Today in World War II History—January 31, 1939 & 1945
Friday, January 31, 2020 by Sarah Sundin
Troops of US 82nd Airborne Division marching behind M4 Sherman tank in a snowstorm toward German occupied town of Herresbach, Belgium, 28 Jan 1945 (US Army photo)
80 Years Ago—January 31, 1940: US sends out the first monthly Social Security check, for $22.54 to a retired Vermont legal secretary Ida May Fuller.
75 Years Ago—Jan. 31, 1945: Germans in France and Belgium are pushed back to positions held before the Battle of the Bulge.
Pvt. Eddie Slovik is executed in France, the first US soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War.
US 11th Airborne Division makes an amphibious landing at Nasugbu Bay south of Manila on Luzon.
