Ken Burns Documentary Review: The American Revolution

  This is a Ken Burns Documentary in six two-hour episodes.  Directed by Sarah Bolstein, Ken Burns and David P. Schmidt and narrated by Peter Coyote.  The movie goes through the history of the Revolutionary War, starting around Boston which is were the first shots were fired.  Episode One  In Order to be Free (May 1754-May 1755)   The first section takes us through the problems in Boston and the Boston Tea Party.  The pamphlets that were written fomenting the idea of rebellion.  It includes the Boston Massacre where a Black man, Crispus Attucks became one of the first to do at the hands of the British.  The first episode ends with the "shot heard around the world" at Lexington and Concord.  Episode Two  An Asylum for Mankind: (May 1775- July 1776)  This episode begins with the Battle of Bunker Hill, which was a British victory, but showed that the Americans could fight against British regulars.  George Washinton is given the job of general by the congress.  The episode ends with the Declaration of Independence.  Episode Three  The Times that Try Mens Souls (July 1776-January 1777)  In this episode Washington loses a series of battles for New York.  He retreats to Pennsylvania, but Christmas day 1776 he crosses the Delaware and attacks the Britis (Prussians) at Trenton New Jersey.  Episode Four Conquer by a Drawn Game (January 1777- February 1778)  In this episode Washington struggles to keep the British from taking Philadelphia.  He loses a battle at Brandywine and has to flee and is unable to defend Philadelphia.  He is able to get away.  However up north an invading army coming down the Hudson is repelled at Saratoga.  The U.S. gets a major victory.  They also pass the Articles of Confederation letting the world know they are serious.  This allows the French to enter the war.  Washington at the same time realizes that as long as he survives to fight another day, eventually the  colonies will win their independence.  Episode Five The Soul of All America (December 1777-May 1789)  The Revolutionary War moved from the north to the south.   The British use their shipping advantage and head to Charleston, South Carolina.  The met with success, and had to abandon most of their gains in the north, except they still held New York.  Washington orders people to wage unrelenting war against Native Americans who had fought with the British.  As such the confederate tribes were greatly hurt.  Episode Six The Most Sacred Thing (May 1780-onward)  Cornwallis is assigned as the commander of British forces in the south.   He is able to subdue most of South Carolina, but some of his subordinates are too brutal, consequently the American militia forces grow.  One of the most. rutal commanders was Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton.  Knowing he was a rash commander, the commander of the American forces Brigadier General Daniel Morgan.  He asked the militia to fire two rounds, before leaving to set up behind the Continental regulars.  This the did, but when they left Tarleton interpreted this as their retreating.  He rushed in too quickly, leaving no reserve.  The British hit subsequent lines of soldiers who were hidden behind hills.  As a result the Americans won a significant victory and caused serious damage to Cornwallis' forces.  Cornwallis turned north to Yorktown.  Here Washington and the french were able to trap Cornwallis.  His surrender lead to the end of the war.

This documentary has few underlying themes in addition to the narrative of the revolutional War.  These ae discussing the treatment of the Native Americans, another is the treatment of African Slaves.  The British had freed some of them, even though they might have slave owners.  Many of these went north to Nova Scotia after the war.  They weren't welcome there so the headed to Sierra Leone and established Freetown.  Another theme is the conflicts between Loyalists (those still loyal to Britain) and the Americans.  There was some very harsh treatment back and forth.  Both sides committed some atrocities.  The war was not pretty.  The subject of Benedict Arnold came up.  He at times was Washington's most trustd general.  He was significant in the Battle of Saratoga.  However he also betrayed his country.  He had plans to hand over west Point.  These were discovered, but he fled to the British before he could be captured.  

This series is quite an investment in time.  Six episodes and two hours each.  At times my mind wondered but the story is fascinating, and this war was much more brutal than I would have imagined.  

Horse Diver Sonora Webster Carver

 Sonora Webster Carver was a horse diver and thousands of people would come to see her jump a horse into a pool of water from a platform 40 feet high.  She became involved after answering an ad placed by William "Doc" Carver in  1923.  Doc's son Al took over the show.  She married Al in 1928.  She performed the trick for seven years without an accident.  However on one jump she was worried for the horse and neglected to close her eyes.  Both her retinas were detached and she became blind.  She did not however give up the act but continued to jump for another eleven years.  She retired in the 1940s after which she became a dictaphone typist and advocate for the blind.  She became adept at braille.  She died at age 99 in 2003.  Released by Disney, Wild Hearts Can't be Broken, is based on her story. PBS has released a documentary of her life.  

