Jim Terry
May, Memorial Day, and more
By Jim Terry
A headline in the May 9, 2008 Russian online newspaper, Pravda, declared, "Russia celebrates 63rd anniversary of USSR's victory in World War II." The article further states on that date, "...tanks and missiles rolled across Red Square to mark the 63rd anniversary of Victory in World War II."
The victory the Russians were celebrating as their victory is what most of the rest of the world knows as VE Day, Victory in Europe Day, and recognized by most of the other Allied countries on May 8.
But Thursday, May 8, 2008 came and went in the United States without a mention of its historical significance and the two important events which occurred on that date and which changed the course of history and saved America and the rest of the world from tyranny. Today that date has been relegated to some specialty desk and internet calendars that highlight historical events.
The first historic event, in 1942, pitted an American aircraft carrier force against a similar Japanese force in the Coral Sea. According to the Naval Historic Center, "Though the Japanese could rightly claim a tactical victory on "points," it was an operational and strategic defeat for them, the first major check on the great offensive they had begun five months earlier at Pearl Harbor." The results of that battle gave America an advantage in the next great sea battle, the Battle of Midway, which former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger said was "...far more than a decisive naval victory. It was far more than the turning of the tide in the Pacific war. In a strategic sense, Midway represents one of the turning points of world history..."
Three years after the Battle of The Coral Sea, on May 7, 1945, General Alfred Jodl, Chief of Staff of the German Army representing the German high command, signed a document of unconditional surrender at Rheims, France. The document called for the cessation of all "...active operations at 2301 hours Central European time on May 8..." by all forces under German control. The next day, May 8, the Allied countries accepted the surrender and it was celebrated as VE Day, Victory in Europe Day.
French novelist Gustave Flaubert said, "Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times." As I pottered about on that historic day, I greeted several people with, "Happy VE day." The response was mostly, "What is that?" One woman, probably in her mid fifties, responded as if she knew what I was talking about. When I asked her if she understood what I had said, she told me, "Yes, I know about VE Day, but I am an older person."
Historians have argued for sixty years about how close the Allies came to losing the war to Germany and its co-conspirators, Italy and Japan. Has the significance of VE Day been lost to post World War II generations in America? Those Americans who fought to bring that victory and the final victory over Japan are dying at the rate of 1,500 each day and the U.S. suffered more than one million casualties in that worldwide conflict. More than 400,000 American troops died (291,000 of those were battle deaths) and almost 700,000 were wounded. Were their sacrifices great enough for us to remember May 8 and what its relevance is today?
Anyone with a cursory knowledge of World War II history should know how different our life would be today had Hitler succeeded in establishing his Third Reich.
In studying the surrender document, two simply worded, yellowed pages, signed by Jodl, Lt. General Walter Bedell Smith, for the Allied forces, General Ivan Sousloparov, for the Soviet High Command and Major General F. Sevez, on behalf of the French Army, I found an interesting note which adds to the relevance of that historic event to an issue currently being debated across our land.
The first line of the document, placed above the capitalized and underlined title, ACT OF MILITARY SURRENDER, is the following statement, "Only this text in English is authoritative."
If that document were being signed today, I wonder if it would contain that statement?
© Jim Terry
A headline in the May 9, 2008 Russian online newspaper, Pravda, declared, "Russia celebrates 63rd anniversary of USSR's victory in World War II." The article further states on that date, "...tanks and missiles rolled across Red Square to mark the 63rd anniversary of Victory in World War II."
The victory the Russians were celebrating as their victory is what most of the rest of the world knows as VE Day, Victory in Europe Day, and recognized by most of the other Allied countries on May 8.
But Thursday, May 8, 2008 came and went in the United States without a mention of its historical significance and the two important events which occurred on that date and which changed the course of history and saved America and the rest of the world from tyranny. Today that date has been relegated to some specialty desk and internet calendars that highlight historical events.
The first historic event, in 1942, pitted an American aircraft carrier force against a similar Japanese force in the Coral Sea. According to the Naval Historic Center, "Though the Japanese could rightly claim a tactical victory on "points," it was an operational and strategic defeat for them, the first major check on the great offensive they had begun five months earlier at Pearl Harbor." The results of that battle gave America an advantage in the next great sea battle, the Battle of Midway, which former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger said was "...far more than a decisive naval victory. It was far more than the turning of the tide in the Pacific war. In a strategic sense, Midway represents one of the turning points of world history..."
Three years after the Battle of The Coral Sea, on May 7, 1945, General Alfred Jodl, Chief of Staff of the German Army representing the German high command, signed a document of unconditional surrender at Rheims, France. The document called for the cessation of all "...active operations at 2301 hours Central European time on May 8..." by all forces under German control. The next day, May 8, the Allied countries accepted the surrender and it was celebrated as VE Day, Victory in Europe Day.
French novelist Gustave Flaubert said, "Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times." As I pottered about on that historic day, I greeted several people with, "Happy VE day." The response was mostly, "What is that?" One woman, probably in her mid fifties, responded as if she knew what I was talking about. When I asked her if she understood what I had said, she told me, "Yes, I know about VE Day, but I am an older person."
Historians have argued for sixty years about how close the Allies came to losing the war to Germany and its co-conspirators, Italy and Japan. Has the significance of VE Day been lost to post World War II generations in America? Those Americans who fought to bring that victory and the final victory over Japan are dying at the rate of 1,500 each day and the U.S. suffered more than one million casualties in that worldwide conflict. More than 400,000 American troops died (291,000 of those were battle deaths) and almost 700,000 were wounded. Were their sacrifices great enough for us to remember May 8 and what its relevance is today?
Anyone with a cursory knowledge of World War II history should know how different our life would be today had Hitler succeeded in establishing his Third Reich.
In studying the surrender document, two simply worded, yellowed pages, signed by Jodl, Lt. General Walter Bedell Smith, for the Allied forces, General Ivan Sousloparov, for the Soviet High Command and Major General F. Sevez, on behalf of the French Army, I found an interesting note which adds to the relevance of that historic event to an issue currently being debated across our land.
The first line of the document, placed above the capitalized and underlined title, ACT OF MILITARY SURRENDER, is the following statement, "Only this text in English is authoritative."
If that document were being signed today, I wonder if it would contain that statement?
© Jim Terry
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