Saturday, June 7, 2014

Remember Things About WW II

Yesterday was D-Day and the TV was full of the scenes of that momentous day and the things that had gone before.  The many battles that had been fought the numerous victories that had taken place in the South Pacific and throughout Europe.  Americans never wanted to get into the fighting, but when the Japanese attacked our Fleet in Pearl Harbor on the 7th of December in 1941, things changed and very rapidly.  It seemed as if the Country was mobilized over night.  Men were anxious to make the enemies pay for all the heartache that had gone before, and would yet strike at any moment.  Lights went out all over the world and the slogans began: "loose lips sink ships"; "Kilroy was here"; "Lucky Strike Green Has Gone To War" and oh, so many others.  Uniforms were seen everywhere.  Highways were lined with Service men trying to find their way from point A to point B.  Service men's Canteens were popping up around the communities.  New or revitalized Mothers Organizations were seen active everywhere.  Red Cross bandage making sessions were taking shape with regularity in local parks and schools.  Everything was turned over to the 'war effort'. Gas was rationed to keep the Military supplied.  Leather was sent into the manufacture of  boots and other needs for the Military.  No more Nylon hose for the women - that was being used to make parachutes.  Well the changes seemed endless and the needs were unnumbered.

But what really brings back the excitement, rather than the drudgery of it all was the site of the large flights of Aircraft in the skies.  When they were built and ready for use, women took to the cockpits and flue the bombers and fighter planes in large formations to their needed areas.  The sky was full, the sound was loud even to the point of causing things to vibrate.  I can remember watching them fly overhead with tears in my eyes knowing they were going to be part of something big and important in my life and in the years to come.  I also remember the many convoys of trucks, jeeps and armored vehicles that went down the roads on their way to points to be shipped overseas.  Every day there were reminders of a War that was being fought and followed by every civilian who was left behind.  I don't believe we appreciated the devastation that was being brought down on people elsewhere.  Since the Civil War, battles haven't gone on in this Country and so we have no idea what it is like to have things shot out from under us, or bombed out of existence.  How fortunate we are, and have been.

I have driven through many of the battlefields of the Civil War.  Things look very peaceful there now, but one can still see the bullet holes in the houses and the cannon still left in the fields where men and animals died from the effects of the effort to win took place.  Not wanting to see anyone injured or hurt, it boggles my mind how anyone would want to cause such scenes as we witnessed on the TV yesterday.  Why young men have to take up arms to keep peace and safety for those they love at home?  The cost of such things is beyond comprehension, but they seem to be revived and brought back, generation upon generation.  Man
does not seem to learn from their past errors.  There is always some stupid, power hungry individual who gets it into his head that they have a great plan of how to make others bend to their selfish will.  No wonder it has been taught: "it is better that one man die, than an entire generation dwindle".  Better to destroy the wicked minded than to have an entire nation have to pay such a price ever again.

Being a Teenager during the Second World War, I witnessed what went on, felt the helplessness of so much waste, and dreamed of a day when things would be better for all of us.  I was a child of the great depression.  I knew the lean years throughout my youth, and then the privation that War causes during my teen years.  None of it as a youth seemed hard, because everyone I knew, and their families, was in the same condition.  We made do with what we had, and was grateful for an imagination that kept our lives on a level course.  When the War started, I learned that doing without wasn't all that hard.  We still had food to eat, and our homes were safe to live in.  We didn't have to drag out at night to find shelter from bombs or attacks of any kind.  We leaned to do without the things that were needed to help the War effort.  Walking was no problem, I had done it all my life up until that point, and I enjoyed it.  Watching Servicemen come in and out of town was normal.  We tried to make them feel at home in every way that we could.  Once the War was ended, we looked forward to welcoming home our own.  Until that day, we watched the windows of the homes around us, hoping that the blue stars in the windows wouldn't be changed to gold.  Nearly every window had a flag telling how many from that house had answered the call.  When the gold stars showed in the windows, we knew there was one who would not come home to celebrate what they had fought for.  Oh how we learned to grieve with each family.  So much to remember - and hopefully - with my generation to keep remembering so that we pass on the horrors of such things and not the glory that weak minded individuals throw out there as a dream of masterful ideas.

May we, as a nation, as well as individuals, remember than nothing good comes of War. May we rise to the challenge, as we did in WW II, though that was not our desire.  May we always dream of peace and the safety of  our nation and it's people.  May be find greatness in what we accomplish, and how we live our lives, rather than look to put others down.  May we praise God and all He has given us to enjoy and keep safe.  May we be grateful for what we have - great or small - so long as it is ours, gained by our own efforts, and regard it and keep it safe
 
Life is short and very valuable.  We should not waste it on greed or envy!

Written this 7 day of June 2014
by: Eileen C. Rosenberg