Documentary Movie Review: Won't You Be My Neighbor (2018)

 This documentary tells many things about Fred Rogers that I did not know.  I really didn't care to watch his program growing up thinking it was too boring.  I guess there was a reason for that boredom.  Sometimes you need to slow down as compared to normal television for children which has too much noise and violence and belittle others.  His common theme was "I like you the way you are."  You are special.  Some people think this creted a generation of entitlemen, but we are all children of God and we are special in his eyes.  

Fred Rogers was a Presbyterian Minister but he did not preach religion but was an example of goodness.  It is amazing how himself he could be with children, especially.  He was genuinely a good person.  He spoke out with his example against racism, war, and discrimination against homosexuals.  He was ahead of his time.  He tried doing a similar program for adults; but it really didn't succeed.  His forte was with children.  He broadcast through the Vietnam War, 9-11, the Challenger disaster.  He helped children deal with loss and fear.  He did not shy away from talking with children with physical limitations and could make them feel loved and important.  

The documentary eveen dealt with parodies of Mr. Rogers.  This included Johnny Carson and Eddie Murphy.  Hiw reaction was some was funny, and some wasn't.

Most important he was not afraid to be human, and teaches us all how to be more human.  Very good Mr. Rogers.

Documentary: Oklahoma City (2017)

This is a PBS documentary, which covers the theme of how conservative thought lead to the Oklahoma City bombing, or at least it seems like that is the intent of the film.  In this aspect, I think it failed to a degree.  It says this attitude prompted Timothy McVeigh to act, although he was not an actual member of any of the groups, such as paramilitary, or NeoNazi.  It does make a case that he was angry about how things were going.  He had actually been present at WACO protests against the government.  However casting blame unto those who never even knew McVeigh would be a stretch.
What this documentary does well is tell the stories of those who were victims of the bombing.  these are innocent people, and in many cases children, because the day care in the Alfred P. Murrah building was destroyed by the bomb which McVeigh detonated April 19, 1995.

PBS NOVA Bombing Hitler's Supergun New Documentary 2016

There are same things in this presentation that I didn't know which makes it very interesting.  I wasn't even aware of a V-3 super-gun program.  This really was some gun.  It was pointed directly to London and that was the target.  It had five shafts, with five barrels in each shaft.  That would have been 25 barrels hurling projectiles towards London.  The effect could have been devastating.  The guns did not rely on just one explosion but a series of explosions to hurl the shell.  They had a cannon that could reach England, but not London.  In a big way, Hitler was relying on this weapon to turn the war.  After the Allies discover the existence of the bunkers, with a barrel, they set on a bombing program, which was not effective.  Two other programs were devised, one by England and the other by The United States.  The United State program involved the first use of a drone.  The drone used early television and remote control.  It required a pilot and copilot to take off, and get the plane in motion.  Joe Kennedy, the brother of John Kennedy was the pilot.  His father Joe Sr.  had groomed him to be the first Catholic President.  The English plan involved the first use of buster busting bombs.  This attack actually took place a month before the American attack.  The aerial photos after the attack showed that there were big holes in the bunker, but no one could see inside the bunker.  SO the American plan went through.  However there was a fault with the remote arming devise in the American plane that caused it to explode prematurely.  Joe Kennedy and his copilot were lost.  When the Allies finally reached the area where the bunker was located, the discovered that the buster bunker bombs had caused irreparable damage.

Documentary Review: We Shall Remain: Wounded Knee

This is the last of the five episodes presented by PBS through their program American Experience.  This feels focuses on the take over of Wounded Knee by Oglala Sioux and American Indian Movement activists in 1973.  They occupied the town for 71 days.  Part of their goal was to oust Tribal Chairman Richard Wilson.  They also wanted to reopen some o the original treaty negotiations.  When two of the occupiers were killed by Federal Marshals, they occupiers gave up.  The government never really et wit them, and they arrested many of those involved.  The community had one of the highest murder rates in the country after this uprising, much of this blamed on Wilson and his GOONS, Guardians of the Oglala Nation.  This movie only mentioned briefly the Wounded Knee Massacre.

