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World War II Important Information.
Black people have a great role in the Second World War. We live in a time where some in Florida, Texas, and in other places of America want to sugarcoat black history. Yet, we won't do this. The following facts outline the critical role of African Americans in the history of World War II. There are many people don't know about black people fighting in Normandy, the extensive history of The Tuskegee Airmen, and the role of the 6888th Battalion of black women soldiers who sent mail in Europe during WWII too. Now, it is time to show the full breadth of the contributions of African Americans in World War II indeed. African Americans wanted to defeat two enemies during WWII which was fascism (found in Nazi Germany and Japan) and racial oppression (found in America). The Pittsburgh Courier was one of the greatest and influential African American newspapers during WWII and beyond. It promoted the Double V Campaign to seek victory against the Axis Powers overseas and victory against racism and discrimination in America. The war against fascism and racial prejudice are legitimate. Many African American men and women were in the Armed Forces and in the domestic factories. There were a high enlistment rate of black people in the U.S. Army, but African American still experienced discrimination and racism in the Armed For example, at parades, church services, in transportation and canteens, they were kept separate. Many scholars and historians wanted the overseas residents to not interact with African American troops and punished African Americans for dealing with people overseas (like the Stuttgart incident when a thousand German men and girls were sexually assaulted by troops who were not African Americans, but discrimination against black U.S. troops existed). Early in the war, there was the executive order of FEPC that banned discrimination in federal employment on the basis of race, color, creed, or national origin. Racists like Senator James O. Eastland hated the FEPC. About 1 million African Americans had defense jobs at the time. The NAACP worked to fight peonage in the rural south, violations of due process rights in employment in the North, and seek employment rights. An increase of the enrollment in the NAACP existed by the coalition of black troops who hated racism in America. African American soldiers were discriminated against and in 1943, there were 240 violent racial incidents in forty seven cities around America. Many letters from black Americans soldiers sent to Judge William Hastie, the civilian aide for race relations in the war department found evidence of bad treatment of African American troops (one letter from a black soldiers said that even German Nazi prisoners were treated better than them. Another letter said that camp Livingston in Louisiana was terrible for black American soldiers).
Many black American soldiers were given blue discharges preventing them the benefits of the G.I. Bill by the Veterans Administration (VA). The blue discharge or blue ticket is an administrative discharge formed in 1916 to replace discharge without honor and the unclassified discharge. It was neither honorable nor dishonorable. During the WWII era, about 22.2 of all blue discharges were given to black people, but African American made up 6.5 percent of the Army back then. By October 1945, the Pittsburgh Courier opposed the discharge and its abuses. Congress banned the blue discharge system in 1947 after the House Committee on Military Affairs held hearings about it. Still, the VA continued its practice of denying G.I. Bill benefits to blue tickets.
There were tons of African American women soldiers in World War. There has been more popularity shown to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. They were stationed overseas in England and France. They served in the military in the Women's Army Corps or WAC. I wrote about the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion for almost 10 years now. Tyler Perry to his credit had produced a Netflix story about them called The Six Triple Eight. He directed the film. The film starred an ensemble, all-star cast who are Kerry Washington, Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Kylie Jefferson, Shanice Shantay, Sarah Jeffery, Pepi Sonuga, Moriah Brown, Gregg Sulkin, Susan Sarandon, Dean Norris, Sam Waterson, and Oprah Winfrey. The 6888th were headed by the iconic military leader Major Charity Adams. There were about 855 women in the organization. Their motto was "No mail, no morale." The 688th worked as postal clerks, cooks, mechanics, and other positions. It had the companies of A, B, C, and D. By 1944, Mary McLeod Bethune worked to get First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to allow black women to have a role in WWII overseas. Black newspapers also wanted black women in meaningful Army jobs. Many women were in the WAC before joining 6888th like Alyce Dixon. The 6888th left America to Glasgow, Scotland via the fast liner Ile de France on February 12, 1945. The battalion traveled to Birmingham, England. February 15 the unit was inspected and marched in review before Lt. Gen. John C. H. Lee, Commanding General, Communications Zone, European Theater of Operations (ETO), and Maj Gen. Robert McGowan Littlejohn, Chief Quartermaster, ETO, whose responsibilities included the mail. They improved U.S. Army moral by sending mail to places. The 6888th used a method to handle the backlog of 17 million items by using cards and military serial numbers to distinguish between them. They worked 7 days a week in three shifts. Each shift deals with ca. 65,000 pieces of mail. The unit handled mail for over 4 million military and civilian personnel and cleared backlogs in the UK and France.
Early in the operation, a general attempted to send an officer to "tell them how to do it right", but Major Adams responded, "Sir, over my dead body, sir!" By the time the same general visited the unit in France, his attitude had changed and he appreciated the 6888th's accomplishments. The battalion finished what was supposed to be a six-month task in three months in May 1945. They lived in segregated locations. They experienced cold weather, so women had to wear coats and extra clothes when working in unheated temporary buildings. There was sexist and racist treatment by male soldiers, but they fought back. Many women felt that the European local people treated them better than people did in the United States. A male chaplain working at Birmingham caused problems for Adams, ordering her soldiers to report to his office to help him and be counseled instead of reporting to work, causing them to be considered absent without leave (AWOL). Adams had to 'counsel' him to let the women alone, "reminding him that she was in charge of the women's assignments." After the backlog in Birmingham was finished, the 688th crossed the England Channel to Le Havre, France on June 8, 1945 (after VE Day of May 8). They went on train to Rouen , France. They handled another backlog of mail, some letters being three years old. The military police in the WAC unit were not allowed to have weapons, so they used unarmed Brazilian jiu-jitsu combat methods to keep out "unwanted visitors." The 6888th participated in a parade ceremony at the place where Joan of Arc was executed.
By October 1945, the mail in Rouen had been cleared and the 6888th was sent to Paris. They marched through the city and were housed in a luxurious hotel, where they received first-class treatment. During this time, because the war was over, the battalion was reduced by 300 women, with a further 200 to be discharged in January 1946. In February 1946, the unit returned to the United States where it was disbanded at Fort Dix, New Jersey. There was no public recognition for their service at the time.
Members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion were awarded the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal during their service. In 2019, the U.S. Army awarded the 6888th a Meritorious Unit Commendation. On February 25, 2009, the battalion was honored at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. The event was attended by three former unit members of the 6888th, Alyce Dixon, Mary Ragland, and Gladys Shuster Carter. Dixon and Ragland were also honored by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in 2009. On March 15, 2016, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was inducted into the U.S. Army Women's Foundation Hall of Fame. Battalion veteran Elsie Garris attended the induction ceremony. On November 30, 2018, Fort Leavenworth dedicated a monument to the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Five women from the battalion—Maybeel Campbell, Elizabeth Johnson, Lena King, Anna Robertson, and Deloris Ruddock—were present at the dedication. On May 13, 2019, US Ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson presented a blue plaque to King Edward's School to commemorate the 6888th's achievements while in Birmingham. The plaque is now on the itinerary of guided tours organised by Birmingham's Black Heritage Walks Network.
