Y'all won't believe the poignant story behind this remarkable photo archived by @spcouta (please go and like/follow them if you haven't already). You may want to get a handkerchief out: this one made 'ol Traces more than a bit emotional. This photo was taken on July 6, 1945 by the Fort Worth Star Telegram newspaper and shows Corporal James Edward "Jim" Newman at home in Fort Worth. Notice how gaunt he is. Here is how the newspaper captioned this photo: "Less than 24 hours after the need of a refrigerator at the home of Corporal James E. Newman, became known, one was installed there, the gift of Fort Worth women. Newman also received cards and letters of well wishes in his fight against tuberculosis and other after-effects of a three year internment in a Japanese prison camp on Luzon, Philippines. Shown is Newman in his bed reading a letter. There are many letters and cards on his bed." After this photo and the accompanying article were published, Corporal Newman became the center of attention for the entire nation. Sadly, he died less than a month later. The Associated Press wrote this article: FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 4, 1945 "The gallant soldier who survived three years of hell in Japanese prison camps died yesterday after 31 days of heaven at home. Cp. James E. Newman, 25, whose fight against disease touched the heart of the nation, just couldn't battle one more malady. Newman, the soldier who came home to die, suffered an asthmatic spasm yesterday morning. His doctor relieved this with an increase of oxygen, and gave him a stimulant. The young soldier went into a sound slumber. He did not recover consciousness, and died at 6:30 p.m. (EWT) "from sheer exhaustions," the doctor said. There was momentary hysteria in the little house where hopes had been high that he would recover. His mother, who had said "the Lord will see him through the rest of the day," collapsed with grief. His brothers stood with tears in their eyes as they arranged for his funeral Monday afternoon at the Riverside Assembly of God Church here. Military rites are planned. Newman will be buried in his uniform. Only the grayhaired father, O.F. Newman, gave no sign of sorrow. He had realized that the cards of fate had been stacked too heavily against his son. Doctors on two hemispheres had given up hope. First, doctors at army hospitals in New Guinea told him his case was hopeless. Beri beri, starvation diets, lack of proper medical treatment had brought tuberculosis of the throat, lungs and stomach. But Newman wouldn't give up. He wanted to come home to the little white cottage here he had left seven years before. He said his mother's cooking might do more than medicine. He was returned to the United States, but again doctors shook their heads. His six-foot-two-inch frame had wasted to 92 pounds. Once he weighed 170. On July 2, he came home by plane. He was carried into his old room on a stretcher. But he was grinning and was wearing a civilian hat jauntily cocked over one ear. He began another gallant fight for life. The nation heard of it and crowded his little room with gifts, flowers and 8,500 letters. "The Lord has brought him this far," Mrs. Newman said then. "The Lord will take him the rest of the way." For a while he seemed to improve. He ate his mother's fried chicken, and blackeyed peas, and biscuits, and all the things he had liked as a boy. He ate ice cream and thick slices of feathery cake. He was in high spirits. A Fort Worth physician said he had a faint chance to survive. But shortly he began to lose ground. He lost his appetite. He was in continuous pain, which had to be blacked out with morphine. Still he smiled. Then the Lord took Corporal Newman "the rest of the way."" Can y'all imagine this? Survive the Bataan Death March, three years as a POW in hellish conditions, make it all the way home, only to die a month later? And yet the story goes on. James also loved to golf and swim. While a POW, James made friends with a fellow prisoner, Norman Charles Brown. The two made an agreement that if one didn't make it, the other would visit their mother. Norman read about James in the papers but was unable to get a message to him before James fell into a coma. Norman kept his word and visited James' mother the mother's day after James' death. Unfortunately, in 1949, Norman himself died in an auto accident. Reading about how Cpl. Newman suffered for three years and somehow made it back home has made me feel like a real jerk for getting mad earlier today when I thought I'd lost a sock. It's all about perspective, isn't it? Thanks to @spcouta for keeping such an incredible archive of photos, each one with a story to tell.

The Arcane Texas Fact of the Day: The Battleship Texas was intentionally flooded in support of D-Day operations. That's right. As most Texans know, the USS Texas (BB-35) saw more combat action in her lifetime than most other US battleships, seeing service in both World War I and II, and combining military prowess with ingenuity to aid in the Allied success on D-Day. One outside-the-box idea by those aboard the vessel that day put the entire crew’s lives in jeopardy – thankfully, it paid off. What happened was this. n early June 1944, the USS Texas and the British cruiser HMS Glasgow (C21) arrived in Normandy. They joined the Omaha Beach western fire support lane near Pointe du Hoc. Among 702 ships in the US-British flotilla, the Texas was one of just seven battleships. Texas fired 14-inch shells to support the 29th Infantry Division and the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions. In a remarkable 34-minute span, she launched 255 shell.. As the Allies advanced inland, Texas shifted her focus to bombard German positions from just 2,700 meters offshore. Returning to Normandy on June 15 after a brief stint in England, Texas faced a challenge: Allied forces had moved beyond her firing range. To adapt, the crew flooded the torpedo blister on the starboard side, tilting the battleship two degrees into the water. This daring move allowed her guns to fire accurately and contribute to the operation’s success—a testament to the spirit of the Allied forces at Normandy. Most crews would NEVER think of intentionally flooding their own ship, but that's exactly what the Battleship Texas did. Shown here: USS Texas (BB-35), HMS Glasgow (C21), USS Arkansas (BB-33), FFS George Leygues, and FFS Montcalm as “Force C” on D-Day off the coast of Normandy. USS Texas earned five battlestars in WWII including supporting the Torch, D-Day, and Dragoon landings then switching oceans to pound Japanese shore positions at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. (IWM – McNeill, M H A (Lt) Photographer)