Documentary Review: We Shall Remain: Geronimo

Geronimo's sneer was from a bullet wound

This is the fourth of a five-part series from American Experience on PBS.  This film points to Geronimo as both a hero and a man whose pride brought down his nation.  Geronimo had a vision in which he was told he would be a fierce warrior and bullets would not kill him.  Many times he was captured and released, or negotiated to give himself up and then changed his mind.  One time he left the reservation after a peaceful medicine man, prophet was killed.  He was known simply as the Dreamer.  He was a peaceful man, focusing on living the Native ways, but also learning to coeXist with the Whites.
Geronimo was the last Native American fighting the Federal Government.  He and his people but a heavy price for this.  I had never realized before the consequences for his people.  The Chiricahua Apache were removed form the reservation and kept essentially as prisoners of war for over 20 years.  They were shipped to Florida, which was very poor for their health as they were use to more arid conditions.  Geronimo and those still with him, about 34 were taken to Florida, and then to Indian territory.  He become somewhat of a celebrity, and even became a part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.  He was in President Ted Roosevelt's inaugural parade.  He asked the President if he could go home, but his request was declined.  He died in Indian Territory, after falling of a horse and contracting pneumonia.

Documentary Review: We Shall Remain: Trail of Tears

This show was hard to watch, but good to watch.  The Cherokee as a people did everything they could to appease the White Easterners.  Many accepted Christianity.  The Cherokee were one of the Civilized Tribes.  Some had Black slaves.  Many lived in fancy American style houses.  They had been granted their land, their reservation if you will.  However, many of their neighbors coveted the land.  However, when Andrew Jackson came into power as president, he came with a mandate from his constituents to remove the Indians to the West.  He was true to this campaign promise.  David Crocket and others opposed him in congress, but this opposition was not successful, and congress passed a bill in 1830 and President Jackson sign the Indian Relocation Act, authorizing him to remove the Indians. 
After passage of this act, the State of Georgia divvied up the Indian territory, and made it available to citizens of Georgia.  They began to push the Native Americans aside, and some were killed.  This issue went to the Supreme Court.  The court ruled that as the Cherokee were an independent nation, the state had no jurisdiction and they could not be removed without a new treaty.  Chief Justice John Marshall said, "The Cherokee nation, then, is a distinct community occupying its own territory in which the laws of Georgia can have no force. The whole intercourse between the United States and this Nation, is, by our constitution and laws, vested in the government of the United States."
However, President Jackson chose not to enforce the ruling of the Supreme Court.  He made it clear he would not interfere with the State of Georgia, and in fact encouraged them to keep the "heat on."  This continued pressure split the nation.  John Ridge and his son and Elias Boudinot argued that removal was inevitable and they should negotiate with the government for compensation for their lands.  John Ross, the tribal chair at this time (John Ridge had been) followed the wishes of his constituents and refused to negotiate a treaty for giving away their lands.  Ridge, his son and Boudinot signed a treaty document ceding their lands for lands in Indian territory, $3 million dollars, and a guarantee of assistance in moving.  This was known as the Treaty of Echota.  It passed the Senate by only one vote.  They left, with about 2000 others before the required date, and were helped to move and reestablish themselves.  
John Ross held out hope of a change in heart.  They gathered a petition signed by almost every remaining Cherokee, about 15,000 signatures.  However it was not to be presented to Congress.  Other matters took precedence, and when the day came for removal, military and locl militia forced Indians out of their homes with just the clothes on their backs.  The rounded them into cattle corrals.  
Some would stay for some time in these corrals, facing the weather as the first group to travel hit illness.  The rest wanted to wait for the passing of the sick season.  They finally began their journey in the Fall.  However the weather caught them.  This season was exceedingly cold, with considerable amounts of snow.  Because of the weather they were delayed, and consequently their food ran out.  Of the 16,000 being forced to travel, a quarter would pass away.  All would suffer hardship, hunger and fatigue.
Cherokee law had been passed stating that if you sold Cherokee land your life was forfeit.  This payment was extracted from Ross sr. and JR as well as Boudinot.
I think it is important to watch this movie even though seeing the suffering is hard.  As a country, we treated the native Americans very harshly.  At one point a commentator said these acts were akin to genocide.  

