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155 Years Ago Today 19 June 1865, celebrated today as "Juneteenth," is the date U.S. Army Major General Gordon Granger, commander of the District of Texas, issued General Order Number 3 in Galveston, Texas, informing the people of Texas that all formerly enslaved persons were now free. The photo seen here, from the Austin History Center, shows celebrants of Emancipation Day (Juneteenth) in 1900. It’s possible these men are veterans of the Union Army from the Civil War, and/or the post war Army in Texas. In July 1866, the reorganized 25th US Infantry, a Buffalo Soldier regiment of black soldiers, with Granger joining them, marched to San Antonio before heading on to other posts around the District of Texas.

Victory in Europe! 75 years ago today, Germany ratified an unconditional surrender ending the war in Europe. To all veterans and civilians who worked together to make victory possible, we offer a sincere thank you.

75 Years Ago today, 7 May 1945. The surrender of Germany in May 1945 took place over several days. Many troops surrendered the previous week, but it was 7 May 1945 that Colonel General Alfred Jodl, German Chief of Staff, signed an unconditional surrender for all remaining German forces. This image shows him at the signing in the War Room of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces, Reims, France, under command of General Dwight Eisenhower, who had served at Fort Sam... Houston before the war. Beside Jodl are other German high commanding officers. Standing behind is US Major General K.W.D. Strong, G-2 of SHAEF. While this document was signed on 7 May, May 8 is generally recognized as Victory in Europe day among the western Allies, as that’s when official surrender documents were ratified. In the second photo, also taken on 7 May 1945, General Eisenhower announces Germany’s unconditional surrender at SHAEF Forward Headquarters, Reims, France. Beside him is Sir Arthur Tedder of the British Army, who was SHAEF Deputy Supreme Commander.

75 Years Ago Today On 5 May 1945, members of the 337th Infantry, 85th Div., Fifth Army, oversee an arms collection point near Mascrea, Italy. Though Germany had yet to formally surrender, many of their troops had. Here, in this colorized version of the original photo, officers of the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division talk with Americans while they await trucks bringing in their weapons for surrender. #Armyhistory #WWII75

This Day in History, 29 April 1945 As the end of the war in Europe drew closer, elements of Fifth Army were rolling through northern Italy, mopping up German pockets of resistance and in doing so, were greeted with jubilation by recently liberated Italians. In the first photo, a sea of civilians cover an arriving US Army tank in front of Duomo Cathedral in Milan. ... In the next image, liberated Italians cheer as a tank of the 1st Armored Division passes in the Arcore area. The last photo is in SS headquarters in Milan. Two US Army Colonels discuss surrender terms with the SS General that commanded the area. Although the city had been largely controlled by Italian partisans for several days, the Germans refused to surrender to anyone except the Americans. They probably feared reprisals from the partisans if they surrendered to them.

75 Years Ago Today On 23 April 1945, the 358th and 359th US Infantry Regiments, 90th Infantry Division, liberated the concentration camp at Flossenburg, Germany. Unlike many camps, Flossenburg was intended for political prisoners, then later forced labor. Prisoners mainly worked in nearby quarries and a factory that built Messerschmitt fighter planes. Over the course of the war, somewhere between 90,000 and 100,000 prisoners passed through, though Jews were in the minority ...here. Of the whole, about 30,000 people are estimated to have died at Flossenburg. As the Americans drew close, the SS began moving those able to walk out of the camp. Estimates vary, but somewhere around 9,300 prisoners were evacuated, including about 1,700 Jews. As many as half of these died during the forced march, along with about 7,000 more of those who had been consolidated with them out of the camp at Buchenwald. When US troops arrived, they reported 1,163 prisoners remained in camp, though other reports put that number closer to 2,000. Of those, about 200 still died after liberation, took weak to survive longer. Included among the more notable prisoners held at Flossenburg was Joseph Stalin's son, a British General, the former Prince of Bavaria, and a large number of French officers. This video includes footage taken at Flossenburg and its liberation. For those of you on military VPN, the link will likely be blocked, but try it on your home computer. Just beware, some images, as expected, will be disturbing. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=czbUP6cl2NE #CMHRemembers #Armyhistory #WeRemember #NeverForget #WWII75

