Wartime thoughts
Every time December 7th rolls around, it makes me think of my dad. I've mentioned before that my dad was a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne during the last years of WWII. While I usually think of the few stories he told me of his time in Europe, this year I watched part of the movie, "Red Tails", the story of the Tuskegee Airmen.
This led to me begin watching the Ken Burns documentary, "The War". Ya know, I've always looked back at the WWII years through the eyes of the eventual victor. I had forgotten just how scary this time was for our parents & grandparents. Everyone was terrified that a Japanese landing on the west coast was inevitable. German submarines were sinking ships all along our eastern seaboard. The shipping lanes from the Gulf coast to Florida were thought to be the most deadly in the world during the opening months of the war.
All of the early news was bad. The Japanese were undefeated in the Pacific. American outposts were dropping like flies. The Germans were storming across Europe. England was barely holding on. All in all, it was pretty shitty news. I can't imagine the fear and desperation that many Americans felt.
I'm still in awe of that generation. It's been said that Admiral Yamamoto warned the Japanese Emporer that the industrial might of the United States was unparallelled and that unless they achieved a quick victory in the Pacific, they would loose a drawn out war. He was right about that, afterall.
Because a few people thought they were better than everyone else, the world suffered a huge loss of life and resources. God help us if we fall prey to those kind of people again.
P.S. Hey cygny, did I ever tell you that my dad was in Belgium? He was injured near Bastogne trying to get to the surrounded 101st Airborne during what we call The Battle of the Bulge.
P.P.S. Even though they were left out of our history books, my high school history teacher made sure we knew about both the Tuskegee Airmen and the 442nd Infantry Regiment. He thought we should know that these men volunteered to fight even thought the country they were fighting for was treating them like shit on a regular basis.
This led to me begin watching the Ken Burns documentary, "The War". Ya know, I've always looked back at the WWII years through the eyes of the eventual victor. I had forgotten just how scary this time was for our parents & grandparents. Everyone was terrified that a Japanese landing on the west coast was inevitable. German submarines were sinking ships all along our eastern seaboard. The shipping lanes from the Gulf coast to Florida were thought to be the most deadly in the world during the opening months of the war.
All of the early news was bad. The Japanese were undefeated in the Pacific. American outposts were dropping like flies. The Germans were storming across Europe. England was barely holding on. All in all, it was pretty shitty news. I can't imagine the fear and desperation that many Americans felt.
I'm still in awe of that generation. It's been said that Admiral Yamamoto warned the Japanese Emporer that the industrial might of the United States was unparallelled and that unless they achieved a quick victory in the Pacific, they would loose a drawn out war. He was right about that, afterall.
Because a few people thought they were better than everyone else, the world suffered a huge loss of life and resources. God help us if we fall prey to those kind of people again.
P.S. Hey cygny, did I ever tell you that my dad was in Belgium? He was injured near Bastogne trying to get to the surrounded 101st Airborne during what we call The Battle of the Bulge.
P.P.S. Even though they were left out of our history books, my high school history teacher made sure we knew about both the Tuskegee Airmen and the 442nd Infantry Regiment. He thought we should know that these men volunteered to fight even thought the country they were fighting for was treating them like shit on a regular basis.