Documentary Review: We Shall Remain: Tecumseh's Vision, episode 2

PBS Picture

This is the second episode in a five-part Native American PBS series presented on "American Experience."  It was directed by Ric Burns and Chris Eyre.  It using interviews, maps and historical reenactment.  Here we see Tecumseh's vision.  Tecumseh was a leader among the Shawnee.  He never signed a peace treaty with the Americans, but others did which would effect the Shawnee Territory.  He saw it slowly sliced away.  He also saw disease and hunger among his people. However he also saw the might of the Americans, and knew that the Shawnee could not face them alone.  His vision was to form a great Pan American Indian alliance, and to force the Americans to create an Indian Nation with recognized territory.  His brother Tenskwatawa had been less than an honorable man.  He too was sick.  However he recovered, saying he had seen a vision.  Tenskwatawa had seen that the Native People needed to avoid white ways, white clothing and especially alcohol.  Tecumseh saw this as a means to bring people together.  His brother established a following, and Tecumseh provided the leadership.  When his brother successfully predicted an eclipse, his influence greatly increased.  With this new energy, and people of over 20 tribes behind him, Tecumseh confronted the local American leader, William Henry Harrison.  Tecumseh confronted him as one speaking for all the Native American people, that they wanted their property back,which had been illegally sold by others who had no right to sell the property.  Of course these negotiations ended poorly.  Tecumseh traveled south to gain more support from the Creek and the Cherokee.  He also sought British support.  In the mean time Harrison attacked Prophetstown.  Tenskwatawa was in charge, and predicted victory.  Tecumseh had warned him not to be drawn into battle, however some of the warriors insisted they attack Harrison.  they did not have enough warriors nor ammunition to route the 1000 men army harrison had with him.  The abandoned Prophetstown and scattered in the end, both sides having serious losses.  Although the men of Tecumseh's alliance were scattered, they continued the fight.  When tecumseh returned they reorganized.  However it wasn't until they were joined by the British, in the War of 1812, that they alliance looked like it might be successful.  Tecumseh worked well with General Isaac Brock.  Tecumseh provided the needed man power, and Brock the ammunition and support.  Together they had some success, capturing the Fort of Detroit.  Tecumseh proved himself as a strategist and a warrior.  However Brock was killed, and his replacement, Henry Proctor left something to be desired.  He was much less willing to fight.  When Tecumseh's old nemesis headed into the fray with a large army, the British abandoned the field.  Tecumseh gave a mighty speech to him, asking him that if they abandoned the field he leave weapons for his people, because they intended to fight.  They were fighting for their lands.  Tecumseh was killed at the Battle of Thames.

Documentary Review: American Experience: We Shall Remain: After the Mayflower

In this first episode at a series looking at Native American history after the coming of the Europeans deals with the Pilgrims and their relationship with the Wampanoag people.  The Wampanoag had gone through a devastating plague just before the English arrived at Plymouth Rock.  This plague was likely brought to them by European fishermen who had started to have contact with the Native Americans along the coast.  As a result, the English found a territory underpopulated.  The disease had taken a great many lives.  Chief Massasoit watched the Pilgrims with caution.  It wasn't for three months after they landed that the Native Americans finally decided to make contact with them.  Because they had brought their children and wives, it was felt they could be trusted.
This story deals with the many years of peaceful relationships between the British and the Massasoit.  This helped the Pilgrims get established.  The story of the first Thanksgiving is fascinating, as Massasoit attends with many of his warriors.  The bring five deer to contribute to the feast.
There is a period where Massasoit falls ill, and he is nursed back to health by a friend from amongst the pilgrims.  By the first year of the Pilgrims coming to America there was a peace treaty in place between the two peoples.
Before Massasoit passed away he asked the British to give his sons Christian names.  His older son was given the name Alexander, and the younger Phillip.  The peaceful relations between his people and the British would last even beyond his death in 1661.  His son Alexander continued the peace.  However when his next son, Phillip, took over as chief things began to deteriorate.  Phillip (Metacomet) could see that the British intent was to take over, and that his people would only be second class citizens in their own country.  The British tried to extend their laws to his people, and it just didn't fit.  He felt disrespected, and no longer an equal.  Finally he formed an alliance with several neighboring tribes, and initiated a war against the British.  It was very effective against those communities that were not well defended.  Many towns were burned, and many settler had to retreat to larger communities.  However, the Mohawk aligned with the British, and killed 500 of his warriors in an attack.  After that Phillip and his people did not have the strength to carry on.  Phillip visited the community of his youth, where he was killed.  His body was dismembered, and parts given to different people for their part in his death.  His head was mounted on a pike and placed at the entrance to Fort Plymouth as a warning against others who may attack.  His wife and son were captured and sold as slaves in Bermuda.

