Just found out within the last 10 years that a great uncle was gassed in WW1.
Remembering two important World War 2 events
- Thread starter Kinch
- Start date
People always talk about how united we were during WWII, but I doubt people realize that when people found out about Tarawa, the nation’s fabric about came unglued and the public came very close to telling Roosevelt no more. And there were a lot more Tarawas to come. Roosevelt had his work cut out for him and did a wonderful job preparing the public for what was to come.
As a junior high kid living a few blocks away from the VA in Knoxville, my dad, who volunteered at the VA, asked me if I wanted to make visits with him as a member of the Lions Club. We bowled with the Vietnam, Korean and WW II vets, went golfing on the par 3 course with them and visited with a relative who was severely injured while in the service. It was a sobering experience and helped shaped my life. We will never know how many people war affects and we will never know the horrors of war unless we were there.
As an ISU history major from a long time ago, that was not an option because it was too recent to be fully developed historically. I did have 2 courses, over 2 quarters, that examined the lead-up to WWI and the War and another that covered the inter-war period. But mostly I learned in depth about it teaching it for 23 years in either American or World history. By the time I left teaching there had been several in-depth books written that had developed a historical perspective.
Davis County HS used to offer a semester course the civil war and then a 2nd semester course over WW2. I really wish more schools offered just courses that allowed you to go into depth about a topic
Algona has one now. It also has been a source of research on the POW Camp in Algona during WWII. It is an elective and has provided a stream of summer docents and even a couple of interns who went to college for history and/or Museum studies. I hope it continues as the instructor retired and was not replaced.
Kinch, have you viewed this YouTube video about the impact of Tarawa on Nimitz and how it altered his tactics afterward? I saw it only a couple or three days ago. If accurate, Nimitz stands at the peak of American military leadership (imho).
Nimitz, a great man equal to any in our history.
No I haven’t seen it. Thanks for sharing it. This is an excellent documentary. Tarawa was a necessary evil to help win the war. I agree with you. Nimitz is the greatest Admiral our country has ever produced. He was like Grant.
