American Legion Cunningham Post 222

06/07/2026

06/06/2026

On this day in 1944, the first Operation Jedburgh team parachuted into occupied France on the night before the Allied landings in Normandy.

The "Jedburgh" teams operated under the Office of Strategic Services, a predecessor organization to CIA, and worked with local resistance groups to disrupt German responses to the D-Day invasion. Additional teams deployed in the days and weeks that followed, serving across occupied Europe and providing an important link between anti-German resistance forces and Allied command.

Learn more:
https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/surprise-kill-vanish-the-legend-of-the-jedburghs/

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

Tonight is the night of nights…

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

On May 5, 1944, the destroyer es**rt USS Buckley—part of Task Force 21.11—formed around the USS Block Island, patrolling off the Cape Verde Islands. It was dispatched to a radar contact from a TBM “Night Owl” Avenger.

The target was approximately 20 miles ahead, and the Buckley closed on the target in 45 minutes at full speed with the assistance of the Avenger. As the Buckley approached, the captain saw U-66 running on the surface, charging her batteries. The captain called general quarters and dropped a “Foxer” acoustic decoy to confuse the submarine’s torpedoes if fired upon.

The Buckley slowed, attempting to mimic the German supply ship for which U-66 was waiting. The gambit worked, and the U-boat set off red signal flares. The Buckley continued to close, and at 4,000 yards, the U-boat realized this wasn’t their supply ship. U-66 fired a torpedo from the aft tubes, and the Buckley turned into the sub as the torpedo passed on its starboard side.

U-66 continued trying to escape, but the Buckley closed in. At one point, the two combatants ran parallel, a mere 20 yards apart, as the Buckley raked the sub with fire. At approximately 3:30 a.m. on May 6, Lt. Cmdr. Brent Abel ordered hard right rudder, and the Buckley came to a stop on top of the forward section of U-66.

When the raiding party made it onto the ship, the Buckley’s crew members met them. They were ready to brawl.

While a boatswain’s mate shot and killed one German with a .45, the rest of the crew armed themselves with whatever they found. Two sailors threw coffee cups at the enemy, which were located at the ready gun station. One of the 3-inch gun crews started throwing shell casings, and one of the Germans who made it to the ship’s wardroom took a coffee pot to his head.

The only Buckley crewman injured sustained a bruised fist when he punched an invader off the ship. The fight only lasted a couple of minutes as the Buckley reversed engines and backed off the U-boat, leaving five German crew members behind. A crewman armed with a hammer led the five below deck.

05/31/2026

05/31/2026