On February 12, 2021, U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) introduced bipartisan legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the members of the Women's Army Corps, who were assigned to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion during World War II. U.S. Representative Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) introduced the companion legislation in the House, where it passed unanimously. On March 14, 2022, President Biden signed a bipartisan bill to award the battalion the Congressional Gold Medal. Three women from the battalion who were killed in a Jeep accident—Mary H. Bankston, Mary Jewel Barlow and Dolores Mercedes Browne—were buried at the Normandy American Cemetery, three of only four women to be interred there alongside more than 9,000 men. (The fourth, Elizabeth Ann Richardson, was a Red Cross volunteer killed in a Piper Cub plane crash near Rouen in July 1945). Only three members survived until 2022: Fannie McClendon, Lena King, and Anna Mae Robertson.
Tons of black American soldiers served America with distinction during World War II. There were 125,000 African Americans who were overseas in World War II (or 6.25 percent of all abroad soldiers). Famous segregated units, such as the Tuskegee Airmen and 761st Tank Battalion and the lesser-known but equally distinguished 452nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, proved their value in combat, and 2800 black troops who volunteered as replacements in the winter of 1944 not only served their country, but also their people in the fight desegregation of all U.S. armed forces, done by order of President Harry S. Truman in July 1948 via Executive Order 9981 in the middle of the Korean War. The Navy has hardcore racism problems back then. America banned African Americans from joining in the Navy since 1919. When WWII happened, black men could not be sailors, not serve in combat units, not serve overseas, nor step one foot onto a fleet capital ship unless they had a separate "Stewards" rating. "The Navy was firm, and mostly successful" notes the naval curator for National World War Museum, "in its efforts to keep African Americans in menial roles." For many, enlisting in the Navy was a rude awakening to an even more segregated and demeaning life than they'd had as civilians. They slept in separate quarters, were treated poorly and their "Steward" branch gave limited opportunity for advancement - known as the "Messman" Branch. Serving in the Navy for a black man meant literally serving: they waited on tables, did the cooking and cleaned up after white officers. In fact, white sailors weren't allowed to join the Messman Branch, which might also contain Chinese or Filipinos. This would change.
However, in a world war being fought on a planet of two-thirds water, the Navy was bound to change. By June, 1942, enlisted black men were given sailor rates, if not sailor status and by June, 1945, as the Navy hopped from island to bloody island, 165,000 black men (and some women) were serving overseas. Of these, 72,000 were still in Steward class, but others were put on some construction jobs or work in shore stations. The first African Americans to serve in the modern Navy at any general rank were the members of the Navy B-1 Band, which was the Navy's first African American band, formed during World War II. Before the intervention of President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941, black Americans were only allowed in the Navy as kitchen help. The formation of this band marked a pivotal moment in Navy history, as it was the first time African Americans served at any general rank outside of kitchen duties. The band, composed initially of 45 members, served as a beacon of change and left a lasting legacy both within the Navy and the Chapel Hill community, where they were stationed. Their story, though not widely known, reflects a significant stride towards racial integration in the U.S. military.
The Port Chicago disaster on July 17, 1944, was an explosion of about 2,000 tons of ammunition as it was being loaded onto ships by black Navy stevedores under pressure from their white officers who were having a contest to see how quickly the men could load the ammo by hand, rather than using the lift. This obvious violation of safety regulations, instigated entirely by white officers, led to a massive explosion that killed 320 military and civilian workers, most of them black. The blatant disregard for the black Navy men's safety led to the Port Chicago Mutiny, the only case of a full military trial for mutiny in the history of the U.S. Navy. This was against 50 black stevedores who refused to continue loading ammunition under the same dangerous conditions. The trial was observed by the then-young lawyer and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and ended in conviction of all of the defendants. But the trial was immediately criticized for not abiding by the applicable laws on mutiny, and became influential in the discussion of desegregation.
Even Doris Miller, the valiant Navy mess attendant, who, with no military training at all, grabbed an anti-aircraft weapon and started blasting away at Japanese aircraft bombing Pearl Harbor until he ran out of ammunition, felt the sting of racial injustice despite his instant fame. Miller was not acknowledged for this act of service for 6 months by navy officials, with black journalists having to campaign for his recognition until he became the first African-American recipient of the Navy Cross, awarded for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Nonetheless, the Navy still refused to identify Miller for another 3 months and rebuffed calls for Miller to come to shore and receive the award from President Roosevelt in person. The story of Miller is one that was often repeated time and time again with other African-American sailors whose awarding of the Navy Cross were delayed until decades after the conflict ceased. Alonzo Swann and Eugene Smith were given Navy Crosses decades after the men enlisted in the Navy for their quick action as anti-aircraft gunners aboard the USS Intrepid. The teenaged Swann and Smith, manning Gun Tub No. 10, shot down an incoming Kamikaze pilot as the ship coasted through the Leyte Gulf. All but twenty of his fellow sailors bailed from their posts. Even as the remaining gunmen were successful in shooting down the pilot, the resulting crash killed 9 men and injured 6. Official Naval news releases were sent out announcing the award of the Navy Cross but the high honor was crossed out and replaced by the words, "Bronze Star metals." This was then rectified in 1993 and 1994 respectively. African Americans served in the submarines, in the U.S. Coast Guard, and part of the Naval Reserve (like Paul Richmond).
World War Two began with the individual branches having their own air corps, as they were known and these were as segregated as everything else in the army. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. served as commander of the Tuskegee Airmen, whose story of determination to fly in an army air corps that wouldn't hear of it. He later went on to become the first African-American general in the United States Air Force. His father, Benjamin O. Davis Sr., was the first African-American brigadier general in the Army (1940). Black people fought in combat. During the Battle of the Bulge, many black and white American men were fighting the Nazis side by aide for the first time in World War II.
