ALLIES SWEEP ON IN REICH AS ROUT GROWS; EISENHOWER BIDS ISOLATED NAZIS YIELD (4/1/45)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 4/1/45 | Drew Middleton, Hal Boyle, Clifton Daniel, Sydney Gruson, Bruce Rae, Charles Hurd, Foster Hailey

[exit82]

The most important event of April 1945 is that I will be born. It may not mean much to other people but it certainly does to me.

Well, then, congratulations on your upcoming 70th birthday!

Some don't get the privilege, so embrace your achievement!

[AppyPappy]

That asking why God “allows” something is not always as it seems. There’s a question behind the question.

[colorado tanker]

I don’t know what Churchill thought of Monty. Like henkster, I think that’s something he would never let be publicly known. Winnie was far too astute a student of history, however, not to understand the damage Monty did to his reputation with Market-Garden and the failure on the Scheldt. Still, he assiduously tried to get Ike to put Monty in charge of the One Big Push to Berlin.

[colorado tanker]

Thanks, EV. Quite a story for us to contemplate this Holy Week.

[occamrzr06]

My wife has a subscription to newspapers.com. After searching, I found 3 articles (in addition to the NY Times).

From the News-Herald, Franklin, PA dated 31 March 1945.

“Mrs. Martha Johnson, negro, named her sons Iwo and Jima.

From the Pantagraph, Bloomington, Indiana dated 1 April 1945.

“Mrs. Martha Johnson, colored, has named her two sons Iwo and Jima”.

And from the Tucson Daily Citizen, Tucson AZ, dated 16 May 1945.

“The names which will be weighting down the youth of our nation after this war will cause teachers untold pronunciation difficulties. Already from Washington, D.C., comes the announcement of the birth of twins, Iwo and Jima Johnson. We may expect to find future lists of school children to look something like this: Chichi Haha Jones, Kurabu Zaki Smith, Formosa Brown and Dusseldorf Jackson. - Truax Radio Post.

[colorado tanker]

Thanks, Homer. There is an air of triumph in the stories from the European Theater today. It must have felt amazing at the time.

[henkster]

And from the Tucson Daily Citizen, Tucson AZ, dated 16 May 1945.

“The names which will be weighting down the youth of our nation after this war will cause teachers untold pronunciation difficulties. Already from Washington, D.C., comes the announcement of the birth of twins, Iwo and Jima Johnson. We may expect to find future lists of school children to look something like this: Chichi Haha Jones, Kurabu Zaki Smith, Formosa Brown and Dusseldorf Jackson. - Truax Radio Post.

You had me going there for a minute. It is April 1, after all. I mean, seriously, nobody would give their kids names like that.

[occamrzr06]

That was in the Tucson Paper. I’m not making it up.

[henkster]

Churchill was obligated to promote Monty as the “Conqueror of Berlin.” Winnie was still fighting against the sunset of the British Empire. This was one of the last few chances to preserve something of the Imperial aura.

[henkster]

No, seriously. You think people would give their kids names like Trayvon, Latrina, Jarmetrius, TaiKuando, Raetheon and Purina? No way... ;)

Actually, if that was in the Tucson paper, they were far more prescient than they knew.

[Hebrews 11:6]

I'm not judging anyone here, but I really like the practice, now being eschewed, of using Biblical names. My parents did that, and so did we.

Indeed, we went one step further. We named our daughters Susanna and Joanna, which are both from Luke 8:3. But additionally, we gave them both the middle name Christine, meaning "Christian," so that if in God's providence both my wife and I were to die young, they would both know we hoped they would believe. We're still kicking 35 years later, but both of them came to faith sitting on my lap on Good Friday, 1985, and they continue walking with Him. God is good!

[AU72]

The most important event of April 1945 is that I will be born. It may not mean much to other people but it certainly does to me.

My wife was born in early April of 45. Her grandfather commanded a Transport Task Force for the invasion of Okinawa and I found a 40 second video of him with the Marine division Generals on his bridge just after the landings and 2 days before her birth.

[AU72]

In those days Monty would have been labeled “A confirmed bachelor”.

[AU72]

Churchill was casualty adverse, as far as England was concerned throughout WW2. This was inline with the national mood given the devastation of WW1. Monty became a national hero after Al-alemein and his “set-piece” preps did minimize casualties. Operation Market Basket was way against that grain. If it worked it would have ended the war early but it was a long shot that Eisenhower bought or was forced into. Patton could have breached the Siegfried line in September and reach the Rhine early negating the German Ardennes gambit that the US massive casualties.

What infuriates me is that when Monty finally crossed the Rhine with overwhelming there was nothing between him and Berlin thanks to the Americans breaching the Rhine weeks earlier and he and and the US was told to stop at the Elbe River as agreed to at Yalta.

[EternalVigilance]

Battleships provide protective fire for Marine landings on Okinawa

[GeronL]

imagine the noise from that

[EternalVigilance]

Okinawan villages with camouflaged Japanese Army trucks

[EternalVigilance]

Ear-splitting.

[EternalVigilance]

Marines push to Yae-Take (Yae-Dake), Northern Okinawa

[EternalVigilance]

Navy airplane fires rockets over Ie Shima