A German U-boat sunk a British troop ship, the Laconia, killing
more than 1,400 men on September 12, 1942. The commander
of the German sub, Capt. Werner Hartenstein, realizing that
Italians POWs were among the passengers, strove to aid in
their rescue.

The Laconia, a former Cunard White Star ship put to use to
transport troops, including prisoners of war, was in the South
Atlantic bound for England when it encountered U-156, a
German sub (below). It was under the command of Captain
Rudolph Sharp.

Werner Hartenstein
(27 February 1908 – 8 March 1943)

General  Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander, speaking at the opening of the surrender ceremonies, on
board USS Missouri (BB-63).

Aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan formally
surrendered to the Allies, bringing an end to World
War II. 

By the summer of 1945, the defeat of Japan was a foregone
conclusion. The Japanese navy and air force were destroyed.

Army General Douglas MacArthur signs the Instrument of Surrender.
 

Apocalypse Now, the acclaimed Vietnam War film directed
by Francis Ford Coppola, opened in theaters around the
United States on August 15, 1979.

The film was inspired in part by Joseph Conrad’s 1899
novella Heart of Darkness, among other sources.

The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards,
including Best Picture, Best Director (Coppola), and
Best Supporting Actor (Duvall); it went on to win Best
Cinematography and Best Sound.

Apocalypse Now is today considered one of the greatest
films ever made.

Francis Ford Coppola

‘I love the smell Of Napalm in The Morning’… Robert
Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore.

Harrison Ford

Dennis Hopper

Laurence Fishburne

CARLATA BRADLEY