defense for over six months with a great loss of men.  However, eventually the lack of defenders, and the dwindling supply of ammo proved too much to bear.  There was also a time that the German commander, General Field Marshall Walter Model ordered a counter move.  However the big counter move was The Battle of the Bulge, which caught the Allies by surprise, but petered itself out in three weeks and the counter offensive of the U.S. drove the Germans back past the Siegfried line and on towards Moscow.

Documentary Review: Nazi's Mega Weapons: Hitler's Battleships

Bismarck

Tirpitz

   Although Hitler had planned to build bigger and bigger Battleships, he actually only finished two large Battleships; the Bismarck, completed in 1940 and its sister, Tirpitz, finished the following year 1941.  Too Adolf Hitler these Battleships were propaganda pieces.  To the commander of the Navy, Admiral Erich Raeder, these Battleships afforded an opportunity to disrupt the British line of supply.  On the maiden voyage for the Bismarck, the British were determined to sink her.  The British feet set out to track her down, and finally did so, and engaged her in battle.  The British lost HMS Hood a battle cruiser, and a Battleship, HMS Wales was badly damaged.  The British continued to press, this time attacking with biplane torpedo planes, which were flying off an improvised aircraft carrier, HMS Ark Royal.  One of the torpedoes scored a hit at the aft of the Bismarck, flooding the steering house and causing the rudder to lock in place, and forcing the Bismarck into a tight circle.  The boat should have been able to correct for this using the propellers, however a design flaw had the propellers too close together so this was not possible.  After this the Bismarck was a sitting duck.  Two British ships came in for the kill, and the Bismarck was sunk 27 May, 1941.
Of course Hitler was furious.  His propaganda weapon was destroyed.  He would not let the other ship, Tirpitz, to engage in similar combat, and he scrubbed future Battleship projects, moving the material and men to construction of submarines.
The Tirpitz was sent North to Norway, where it was anchored in a fjord surrounded by high mountains and in deep water.  Defensive placements where scattered among the hills, along with fog making canisters.  They idea was if the ship could not be seen, it could not be sunk.  Antiaircraft placement in the tops of the mountains were not hampered by the smoke being made below them.  The Tirpitz itself also had antiaircraft guns.  Torpedo netting was placed around the ship, thwarting any effort by submarines or torpedo planes.  The British attacked with planes flying from Russia carrying Tall Boy bombs.  These bombs could penetrate a ship's deck.  The British attacked, and did score a successful strike with one of these bombs.  However, the Tirpitz was not sunk.  However it was no longer sea worth because of the damage.  It was taken a short distance away, where it became the northern anchor of the Atlantic Wall which ran from Norway to Spain.  The ship was propped up with sandbags.
Still the large ship was a tempting target for the British, and although no threat, the British did not know this.  Having moved closer to England, the ship could be reached with long range bombers.  Again it was attacked with Tall Boy bombs.  This time 5-6 of the bombs struck the vessel and it was sunk.  The sand bags did not help as the vessel rolled the opposite way.  Of the 2000 men on board, two thirds were lost.  Some were rescued from inside the vessel when the thick hull was finally welded away.
Thus was the end of Adolf Hitler's large Battleships.

Documentary: Nazi Mega Weapons: The SS

Heinrich Himmler

This is perhaps the most terrifying movie of this series.  Here we have the essence of the Nazi Party.  Heinrich Himmler and a few men started out as Hitler's body guards.  This was a true evil sect.  SS stands for Schultstaffel, or Protection Squadron.  They were given charge of establishing the concentration camps.  The first camp in Dachau would become a model for many to follow.  It was a training camp.  Here members of the SS were trained in torture and in control.  This camp mostly housed political prisoners.  This camp did not have a gas chamber, but a firing range where many were shot.

In the early days of Nazi power there was a larger rival group to the SS.  However Himmler was against this group, and eventually convinced Hitler eye were rivals to his power.  The leaders of this group were shot and executed.  The SS was entwined with the police.

With free reign the SS became more deadly and dangerous.  The had their own cathedral for planning and religious rites.  They had their own ideas in which the German people were to be worshipped instead of God.  Himmler took over a castle, Wewelsberg, where his concepts of racial purity could be taught.  This would include elimination of "sub humans."  They believed in sterilization and execution of those unfit, and polygamy to propagate the race.  One goal was to eliminate Christianity.  

The SS recruited elite soldiers. Requirements including no glasses and be five feet eleven.  SS units were some of they best.  They were also involved in spying, local affairs, concentration camps, removal and relocation of people, including Jews, homosexuals and other undesirables.

A strange aspect of SS was a construction project.  Project Reise or Giant was seven underground structures connected by tunnels.  Their exact purpose is not known, but likely underground factories.  They were not finished.  However they have many self defense features, such as a grenade chute and gun windows.

In the end Himmler was captured, and killed himself while being interrogated.  Many other SS members were tried and executed.