Liberation in 1945. On 15 April 1945, Allied forces liberated Bergen-Belson concentration camp. Over the years the camp held Soviet Prisoners of War as well as Jews. More than 80,000 people perished at this camp. Upon liberation about 60,000 were freed. Although liberation was by a British unit rather than the US Army, we're sharing this because San Antonio is home to a survivor from this camp, Rose Sherman Williams. Rose, now in her 90s, still shares the story of her exper...ience with area school children on a regular basis. To learn a bit more about her, visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio's website. http://hmmsa.org/local-survivors-and-experts/ Thank you Rose for sharing your story. It's a hard one to hear, but important that we do. There is no book, no film, that can ever have as much impact as hearing it directly from someone who lived through it. #CMHRemembers

Holocaust Remembrance Tonight begins Yom HaShoah, a remembrance of those lost in the Holocaust. Over the week, we'll share some information and resources, including the US Army's involvement in liberating many camps. To start, we'll share The Center of Military History's resources located at: https://history.army.mil//special-featur/VE-day/index.html #CMHRemembers

This Day in History On 18 April 1942, sixteen US Army Air Force B25B Mitchell bombers launched from the deck of the USS Hornet to execute the first major US strike on the Japanese homeland. Under command of then Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, the force, known as Doolittle’s Raiders, left the ship knowing they would not have enough fuel to return. The plan was to strike their target, then land in occupied China and link up with anti-Japanese resistance. Fifteen made i...t back to China or Chinese waters, and one landed at a Soviet airbase near Vladivostok. Of the 80 crew, at least 13 hailed from Texas and many had also trained here. The last survivor of the raid, Richard Cole, lived in San Antonio until his passing in 2018 at age 103. https://www.stripes.com//last-living-doolittle-raider-dies http://www.doolittleraider.com/raiders/cole.htm #Armyhistory #WWII75

Easter 1945 Seventy five years ago, elements of Fifth Army celebrated Easter across war-torn Italy. These images show a few glimpses of Easter in 1945. The two soldiers viewing a cross are in the Legaro area, watching the morning sun about to dawn over the top of the mountain. The cross also served to hold telephone lines needed during the operations there. ... The next image shows a mass being held in a cave near Loiano. The Chaplain is Army Captain Arthur J. Bojcun, and the soldiers are from the 168th Infantry, 34th Division. Next is an Easter sunrise service at Castelluccia, Italy conducted by Chaplain Paul J. Maddox for members of the IV Corps. In front is Major General Willis D. Crittenberger, CG of IV Corps. Finally, we see a scene from Veggio, Italy with Chaplain James R. Uhler. He leads a Protestant sunrise service for officers and men of HQ company, 1st Armored Div. #Armyhistory #WWII75

Fifth Army 75 years ago today. As the end of the Third Reich drew near, Fifth Army was still encountering fierce resistance as it pushed through Italy. In this photo, taken 10 April 1945 at Massa, Italy, a Jeep carries a soldier wounded by machine gun fire back to a medical station for treatment. On the Jeep can still be seen flowers placed there by grateful civilians as the Americans entered the city. #Armyhistory #WWII75

Meet Private Johnie Winters In 1918, among the tens of thousands of soldiers in San Antonio who were suffering from Spanish flu was Private Johnie Franklin Winters. A native of Cotulla, Texas, Johnie was drafted in August 1918 and assigned to a Balloon Company at Camp Wise, adjacent to Fort Sam Houston. By mid-October 1918, at the height of the pandemic, he was confined to the base hospital, sick with the flu. Winters soon recovered and returned to duty. Shortly after his re...lease, he wrote home believe me, it is something to have. He had never seen as many sick people in my life as they [sic] was in the hospital. After discharge in March 1919, he returned to Cotulla and resumed life as a rancher until his death in 1959.