1946 RCA Radio

  If you don't know,... I retired from 30 years as a Radio/TV broadcaster. Most of that time was spent behind the microphone at various radio stations...
Having said that,..I still have a fond affection for old Radios. I have several of the old 'stand-up radios',..sometimes called floor models. Also a 1937 cathedral-back Philco that I have restored and am quite proud of..
   Getting to the point,..I recently purchased a 1946 RCA Radiola from an Ebay site. If the case had been made of wood I would not have done this,...but I purposely bought a bakelite case so I could paint it. I am including some photos of how the radio looked when I got it,..and then the transformation. I cleaned it up..sanded down the case..and applied two coats of Chevrolet engine 'orange' to make it stand out. I also painted the background of the dial to make the black needle indicator contrast against it. Most of my other radios are operational, but this one does what I want it to do. It will be on a bookshelf behind my desk to attract attention. When new this old set would receive not only the standard broadcast band, but also shortwave signals. During World War II most of the overseas signals came home to America via shortwave. I used one of the extra kitchen floor tiles to close up the back and hide all of the tubes on the ancient chassis. Regular Windex was used on the glass dial and it has returned to like-new condition. I think it turned out great and will be a welcome addition to my radio collection. 

  

German SD.kfz 234

The SDkfz 234 was designed from the start to be a reconnaissance vehicle with the capability to defend itself against enemy armor. The groundbreaking design would influence 8-wheeled military vehicles up to present time. Known as 'the Puma', it was built by the Bussing NAG Company and entered service in April of 1944. The V-12 engine was air cooled and manufactured by the Tatra Company of Czechoslovakia, which was under German occupation at the time. The Puma had a 75- millimeter main gun and also a MG42 machine gun for its four-man crew. It was 22 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 7 1/2 feet tall. The Puma had a top speed of 50mph and a range of 620 miles. It fit in perfectly with the German idea of fast, hard hitting weapons of the time. Over 2300 of the Puma's would be built by the end of World War II.

Vietnam Shooter

  
 I have a new book that has just come out in print. This one is a fictional account of Alex Dutton, a young man gifted in the art of long-distance shooting. His remarkable talent is discovered by the Central Intelligence Agency and put to use in 'eliminating' America's trouble spots. Alex also has a personal side to his life, but has no problem putting them aside when he is called to business. This book has been available for Amazon Kindle readers, and they have responded with almost two-thousand downloads. It has just become available in print this past week. I hope you enjoy it....... Ron

German Armor in World War II

   My grandchildren are still amazed when I tell them stories of World War 2... My father and 6 uncles were all called to the service in the early 1940's,...and all returned home after the war. They told me only divine intervention allowed us to win the war. The enemy had better planes, tanks, and at the time, soldiers! They had four years to build concrete fortifications from Norway all the way to Spain, and it took Allied soldiers less than 6 hours to compromise 'the Atlantic Wall.'
  Still, I have always been impressed with the planes and tanks of Germany at that time. General Heinz Guderian was the father of the 'Blitzkrieg' type war and most of the tanks were designed under his guidance.
(A) The Mark II was a stop-gap measure until better tanks could be built, but still it served from 1935 to 1942. This tank was loaned to Spain to turn back a
civil war in the mid 30's and when pulled from service in 1942 the chassis was used for mobile artillery. The Mark II had a 55-millimeter cannon and one MG34 machine gun. A crew of three manned the Mark II, and it was the first to be equipped with a radio for tank-to-tank communications. The gasoline powered six-cylinder Maybach engine had a top speed of 40kph.
(B) The Mark III was one of Guderian's ideas to spearhead his armored attacks. There were two variations of the Mark III, one equipped with an anti-tank cannon, and the second was a support tank with a larger cannon. These became Mark III and Mark IV models. They weighed about 15 tons and were powered by V-12 Mercedes engines. In 1937 fifteen of the Mark III's were delivered to the Army just in time to take part in the takeover of the Sudetenland and the invasion of Poland. In 1940 the two models were updated with a 300hp engine and a 10-speed gearbox. They weighed 20 tons and featured a torsion bar suspension, a featured carried over to the Panther and Tiger model tanks that followed. By 1943 both models were pulled from service and their chassis became the platform for the Sturmgeschutz (mobile artillery).
(C) The Panther entered service in 1943 when the Russian T-34 overwhelmed the Mark III and Mark IV tanks. The Panther had the same 700hp Mercedes V-12 engine as the Tiger but its lighter weight made it faster. The 44 ton Panther could reach speeds of 35 mph. The 5-man crew had a 70-mm high velocity cannon and two MG34 machine guns. The front armor of the Panther was 80 millimeters thick but the side armor proved to be its downfall. Over 6,000 Panthers were delivered to the Wehrmacht, making it Germany's most prolific tank in World War II.
(D) The 62 ton Tiger was the most feared monster of World War II. Entering service in 1942 it was plagued with mechanical problems from the start. The Tiger featured armor 5 inches thick in front and 3 inches thick on the sides. German engineers took the 88-millimeter anti-aircraft gun and fitted it to the Tiger. It could fire a 100 pound shell over two miles with deadly accuracy. The Tiger also had two MG34 machine guns for the 5-man crew. The Tiger was used in both the Russian and North African campaigns. Just over 1,340 Tigers were built, but by the time they entered the war they had to be used in a defensive effort.
(E) The Sturmgeshutz (assault gun) is actually NOT a tank but a mobile artillery piece. It does not have a turret. The 'Stug' was built in high volume and also used at the forefront of any action. When the Mark III and Mark IV tanks became obsolete, their chassis was used as a platform for the Stug. They carried a 75-millimeter main gun plus one MG34 machine gun. The turret was expensive and four Stugs could be built for the same price as one Tiger tank. Built by Daimler-Benz, it entered service in 1940 and participated in every campaign thereafter. In 1944 Krupp Industries proposed a Stug with the 88mm gun, but it was never put into production. Over 10,000 of the Stugs were built. The model is painted in white, as it would have looked in the Battle of the Bulge, which was fought in a snowstorm.

