The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Pvt. 1st Class Bernard J. Calvi were identified more than 82 years following his death in a Japanese POW camp in the Philippines.

The small town of Irvinestown in County Fermanagh is the final resting place for 82 young airmen.

After Most Disturbing Anti-Semitism Spike Since WWII, 2,000 Israelis Airlifted from Netherlands

A COVID-19 vaccination clinic last month in Auburn, Maine. A drop in life expectancy in the U.S. stems largely from the coronavirus pandemic, a new study says.; Credit: Robert F. Bukaty/AP

A new study estimates that life expectancy in the U.S. decreased by nearly two years between 2018 and 2020, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And the declines were most pronounced among minority groups, including Black and Hispanic people.

In 2018, average life expectancy in the U.S. was about 79 years (78.7). It declined to about 77 years (76.9) by the end of 2020, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal.

"We have not seen a decrease like this since World War II. It's a horrific decrease in life expectancy," said Steven Woolf of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and an author of the study released on Wednesday. (The study is based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics and includes simulated estimates for 2020.)

Beyond the more than 600,000 deaths in the U.S. directly from the coronavirus, other factors play into the decreased longevity, including "disruptions in health care, disruptions in chronic disease management, and behavioral health crisis, where people struggling with addiction disorders or depression might not have gotten the help that they needed," Woolf said.

The lack of access to care and other pandemic-related disruptions hit some Americans much harder than others. And it's been well documented that the death rate for Black Americans was twice as high compared with white Americans.

The disparity is reflected in the new longevity estimates. "African Americans saw their life expectancy decrease by 3.3 years and Hispanic Americans saw their life expectancy decrease by 3.9 years," Woolf noted.

"These are massive numbers," Woolf said, that reflect the systemic inequalities that long predate the pandemic.

"It is impossible to look at these findings and not see a reflection of the systemic racism in the U.S.," Lesley Curtis, chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, told NPR.

"This study further destroys the myth that the United States is the healthiest place in the world to live," Dr. Richard Besser, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (an NPR funder), said in an email.

He said wide differences in life expectancy rates were evident before COVID-19. "For example, life expectancy in Princeton, NJ—a predominantly White community—is 14 years higher than Trenton, NJ, a predominantly Black and Latino city only 14 miles away," Besser said.

Life expectancy in the U.S. had already been declining — albeit slowly — in the years leading up to the pandemic. And the U.S. has been losing ground compared with other wealthy countries, said Magali Barbieri of the University of California, Berkeley, in an editorial published alongside the new study.

The study estimates that the decline in life expectancy was .22 years (or about one-fifth of a year) in a group of 16 peer countries (including Austria, Finland, France, Israel, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) compared with the nearly two-year decline in the United States.

"The U.S. disadvantage in mortality compared with other high income democracies in 2020 is neither new nor sudden," Barbieri wrote. It appears the pandemic has magnified existing vulnerabilities in U.S. society, she added.

"The range of factors that play into this include income inequality, the social safety net, as well as racial inequality and access to health care," Duke's Curtis said.

So, what's the prognosis going forward in the United States? "I think life expectancy will rebound," Woolf of Virginia Commonwealth said.

But it's unlikely that the U.S. is on course to reverse the trend entirely.

"The U.S. has some of the best hospitals and some of the greatest scientists. But other countries do far better in getting quality medical care to their population," Woolf said. "We have big gaps in getting care to people who need it most, when they need it most."

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

McMaster deftly weaves WWII in Ukraine, coming of age, antisemitism, forbidden marriage, PTSD, and substance abuse into a masterpiece of a novel that delivers a breathtaking story of love, courage, and sacrifice.

McMaster deftly weaves WWII in Ukraine, coming of age, antisemitism, forbidden marriage, PTSD, and substance abuse into a masterpiece of a novel that delivers a breathtaking story of love, courage, and sacrifice.

McMaster deftly weaves WWII, a coming of age Ukrainian, antisemitism, forbidden marriage, PTSD, and substance abuse into a masterpiece of a novel that delivers a breathtaking story of love, courage, and sacrifice.

Aaron's War is a masterful piece of writing that will likely take its place as one of the best WWII historical fiction novels ever written. McMaster deftly weaves coming of age, antisemitism, PTSD, and substance abuse into a masterpiece of a novel.