And May, 1944, George Patton, charging across France, and desperate for more tanks for his Third Army, was told by the War Dept. the only tank unit left in the entire country was the 761st, who were "Negro,' "Who the h___ asked for color?" Patton snapped, "I asked for tankers." And he got them." The 800 men of the 761st tank group consisted of 54 M4 Sherman tanks in three companies and called themselves the "Black Panthers," a panther as their insignia. Patton welcomed them with typical bluntness: "Men, you are the first Negro tankers ever to fight in the American army. I would never have asked for you if you were not good. I have nothing but the best in my army. I don't care what color you are as long as you go up there and kill those Kr____." By the end of the war, the 761st were known as Patton's Panthers; they had been in combat for 183 continuous days, fought in four major Allied campaigns in six different countries, starting with the Battle of the Bulge, and had inflicted more than 130,000 casualties on the enemy. Eight black enlisted men received battlefield commissions (meaning they were given a higher rank on the battlefield) while 391 received decorations for heroism, including one Medal of Honor awarded posthumously to Sergeant Ruben Rivers, who threw himself in front of a burning tank to save the other tankers; there were seven Silver Stars, 56 Bronze Stars, 246 Purple Hearts. Three officers and 31 enlisted men had been killed in action, and 22 officers and 180 enlisted men had been wounded. In 1998, the 761st Tank Battalion received a much delayed Presidential Unit Citation. Eisenhower allowed many black and white units to fight side by side. An Army survey of 256 found what white officiers in the summer of 1945 mentioned that almost 100 percent of them were positive about black people fighting side by side with white people. Black infantry volunteers fought with the First Army into Germany through VE Day. Many were sent to North Africa, Italy, Europe, and the Pacific. The Black Quartermaster Corps helped with the success of the Normandy invasion by handler trucks and supplies involved in the invasion. They handled burying the dead too.
In 1945, Frederick C. Branch became the first African-American United States Marine Corps officer. However, in the still-segregated military, African-American officers were not allowed to command white troops until Truman integrated the troops in 1948. A blue plaque commemorating the contribution of African-American soldiers based in Wales during World War II was installed by the Nubian Jak Community Trust at RAF Carew Cheriton on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, June 6, 2019. Many African American soldiers in the UK had experienced less racism than in America. There were many African Americans in Army units like the 92nd Infantry Division, Army Air Corps, the U.S. Marine, the U.S Navy, etc. Many African American soldiers received Medal of Honor awards posthumously.
The Holocaust lasted from 1941 to 1945. It was one of the worst genocides in human history. Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered six million Jewish people in Europe (or about 2/3s of the European Jewish population). The murders were done by mass shootings, poison gas in extermination camps (like Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor and Chelmno in Poland including other places). Nazi persecutions in other forms of the Holocaust murdered millions of non-Jewish people, civilians, and prisoners of war. The Nazis believed in the racist view that they must form living space of only Aryan white people to occupy. The Nazis wanted to force all Jewish people to leave Europe. Many Jewish survivors emigrated outside of Europe after the war. A few Holocaust perpetrators faced criminal trials. Billions of dollars in reparations have been paid, although falling short of the Jewish people's losses. The Holocaust has also been commemorated in museums, memorials, movies, television shows, books, and other forms of culture. It has become central to Western historical consciousness as a symbol of the ultimate human evil. the word Holocaust comes a Greek word meaning burnt offering. The terms of Shoah and the Final Solution refer to the Holocaust too or the genocide of Jewish people. The roots of the Holocaust existed long before 1941.
Jewish people lived in Europe for more than 2,000 years. By the Middle Ages in Europe, Jewish people were victims of anti-Semitic attacks in part because of a misinterpretation theology that falsely blamed all Jewish people for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Many Jewish people were murdered, had their property stolen, and were maligned. As late as the 19th century, many European countries gave full citizenship rights to Jewish people. By the early twentieth century, most Jewish people in central and western Europe were well integrated into society, while in eastern Europe, where emancipation had arrived later, many Jewish human beings continued to live in small towns, spoke Yiddish, and practiced Orthodox Judaism. By the 20th century, pogroms harmed Jewish people. The Nazis and anti-Semites blamed the Jewish people for WWI, the Russian Revolution, and everything under the sun. The Nazi Party with its leader, Hitler believed that Jewish people controlled the Soviet Union and the West to plot to destroy Germany. The Nazis ruled Germany by 1933.
The Nazis formed a system of camps for extrajudicial imprisonment. The Nazis murdered Jewish people, Roma, Sinti, homosexuals, socialists, communists, political opponents, liberals, Freemasons, socialists, communists, prisoners of war, and other human beings. The Nazis sterilized 400,000 people and made others to have forced abortions too. The Nazis ruled public and private life in Germany. The Nazis used racist and anti-Semitic propaganda to inflame the public to advance anti-Semitism via newspapers, speeches, books, etc. There were about 500,000 German Jewish people in 1933. The Nazis banned Jewish people from working in jobs like civil service. The Nazis passed the Nuremberg Laws in 1935 that banned Jewish people to have full citizenship, restricted Jewish economic activity, and criminalized new marriages among Jewish people and non-Jewish Germans. Jewish people were forced out of the school system. By 1939, anti-Jewish violence increased.
As a result of local and popular pressure, many small towns became entirely free of Jewish human beings and as many as a third of Jewish businesses may have been forced to close. Anti-Jewish violence was even worse in areas annexed by Nazi Germany. On November 9-10, 1938, the Nazis organized Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), a nationwide pogrom. Over 7,500 Jewish shops (out of 9,000) were looted, more than 1,000 synagogues were damaged or destroyed, at least 90 Jewish people were murdered, and as many as 30,000 Jewish men were arrested, although many were released within weeks. German Jews were levied a special tax that raised more than 1 billion Reichsmarks (RM). Many Jewish people left to South America, South Africa, and Palestine. Many Nazi occupied nations like Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia passed antisemitic legislation in the 1930s and the 1940s. The Auschwitz concentration camp was established to hold those members of the Polish intelligentsia not killed in the purges. Around 400,000 Poles were expelled from the Wartheland in western Poland to the General Governorate occupation zone from 1939 to 1941, and the area was resettled by ethnic Germans from eastern Europe.
The war provided cover for "Aktion T4", the murder of around 70,000 institutionalized Germans with mental or physical disabilities at specialized killing centers using poison gas. The victims included all 4,000 to 5,000 institutionalized Jewish people. Despite efforts to maintain secrecy, knowledge of the killings leaked out and Hitler ordered a halt to the centralized killing program in August 1941. Decentralized killings via denial of medical care, starvation, and poisoning caused an additional 120,000 deaths by the end of the war. Many of the same personnel and technologies were later used for the mass murder of Jewish people. The Nazis wanted to resettle Jewish people. Many synagogues were burned in Poland. Some were forced to live in ghettos in Poland. Rape and sexual exploitation of Jewish and non-Jewish women in eastern Europe was common. Hitler invaded the Soviet Union to steal Soviet lands, exterminate Jewish people, and replace them with Nordic peoples. Many people died of starvation in the war. Many Soviet prisoners of war died of starvation and murder. Local Ukrainian killed at least 3,000 Jewish people in the 1941 Lviv pogroms. Thousands of Jewish people were killed in mass shootings. By September 1941, all German Jewish people were forced to wear a yellow star. Many Nazis deported German Jewish people, Romani people, and other human beings for execution.
