World War II

This piece from htrnews.com caught my eye today, “World War II Veterans Sought for Medals.”

Don Schroeder of Manitowoc wants to contact World War II vets who saw service in the Pacific between June and July 1944, specifically the men who participated in the invasion of the Northern Mariana Islands, which includes Saipan and Tinian.

In 2004 the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands commemorated the 60th anniversary of its liberation from Japan with a medallion. Now the Commonwealth wants every member of the armed services who took part in that liberation to have one of the medallions.

Veterans may contact Don Schroeder at 3703 Dale St., Manitowoc, Wisconsin or at gerryanddon [at] sbcglobal.net. VWF Post 3457 in Saipan is handling the distribution of the medallions, which technically cost $10. They’re not asking for the money, but will happily accept donations since the post also maintains a museum. The medallions have a diameter of 2.5 inches and are an eighth of an inch thick on a red, white, and blue ribbon. One side bears the seal of the Commonweatlh of the Northern Mariana Islands while the other reads, “Our Grateful Islands remember Tinian, Saipan, 1944-2004.

Schroeder is himself a vet, having served abord the U.S.S. Sangamon CVE-26, which was an escort aircraft carrier and part of the 5th Fleet under the command of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance at the time.

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Want to poke around the 451Press neighborhood? Try Battlestar Galactic Quicklinks for October 30, 2007 from watchingbsg.com or Emily Takes No Bull! from watchingbones.com.

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WWII, World War II, Mariana Islands, Saipan, Tinian, Don Schroeder

My apologies to my readers for being missing in action this past week. My housemate spent three hours in the dentist chair Tuesday, not an easy task for any of us but especially hard for an older lady with stroke damage. Also had a kitty in the vet clinic and then there was just other life-related craziness. Several things have been sitting in my RSS reader waiting to be shared with you:

Service Held for World War II Soldiers Formerly Missing in Action - This story from ksdk.com details the wartime service and final burial of seven soldiers lost for 64 years until DNA testing brought their remains home.

Spike Lee Films World War II Story in Rome - According to azcentral.com, the acclaimed director is working on a new film, “Miracle at St. Anna, chronicling the story of four members of the 92nd Army Division, an African American unit, who become drapped behind enemy lines.

Merkel Backs Berlin Memorial for Germans Expelled in World War II - Earthtimes.org has a piece on German Chancellor Angela Merkel supporting the establishment of a memorial for German “expellees.”

Ghost Mountain Boys - Wiscnews.com looks at the new book by James Campell, “The Ghost Mountain Boys, Their Epic March and Terrifying Battle for New Guinea - The Forgotten War of the South Pacific.”

After Half a Century, Army Rights a Wrong - Another great column by Seattlepi.com columnist Robert L. Jamieson Jr., this one concerning the conviction of black soldiers in connection with a race riot during World War II at Fort Lawton in Seattle.

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Ready to read some more blogs? Take a look around the 451Press neighborhood. Try Fixing Those Summer Snapshots at digitalshutters.com or check out Horror on Wheels at AutomotiveBlogger.net.

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WWII, World War II, Spike Lee, Germany, Ghost Mountain Boys

In my deepest heart of hearts I suspect I have a secret desire to receive a letter from the past. These tales of the postman delivering a yellowed envelope with a three-cent stamp in the corner and “Buy War Bonds” emblazoned somewhere on the paper draw me in every time. This story, however, does not come from the United States, but rather from Japan.

It involves a postcard, written by a Japanese soldier during World War II that reached an 80-year-old retired man in Kochi, a state in the southwest of Japan just recently. The card was written by his friend Nobuchika Yamashita in 1943 from Burma, the same year the young soldier died at age 23.

The postcard never reached its destination originally, because it went into the pocket of a U.S. soldier who died 25 years ago. Then his son held on to the card until he passed it on to a Japanese exchange student in Hawaii. The student, Yuko Kojima, now a sophomore at Mukogawa Women’s University, spent two years looking for the intended recipient Shizuo Nagano. It took two years . . . well, really sixty-four . . . but Nagano finall received Yamashita’s card.

Each time I read a story like this I am amazed by the ability of small, fragile objects like a postcard to survive for decades, even finding their way back to their owners or to someone who will treasure the scrap as it were an extension of someone they loved. The orginal story from ABC News (which can be found here) doesn’t mention what the card said. Probably a take on the standard, “How are you? I am fine.” But the message overwhelmed Nagono who never expected to connect with his friend again and that alone makes the words, whatever they were, precious.

