Just realized the Europeans will be present to watch Joey Chestnut inhale 84 pork pistols on live television in honor of our nation’s independence.
That one will break them completely.
U.S. Marines are shown receiving Holy Communion on Iwo Jima on March 3, 1945.
This historic photograph, taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal on March 3, 1945, depicts three U.S. Marines kneeling on the volcanic sands of Iwo Jima as they receive Communion from a chaplain.
The men identified in the image are Private First Class Edmond L. Fadel, Private Walter M. Sokowski, and Private Nicholas A. Zingaro, taking part in a Catholic Mass conducted during the fierce fighting near Motoyama Airfield. The image endures as a striking symbol of faith and humanity amid one of the bloodiest island battles of World War II.
“It was one of the most monumentally unselfish things one group of people did for another.”
-#DDay veteran Andy Rooney on the young 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy 82 years ago.
Required watching for every young person today!
🇺🇸 Most Badass Americans You Don’t Know D-Day Edition: John J. Pinder Jr.
Technician Fifth Grade John J. Pinder Jr. landed on Omaha beach on his birthday. He didn’t make it off.
Born June 6, 1912, in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, Joe Pinder was the oldest of three children. His father worked in the steel industry.
He graduated as valedictorian of Butler High School in 1931.
Pinder spent the next several years as a right-handed pitcher in the minor leagues.
He played six seasons in the farm systems of the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Washington Senators, and Brooklyn Dodgers.
In 1941 he won 17 games and was still chasing a shot at the major leagues when the war came.
He entered the Army in January 1942 after Pearl Harbor.
Assigned as a radio operator with the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, he fought in North Africa and Sicily.
In Sicily he earned a Bronze Star for staying at an observation post under fire.
On June 6, 1944, Pinder landed with the first waves on Omaha Beach on his birthday.
Communications were shattered. His job was to get a working radio ashore.
He made it off the landing craft. They were 100 yards off the beach.
Then he was hit. A round tore into his face after only a few steps off the boat.
Pinder held the torn flesh of his face together with one hand, carried the radio with the other, and delivered the radio to his unit, while wading thru waste deep water.
That should have been enough. It wasn’t.
Weakened and bleeding, he turned around and went back into the surf and fire three more times to salvage communication equipment.
He even recovered another workable radio.
On the third trip machine gun fire hit him again, this time in the legs.
Still he kept going.
Weakening but exposed on the beach, he helped get the radios working so the men around him could call for support.
While doing so, he was hit for the third time and killed.
Medal of Honor. Posthumous.
It was presented to his father on January 26, 1945.
Pinder was initially buried in Normandy.
In 1947 his family brought him home to Grandview Cemetery in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania.
He was the only professional baseball player awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II.
John Pinder is an American Badass
Thank you, John! 🫡🇺🇸
@bruce_straughan@HoltzHeroes Maybe not even my favorite run of his...he ran over, I think, Ken Alexander or Derrick Brooks in the 93 F$U game....just pure determination and will.
@TheRetroRoomRoo I should have been more specific as to how you captured it. Wasn't sure if you were using a digital video converter or a rare vhs or d-vhs box that did the conversion producing a high quality image with synced audio.
Planting season is upon us, which means you are much more likely to meet large farm equipment on the roadway.
Farm equipment is wide and can take up most of the road. Be careful and patient when passing equipment this spring. #Plant2026#SafePlantIN
🔗 https://t.co/aU0EHqMHxq
This kid from Pennsylvania is different. Hercules in the weight room, animal on the field & genius in the classroom. Most impressively he’d be the last one to tell you about his achievements.
Today, Tim Ruddy is a devoted husband & doting father. We love you brother.
☘️🏈🌳🎂
@HoltzHeroes One of my all time favorites. Showed countless young men that football players could still be elite athletes while not being "dumb jocks."