It took the Nazis several months after this to organize a continent-wide genocide. Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA), convened the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942. This high-level meeting was intended to coordinate anti-Jewish policy. The majority of Holocaust killings were carried out in 1942, with it being the peak of the genocide, as over 3 million Jewish were murdered, with 20 or 25 percent of Holocaust victims dying before early 1942 and the same number surviving by the end of the year. Extermination camps had gas vans. There were gas chambers, and rail lines sending people to their deaths in Chelmno and other concentration camps. Zyklon B was used to murder people. Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka reported a combined revenue of RM 178.7 million from belongings stolen from their victims, far exceeding costs. About half of the Jewish people killed in the Holocaust died by poison gas. Thousands of Romani people were also murdered in the extermination camps. Prisoner uprisings at Treblinka and Sobibor meant that these camps were shut down earlier than envisioned. Many Jewish people were forced to do labor, many had their body parts destroyed to form objects like furniture, and some were victims of perverted experiments done by evil people like Mengele. About 200,000 Jewish people survived by hiding. Many non-Jewish people saved Jewish lives, and Jewish people were in resistance movements in most European nations. In December 1942, the Allies, then known as the United Nations, adopted a joint declaration condemning the systematic murder of Jewish human beings. Most neutral countries in Europe maintained a pro-German foreign policy during the war. Nevertheless, some Jewish folks were able to escape to neutral countries, whose policies ranged from rescue to non-action.
During the war the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) raised $70 million and in the years after the war it raised $300 million. This money was spent aiding emigrants and providing direct relief in the form of parcels and other assistance to Jewish people living under German occupation, and after the war to Holocaust survivors. The United States banned sending relief into German-occupied Europe after entering the war, but the JDC continued to do so. From 1939 to 1944, 81,000 European Jewish people emigrated with the JDC's assistance. Many Jewish people were deported to Greece and other places by 1943 when the Nazis would lose the war. Many Jewish people received reparations after the war, and many Nazi war criminals have been brought to justice. Simon Wiesenthal was one of the greatest Jewish Nazi hunters of all time. We know him as a famous author too. Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi, was executed in Israel by 1962 for his role in the Holocaust. Black people, biracial people, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Slavic people, and other ethnic groups died in the Holocaust too. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt could have done more to allow more Jewish people to go into America during WWII.
Between 1945 and 2018, Germany paid $86.8 billion in restitution and compensation to Holocaust survivors and heirs. In 1952, West Germany negotiated an agreement to pay DM 3 billion (around $714 million) to Israel and DM 450 million (around $107 million) to the Claims Conference. Germany paid pensions and other reparations for harm done to some Holocaust survivors. Other countries have paid restitution for assets stolen from Jewish people from these countries. Most Western European countries restored some property to Jewish human beings after the war, while communist countries nationalized many formerly Jewish assets, meaning that the overall amount restored to Jewish human beings has been lower in those countries. Poland is the only member of the European Union that never passed any restitution legislation. Many restitution programs fell short of restoration of prewar assets, and in particular, large amounts of immovable property was never returned to survivors or their heirs. The Holocaust is an example of how evil some humans can be, and how we must never repeat it again.
The internment of Japanese Americans was another evil. During World War II, America forcibly relocated and incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in ten concentration camps operated by the War Relocation Authority (WRA), mostly in the western interior of the country. About two-thirds were U.S. citizens. These actions were initiated by Executive Order 9066, issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, following the outbreak of war with the Empire of Japan in December 1941. About 127,000 Japanese Americans then lived in the continental U.S., of which about 112,000 lived on the West Coast. About 80,000 were Nisei ('second generation'; American-born Japanese with U.S. citizenship) and Sansei ('third generation', the children of Nisei). The rest were Issei ('first generation') immigrants born in Japan, who were ineligible for citizenship. In Hawaii, where more than 150,000 Japanese Americans comprised more than one-third of the territory's population, only 1,200 to 1,800 were incarcerated.
The American government tried to justified this act for the sake of National Security, but some of the most brave fighters against the Axis Powers were Japanese Americans. Also, there is no excuse to steal the resources and lands from innocent human beings. Also, thousands of German and Italian Americans were placed in other internment camps. The Japanese Americans were placed in concentration camps in California, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Arkansas. Some were placed in Canadian camps by Canadian governmental leaders. Internees were prohibited from taking more than they could carry into the camps, and many were forced to sell some or all of their property, including their homes and businesses. At the camps, which were surrounded by barbed wire fences and patrolled by armed guards, internees often lived in overcrowded barracks with minimal furnishing.
Many Japanese immigrations came to Hawaii and the West Coast because a recession in Japan by the Meiji Restoration. From 1869 to 1924, about 200,000 Japanese people immigrated to the islands of Hawaii to seek work on the islands' sugar plantation. About 180,000 people went to the U.S. mainland in the West Coast mostly to form farms and own small businesses. Most arrived before 1908, when the Gentlemen's Agreement between Japan and the United States banned the immigration of unskilled laborers. A loophole allowed the wives of men who were already living in the US to join their husbands. The practice of women marrying by proxy and immigrating to the U.S. resulted in a large increase in the number of marriages. Many white racists and xenophobes opposed Japanese immigration to the States. Racist groups like the Asiatic Exclusion League, the California Joint Immigration Committee, and the Native Sons of the Golden West organized in response to the rise of Asian immigration. Their pressure caused the racist Immigration Act of 1924 to ban Chinese and Asian people from immigrating to America along with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. The U.S. banned Japanese immigrations form being naturalized citizens. They relied on their children to rent or buy property. Japanese Americans worked in irrigation, cultivated fruits, and other foods. Many formed schools, did charitable work, and helped America in many ways.
In the 1930s, the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), concerned as a result of Imperial Japan's rising military power in Asia, began to conduct surveillance in Japanese American communities in Hawaii. Starting in 1936, at the behest of President Roosevelt, the ONI began to compile a "special list of those Japanese Americans who would be the first to be placed in a concentration camp in the event of trouble" between Japan and the United States. In 1939, again by order of the President, the ONI, Military Intelligence Division, and FBI began working together to compile a larger Custodial Detention Index. Early in 1941, Roosevelt commissioned Curtis Munson to conduct an investigation on Japanese Americans living on the West Coast and in Hawaii. After working with FBI and ONI officials and interviewing Japanese Americans and those familiar with them, Munson determined that the "Japanese problem" was nonexistent. His final report to the President, submitted November 7, 1941, found that Japanese Americans were very loyal to America. A subsequent report by Kenneth Ringle (ONI), delivered to the President in January 1942, also found little evidence to support claims of Japanese American disloyalty and argued against mass incarceration.
