Salute to WW2 Veterans on 75th Anniversary of VJ Day

[Phil1111 1,149]

Time moves on but its time to remember all those that made enormous sacrifices in WW2. Today is the 75th anniversary of VJ (victory over Japan) day that announced the end of WW2.

Today Japan and Germany have become the friends of the west and modern democracies. Yet 85 million died all together to end the madness of a few men. That represents about 3% of the worlds 1940 population.

[kallend 2,106]

I know (or knew) several men, including my wife's father, who served in Burma - a theater of the the war that is almost completely ignored yet one in which the Imperial Japanese Army suffered is greatest ever defeat up until that time, at Imphal.

[JerryBaumchen 1,436]

5 hours ago, kallend said:

I know (or knew) several men, including my wife's father, who served in Burma - a theater of the the war that is almost completely ignored yet one in which the Imperial Japanese Army suffered is greatest ever defeat up until that time, at Imphal.

Hi John,

Thanks for that info; I had not known of that battle, or many others in that part of the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Imphal

Jerry Baumchen

[murps2000 86]

https://books.google.com/books/about/With_the_Old_Breed_at_Peleliu_and_Okinaw.html?id=84CJDQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false

I mentioned this book in the "We won two beautiful world wars" thread. 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/31280.Eugene_B_Sledge

I found a link to some memorable quotes. The one that struck me most when I read the book:

“As I crawled out of the abyss of combat and over the rail of the Sea Runner, I realized that compassion for the sufferings of others is a burden to those who have it. As Wilfred Owen's poem "Insensibility" puts it so well, those who feel most of others suffer most in war.”

 

[SkyDekker 1,465]

My grandfather flew bomber missions on the B-25 with the 18th Squadron out of Australia flying missions against Japanese targets.

Edited August 17, 2020 by SkyDekker

[wmw999 2,534]

My father was one of few who’d tell wartime stories. He was the exec on a floating dry dock; he never saw a belligerent enemy, and only ever fired his gun in target practice. And he knew how lucky he was; his brother was in the tank corps (including battle of the bulge), and his brother-in-law was a Marine in the pacific theater. 
Wendy P.