dagblog - Comments for "V-J Day August 14, 1945 70th Anniversary of the end of WWII"

Many WWII veterans ended up

trkingmomoe — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 22:34:34 +0000

In reply to An excellent post, trking.

Many WWII veterans ended up in Ohio because they were offered jobs in industry. Growing up you would always see pictures of dads in uniform on display in homes. Saturday morning pancake breakfasts at the local Veterans Hall was a common event or parents going to dances on Friday night at the hall and all the veteran groups would show up to march in parades. Color Guards was a common event at funerals. I remember wearing little red poppy pinned on my dress at school the day after Memorial (Decoration Day) or Veteran's Day in the fall. May Day (1st) we would make little paper baskets and put spring flowers in them and hang them on doors of widows. We would ring the door bells and run away. I think this was more of a regional tradition. I don't think many do this anymore.

There is a lot of memories tied to those years after WWII.

An excellent post, trking.

Oxy Mora — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 16:54:57 +0000

In reply to V-J Day August 14, 1945 70th Anniversary of the end of WWII

An excellent post, trking. Brings back a lot of memories.

Thanks.

trkingmomoe — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 03:09:32 +0000

In reply to I appreciate this post. I've

Thanks.

He was there in the Marianas

trkingmomoe — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 03:05:38 +0000

In reply to The Marines had some very

He was there in the Marianas a little over a year. After the fighting he spent his time on Siapan in a Field Hospital working with nurses. He came back state side and worked at the hospital at Camp Lee, Va. until he mustard out the summer of 46.

I appreciate this post. I've

kyle flynn — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 02:53:43 +0000

In reply to V-J Day August 14, 1945 70th Anniversary of the end of WWII

I appreciate this post. I've been remembering my grandparents all day. Thanks.

Both of my grandfathers volunteered for service during WWII in their thirties. I don't think that was uncommon. My dad's dad fought in Italy and France as part of the 7th Artillery (I think). He never once mentioned the war to any of his grandkids. In fact, none of us knew he was a WWII veteran until his funeral--shit, 34 years ago this week! (If anyone gets a chance to ever watch G.I. Joe with Robert Mitchum and Burgess Merideth, there's my grandpa, Pfc. John Francis Flynn, opening the present of slippers my grandma sent him for Christmas, 1944. True story.) My mom's dad, Lieutenant Commander Gordon Leen was on a destroyer somewhere in the pacific. Growing up I knew he'd been in the Navy during the war, but he never talked about it either. His service dress blues hung in his hall closet as long as I can remember, never touched as far as I could tell. And then there's all the people stateside who volunteered in their own ways: my grandmothers, my great-grandparents, my great aunts and uncles. Remarkable.

The Marines had some very

NCD — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 02:12:42 +0000

In reply to My dad was in the Pacific

The Marines had some very tough going. I had a patient from the 2nd Marines who I knew was a WW2 vet. He told me he was at Guadacanal, Tarawa, Saipan and Tinian. He said after Tinian he was told he shouldn't still be alive and they sent him to do training stateside.

My dad was a 1st Lieutenant

MrSmith1 — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 01:48:28 +0000

In reply to From what I can find the 7th

My dad was a 1st Lieutenant in the Army and was back home by March or April of 1946. ( My sister was born in January of 1947)

My dad was in the Pacific

trkingmomoe — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 23:55:10 +0000

In reply to My father was in the 7th

My dad was in the Pacific Theater also. He fought in the Marianas. He was a Army Medic and sent to Siapan as support for the Marines that initially invaded Siapan the summer of 1944. This included Guam. I don't know what Division he was in. But he did tell us that they fought for several months to secure the Marianas from the Japanese. They were packing up their field hospital for deployment when the word came that Japan had surrendered.

The war WAS OVER for

Richard Day — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 23:36:22 +0000

In reply to V-J Day August 14, 1945 70th Anniversary of the end of WWII

The war WAS OVER for chrissakes. I mean our allies and our forces had already won on the European Front. But this war was gone. And we did it, we accomplished this by getting all of our resources together, which means socialism in the extreme. And it worked. And with all of 'our sins' we vanquished the enemies. We ended up with other enemies later on, but WE won the day and it was over and so were socialistic measures such as coupons and such. And we began making cars again instead of tanks and we basically turned weapons into plowshares and this was a GREAT DAY.

From what I can find the 7th

NCD — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 22:36:55 +0000

In reply to My father was in the 7th

From what I can find the 7th Infantry Division did occupy Japan, but only 3 regiments, starting in 1948.

Marines were often the first ashore even for the occupation. Most of the radiation would be gone by then except for reported caesium 137 contamination around Nagasaki, due to rain causing it to descend to earth after the bomb hit.

Most fallout supposedly went 'out to sea'.

The lethal radiation was from gamma rays from the blast itself.

The first US troops in Nagasaki arrived Sept. 23, 1945, according to a Greg Mitchell who wrote a book on troop exposure called "Atomic Cover-Up". I haven't read it.