Friday, April 5, 2013
Thursday, April 4, 2013
World War 2 Notes 4/4/13
11th Grade Notes
1. Four Freedoms Speech - January 4, 1941 - speech by US President Franklin Roosevelt - he knew the US was going to have to get involved in World War 2, so said that everyone is entitled to four freedoms: SPEECH, RELIGION (worship), and freedom from fear and want.
2. The events that lead to Pearl Harbor -
1937 - Japan goes to war with China
July 1939 Roosevelt announces that Treaty of Commerce and Navigation will not be renewed
July 2, 1940 U.S. Congress passes Export Control Act
August Japan declares greater East Asia co-prosperity sphere
September 27 Japan signs Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy
January 1941 Yamamoto prepares plan for attack on Pearl Harbor
July Japanese troops occupy Indochina
October Hirohito gives general approval for Pearl Harbor attack
November 8 Hirohito approves formal battle plan for attack in December
November 26 Japanese attack fleet sets sail from Japan
December 7 Japan launches surprise attack on Pearl Harbor
December 8 United States and Britain declare war on Japan
December 11 Germany declares war on United States
3. Infamy Speech - by Franklin Roosevelt in response to Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
4. Major Battles of World War 2
- Midway - June 4, 1942 - - the United States destroyed the Japanese fleet in the Pacific Ocean and brought the Allies closer to victory
- Normandy - June 6, 1944 turned the war in favor of the Americans, British and other Allies when they landed in Normandy, France
- Iwo Jima - 19 February – 26 March 1945), or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire
- Okinawa, Japan - The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg,[3] was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II.[4][5] The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945.
- Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) - major European battle started by the Germans in response to Normandy, they hoped to drive the Allies (US, England etc) out.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Love Letter from the Front
France, July 22, 1944
Darling:
...Yesterday I had to visit all the units again, to get statements for my report. The regiment is in contact with the enemy, so such trips always have their skin-prickling moments. I got back pretty tired about 7 o'clock, just in time to get a phone call from the CO of one of Sirrine's battalions, also in the line, requesting me to come up to discuss personal problems of his body-guard, a fine young fellow who had simultaneously received word that his sister, an army nurse, and a brother, a flyer, had both been killed in the So. Pacific, and that his remaining brother had been critically wounded with another division here in France.
While up there, I hit the favorite hours for Jerry's activities, and, frankly, pretty nearly had the pants scared off me, with samples of shelling, mortar-fire, and strafing. I got back at midnight, having driven the jeep myself all day (my driver being on guard) slipping and slewing through mud axle deep whenever I got off the surfaced roads, which was frequently. I hate to admit it, but after a day like that, I feel my years. Yeah, man! War is a young man's game!...
News on 90th has been released. Maybe you know something now of what the boys have gone through: constant contact with the enemy since D-Day. They've taken their losses, too. Somebody says "Old Bill got it today." "No!" you say. "Son-of-a-bitch!" And you go on about your business, with a little more emptiness inside, a little more tiredness, a little more hatred of everything concerning war.
There is a certain cemetery where some of my closest friends in the division lie. I saw it grow -- shattered bodies lying there waiting for graves to be dug. Now it is filled. The graves are neat and trim, each with its cross. Occasionally I visit it when passing by. Always there are flowers on the graves: Sometimes a potted geranium has been newly brought in; sometimes there is a handful of daisies. The French people, especially the children, seem to have charged themselves with this little attention. Our bombers are roaring overhead just now, in the hazy afterglow of sunset. In a few seconds I'll hear the crunch of bombs -- a good-night kiss for the Nazis. There they go!
The war news is good; but we're fighting over optimism. I suppose people at home are elated; the boys up front are still in their fox-holes.
I'll try to write at least a note every day or so. Take care of yourself. I'm fine.
Love,
John
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