Posted on 08/15/2015 4:24:13 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Yay V-J Day!
And recall, the smartest, Hahvahd educated prez EVAH said Hirohito surrendered on the Missouri...
If it had been a Pub prez.....
In the description of Times Square in the recording, the reporter makes mention of how the older people in the crowd were silent. Oddly enough, that is how I feel today. Maybe because I know what’s coming; maybe because, in my early 60s, I have lived long enough to know that every jubilation is followed with difficulty.
On August 15, 1945, we have dodged a great conflagration, and the relief would have been immeasurable. But as I was reading this paper, and then reading today’s paper, I couldn’t get Robert Frost’s words out of my head:
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
But I don’t want to be a spoilsport, so, joining with the old people at Times Square, I’ll watch silently, feeling the immeasurable relief, while the younger half of America jubilates.
War underlined the uncertainty of worldly affairs.
As things have turned out, the Japan situation itself has weathered beautifully. The worst hazard Japan has posed to us is to work enough harder than us that it made a competitive dent in our economy for a while. Then China production came along and mooted it all and now Japan is in a malaise, but still very friendly to the West.
But nobody could know that in advance. And the US ally in the war effort, Soviet Russia, turned menacing and vicious towards the West.
You and I are about the same age.
The old people in Times Square, most likely, have vivid memories of the First World War. Given what happened only 20 years after that, I’d be silent, too. And, as Ben Grauer said, maybe some of them lost sons in combat.
Of course, if I were in my teens or twenties, I’d be partying like a maniac.
Especially if I were a Soldier, Sailor, or Marine!
Well done Sir!
It has been great reading.
Thank you.
I'm hoping that perhaps in the next few days there will be an article on how the soldiers celebrated in the Marianas, with no more Superfort bombing runs. My father the airplane radio mechanic, part of the ground crew on Guam, would have been part of the festivities.
Thanks for the kind words, one and all. We still have some more history to cover, through the surrender signing on USS Missouri on Sept 2 plus 1 day.
This has just been a magnificent effort on your part. I’ve been following this series since you started it and I just wanted to thank you for the unceasing effort you’ve put in. Thank you so much!
The NYT was around during the Civil War, you could go day by day on that.
Ironic thing about Japan, at the last stages of the war they had almost caught technologically on sonar, radar and their planes were top notch(except for quality control). They really didn’t expect a long war at all. Tojo was an idiot.
Thank you Homer for your efforts I have missed very few of your daily installments even though I rarely post here anymore.
Very well done.
A lot of the shark action was on the bodies of sailors who were already dead. Dehydration and hypothermia got most of them.
I know we get a few more days, but thank you Homer. Again.
Last post will be Sept. 3, 1945.
The NYT was around during the Civil War, you could go day by day on that.
I've long thought that would be a wonderful way to spend 4 years. Unfortunately, my local library's collection of NY Times microfilm is incomplete for the earliest years, including 1860-65. A larger issue is my wife. If I don't finish this project with WWII she will make Sherman's march through Georgia look like a tea party.
“Ocean of Fear”, a 2007 episode of the Discovery Channel TV documentary series Shark Week, states that the Indianapolis sinking resulted in the most shark attacks on humans in history, and attributes the attacks to the oceanic whitetip shark species. Tiger sharks might have also killed some sailors. The same show attributed most of the deaths on Indianapolis to exposure, salt poisoning and thirst, with the dead being dragged off by sharks.[14]”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indianapolis_%28CA-35%29#Loss
Here’s a link to the full video (1 hr, 26 mins)
“Ocean of Fear”, a 2007 Discovery Channel TV documentary:
http://vdownload.eu/watch/1452987-ocean-of-fear-worst-shark-attack-ever.html
This is a long detailed article, with photos...
Survivors of 1945 sinking of the USS Indianapolis describe terrifying explosions and shark attacks during worst sea disaster in U.S. Naval history:
Wife and I toured the Missouri at Pearl Harbor a few years back.
We stood where MacArthur spoke and where the representatives of Japan signed the surrender.
The big BB had just come out of dry dock with fresh paint and looked near perfect.
The bridge was a curious mix of 1930s/1940s technology and missile control/launch equipment. The missile gear was from when the Gipper brought out the battleships in the 80s.
Too bad victory has become an unknown foreign concept. Victory implies unbending confidence, determination, independence and fortitude.
The closest we get to that concept in modern America is to loot the American treasure and bleed Americans with the new “compassionate war” concept, all while funding our enemies.
I don’t think the Japanese knew they would be losing Korea at this point. They considered it a part of Japan, even though they treated Koreans horribly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.