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Want to look around the 451Press neighborhood some more? Try this post on the government’s Empty Pockets over at CurrentEventsWatch.com or learn why Seasonal Decorating is for the Birds at BackyardBirdingBlog.com.

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WWII, World War II, Japan, postcard

These days it’s not unusual for me to be behind in my reading — online and off — which explains why I’m just now reading this lovely column by William McKenzie exploring the fascination we have with the camaraderie of the World War II years by discussing his mother and her Poker Club.

His point about a modern-day longing for the common purpose that was the hallmark of the war years is well taken. And I enjoyed the fact that he was recognizing a group of women who have been “in the same foxhole” since Pearl Harbor. But I especially loved the fact that they are a poker club.

You see my Dad’s Army Air Corps nickname was “Slick” for his prowess at a poker table. In fact, he won the money that eventually paid for his business playing cards all over North Africa and Italy. Years later he’d just shrug it off saying, “Why not? I was 21-years-old and the Germans were shooting at my *ss every day. I never expected to come home alive.”

The column also reminded me of something I wrote a few years back about an encounter with a WWII vet that I thought I’d share with my readers today. I was sitting outside a bookstore when I spotted a trim, good-looking older man standing outside the front door.

He had wavy silver hair and stood perfectly straight as he gazed out over the parking lot. In a moment or two he removed a briar pipe from his pants pocket and lit it. A slight breeze was blowing and it wasn’t long before I could smell tobacco that was rich and well, grandfatherly and kind of sexy all at the same time. This guy definitely had the Sean Connery thing going. I could tell he was getting tired of standing and was just about to wave him over when he started toward me. Reaching for the extra chair as if to drag it away he said, “May I use this?”

“Please do,” I answered, “and sit here if you like. I enjoy pipe smoke.”

A look of pleasure and surprise crossed his face, “You do?” he asked, “My wife says it’s a filthy habit.” He sat down and we began to talk about how he started smoking during the war — World War II — when cigarettes were handed to the troops by the carton. “When you’re that age,” he said, somewhat wistfully, “you think you’re invincible. We had to know it was bad for us, but we just didn’t care.”

I told him about my own father flying planes in North Africa, smoking way too many cigarettes and playing poker. The old gentleman laughed at that and said, “Good for him, I did too.”

Just about that time a pretty silver haired lady motored out of the bookstore in an electric wheelchair. He didn’t jump up to help her, but watched as she approached a mini-van and opened its electric side door. When she was almost inside he said, “Well, I see my wife so I guess I better go but I’ve enjoyed talking with you miss.”

“Thank you, so have I. Have a nice day sir.”

He got up from his chair and went to the van, climbing in the driver’s side. I watched as he backed into the parking lot. Just before he turned away, he waved at me, one of those little finger waggle waves people with secrets give each other. I laughed, he grinned, and I think we both came away feeling it had been a lovely encounter.

Whether he was in his eighties or not, he was still handsome and charming, and obviously still liked to pass the time of day with a strange woman. It wasn’t a sidewalk cafe in Paris, but in a strange way it could have been. He’d have been gorgeous in his uniform, I, no doubt would have been wearing a silly hat. We’d have sipped espresso and talked about the liberation. I think I’m really sorry I didn’t know him then.

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Haven’t looked around the 451Press neighborhood? Find out the latest about Angelina on AngelinaJolieWatch.com or check out the new management at TheBookStacks.com.

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WWII, World War II, nostalgia

There are 5,782 Indian soldiers lying in the cemeteries of Italy representing all India’s religious faiths (Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh). The “men,” some just boys of 16, served during World War II fighting to liberate Italy. Last week a wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery in Cassino to honor their wartime service for the first time. (For the full story from adnkronos.com, click here. It’s worth it, there’s a nice little wartime love story related toward the end.)

The Battle of Monte Cassino was one of the most vicious of the war lasting from January 17 to May 19, 1944. Allied casualties totalled 54,000 with the Germans and Italians losing 20,000. The Cassino cemetery includes 431 graves of Indian soldiers, some marked with their names, religion, and other relevant data. Others just read, “A soldier of the Indian Army.”