(F) The Hanomag- Built by the Hannoversche Maschinebauag Company, which made trains, tractors, and military vehicles dating back to the 1830's. In 1937 the Hanomag 4-wheel drive personnel carrier entered service. It could carry 13 soldiers into battle with its crew of two. The company could not keep up with the demand and in 1941 BMW also began producing the Hanomag. Over 15,000 were built during the war. The only Allied comparison was the American GMC half-track, and despite being a little slower, the Hanomag offered its troops better protection with thicker sloped armor on the sides.
 

WWII German 'Tiger' Tank

   The German Tiger Tank was the biggest and most
feared tank of World War II. The sixty-ton behemoth
was equipped with an 88-millimeter main gun with a 
range of almost two miles. The Tiger had enemy tanks 
in range before they could get close enough to fire their guns. The Tiger also had two MG-34 machine guns with a capacity of firing 600 rounds per minute. I am including a photo of a Tiger from the Normandy Museum to let you compare it to my model. My model has the markings of the 2nd SS Panzer Division and tank S13 was commanded by Lieutenant Michael Wittman. The unit saw action in the Russian compaign of 1942 thru 1943. Second SS Panzer was also involved in the defense of Normandy

but the tank was listed as lost in the Battle of the Bulge in December of 1944.

Etta James Dead

   I was a little boy when I first heard 
Etta James. My brother used to have an
auto garage and always had a radio playing
in the background..with rhythm & blues
coming from WRR radio. The Drifters, the
Dells, Otis Redding, and Mary Wells could
all be heard. That is where I heard Miss 
Etta sing 'At Last' for the first time. She was
still a teenager when she recorded the song
that would become her signature. My personal
favorite was 'All I Could Do Was Cry' and my
brother loved 'Dance With Me Henry.' Etta 
had problems in her life, no doubt. She battled
drugs, alcohol, and men most of her career.
She and Harvey Fuqua of the Moonglows made
a few duets together and they were a hot item
away from the recording studio also. Later Etta
was diagnosed with leukemia and she battled
it too....but today Miss Etta lost the battle and
died at the age of 73.
   Ironically, one of Etta's good friends, Johnny
Otis, also died today. Johnny O was a white boy
that grew up in a black neighborhood and always
had an infinity for the black sound. Using the 
basement of his father's grocery story, Johnny O
recorded such talents as Big Momma Thornton, 
Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, Esther Phillips,
Little Willie John, and Big Joe Turner. He took the
recordings to promoters and brought attention to
his talented friends. Johnny Otis also recorded music
of his own, and 'Hand Jive' was a number one song.
His version of 'Harlem Nocturn' is still one of my

favorites..

Foreigner Still Rockin'

      I have been a fan of the rock group
'Foreigner' since they came on the scene in
1976. The original group was a mixture of 
American and British musicians with Lou Graham
out front singing all the hits.. You remember them
as well as I do.. 'Cold As Ice'.. 'Feels Like the 
First Time'...'Double Vision'... 'Jukebox Hero'...
'Waiting For a Girl Like You'... 'I Want to Know
What Love Is'..'Hot Blooded'.... and my personal
favorite, 'Urgent.'   The group has undergone
some changes over the years and some fans
have a grudge since Lou is no longer the lead
singer,...BUT what hasn't changed in the past
35 years??  The group is now made up of original
founder Mike Jones on guitar and keyboards...Kelly
Hansen does the singing... Tom Gimbel plays 
guitar and a mean saxaphone...Jeff Pilson is the
rhythm and bass guitarist...Michael Bluestein
on the keyboards..and Mark Schulman keeps the
beat on the drums..  I think they are good as ever,..
but don't take my word for it... I have always 
loved 'Foreigner.'   Check out this video from 
just six months ago....



http://youtu.be/ouaXX9Kx_gw