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VETERAN'S DAY SALUTE

This day I remember and salute the men of the USS Apogon. She was a Balao-class submarine launched March 10,1943. The Apogon may not represent the most prolific submarine in WWII, yet she made a tremendous impact while patrolling the Mariana islands. Seen in the first picture is the mascot. The second photo shows a few brave Apogon submariners standing in front of the score.  My father, first on the reader's left, spent two years aboard the sub as a Radioman First Class. Read more about this warrior sub's adventures here.

THE STORM OF WAR

A legion of WWII history books exist in the world. Certainly no historical topic has received any more scrutinous attention than the "good war." So, why should one more work on the matter interest us at all? We certainly instinctively know about Hitler's maniacal effort at genocide. A few scholars recall der Fuhrer privately disparaging the 1936 black American gold medalist Jesse Owens, believing that the "colored American runner's jungle ancestry" gave them an unfair advantage and should not be allowed to compete. But, do we know much about the fact that Hitler's intense racial prejudices literally cost him the war? 

This is the underlying motif that often implicitly burrows through the pages of Andrew Roberts new compelling book The Storm of War: A New History of WWII. Dr. Roberts earned his PhD. in history at Cambridge University. He writes for the WSJ and other notable publications.  In 2011, NBC commissioned him to commentate on the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton. His vitae is quite impressive.

Dr. Roberts pens his work through British eyes. Yet, his assessment of the American character during the war sees with both European perception and factual reality. Indeed, Roberts savvys American policy while thinking like a Brit. 

Dr. Roberts chronicles the war with silky prose that flows like multiple tributaries emptying into one big river called WWII. Each source of the single river constitutes a compelling study of its own. His vast knowledge of the numbers; men, machines, and Holocaust victims, will leave the reader walking away with enough food for thought to keep him busy for the rest of the day.

Go here and listen to Andrew Roberts talk about a few of his themes including Hitler's ideological prejudices as his downfall.

DISTURBING PICTURES FROM PEARL HARBOR

The day that will live in infamy sometimes loses its impact on post modern Americans.  Perhaps haunting photos like these may provoke the need to know and a sense of diligence in the future. Historian Stephen Ambrose once opined: God help us if we forget. Go here to view more.

PICTURES OF D DAY

Incredible pictures of D Day. Warning: You may spend some time here, but that's OK.

REMEMBERING D DAY

The US Army remembers.Personal eyewitness accounts from veterans describing that fateful day of June 6, 1944.

THESE ARE THE BOYS OF POINTE DU HOC THESE ARE THE MEN WHO TOOK THE CLIFFS

No one could make us feel prouder when delivering a speech than the Gipper. On this day in 1984 President Reagan stood at Pointe Du Hoc in Normandy France and reminded the world why brave soldiers gave their lives for freedom's salvation. Today we remember the allied invasion of June 6, 1944. The Gipper explains why in the video below. (via American Rhetoric)

DUMBING DOWN AMERICAN HISTORY

On this Memorial Day when we gloriously celebrate our nation's military heroes, I find myself greatly concerned about the historical illiteracy among our cultural influencers of the day. A President's apology tour, John Stewart's unamusing accusations calling Harry Truman a war criminal, and the general tenor among young people today is telling. Not only are our young people naive victims of those who wish to rewrite history, but they consistently get bombarded with false information concerning the past. One such example emerges in light of our dropping the atomic bomb on Japan to end WWII. That generation's rapid extinction makes it extremely difficult to defend nefarious pseudo historians. Bill Whittle of Pajamas TV does a yeoman's's job in both contexting and presenting the facts about Truman's decision to drop the bomb. Go here to watch Whittle's simple, yet compelling analysis.

Affluent, peaceful existence stirs a legion of emotions among the culturally illiterate. We hate war and wonder why anyone, in the name of virtue, manufactures a weapon designed to annihilate our globe. Yet, one must place the horrific event, not only in its historical context, but in a humanistic framework as well. Survival serves as one of the greatest needs among people. Self preservation drives us to mindlessly surrender our reasoning powers. We want to live. The Axis Powers threatened total world domination and sought ethnic cleansing. Americans, believing their unique heritage offered the highest kind of human existence short of heaven, sought self preservation at all costs. To put it in my WWII veteran Father's simple words, "It was either me or him." Those who fail to comprehend this simple scenario may well find themselves faced with the same sort of perplexing issues as a generation gone by.    

REMEMBERING THE RED CROSS CANTEEN

The Red Cross serves as one of the celebrated relief organizations of our time. Their tireless endeavors help save lives and provide sustenance for disaster stricken victims all over the world. During WWII the Red Cross Canteen, an almost forgotten institution, offered war weary American servicemen a friendly face, food, and inspiring entertainment. Countless veterans can recall the profound difference the canteen made in their morale. The Red Cross museum explains:

One way the American Red Cross won the hearts of America's fighting men during World War II was through their stomachs. Of all the services the Red Cross provided the armed forces, the operation of canteens at home and clubs and clubmobiles overseas remains among the most memorable in the minds of America's World War II veterans. At a canteen or a club, a soldier or sailor could pause for a cup of coffee, a doughnut, and a bit of friendly conversation that offered him a familiar and reassuring connection with home. It also provided the Red Cross workers and volunteers the opportunity to be of service to their country and to lift their own spirits as they made a personal contribution to the war effort. The Red Cross began operating canteens in World War I at a time when thousands of service personnel were traveling by train between their homes and camps and then to the ships that took them overseas. Faced with enormous challenges involving transportation and the movement of supplies, military authorities asked the Red Cross to assist in feeding the troops while they were in transit. To meet this need the Red Cross created its almost all-volunteer Canteen Service and opened food service facilities in train stations, on the docks, and in many other places where hungry troops gathered.

Popular entertainers played an enormous role in promoting the canteen, thus inspiring the troops and offering the folks back home a genuine glimpse into the soldier's mindset. One particular canteen, New York's Stage Door Canteen, a product of the American Theater Wing, provided a place for servicemen on leave to enjoy a home-like atmosphere and enriching entertainment from the superstars of the day. A movie entitled Stage Door Canteen showcased some of those stars and the Canteen's virtues. Watch a scene below as the immortal Benny Goodman and the multi-talented Peggy Lee perform together:

Hat's off this Veteran's Day to the countless men and women who served in the Canteens.

"THE WAR" COMING TO PBS SEPTEMBER 23

Go here to view the website.

NATIONAL COLUMNIST DAY

Glenn Reynolds reminds us this is National Columnist Day set up in memory of Ernie Pyle. A review of Pyle's famous book, Brave Men, sums up his legacy:

Europe was in the throes of World War II, and when America joined the fighting, Ernie Pyle went along. Long before television beamed daily images of combat into our living rooms, Pyle's on-the-spot reporting gave the American public a firsthand view of what war was like for the boys on the front. Pyle followed the soldiers into the trenches, battlefields, field hospitals, and beleaguered cities of Europe. What he witnessed he described with a clarity, sympathy, and grit that gave the public back home an immediate sense of the foot soldier's experience. There were really two wars, John Steinbeck wrote in Time magazine: one of maps and logistics, campaigns, ballistics, divisions, and regiments and the other a "war of the homesick, weary, funny, violent, common men who wash their socks in their helmets, complain about the food, whistle at Arab girls, or any girls for that matter, and bring themselves through as dirty a business as the world has ever seen and do it with humor and dignity and courage -- and that is Ernie Pyle's war". This collection of Pyle's columns detailing the fighting in Europe in 1943-44 brings that war -- and the living, and dying, moments of history --home to us once again.