The fallen men were part of a force of 50,000 Indian troops who served in Italy. Six received the Victoria Cross, the highest award bestowed by the British Empire for acts of bravery. It’s easy to just use the throwaway term “British” to refer to troops who participated in key battles during WWII and to forget that many of the soldiers from the empire, like these Indian men, were fighting for countries — even a continent — that was not their own.

As it was for many nations, the war was a transformative period for India. Indian political leaders were not consulted when the British viceroy and governor general, Victor Alexander John Hope, Marquis of Linlithgow, declared India to be at war with Germany in 1939. Inspite of this snub, and the political turmoil within a country already well on its way to independence, between 1939 and 1945 the British Indian Army grew to a force of some 2 million, all volunteers, who served in Italy, Africa, the Middle East, Burma, and Southeast Asia.

Just another reminder — more than 60 years after the fact — that World War II was not an American war, nor a British war, but a world war.

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Haven’t looked around the 451Press neighborhood today? Try this article on digital scapbooking at Ancestry.com from Genealogy Pointers or this piece on recovering lost gravestone text.

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WWII, World War II, Italy, Monte Cassino, India, British Indian Army

You know, I really haven’t decided if reading sites via RSS makes me more efficient or just makes me feel even more overwhelmed. And I am frankly amazed at the number of WWII stories that come through my reader daily. So, just a few things I wanted to share today before they disappear from my consciousness.

Filmmaker Reviews his Film ‘The War’ at MC - The Midland Reporter-Telegram has a story about Ken Burns speaking as part of the Davidson Distinguished Lecture Series. It appears to have been a fairly intimate venue and Burns also comments on his other documentaries. I found it to be an interesting piece.

Okinawans Protest Revisions to World War II History - This one is from the International Herald Tribune. I aways take a look at articles addressing historical revisionism because it can be a good thing and a really, really bad thing. This one is pretty tough to read because new histories are attempting to absolve Japan of any guilt for the mass suicides and murders that took place on Okinawa during the war. The article is particularly poignant because it relates the story of a man who beat his mother, brother, and sister to death fearing what would happen to them if they were captured by the Americans.

We’re Not Heroes: Book Details a Friendship Forged in War - Finally, here’s a book review of a new offering by two of the men profiled in the HBO Series “Band of Brothers.” William Guarnere and Edward Heffron collaborated on “Brothers in Battle: Best of Friends,” which is going on my reading list.

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Haven’t had enough blog reading today? Check out “New BSG Season 4 Promo & Final Five Spoilers” on WatchingBSG.com and “97 Seconds Recap” on WatchingHouse.com.

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WWII, World War II, Ken Burns, The War, Okinawa, Band of Brothers

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution had an interesting article today entitled, “Saga of a Nazi Hunter: Federal Official Who Looks for Aging Suspects of War Crimes Says Focusing on Victims Keeps Him Going.” Without question as World War II recedes farther and farther into history, bringing living Nazi war criminals to justice may be the great grand-daddy of all “cold cases.”

But Eli Rosenbaum, the son of a former Army intelligence officer and the head of the Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations, is only 52 and he’s still on the case. Last week he located an 85-year-old man who may be Paul Hennss, an SS guard responsible for training the deadly attack dogs used at Dachau and Buchenwald.

The Office of Special Investigations was formed in 1979. In the past 28 years, the office has won cases against 106 ex-Nazis, 64 of whom have been removed from this country. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution article profiles how Rosenbaum became involved in Nazi hunting and describes his investigations and methods. This is a dedicated man, one who saw a death warrant for a six-year-old girl named Fruma Kaplan and was determined to avenge her execution. (At the time, Rosenbaum’s own daughter was six-years-old.)

He has immersed himself in a dark period of human history and openly admits to crying when he reads the documentation of the atrocities committed and the death’s of the victims for whom he seeks justice. People like Rosenbaum continue to live World War II every day and they are committed to pursuing every last war criminal while there’s any chance they still live — years after their victims died. It’s remarkable work and an excellent article that I highly recommend.

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Haven’t looked around the 451Press neighborhood. Take a look at Frugal Mania’s Frugal Halloween Ideas and Globally Green Living’s Sex Scandal Helps Environment.

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WWII, World War II, Department of Justice, Office of Special Investigations, Nazi hunting, war crimes

On Oct. 5, 1944 the first German jet fighter, pictured, was shot down in combat by Canadian forces.

