Hoadley & Blake

09/06/2026

Dad landed on Utah Beach in 1944. Now he’s on the wall, photo and all, and in the memory book at Le Roosevelt there, forever.

The staff at the bar were genuinely honored to meet a Veteran’s son, and made the event special with their sincere words of thanks and their assistance.

I talked to the bartender afterwards to thank him and he said,”Mickey, this is why we take the job. For today. For these men.”

🇫🇷🇺🇸🫡🥹

08/23/2026

Bill Foley survived Patton's Ghost Corps. Just. This is the story of his first day on the line. Worth a read if you have the time!

Bill Foley’s first day of combat saw him marching straight into Germany’s Siegfried Line on the Orscholz or Siegfried Switch, south of Trier. It was January of 1945. Bill was a rifleman in Patton’s Ghost Corps. This is just a small part of his terrible story.

Excerpts from Bill’s book are below many of the images in this post.

We are a Band of Brothers WWII Tour company. Built for both you and your traveling companion who isn't interested in WWII, or doesn't like tours.

You'll both love this one.

Learn more about us at www.hoadleyandblake.com

08/19/2026

An American Tribute. This is what freedom sounds like. [The YouTube Video with lyrics.]

Iron in the NightWWII, brotherhood, sacrifice, soldiers, American ...

08/18/2026

Need a little All-American pick-me-up today? We wrote this song just for you. 🤘🏻🇺🇸 On Spotify now. Coming soon to wherever you stream your music.

https://open.spotify.com/track/75YT6I8iGUrejqq6HxQCO7?si=88b45c8624224dea

Hoadley & Blake · Iron in the Night · Song · 2026

08/14/2026

Some of the Battle of the Bulge hardware we visited in the Bastogne area this year. Not a hardware guy? They can get a lot more interesting when you know some of the stories behind them...

For example: Half-tracks were unpopular at the beginning of WWII and nicknamed “Purple Heart boxes” due to the complete lack of overhead protection and inadequate armor against machine-gun fire.

Omar Bradley said the half-track was ‘competent and dependable’ and that inexperienced troops were trying to use it for ‘too many things’.

The wide turning radius and lack of power steering proved to be a problem when driving in narrow European streets.

One big difference between the M2 half-track and the later M3 model was that they built a door in the back so that G.I.'s could escape from the cab, while under fire, without having to climb over the top!

-Mickey

https://www.hoadleyandblake.comHardware from the video below in o...

08/03/2026

Our latest story is also available on Substack.

2,000 N**i SS Soldiers attacked his unit. And then they got brutal.

08/03/2026

Pvt. Tommy Travers landed deep behind enemy lines on D-Day. 2,000 N**i SS soldiers attacked his unit. And then they got brutal.

The story you are about to read is true. No names have been changed, though so many in this story were, sadly, innocent.

We are an American-owned Band of Brothers WWII Tour company. Learn more about us at: https://www.hoadleyandblake.com

NOTE: We use Adobe Firefly AI as an illustrative and photo enhancement tool.

07/27/2026

https://apnews.com/article/unesco-mount-olympus-japan-ancient-capitals-1d3fabaa482d9384b1cb0b5c917ce5d5

World War II’s D-Day landing beaches in northern France and the iconic Mount Olympus in Greece were among the sites added to the World Heritage List on Sunday at a U.N. committee meeting in South Korea reviewing dozens of nominations.

07/22/2026

This is a true story about B-17 tail gunner, Sgt. Bob Hoadley, and how he fell from the sky.

Bob was born in a hospital in Oakland, California in November, 1923. He grew up in Martinez, near San Francisco.

Seven months after Bob’s 18th birthday, he registered for the draft in June of 1941. Three years later, as Patton swept across France, Bob was falling out of the sky, severely wounded, somewhere over Czechoslovakia.

This is Bob’s story, as best as I can tell it. You can read what happened in captions below each photo, or on our Substack.

We’re a WWII Tour Company specializing in Band of Brothers tours. https://www.hoadleyandblake.com

07/15/2026

This is your sign, to go to Normandy.