VE Day 80th anniversary commemorations to begin

BBC [Live Page] ^ | May 5 | BBC [Live Page]

[RandFan]

We're now just a few hours away from the military procession starting to make its way from Parliament Square towards Buckingham Palace as part of today's VE Day commemorations.

That will be getting under way at 12:10 BST (more of today's key timings can be found in our earlier post), and you can expect to see more than 1,300 armed forces taking part.

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Conspiracy; History
KEYWORDS: europe; ww2

[RandFan]

Any Freepers up early this week?

FOUR days of commemorations in the UK and across Europe as we mark the date that Nazi Germany formally and unconditionally surrendered to Allied forces after nearly six years of war

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Proclamation of President Truman - May 8, 1945

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

The Allied armies, through sacrifice and devotion and with God’s help, have wrung from Germany a final and unconditional surrender. The western world has been freed of the evil forces which for five years and longer have imprisoned the bodies and broken the lives of millions upon millions of free-born men. They have violated their churches, destroyed their homes, corrupted their children, and murdered their loved ones. Our Armies of Liberation have restored freedom to these suffering peoples, whose spirit and will the oppressors could never enslave.

Much remains to be done. The victory won in the West must now be won in the East. The whole world must be cleansed of the evil from which half the world has been freed. United, the peace-loving nations have demonstrated in the West that their arms are stronger by far than the might of dictators or the tyranny of military cliques that once called us soft and weak. The power of our peoples to defend themselves against all enemies will be proved in the Pacific was as it has been proved in Europe.

For the triumph of spirit and of arms which we have won, and of its promise to peoples everywhere who join us in the love of freedom, it is fitting that we, as a nation, give thanks to Almighty God, who has strengthened us and given us the victory.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, HARRY S. TRUMAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby appoint Sunday, May 13, 1945 to be a day of prayer.

I call upon the people of the United States, whatever their faith, to unite in offering joyful thanks to God for the victory we have won and to pray that He will support us to the end of our present struggle and guide us into the way of peace.

I also call upon my countrymen to dedicate this day of prayer to the memory of those who have given their lives to make possible our victory.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/gs8.asp

[RandFan]

So technically it’s Thursday

I hope some of you will be awake there’s lots going on to mark it. I’m quite surprised they’re pushing the boat out with festivities, etc.

I think it really resonates even among younger generations

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Thanks to the post-McCarthy and post-Vietnam War cultural landscape as reflected in Hollywood a’la the likes of Jane Fonda et al. - plus all the postmodern hippie deconstructionists who entrenched themselves in our education system:

We have yet to recover “American” heritage and patriotism as a collective.

I mean sure there is the Super Bowl national anthem...but other than that, there are very few collectively shared moments where we celebrate our flag and country.

And other than in D.C. we lack proper monuments. This in part because other than Pearl Harbor, there were no battles physically fought on our soil...Still, no excuse for how little appreciation there is for our history. :(

[equaviator]

It’s not enough to make a lot of noise and put on a little neighborhood show with Fourth of July fireworks. It doesn’t really teach us anything except perhaps that they can literally blow up in your face if you’re not careful.

[Cronos]

World war 2 for Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria ended on 4th June 1989 when the country that started the war alongside Nazi Germany by invading Poland, decided to let its vassal states get free

[equaviator]

This applies to the US, right? Didn’t Churchill do something similar in Great Britain? I don’t think their calendar is the same as ours.

[gloryblaze]

Thanks!

[mewzilla]

The parade and flyover occur on a bank holiday, which is usually a Monday or Friday the week of the 8th.

This year we just got treated to the King saluting a small contingent of Ukrainian personnel marching in a parade while men are reportedly being conscripted off the street in Ukraine.

[Dan in Wichita]

I was in London in 1985 to witness a parade celebrating the 40th anniversary of VE Day. I’m thinking I need to dig out the photos I took that day and reminisce.

[RandFan]

Wow that’s cool. Britain has changed a lot in those 40 years and I’m afraid probably not for the best but we get on with it and are optimistic that the tide will turn

[equaviator]

I'm not surprised. These parades probably don't look much like they did in the '40's and '50's.