Documentary Review: The Murder of a President: American Experience (James Garfield)

This PBS WGBH documentary tells the story of James Garfield.  This is a look at the life of James Garfield, and more particularly his murder.  Garfield started in poor circumstances.  His father died when he was young.  His mother gave James her life savings and he enrolled in school.  He stayed in school by working for the school, an after a couple years was so bright he was serving as a teacher.   After school he married Lucretia Rudolf.  He served in the Civil War, and in fact while in the war was elected to congress.  He would serve in congress until he was nominated for the presidency.  He had risen in congress, and had been elected to the senate when he was nominated for the presidency.  His nomination  for the presidency by the Republican convention of was not planned.  In fact he was managing the campaign of John Sherman, and gave a speech at the convention in his support.  However he was selected on the 36th ballot as an alternative to the three candidates, Ulyssis S. Grant, Sherman and James G. Blaine.  Both Sherman and Blaine turned their support to Garfield.  Chester A. Arthur was selected as the vice presidential candidate.  He was important as he was from New York and part of the political machine of New York Senator Roscoe Conkling.
In those days the party did the campaigning, and Garfield did not do much campaigning.  He did reach out to Conkling and gained his support.  New York was key to winning the election.  In the general election General Winfield Scott Hancock ran on the Democratic ticket.   The race was close in the popular count, with less than 10,000 votes separated the candidates, however in the electoral college the difference was much greater.  Garfield took key states of New York and Indiana, while Hancock took the South.
In Garfield's early days as president he worked to make appointments.  James G. Blaine was selected for Secretary of State.  On appointment not made was that of a member of Conkling's political machine to the New York Customs House.  This was a very lucrative position at the time, with considerable power due to the government being financed by tariffs.   Conkling would resign from the Senate in protest, but when he wasn't reelected as he thought, much of his power was lost.
Another person who felt he was deserved appointment was Charles J. Guiteau.  He was an individual with had worked on the periphery of the campaign, and had published a speech in favor of Garfield.  However no appointment was coming.  At this point Guiteau felt God told him to kill Garfield, and then another person would become president.  He expected to be a hero.
Knowing that Garfield was to travel by train to visit his ailing wife who was convalescing in New Jersey, he took a gun to the train station and waited.  Garfield was shot twice, in the arm and in the back.  The bullet in his back lodged in his abdomen, and was never removed.  Worries about germs had been studied, but not applied in this case.  Doctor Willard Bliss took control of his treatment.  he would not hear any criticism of his methods.  Garfield improved for a time, but then infection set in.  Even Alexander Graham Bell was called in to locate the bullet with a new metal detector.  Bell detected the bullet was not where presumed, but Bliss would not hear this.  Garfield's wife had returned from New Jersey to be with her husband.  However in the end, they both traveled back to New Jersey, with tracks laid to the door of their home, where the president could die on the sea shore.  He was shot July 2 and passed away September 19, 1881.
Still after the assassination of President Lincoln, Garfield had no  guard.  In  fact not even Garfield felt a guard was needed.
One of Garfield's passions was to assure the rights of the Black population.  He wanted to work to guarantee them the vote, as well as an education.  Arthur would become president, and would stand up to Conkling and not appoint him to the Customs position in New York.

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..

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: 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.

