Some of that remained when I entered the Marine Corps in 1952. although women were full-fledged members by that time. We were assigned only support roles, freeing men for combat.
I learned this only after applying for Air Traffic Control and Mapping & Surveying MOS fields, and after being sworn in and in training, was apprised the Recruiter had *misled* (coughing and then gnashing teeth here) me.
I, however, was fortunate enough to be assigned to be a Classroom Instructor for women recruits straight out of Boot Camp.
It has been only in recent years the proper recognition and benefits were accorded them, after many were no longer living to know this.
Most of today's populace is unaware of so many of the roles ordinary but dedicated American citizens played during WWII in the larger scheme of things - and at great personal cost.
Nothing mattered except victory and survival for our country - then - -
May 24, 2004
Russian leader plans trip to Normandy for D-Day
MOSCOW - Who did more to defeat Adolf Hitler – the Soviet Union or its Western allies?
Through the Cold War and beyond, each side has clung to its own narrative icons – the Soviets to the battle of Stalingrad in 1942 and the West to D-Day in 1944. But next month, President Vladimir Putin will become the first Russian leader to travel to Normandy for a D-Day anniversary – and in so doing he will turn a new page in the history books.
"It’s a sign of the new relations between Russia and the West," said Yevgeny Volk, head of the Heritage Foundation’s Moscow office. "The importance of D-Day has always been downplayed in Russia. Putin’s intention to pay tribute to it shows a new vision."
Every 10 years, leaders of the countries that took part in D-Day gather on a Normandy beach for a memorial. No Soviet leader was ever invited, nor was Boris Yeltsin, the first post-Soviet president. This year, however, French President Jacques Chirac has invited Mr. Putin and Gerhard Schroeder, the first German chancellor to attend a Normandy memorial.
Soviet generals and many military historians argue that D-Day, the largest amphibious invasion in history, was of secondary importance to World War II – that the German military machine had already been broken beyond recovery in the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk.
In the Soviet Union and Russia, D-Day is widely known as the opening of a "second front" that came only after millions of Red Army soldiers died to turn back the Nazis.
From June 1941, when Germany attacked the Soviet Union, to the end of the war in May 1945, an estimated 9 million Soviet soldiers were killed – three times more than all the other Allies’ military losses combined.
"It would be wrong to say that the Allies weren’t helping us, but it would be equally incorrect to say they were helping us very actively," Marshal Dmitry Yazov, a former Soviet defense minister who fought throughout the war, told The Associated Press.
"They only opened the second front less than a year before the victory."
As the Germans advanced deep into Russia in 1941 and 1942, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin persistently urged stronger efforts to divert Mr. Hitler’s armies from the eastern front.
Marshal Georgy Zhukov, who crafted Soviet victories throughout the war, bluntly expressed Moscow’s annoyance with the United States and British allies in his memoirs.
"They could have opened the second front in 1943 but deliberately decided not to hurry, waiting for a more significant defeat of the German forces, and, on the other hand, for a greater attrition of the Soviet armed forces," Mr. Zhukov wrote.
Mr. Yazov, echoing a widely held opinion, said D-Day was launched out of fear the Red Army would sweep across Europe, establishing Soviet domination.
"They saw that the Soviet Union could defeat Germany alone," Mr. Yazov said in an interview.
Since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, historians and the media have paid more attention to Western allies’ contributions.
The war museum in Moscow’s Victory Park now features numerous exhibits chronicling D-Day and other Allied action.
Lookie, lookie what I found...
Here's my WORLD famous recipe for Marquesan "Poisson Kru". Enjoy!
Some recipes are tolerant of inexact quantities and timing. However, this recipe will not abide the haphazard chef, and therefore must be followed to the letter. Any deviation from the recipe can have grevous results.....So....here we go:
First, get up at 2:00 a.m. and go catch a big tuna. Second, cut off all of the unappealing parts of the fish. We don't want any eyes, or viscera, skin or bones...just nice tuna meat. Cut five or ten pounds of the tuna into pieces about the size of MY little finger, or maybe just a little bit bigger or maybe a little bit smaller. ACCURACY is important.
Next, steal about 40 limes from a friendly Marquesan's back yard tree. Squeeze the limes through a sieve into a separate bowl. We don't want the seeds! Then go down to the Marche' and trade Andre a box of .22 shells for a bunch of veggies: two cukes, a few tomatoes, an onion or two, bell peppers (two colors, if possible) and even a few celery stalks would be nice. He'll still owe you.
Now, climb a coconut tree and get a couple of ripe coconuts. No green ones, please. They are good for drinking but not for copra. If you survive the fall, shuck the nut, crack it in half with a machete and use a "rapacoco" to shred it. A "rapacoco", a toothed metal device, makes short work of the coconut. You can get one at Kamakes or at Maurices in Tiohae....among other places. The meat must be shredded very fine. (Andre' at the Marche, will grind up your coconut on his new-fangled mechanical grinder if you enjoy kicking TRADITION in the face). Now cut up the veggies into bite-sized pieces and the onion should be sliced very, very, very thin.
Now here's the MOST critical part of the operation. LISTEN UP! Pour the lime juice over the tuna meat and stir it up with your hands. Let the tuna "cook" for oh, between 5 minutes and 2 hours. It's your call, but timing is CRUCIAL! Th meat will turn slightly opaque, I hope. If you stope overripe limes, you could cook it for a year and nothing would happen except putrification. (Note: steal the yellow overripe ones anyway...they are good with rum and coke.)
Once the "cooking" is complete, drain the excess lime juice and throw the veggies in with a tablespoon of white pepper and a tablespoon of salt.
Next take a clean cloth (skivvies are usually the only relatively clean thing around), lay it out and put the shredded coconut meat on top. Close the skivvies around the coconut and twist until the pressure causes the coconut milk to strain through into a bowl. If you are a size 36 or under it may take two or three BVD loads to complete the process. Once you get the coconut milk, you might just as well toss the skivvies, as you'll never get the small of rancid coconut milk out. Add the coconut milk to the fish, veggies, salt and pepper. Mix it all up. Try it. If it tastes like it should.....send some to me.....mine always tastes like hell.
BON APPETITE.
From: Invictus
http://members.aol.com/tgrus2kdfz/island3.html
Most of today's populace is unaware of so many of the roles ordinary but dedicated American citizens played during WWII in the larger scheme of things - and at great personal cost.
I agree with you.