Still, President Franklin Roosevelt was wrong to promote the internment of Japanese Americans. FDR held racist views about Japanese people as his articles in the Macon Telegraph proven. He support California band on land ownership by first generation Japanese. In 1936, he privately wrote desiring Japanese people placed on a list to be placed in a concentration camp. After Pearl Harbor, advisors like John Franklin Carter wanted Japanese Americans to be defended of their rights. At first, many Americans supported Japanese Americans. After Pearl Harbor in six weeks after the events, most of the American public had a hostie attitude about Japanese Americans. Even J. Edgar Hoover said that Japanese Americans were not doing espionage against America. Executive Order 9066, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, authorized military commanders to designate "military areas" at their discretion, "from which any or all persons may be excluded." Initially, Oregon's governor Charles A. Sprague opposed the incarceration, and as a result, he decided not to enforce it in the state and he also discouraged residents from harassing their fellow citizens, the Nisei. He turned against the Japanese by mid-February 1942, days before the executive order was issued, but he later regretted this decision and he attempted to atone for it for the rest of his life. Members of some Christian religious groups (such as Presbyterians), particularly those who had formerly sent missionaries to Japan, were among opponents of the incarceration policy. Some Baptist and Methodist churches, among others, also organized relief efforts to the camps, supplying inmates with supplies and information. The NAACP, NCJW, and George S. Schuyler opposed the interment camps against Japanese Americans. The Ringle report would have undermined the administration's position of the military necessity for such action, as it concluded that most Japanese Americans were not a national security threat, and that allegations of communication espionage had been found to be without basis by the FBI and Federal Communications Commission.
The WPA or the Works Projects Administration helped to build and staff the camps in the early period. The Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA) was formed by the Western Defense Command to handle the removal of Japanese Americans to go to inland concentration camps on April 9, 1942. The camps had barbed fire, bad conditions, some education, and sports. After these injustices, Japanese Americans fought the Axis Powers with courage and distinction. The 100th/442n Regimental Combat Team were of Japanese descent who fought in Europe. Many of them liberated one of the labor camps of the original Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945. They stopped a death march in southern Bavaria on May 2, 1945.
In its 1944 decision Korematsu v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the removals under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court limited its decision to the validity of the exclusion orders, avoiding the issue of the incarceration of U.S. citizens without due process, but ruled on the same day in Ex parte Endo that a loyal citizen could not be detained, which began their release. On December 17, 1944, the exclusion orders were rescinded, and nine of the ten camps were shut down by the end of 1945. Japanese Americans were initially barred from U.S. military service, but by 1943, they were allowed to join, with 20,000 serving during the war. Over 4,000 students were allowed to leave the camps to attend college. Hospitals in the camps recorded 5,981 births and 1,862 deaths during incarceration.
The Ringle report would have undermined the administration's position of the military necessity for such action, as it concluded that most Japanese Americans were not a national security threat, and that allegations of communication espionage had been found to be without basis by the FBI and Federal Communications Commission
In the 1970s, under mounting pressure from the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and redress organizations, President Jimmy Carter appointed the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) to investigate whether the internment had been justified. In 1983, the commission's report, Personal Justice Denied, found little evidence of Japanese disloyalty and concluded that internment had been the product of racism. It recommended that the government pay reparations to the detainees. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which officially apologized and authorized a payment of $20,000 (equivalent to $52,000 in 2023) to each former detainee who was still alive when the act was passed. The legislation admitted that the government's actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership." By 1992, the U.S. government eventually disbursed more than $1.6 billion (equivalent to $4.12 billion in 2023) in reparations to 82,219 Japanese Americans who had been incarcerated. The internment of Japanese Americans was immoral and especially in our time in 2025, we must forever reject racism, xenophobia, and all forms of bigotry
By Timothy
Saturday, December 28, 2024
Friday, December 27, 2024
30 Black Designers Who Shaped Fashion History - Black History Month African-American Fashion.
Friday News.
Providentially, it is the right time to write about the reason for the season. Over 2,000 years ago, the Roman Empire (which spread from Iraq to Great Britian) occupied much of the Middle East from Iraq to Israel. They dominated civilization and utilized an oppressive system of imperialism and Empire. In Israel, the Jewish people (Arabic people and other human beings) were subjugated in a vicious manner. Their religious liberty rights were restricted, and they paid taxes to the Roman Empire too. The Edomite Herod Antipas was involved in the murder of John the Baptist in a conspiracy. This was in the time of the Emperors of Augustus and Tiberius. Faithful religious Jewish people refused to worship Greco-Roman gods, and many of them experienced harsh oppression. Later, a star was in the night sky, and wise men came to see a child that would change history forever. Yeshua was a person who condemned materialism, shown compassion to the poor, prevented a mob from killing a woman accused of adultery, and promoted the Gospel of love and righteousness. His followers, the apostles, risked their lives to spread the Gospel. Many of the apostles would be murdered, the Apostle John was in exile in Patmos, and other followers of Jesus Christ would be murdered back then and to this very day today in Nigeria, in India, Indonesia, and in other parts of the world. His existence has been mentioned in the New Testament, by Thallus, by Josephus, by Tactius, the Talmud, Mar bar Serapion, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, and other human beings like early Christians themselves. In the Christian faith, Yeshua died on the cross, resurrected 3 days later, and ascended into Heaven to ascend to the right hand of God the Father. Yeshua was a rabbi, a carpenter, a leader, a prophet, and whose sacrifice saved the sins of the whole world as the Son of living God.
The messages of salvation, freedom, and the priesthood of all believers were very revolutionary back then. From the Virgin Birth to the Crucifixion and Resurrection, the Christian faith has grown over the course over 2,000 years. Now, we live in a crossroads of our existence with human rights being on the line. Yet, we still have that transcendent hope and faith, because resiliency is part and parcel of human history. Yeshua was a revolutionary. He said that the Kingdom of God is within you, I and my Father are one, Blessed are the poor, love your neighbors, and disagreed with the hypocritical religious schools of that time (among the Pharisees, Sadducees, etc.). Many centuries ago, people couldn't read the Bible in their own language. William Tyndale was a heroic man who translated the Bible into English, and he was murdered by the governing authorities back then unjustly for doing legitimate work. Many Baptists and Anabaptists people were imprisoned and murdered for refusing to baptize infants.
So, the faith we embrace has been influenced by the suffering of the martyrs who risked their lives for us. It took faith and action to end overt legalized slavery, to defeat the Nazis during WWII, and to get civil rights legislation passed. We honor the story of Jesus Christ to see that miracles can happen. Being born is a miracle, having the opportunity to read these words today is a miracle, and charities saving tons of lives via the ages of time are miracles too. We live in unique times. There has been an increase of xenophobia in America when some people want mass deportations, even splitting families if necessary. You have some people who love book bans, want no regulations of guns, desire no regulations of environmental issues, and seek political divisions to be the order of the day. We reject bigotry and intolerance of our neighbors, and we want real solutions to complicated issues. From chariots to Iphone, our technological development has been awe inspiring, but we have to have a sense of integrity and morality in our lives too. You have to promote love and justice. Love and justice go hand in hand. After the Roman Empire is gone, after the 2nd Temple is gone, and after many changes, we are still here to express our faith and to believe in the power of the Messiah of the Universe.