This morning as I was poking around for a Friday Five topic I began to really look at the link structure on Wikipedia, a site I use a lot (albeit with grains of salt at hand and a willlingness to verify things that don’t sound quite right to me.) I did not realize that the site allows users to look at timelines of events by year. (Ask me how much time I wasted over my coffee doing this.)

This is not only a useful quick reference tool for World War II events, but it also gives you some context about what was going on in the world in the same timeframe. For instance, most folks take Sept. 1, 1939 (the Nazi invasion of Poland) as the beginning of the war in Europe. I did not know that on January 1 of that same year, Hewlett-Packard was founded.

I used to get my students to read Alvin Toffler’s book The Third Wave. (Click here for non-affiliate Amazon link.) It was an attempt to get them to stop thinking of history as a string of isolated events broken into multiple choice questions.

In its most simplistic telling, Toffler suggests a progression of history in agricultural, industrial, and technological waves. When I saw that World War II started the same year Hewlett-Packard was founded, my first thought was, “The beginning of the end for one way of life, the dawn of another.” (That was also the year the 1st World Science Fiction Convention was held in New York and the one during which Einstein contacted FDR about developing the atom bomb.)

So, for today’s Friday Five, here are the links to the timelines for the major war years. And be forewarned — you can get sucked into this one real fast!

- 1940
- 1941
- 1942
- 1943
- 1944

(For last week’s Friday Five, click here and for Sept. 21, click here.)

WWII, World War II, timelines

Last night my elderly housemate was watching one of those entertainment “news” shows while I was fixing supper. I normally just tune out the latest sleazy gossip, but my ears perked up when I heard a report on the new Tom Cruise film set to debut in June 2008. (That’s Cruise in the photo in profile compared to the real German officer he portrays.)

Directed by Bryan Singer, “Valkyrie” relates the involvement of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg in the July 20, 1944 plot to kill Adolf Hitler. Kenneth Branagh will play Henning Hermann Robert Karl von Tresckow, the German Werhrmach major general credited with organizing the German resistance.

Be forewarned that the above link is to the Internet Movie Database entry for the film, which includes (via a second link on the page) a full plot synopsis that contains significant spoilers for the film. If you don’t know the history behind the plot and don’t want to before you see the film, avoid that second link. I generally brush up on the history beforehand and then look for inaccuracies, but then I’m a big history nerd.

The show I was watching interviewed either Singer of Christopher McQuarrie who wrote the screenplay — I honestly don’t remember which — who said that it was not difficult to turn the story of the planned assassination into a high-tension thriller. As long as they’re reasonably true to the history, I’m fine with that and it is good to see World War II getting some big screen play again. I’ll be looking forward to this one.

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For more 451Press blog posts check out Tom Cruise’s Minute of Silence and Lions for Lambs is on the Move.

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WWII, World War II, Hitler assassination plot, Valkyrie, Tom Cruise

Today I want to share a link to a USAToday article “Learning About ‘The War,’” which puts some finishing notes on the airing of the 15-hour documentary on PBS.

Tonight most PBS stations will begin the second airing of the series, which will continue weekly for seven weeks. It’s a good opportunity for people like me who missed a couple of episodes to catch up with something much less than the marathon intensity of the original airing.

I’d also encourage everyone to have a look at the article “PBS Affiliates, Schools Add to Veterans History Project.” We have to face the scary statistic that more than 1,000 WWII vets die every day — and take more than 1,000 personal stories with them. The airing of “The War” has jump-started a grass roots efforts to collect that material before it disappears forever.

You can visit the Veterans History Project directly and learn how to participate. There are five steps:

- registering with an online form
- downloading a field kit
- preparing for the interview
- conducting the interview
- submitting the collection to the Library of Congress

This project is open to first-hand accounts from:

- World War I
- World War II
- Korean War
- Vietnam War
- Persian Gulf War
- Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts
- civilian supporters

The last category includes war industry workers, USO workers, flight instructors, medical volunteers, and folks who contributed to a war effort in similar ways.

The Veterans History Project accepts video and audio in several formats (see the site for specific details) but the submission must be at least 30 minutes in length. They also collect original narratives such as diaries or journals provided they are more than 20 pages in length, letters (ten or more in each collection), original photos, and artwork. (Again, see the site for full explanations.)

