In the early morning hours of Dec 7 1941, as American sailors and airmen slept in their bunks, Japanese bombers and submarines attacked pearl harbor.
6 battleships, 3 destroyers, and 7 other ships were sunk or severely damaged.
Nearby military and navel airfields were also attacked and almost 200 American aircrafts were destroyed.
2,400 American lives were lost that day and another 1,200 were wounded.
But it went beyond just Pearl Harbor that day.....
The Japanese also torpedoed US ships on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu, they attacked Guam, Hong Kong, the phillipine Islands, and more.
Before that day we had supplied the allies with military equipment and for 2 years President Roosevelt had been progressively pushing for an active military alliance with Britian, but as of that day the US had practiced an isolationist policy and took a strictly defensive role in the war.
After that day our men went off to war, fought, died, and witnessed more death and destruction then any of us could ever imagine.
Women left their homes to take over the jobs that the men had left behind. They hit the assembly lines and built the instruments of war needed by the men.
It was truely a joint effort!!
In Reims, France, on May 7, 1945, German General Alfred Johl signed the unconditional surrender of all German forces on all fronts.
On September 2, 1945, aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, the Japanese officially surendered and World War II officially ended.
Although the exact numbers can never be truely known, it is estimated that between 60 & 72 million people died in the war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.
At least 40 million of the dead were civilians caught in the cross fire, or done in by famine and disease.
What many do not realize is that 85% of all the deaths in World War 2 were allied deaths. Enemy deaths accounted for only about 15% of all the casualties.
But we still won that war and that is really saying something!!!
As for America, our time on the WW2 battlefield lasted less than 4 years, and in that time we lost 418,500 souls (416,800 military, 1,700 civilains).
418,500 fathers, sons, brothers, went to war, fought for their country, and died for their brothers who stood toe to toe beside them in the trenches.
A 4 year war that left almost a half a million of our own dead.
Please take a minute today to remember and honor those men, both past and present, who because of our enemies are no longer with us!!!
When a nation stands behind their troops there is nothing they can not do!!
4 comments:
As long as a nation has a great military, no one will mess with it or want all out war with that country. Thank goodness, our troops are highly motivated. With the best training and equipment a modern army could have in todays time. I truly believe that people always support and back up our military personal. Though they might not agree with the conflict we're involved in. As for me and my family...we will always back up our people in the military. These people make the ultra scarifice. They ensure that americans still are able to enjoy the freedoms and liberities we have had since our independence. Therefore, let a person in the military know you're thankful when you see one in person. I'm sure it means a lot to them to hear a person thank them. Godbless our wonderful nation for a reason. So lets not disappoint and hold up to the higher standard that has been appointed to us.
My mom was talking about her remembrances of this day when she was a little girl. She talked about how her dad was excused from service because he had 5 children, but they made him a neighborhood captain. My grandma went to work in a factory to keep it going while the men who worked there went to serve our nation over seas.
This day, like September 11, will live in our hearts and minds and those who serve for our freedom should always be treated with dignity and respect.
kathi
So much death and destruction and now look at how the European countries like France treat us.
Makes me wonder if maybe we should have kept our isolationist policies going.
I believe the french people have always loved america and what our nation has done for them. But, France has just had crappy leadership over the last 45 years. Now, that Sarkozy is president I think we will see france sing a different tune. I saw Sarkozy on TV addressing the House and Senate. And though hes a politician and said something that made me realize that france is headed hopefully in a new and better direction. Sarkozy could be the anwser but only time will tell.
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