People who know about genetics and do research into family history talk about maternal and paternal haplogroups all of the time. What does this mean? Men and women (who are relatives) inherit mitochondrial DNA from their biological mothers spanning thousands of years. This mtDNA is found among individuals who share a mother having the same maternal haplogroup. The mitochondrial DNA (that has mtDNA) is found outside of the nucleus. mtDNA doesn't recombine with other types of DNA. So, your mother, you, your brother, your sister, etc. would share the same maternal haplogroup as you. All sons inherit their Y chromosomes form their biological fathers, so a father and his son share a Y chromosome or paternal haplogroup.
The Y chromosome does recombination with the X chromosome but only does at the ends. The Y chromosome is a reflection of our ancient paternal ancestry. What is a haplogroup? Haplogroups are genetic classifications or ancestral groups within a population. They are defined by shared, inherited genetic markers or mutations that are passed down from a common ancestor. Scientists use haplogroups to trace human beings' migrations throughout the Earth. Genetic tests can help people to define their own haplogroups. There is autosomal DNA too. So, haplogroups are like imprints of our ancestry that we can trace thousands of years in the past to our generation.
By Timothy
Thursday, December 26, 2024
Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Holidays News Updates.
People who know about genetics and do research into family history talk about maternal and paternal haplogroups all of the time. What does this mean? Men and women (who are relatives) inherit mitochondrial DNA from their biological mothers spanning thousands of years. This mtDNA is found among individuals who share a mother having the same maternal haplogroup. The mitochondrial DNA (that has mtDNA) is found outside of the nucleus. mtDNA doesn't recombine with other types of DNA. So, your mother, you, your brother, your sister, etc. would share the same maternal haplogroup as you. All sons inherit their Y chromosomes from their biological fathers, so a father and his son share a Y chromosome or paternal haplogroup. The Y chromosome does recombination with the X chromosome but only does at the ends. The Y chromosome is a reflection of our ancient paternal ancestry. What is a haplogroup? Haplogroups are genetic classifications or ancestral groups within a population. They are defined by shared, inherited genetic markers or mutations that are passed down from a common ancestor. Scientists use haplogroups to trace human beings' migrations throughout the Earth. Genetic tests can help people to define their own haplogroups. There is autosomal DNA too. So, haplogroups are like imprints of our ancestry that we can trace thousands of years in the past to our modern generation.
On this time of the year, we witness a time of change. This era is an opportunity to not only desire freedom but to show our activism to defend our rights too. We must go out to make the point clear that promoting freedom for black people doesn't mean that we hate other people. Going about to oppose family separation and mass deportation doesn't mean we ally with naivete. Just because the centrists may complain about wanting all of the nation to be centrists, doesn't mean that we will be centrists. I disagree with Hakeem Jeffries saying that he isn't going to criticize Trump's nominees being a distraction. People have the God-given right to critique nominees with extremist views and nefarious actions. There is no solution for the Democrats unless they become a genuinely anti-establishment party. I disagree with Pennsylvania's John Fetterman South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn wanting to pardon Donald Trump, who has done more crimes than even Nixon.
Calls to move to center is not new. Back after Humphrey lost to Nixon, people wanted Democrats to move to the center along when Mike Dukakis lost to George H. W. Bush, and when John Kerry lost to George W. Bush too. That is why it is important to defend the dignity of the common man and the common woman as Ted Kennedy said in 1980. Centrism doesn't work. President Bill Clinton in 1996 said that the era of big government is over, and he ended much of welfare, passed a vicious crime bill, and deregulated Wall Street (with Republican support that harmed the lives of millions of Americans). Berne Sanders was criticized by the Democratic Party establishment for just promoting commonsense economic policies (and Bernie was wrong for not visiting Selma in 2015). We must not compromise. We must oppose Trump's desire to prosecute Liz Cheney and January 6th committee members, his desire to deport even some legal immigrants, appointing dangerous extremists in his cabinet (like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, and Peter Hegseth), and not let multibillionaires dominate the whole political system. During this time of the holiday season, we should improve the social safety net, comfort the oppressed, increase public investment, and increase taxes on the super wealthy to pay for progressive policies.
Trump's picks for his cabinet during his second term have been bizarre to say the least. He wanted Pam Bondi to be the Attorney General. Pam Bondi was the former Florida Attorney General from 2011 to 2019. She was the lawyer who supported Trump during his first impeachment trial. Bondi once believed in the lie that the 2020 election was stolen to benefit Joe Biden. Trump wants Scott Bessent to be the Secretary of the Treasury. He is the Key Square Group CEO from South Carolina. He wants Scott Turner from Texas to be the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Susie Wiles is planned to be the White House Chief of Staff. He wants U.S. representative Elise Stefanik to be the Ambassador to the United States. He wants the extremist Pete Hegseth to be the Secretary of Defense. Pete Hegseth has questioned if women should be in combat roles in the military when tons of women have served honorably in the U.S. military for centuries. He has been accused of sexual assault by a woman, he wants a crusade to make America to accept his far-right agenda, he wants gerrymandering to harm Democrats politically, and he called progressives and Democrats enemies of freedom. Trump wants Doug Burgum to be the Secretary of the Interior. He wants Brooke Rollins to be the Secretary of Agriculture. He wants the controversial Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Trump wants Linda McMahon to be the Secretary of Education. Trump wants Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence. Gabbard is opposed to a ceasefire in Gaza, had meetings with the dictator Assad, and she met with the far-right Indian Prime Minister Modi.
The Ethics Committee released its scathing report about its investigation into Matt Gaetz. The report accused Matt Gaetz of using illegal drugs, having sexual relations with a 17-year-old, promoted prostitution, etc. from 2017 to 2019. The report accused Gaetz of paying thousands of dollars for money for sexual activity. Matt Gaetz denies all illegal activity. One of Gaetz's friends is serving prison for illegal actions. Donald Trump once trying to get Gaetz on his cabinet is very telling. Traveling women across state lines for the purpose of sexual actions alone (involving payment in dealing with prostitution) is illegal and a violation of the Mann Act. The House Ethics report accuses Gaetz of violating state laws. The report has sources and goes into a lot of detail into the allegations about his actions. Texts have been released by the House panel show Matt Gaetz allegedly asked women to get him drugs.
By Timothy
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Monday, December 23, 2024
Important Facts.