Documentary: Nazi Mega Weapons Season 2: The Wolf's Lair

This is the continuing PBS series which looks at some of the Nazi mega weapons.  This episode deals with Hitler's shelters.  It also looks at the attack on Hitler in his lair.  Hitler fancied himself a military leader, and wanted to be close to the action.  This served him well inFrance as he made a shelter close to the front, and was able to monitor and direct.  The success of the Germans convinced Hitler this was good strategy.  He even went so far as to make bomb shelters for his trains, covered man made tunnels, which were rarely used.  They were rounded so bombs would bounce off.  Mussolini and Hitler held a meeting in one such structure, it's only use.  This were a waste of manpower and resources.  Hitler's Lair was as far to the west in Germany (Prussia) as Hitler could get. From this location Hitler was to monitor the invasion of Russia.  However he was hampered by distance.  The Nazis were on the verge of taking Moscow.  However Hitler order the troops to take Leningrad first, which proved to be a costly mistake.  He also ordered attacks and other strategies, without having enough information.

Claus von Stauffenberg

Tremendous amounts of concrete were used to build the lair, where Hitler Had a large personal complex, but it was mostly cement and buffer.  The living space was very small.  These enclosed rooms were a hazard,and disgruntled Germans used them to attack Hitler.  In an enclosed space, a small bomb could do great damage as the force would be concentrated.  Colonel Claus von Straffenberg attempted such a move, however the meeting to which he was invited was not held in a bunker, but an outlying building, which was not made of concrete.  However the detonator had already been triggered.  The bomb did not kill Hitler as the force of the blast was not contained.   Several other officers were killed.  For his roll Stauffenberg was executed without trial.  

Hitler's Lair was abandoned when the Russians advanced taking over the area.

Hitler's last bunker was the one in Berlin.  Again this was a massive undertaking.  The bunker was built underground in the center of the city.  In the end the Russians did not have to attack it as Hitler suicided.

Documentary Review: Nazi Mega Weapons: Fortress Berlin

This talks about the fortress that Berlin was turned into in the final days of the war.  There were different rings of fortifications.  Outside the city, tank traps were developed.  these would allow the tank to go down into a trench, and then it would be too difficult for the tank to get up the other side.  When the tanks were immobile the Germans would try to knock them out with hand held rocket launchers.  This defensive structure was very effective, 2000 tanks were destroyed.  However the overwhelming number of Russian tanks and men, 1,000,000, would not be denied.  The next ring war the river and canal around Berlin.  The Russians were able to take a bridge, and then they could gain access.  There were three large antiaircraft installations, with huge interiors, where 15,000 people could be accommodated.  People fled, in great numbers to these edifices, which had very thick impenetrable concrete.  IN the end the Russians left these buildings and went past them.  The anti-air guns made effective weapons against tanks as well, but these were neutralized.  Chaos was the rule during this time.  The German government insisted everyone fight.  The SS would rome the streets enforcing this edict.  They executed many people as examples so as to use fear to get others to fight.  This included soldiers and civilians.  The inner defenses were Hitlers bunker.  However Hitler had other plans with his own suicide rather than face the Russians.

Documentary Review: Nazi Mega Weapons: Jet Fighter Me262

The Nazis developed the first jet airplanes during WWII.  They were hoping they would change the tide of the war, but they were used incorrectly, and they were too few too late.  Hitler wanted explosive bombs to be attached to them so they could bomb the oncoming onslaught by the Allies.  The air force saw them more as a way to equalize the air war, as they were faster than any other plane flying at the time.  Allied bombers and even their fighter planes were no match for these planes.  Fortunately Hitler's lack of focus, and the lateness in development left these planes subject to Allied occupation.  The lateness in development was partially due to Allied air attack to the runways and the facilities where the planes were being built.  The Nazis moved their development into caves.  With this change came great misery for many of those in concentration camps.  They would be used as forced labor, and beaten if they could not perform their task, even though they were never given proper nourishment and were unskilled laborers at best.  The bat caves where the planes were to be built were never completed.