21-Year Old WWII Soldier's Sketchbooks Reveal a Visual Diary of His Experiences

A visual diary with 158 pencil sketches brings to life the wartime experience of noted architect Victor A. Lundy, who served in the U.S. 26th Infantry Division during World War II. In 1942, Lundy was 19, studying to be an architect in New York City. Excited about rebuilding Europe post-war, he and other college men enlisted in the Army Special Training Program (ASTP). But, by 1944, with D-Day planned, the Army needed reinforcements, and Lundy and his company were thrown into the infantry. Lundy couldn't believe it and recalled during an oral history interview that during lectures, he "never listened, I was busy sketching." But soon, "I sort of took to it. ... war experience just hypnotizes young men." Lundy, who is now 92, recalls his inability to listen during lectures. “I was busy sketching,” he admits. During his time in the infantry, he continued to sketch in his pocket-sized notebooks. The drawings, which were created between May and November 1944—when Lundy was wounded—take us from his initial training in Fort Jackson to the front lines in France. The vivid images show everything from air raids to craps games for cigarettes. A sense of longing for home is a recurring theme in his sketches, which include detailed drawings of his bunk as well as particularly dream-like drawing, titled Home Sweet Home, that shows a soldier lounging on a hammock. Lundy, who went on to have an acclaimed architecture career, donated his eight sketchbooks to the Library of Congress in 2009. The sketchbooks have all been digitally archived and are now available for viewing online. Lundy’s gift is a precious one, as in this age of continued war and terror it is more important than ever to learn from our past history.

Blitz opens amid a terrifying conflagration on a nighttime city street…

It's a British heritage brand driven by royals, including the late Queen Elizabeth. Now new Jaguars won't be on UK car lots until at least 2026.

A Missouri thrift store is unraveling the mystery of a cache of World War II love letters found in a donation bin.

The wreckage of the U.S. destroyer USS Edsall, sunk by Japanese forces more than 80 years ago during World War II, has been found at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, according to the U.S. Navy.

With millions of men serving in WWII, the nation needed pilots to ferry planes from the factory to the air bases. That’s when Jackie Cochran proposed a novel idea: why not let women fly?

The act of dive bombing during World War II was a death defying trial of skill and nerve. You aimed your plane down, four miles above the ocean and plummeted at speeds of up to 275 miles per hour

In the early 20th century, the medical establishment became fixated with the idea that gay people could be “cured.” To achieve this, they turned to a litany of brutal practices: from electrotherapy to lobotomies.

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was the only unit comprised entirely of Black women to have been deployed overseas during World War II, and it had served a critical function: clearing the backlog of mail that marked the only line of communication between American soldiers in Europe and their loved ones back home. In this episode, we speak with retired Army Colonel Edna Cummings, who made it her business to get the 6888 their belated recognition, and with Smithsonian magazine senior writer Jennie Rothenberg Gritz, who wrote about Col. Cummings' quest (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-all-black-female-WWII-unit-saved-morale-battlefield-180981540/) for the March 2023 issue of Smithsonian. NOTE: In the interval since we recorded our interview with Col. Cummings, another veteran from the 6888 has died. With the passing of Crescencia J. Garcia last month at the age of 103, there are now five women who served in the 6888 during World War II who remain alive. Learn more about the women of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion at the Women of the 6888th site (https://www.womenofthe6888th.org/) . Find prior episodes of our show here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/podcast/) . There’s More to That is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Chris Klimek, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Jessica Miller, Adriana Rosas Rivera, Genevieve Sponsler, Terence Bernardo, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Music by APM Music.

A Port Hawkesbury woman has long imagined a Remembrance Day with her great-uncle's war medals. It will happen this year for the first time thanks to some sleuthing and the kindness of her great-uncle's foster family.

Greek divers have discovered the wreckage of an Italian submarine 80 years after it was sunk by the Allied Forces in the Aegean Sea during World War II.

VisitMalta launches military tourism segment aimed at attracting military history enthusiasts to Malta

Gary Sinise and nearly 100 WWII veterans mark the opening to the newest exhibit at the National WWII Museum. Road to Tokyo: Pacific Theater Galleries, retraces the grueling trail that led from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay. Through personal narratives, artifacts and oral histories, the exhibit tells the story of the American spirit that carried the day.