The fashion of the 21st century has been diverse. Models are more televised (who are shown in social media, TV shows, music videos, and movies), more people are going out of their way to educate themselves about fashion, and more people are overtly fighting abuse and corruption found in the fashion industry to this very day. Celebrities, athletes, and other wealthy people still influence fashion in a great fashion. The Internet has caused fashion trends to develop more rapidly instead of spanning months or years in its duration. Fashion culture has been decentralized where regular people can make tons of economic profit by developing their own grassroots belts, shirts, pants, dresses, and other accessories. Denim jeans, jerseys, and suits are still very popular. Also, the 21st century saw unique colors, shapes, words on shirts, and more diverse imagery as the 21st century continued. Some people wanted to wear more corporate-owned clothes, handbags, watches, and just anything with a logo on it. We have to balance fashion with the rejection of extreme conformity. There is nothing wrong with wearing name-brand items per se, but we should recognize that our human dignity is not defined by wealthy name brands. We are defined by birth by our souls being entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by birthright.
The early 2000s was a continuation of the fashion of the late 1990s. By this time, many women wore a Matrix like look with metallic silver, black clothing, and belts. Balenciaga funded catwalks with models using black including Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, and Calvin Kelin. There was more conservative clothing, especially after 9/11 with leather, trench coats, and straps. After 9/11, more people wore jeans. Many people wore True Religion, hip hop brands, and by 2005, skinny jeans were in prominent. Many of the young men and women regularly wore skinny jeans by the late 2000s and early 2010s. Numerous women wore crop tops, low rise pants, and long hair. Jessica Alba loved to wear True Religion fashion clothes. Tom Ford embraced a black leather style during the Fall of 2001. The early to mid-2000s dealt with more conservative clothes for men and women. Later, many women wore Uggs boots and low cut skirts like Beyonce. Bohemian styles were commonplace. More people showed more skin in clothing. By the late 2000s, more experimentation in fashion took off. One example is how Lady Gaga wore diverse sunglasses, wore experimentative clothing, took more risks in terms of fashion. As the Internet grew, international online fashion increased profits. The rise of smartphones helped many fashion companies, both well-known and unsung to gain profits. Mya, Paris Hilton, Beyonce, Lil Wayne, Jay Z, RIhanna, and other people promoted unique fashion clothing in their everyday lives. Men wore sunglasses, polo shirts, track suits, jerseys, Jordans, and cargo pants. Pharrell is underrated in his fashion displays along with Kanye West. By the end of the 2000s, emo-styles, hip-hop fashion, and ties were very popular. Hip-hop fashion (found in Rocawear, Phat Farm, Billionaire Boys Club, BAPE, G-unit clothing, Fubu, etc.) and indie culture were among the most popular fashion of the 2000s. More globalization caused people to wear casual clothes too. Fast fashion was advanced by H&M, Forever 21, Zara, and Target. More people wore tattoos and piercings. A lot of people don't know that before the 1990s, tattoos and piercings were not that common among human beings like that. Some wore braids and America's Top Model with Tyra Banks helped to expand the careers of many up-and-coming fashion models.
The 2010s witnessed a new era of time. By the early 2010s, many people wanted a retro 1980s look. Some hipster types of people loved fashion. The growing world of social media from Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook helped many independent fashion human beings to gain more influence. Fashion culture is more decentralized. People can sell belts, wigs, watches, shirts, dresses, T-Shirts, etc. from their own homes to make a lot of economic benefits on another level. We see social media influencers transform overnight to be credible fashion leaders. The mainstream fashion brands of the 2010s included Abercombie and Fitch, Adidas, Balenciaga, Ben Sherman, Forever 21, Louis Vutton, Gucci, Under Armour, Nike, etc. Many designers continued to increase their profile like Michael Cinco, Frida Gianni, Marc Jacobs, etc. Internatinal models were more diverse from Irina Shayk, Cara Delevingne, Adam Senn, Liu Wen, Joan Smalls, Jourdan Dunn, Eva Marcille, etc. Many women wore bright colored clothing which was similar to the 1980s style like Jing Ulrich and Candace Swanepeol. Many people wore capri pants, motorcycle jackets, crop tops, and low rise pants. Many fashions from the Middle East increased from hijabs to black stain gowns. Printed clothing were common. By the late 2010s, a much more mature look was in existence. Many men wore neon colors, V neck t-shirts, and shawl collar cardigans. Some wore 1990s style fashion and business casual clothng. Some wore two-piece suits, workwear, and luxury sportswear. New style eyeglasses with transitions were common along with unique sunglasses. Many men wore clothing from luxury items, hip-hop fashion, sportswear, and athleisure. African fashion growing in the world too from mitumba clothing (in Kenya and Uganda) and kente cloth and silk Madiba shirts. Many black Americans wore dashikis. Many young kids wore neon cloths, amine styles, and a more conservative look too. Jordans, Riccardo Tisci, and Rick Owens promote distinct fashion. Chicano culture, K-pop, and British pop artists inspired futuristic fashion too. Women wore individual styles like the French twist, crown braids, natural hair, pixie, dreadlocks, etc. Men wore the undercut, the Afro, waves, the taper, mohawks, and the high-top fade. More men wore full beards during the 2010s.
The 2020s in fashion saw a look for nostalgia for older aesthetics. Many people were inspired by the late 1990s, mid-2000s, and 1980s. Fashion was inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic causing people to deal with retail and consumer trends. TikTok, Shein, and Temu marketed clothes. There were E-commerce platforms and small businesses promoting clothing like Depop and Etsy. Many people wore fashion more reasonable prices. The facemask with diverse designs became a generational fashion motif. Many people in the 2020s wore pajamas, sweatpants, and athleisure wear to deal with the pandemic. Some people wore athletic shorts, sneakers, and more looser items. There was more comfortable clothing. The flashy logos of the late 2010s were replaced by quiet luxury items and timeless designs. There were more runway items. There was the maximalism fashion. Some people wore navy blue, neon green, and electric blue items. There were cashmere cardigans, Crocs, sandals, and Air Force 1s. Some people wore boho 1960s clothing like hippie style sandals and flared trousers. Some wore flannel coats. Shinny dresses were worn near the mid 2020s. Some wore the 1980s style fashion from corduroy sports coats to aran sweaters. More old-school blue-collar clothes existed and gender-neutral clothing existed in the 2020s. By this time, we saw more patriotic items, sportscoats, duster coats, college sweaters, Western leather jackets. Young people wore more emo, hip hop, pop-punk, and skater plus vintage aesthetics. Many hip-hop fans wore political clothing items to oppose racism and all other injustices from T-Shirts with Black Lives Matter imagery, Black Panther themes, and camouflage patterns. The VSCO images were worn by women. Some younger people wore Japanese inspired kidcore clothing. Many women wore dyed hair, natural hair, scrunchies, hair clips, and bandannas. Men wore breads, mullets, and the Caesar cut along with dreadlocks including Afros. Some people wore buzz cuts and mustaches as inspired by political changes and movies like Miles Teller's role in Top Gun: Maverick. BBLs are still popular along with unique tattoos that deal with fashion. The skin care boom is embraced fashion wise by people in Generations of Millennials, Alpha, and Generation Z. Skin care is very important in my life as an older Millennial. Many people use sunscreen, retinol, and other methods to improve the human skin.
