Today in World War II History—January 9, 1940 & 1945

US landing barges carrying invasion troops in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, 9 Jan 1945 (US National Archives: 26-G-3856)
80 Years Ago—January 9, 1940: Australian Comforts Fund is reestablished, for women to send care packages to soldiers.
Movie premiere of The Green Hornet serial, starring Gordon Jones.
75 Years Ago—Jan. 9, 1945: US Sixth Army lands at Lingayen Gulf on Luzon in the Philippines; beachhead is established as Japanese have withdrawn inland.
Seaman Leon LeRoy, returning home to Antioch, CA to comfort his recently widowed mother, and two other servicemen are bumped off their flight by a dog belonging to Col. Elliott Roosevelt, son of the president. Read more: “A Dog, the President’s Son, and a Grieving Sailor.”