National Bureau of Economic Research

Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart has reluctantly accepted there could yet be a long-term good for the county game if it is wiped out in 2020.

1. Kim Jong Un sends Putin letter on WWII anniversary and for virus fight  Times of India
2. Coronavirus | Russia virus surge mutes V-Day celebrations  The Hindu
3. Narendra Modi writes to Russian President; tweets greetings on occasion of 75th Victory Day anniversary  Economic Times
4. Victory Day and Russia's war cult  Al Jazeera English
5. Europeans and Russians should remember what bound them together: anti-fascism  The Guardian
6. View Full coverage on Google News

LONDON: Britain’s spy agency has revealed the last messages from a German military communications network that were intercepted during World War II at Bletchley Park, the mansion house where Nazi codes were cracked. The secret messages, sent on May 7, 1945, were made public for the first...

LONDON: Britain’s spy agency has revealed the last messages from a German military communications network that were intercepted during World War II at Bletchley Park, the mansion house where Nazi codes were cracked. The secret messages, sent on May 7, 1945, were made public for the first...

John Hillman may have already met his fundraising target, but he says he's determined to complete all planned 101 laps around his residence.

Ah, that new car smell. New plane smell is nice, too. Bright and shiny and fresh is good, right? Sure, unless it is a very […]

The post To Preserve Rare WWII bomber, Conservators Turn to Science appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Sponsored by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and created by filmmaker Frank Chi, this short film features letters that young Japanese Americans in World […]

The post Muslim American Kids Read Letters by WWII Japanese Americans appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Royal Dutch Shell cut its dividend for the first time since the Second World War.

Residents noticed 95-year-old Harvey Djerf struggling on his daily walks, so they came up with a kind solution.

Searchers attempt to find the flyers, who crashed in Greenland in 1942, before they disappear into the sea.

Dan Mackay, found thousands of dog tags near London and is on a mission to reunite them with surviving veterans or their relatives.

Researchers are predicting a massive drop in carbon emissions this year, levels last experienced around World War II.

The Washington Post and Chicago Tribune will include special title pages as part of an international campaign to mark the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of WWII

In December 1944, Adolf Hitler surprised the Allies with a secret counterattack through the Ardennes forest, known today as the Battle of the Bulge. In the carnage that followed, there was one incident that top military commanders hoped would be concealed. It’s the story of an American war crime nearly forgotten to history.

After desperate house-to-house fighting between German and American forces, American soldiers wrested control of the Belgian town of Chenogne. Americans rounded up the remaining German prisoners of war, took them to a field and machine-gunned them.

Reporter Chris Harland-Dunaway found an entry in General George S. Patton’s handwritten diary referring to the incident in Chenogne. Patton called it murder. So why then was there no official investigation?

Through vivid interviews with a 93-year-old veteran who witnessed the event, conversations with historians and the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg Trials, and analysis of formerly confidential military records, we investigate why justice never came for the American soldiers responsible for the massacre at Chenogne.

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YAKUTSK, Russia (AP) — On the 75th anniversary of the allied victory in the World War II, The Associated Press spoke to veterans in ex-Soviet countries and discovered that lessons they learned during the war are helping them cope with a new major challenge — the coronavirus pandemic. As they recalled the horrors of the […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin had celebrations to mark victory in WWII and a constitutional vote to keep him in power till 2036 planned for this spring. But the pandemic has canceled both events.

At least 80 people were killed in a Japanese attack on Broome in 1942, and now the search is on for the wrecks of the flying boats where they died.

Australian soldiers in WWII were mystified by the strange footwear of their Japanese enemies, but they also gave them a competitive advantage.

A retired Canberra surgeon is among 15 Australian veterans returning to England to commemorate Bomber Command during World War II.

A "silk" map used by WWII Australian commandos in Borneo is on display at the Australian War Memorial.

When Dave Suter donated the 'innocuous' wartime artefacts he had once used as bookends, he was shocked to learn they were unexploded WWII bombs.

Akubras are not the only accessory on heads in the main street of Charters Towers, with VR goggles becoming increasingly common and helping showcase the town's role in the Battle of the Coral Sea.

The British Open has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.