They will not accept photocopies, physical memorabilia (like medals or uniforms), and framed materials but do offer an extensive list of repositories that will accept such items.

Regardless of any controversy the documentary may have generated, if it stimulates renewed interest in World War II studies in our public schools and encourages the active collection of World War II material and first-person accounts, Ken Burns has performed a real service.

If you’re interested in reading my previous posts about “The War” in the order in which they appeared on the blog, here are the links:

- Ken Burns, The War - It’s Hard to Watch
- Let’s Wait to Criticize Ken Burns
- Debate about “The War” Continues
- WWII, Ken Burns, and a Word on Historiography

My final word on the experience of “The War” is positive. As I indicated in my previous comments, you have to take the documentary for what it is and not expect it to be a perfect, encyclopedic treatment of a vast and complex subject. In a massive body of World War II treatments, “The War” is a good addition — not the last word, but a good word in a dialog that will continue through many more generations.

WWII, World War II, Ken Burns, The War, Veterans History Project

I’ve written before about the neccesity of labeling vintage photos. Not surprisingly then when I saw this headline in my RSS reader, I clicked over to read the material - World War II Wife Cherishes Photos Saved from Hurricane.

Many of my friends felt that I went a little preparedness whacko after Hurricane Katrina. Yes, I have a couple of backpacks full of emergency supplies. I’m more likely to depend on myself after that debacle than to wait for my government to help me out. In addition to buying water purification tablets, a hand-cranked flashlight/radio combo, and a bunch of canned goods, I also bought a couple of flash drives. You know, those little USB “thumb” drives that are so popular these days. I scanned all my most important documents and placed them on a thumb drive, which is with me at all times.

The second drive is for photos. I’ve been into digital photography since 1999 but I also scanned all the irreplaceable family photos in my possession (some dating back to the Civil War), the ones I’d be heartbroken to lose. All those images and the super important ones I’ve taken myself that were already in digital format are safely on that drive. Both drives are in an old Altoids tin in my purse and there are back-ups on an additional two thumb drives in my emergency bags.

The WWII widow profiled in the news story said, “Let me tell you one thing: If you are ever in a hurricane, make sure to get your photographs out.” It doesn’t matter if we’re talking fire, flood, or storm, take measures to protect your invaluable photos. Thumb drives are solid state — no moving points — and small enough to carry on your person. It’s not a bad idea to put them in something reasonably waterproof (a plain old bag will do.) With most of these “thumb” devices now selling for under $50 (you probably don’t need more than 1 or 2gb for these purposes) this is one of the least expensive and most important insurance policies you’ll ever buy.

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Haven’t looked around the 451Press neighborhood yet?
Check out Winnie’s recap of today’s episode of The View with Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

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WWII, vintage photo, preservation

This weekend our local news carried a story about World War I and World War II vet Frank Buckles, 106, of Charles Town, West Virginia. Buckles saw a news report about the nation’s only traveling replica of the Liberty Bell. It’s being used at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq. Buckles wanted to see the bell — so they took it to him.

It was touching to watch as the elderly gentleman was wheeled from his home to ring the bell parked in the driveway of his Revolutionary War-era house tucked away in the beautiful West Virginia countryside. In a weak, but clear voice Buckles said, “It’s a wonderful thing you’re doing.” Inside the reporter held up a tin cup and described it for the viewers — it was the cup Buckles used during three years as a prisoner of war of the Japanese in the Philippines during WWII.

The next morning I went in search of information on Buckles online and discovered he is one of an elite group of four surviving Great War veterans. In November 2006 twelve WWI vets were still living. By January 2007 five of those men passed away. As of April 2007, four remain — Buckles is one of them. (The article reports his age as 105 but the news story I heard said 106.) If I’m reading correctly the oldest survivor is 108 but many of these man lived past 110 and the lone woman in the group was 109 at her death.

Their stories are nothing short of remarkable, both in terms of service to their country and in their longevity. A similar phenomenon was witnessed in survivors of the Titanic sinking. I recall hearing one of them say that after surviving that even little else bothered her in life. I suspect if you make it through two world wars you’d feel much the same way.

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Haven’t looked around the 451Press neighborhood yet?
Try Tiny Treasury on Banned Books Week or WatchingBionic Woman for the best fight scene of the week.

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WWII, WWI, oldest living vets, Frank Buckles