(This is a slightly modified re-run of an earlier post.)
V-J Day, marking victory over Japan and the end of World War II, came on August 15, 1945 — 1,347 days after the United States was drawn into the war by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Today, it’s been 1,347 days since the Bush Administration invaded Iraq. It was, in George W. Bush’s own words, “military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing.” The war that began that day has now lasted as long as U.S. involvement in World War II. The administration has often invited comparisons to World War II and the “greatest generation.” So, how have we used our 1,347 days?
When Pearl Harbor was attacked, we were surprised, and ill-prepared for war. Americans across the country rushed to volunteer, and the military draft brought in more. There weren’t enough guns, so recruits drilled with broomsticks, or with dummy wooden rifles.
Taxes were levied to pay for the war, and money was borrowed through the sale of War Bonds. Old factories were converted to wartime production, and new factories were built. We built ships, planes, jeeps, trucks, tanks. New designs moved swiftly from the drawing board, to the factory floor, to the field of battle.
Soldiers, sailors and pilots were quickly trained to use the new weapons. Our British allies had invented radar, and we learned to use it. We sought and exploited countless advances in science and engineering.
The German army was the best in the world. U.S. soldiers were mauled in their first major encounter with crack German troops at the battle of the Kasserine Pass in north Africa. “You go to war with the army you have,” but we understood we weren’t yet good enough. We learned from our failures. We got better.
We fought massive naval battles and fierce island battles across the Pacific, demolishing the Japanese navy and closing in on the Japanese islands.
With our allies, we captured Sicily and landed on the Italian mainland. We fought German and Italian fascist forces as we drove up that country. We landed at Normandy in northern France on D-Day, the largest amphibious assault in history. We liberated France, driving the once unbeatable German army of occupation back mile by brutal mile. We suffered Germany’s devastating counter-attack in the Battle of the Bulge, and we surmounted it.
At home, women worked factory jobs to replace men who had gone to war. Scarce resources were rationed. There were scrap metal drives. Every American was asked to make sacrifices to help win the war. Nearly every American did. In secrecy, tapping the talents of European scientists who had fled Nazi oppression, we developed the atomic bomb.
Americans, British, Canadians, Russians all pushed into Germany. Hitler, trapped, killed himself and the German government capitulated. In the Pacific, Japan’s empire collapsed. American forces were poised for invasion. Russian forces were expected to join the assault, too. Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In Tokyo, a military coup was attempted to prevent Emperor Hirohito from surrendering. It failed. The war ended.
World War II was a long hard struggle, and the path was not always as clear as it may seem now in hindsight. But we saw what needed to be done; we didn’t seek diversions. We were realistic; we knew we couldn’t win without a plan. We did not seek dominion; we knew we couldn’t win without our allies. We were humble; we learned from our mistakes. We shared sacrifices; the wealthy were not exempted. Congress investigated reports of war profiteering. The government made post-war plans to bring our defeated enemies back into the community of civilized nations.
All in 1,347 days.
What kind of use have we made of these 1,347 days?