Biographical Movie: Mark Twain by Ken Burns (2001)

Mark Twain, born Samuel Clemons, was a very interesting and complex character.  This PBS presentation tries to lay this man out for us.  He had worked in newspapers, but really had not done anything with his life until after age 30.  In fact at age 30 he was so despondent he contemplated suicide.  Twain was subject to fits of depression and anger through out his life.  However, he did have a good wife who stood by him, and he had an environment to write.  His literary jumping off point was the article about the frog jumping contest of Calaveras County, Angels Camp.  Twain drew his characters from people he had met along the river.  And his two most famous books come from that environment, "Tom Sawyer," who is based on characters from Hannibal, Missouri where he grew up, and Huckleberry Finn.  Huckleberry Finn is a remarkable book because it looks slavery and racism in the eye, and he is able to make his own comments about the subject.  The most important is when Huckleberry realizes Jim, his escaped slave traveling companion, is a human, with feelings and family just like every other human.  Admitting that Black people are human was a big thing for that day, because you can't treat another human like an animal and not offend God.
However interspersed with Twain's literary success, was also success on the lecture circuit.  Twain could always make people laugh, and he could fill an auditorium of people to listen to him.
The other side of this story is Twain's poor financial dealings.  He often invested in shady inventions or other business projects and would loss money.  At one point he had to declare bankruptcy, and went on an international lecture circuit to make money to pay back his creditors.  He made the money, but while he was gone, his youngest daughter passed away.  When Twain returned, they couldn't bear to live anymore in the family home.  He first lived in New York, but then in a different home in Hanford, Connecticut where he and his wife lived.  His wife, and another daughter preceded him in death.  They also had a son who died as an infant.  Mark Twain truly came in with haley's Comet, and went out with it as well.

Nazi Mega-Weapons: Super Tank

The Nazis blitzkrieg of Europe was so successful because of it fast tanks.  The Panzer I was incredibly successful as it was better than anything else out there.  Each successive generation became larger, Panzer II, Panzer III and then the Tiger.  The Porsche Company lost the bid to build this huge tank, with a mounted anti aircraft gun which could penetrate the armor of other tanks, particularly the Russian T-34.  This tank had stopped the German invasion or Russia, so the Nazis wanted something that could take care of this weapon.   The Tiger proved very effective, and could shoot much farther than other tanks.  It could destroy enemy tanks before they were even in range to fire back.  However their size created complexity in the motor, and many of them broke down, to be destroyed by the drivers so they would not fall into enemy hands.  The Russians overwhelmed them in the Battle of Kursk with the number of tanks they had built.  Although they were smaller, the were more maneuverable, and by shear numbers helped hold the line at Kursk, the last nazi push into Russia.  The Germans had initial success, but could not carry the day.
Hitler had an even brighter idea.  To build a super tank.  This tank would be the height of four men.  It would be able to act as a fortified wall if any of the Nazi wall were breached.  Again the Porsche company was called in to build this monstrosity.  A wood prototype was built.  However the war was turning too fast to allow production of this tank.  Again it was hampered by engineering difficulty, and lack of mobility due to its massive size.  The Super Tank never played a roll in the outcome of the war.

Documentary: Nazi Mega Weapons: U-boat Hangar

One of the largest construction projects ever undertaken was the building of the submarine hangar in France at the sea port of --.  This in truth was three projects, each more astounding than the one before.  At first the Nazis used existing equipment to dry dock he submarines.  This was effective in get the submarines out of the water for repair, but left them vulnerable to air attach as there was no protection.  The Nazis constructed two large hangars where the boats could be stored.  These were made of thick concrete.  They also had rounded roofs so bombs would bounce off.  However these large hangars were yet too small to accommodate the larger U-boats.  A large project was undertaken.  Hangars K-1 and K-2 were build.  The foundation. Was too soft, even with driving steal beams into the earth for a foundation.  This limited the weight and the strength of he protecting ceiling.  These two hangars required transfer from one to the other with a delicate mechanism, and vulnerability to Allied aircraft.  An even larger bunker was needed.  This time the dug to bedrock for an even stronger foundation.  The roof was essentially nine feet twice, with a layer of air between two thick concret roofs.  A special bunker buster bomb call a "tall boy" was used.  This bomb destroyed the first roof where it hit, but did nothing to the second layer.  Since the hangar could not be destroyed, the Allies bombed the town.  They destroyed the town, but not the hangar and the submarines where still protected when in port.  Finally the plan shifted to killing the submarines at sea.  With better technology, and cracking the enigma code, the Allies were able to destroy the U-boats at sea.  They attacked them with planes, destroyers and destroyer escorts.  The hangar was impenetrable, and did not surrender until two days after the surrender of Germany.  However the Allies did win the battle for the Atlantic.