The invasion of D-Day was months in the making. Winston Churchill was skeptical about D-Day at first, because Churchill didn't trust Stalin because he was a Communist. Also, Churchill didn't want British soldiers to sacrifice their lives for the interests of Joseph Stalin. Stalin wanted the Allied Forces to invade France to lessen the burden of the Soviets on the Eastern front. America and Britain agreed to participate in D-Day after multiple delays. By June of 1944, the Allied Forces knew that the Nazis were going to be defeated. The question was only how and when. Roosevelt supported Stalin's position to invade France, but Churchill was more stubborn. After the Tehran November 1943 Conference, plans for D-Day was starting. Operation Overload was the plan for D-Day. General Dwight D. Eisenhower commanded the operation among the American side along with British General Bernard Montgomery (being the commander of the ground forces). General Omar Bradley of America led the United States First Army. The invasion was in Normandy, France with 21 American divisions, 26 British, Canadian, and Polish divisions on a 50 mile stretch of land. The Normandy invasion was the largest amphibious invasion in human history with 4,400 ships and landing crafts. The plan was to allow General Patton to deceive the Nazis in claiming that a certain part of France was invaded, and then Allied forces would invasion on other beaches (coded named Omaha, Gold, Junio, and Sword). The Allied used fake cardboard images from Calais to think that the Nazis would have to fight in Calais. This plan worked as Hitler sent his military forces at Calais. On June 6, 1944, the Allies attacked German forces with more than 11,000 planes. The first troops landed at 6:30 pm., and the fighting was fierce. Many men died and it was graphic. The Omaha beach region had strong American causalities. The Allied forces had to climb cliffs at Normandy to defeat the Nazi enemy. Thomas E. Herring of C Company said that the carnage on the beach was indescribable. Many soldiers drowned, heavy gunfire was in existence, and the Allied forces defeated the Nazis as time went onward. Many Allied forces died, but by the end of the day, the Allied military forces gained a foothold in France. The American, British, Canadian, and anti-Nazi French forces worked together to help liberate France.
The Soviets soon controlled Lativa, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary. The Soviets attacked Finland by June 9, 1944. The Nazis liquidated the town of Oradour-sur-Glane in France on June 10, 1944. The first German V-1 rocket attacked Britian on June 13, 1944. There was the Soviet summer offensive called Operation Bagration on June 22, 1944. The U.S. troops liberated Cherbourg, France on June 27, 1944. We saw the Battle of the Hedgrows in Normandy and the Soviets captured Minsk on July 3, 1944. British and Canadian troops capture Caen, France on July 9, 1944. The U.S. troops reached St. Lo, France on July 18, 1944, German Army officers tried to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944, but they failed. Soviet troops liberated the first concentration camp at Majdanek on July 24, 1944. From July 25-30, Operation Cobra existed (U.S. troops broke out west of St. Lô). Soviet troops take Brest-Litovsk. U.S. troops took Coutance on July 28, 1944. The Polish Home Army uprising against Nazis in Warsaw begins; U.S. troops reached Avranches on August 1, 1944. Anne Frank and her family were arrested by the Gestapo in Amsterdam on August 4, 1944. The Nazis used a major counterattack towards Avranches on August 7, 1944. Operation Dragoon begins (the Allied invasion of Southern France) on August 15, 1944. There was the resistance uprising in Paris on August 19, 1944. The Soviets attacked Romania on August 19, and the Allies encircled the Nazis in the Falaise Pocket on August 20. The liberation of Paris finally happened in August 25, 1944. There was the Slovak uprising on August 19, the Soviets took Bucharest on August 31, 1944, and by September 1-4, Verdun, Diepper, Artois, Rouen, Abbeville, Antwerp, and Brussels were liberated. Finland and the Soviet Union have a cease fire on September 4, 1944.
By September 13, 1944, American troop reach the Siegfried Line in western Germany. Holland was bombed by Allied Airforce's via Operation Market Garden by September 17, 1944. Soviet troops occupied Estonia on September 26 and by October 2, 1944, the Warsaw Uprising ends as the Polish Home Army surrendering to the Nazis. The Soviets captured Rigs on October 10-29, the Allies liberated Athens on October 14, and Rommel committed suicide on October 14 too. There was a massive German surrender at Achen, Germany on October 21. The last use of gas chambers at Auschwitz on October 30, 1944. French troops drive through the Beffort Gap to reach the Rhine by November 20. The French captured Strasbourg on November 24, there was a civil war in Greece and Athens is placed under martial law on December 4, 1944. The bloody Battle of the Bulge happened in the Ardennes from December 16-27, 1944. The Nazis had a surprise attack on Allied forces and the Allies responded to defeat the Nazis after the Battle of the Bulge was over. American forces at Bastogne held fast to defeat the Nazis. The Battle of the Bulge involved cold conditions, and many people had frostbite. It was the Winter. After the Battle of the Bulge, the Nazis were in constant retreat. The Waffen SS murdered 81 U.S. POWs at Malemdy on December 17, 1944. Patton relieves Bastonge by December 26, 1944. The Soviet troops besiege Budapest on December 27, 1944. The Nazis leave Ardennes from January 1-17, 1945. By January 16, U.S. 1st and 3rd Armies linked up after a month long separation during the Battle of the Bulge. The Soviets captured Warsaw, Poland on January 17, 1945. The Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz on January 26, 1945. The famous Yalta conference took place from February 4-11, 1945, among Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin. Roosevelt by this time was dying, and all men had to decide what to do after WWII. They agreed that Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania would have free elections. Yet, Stalin didn't fulfill his promise. FDR hoped that Stalin would at least promote free elections. Since the Soviets occupied much of Eastern Europe, Churchill and Roosevelt didn't have a strong hand to extremely pressure Stalin except with vague promises. Stalin supported FDR's desire for the Soviets to invade Japan in exchange for Stalin to control certain regions of Asia. They agreed with the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, Stalin agreed to have France to have a fourth zone of occupation in Germany (formed from the American and British zones), and Germany would have demilitarization and denazification. Roosevelt allowed Stalin to join the United Nations. The Yalta Agreement allowed Nazi war criminals to be found and put on trial in the territories in which their crimes had been committed (then the Nazi leaders were to be executed). The Yalta Conference was controversial and groundbreaking at the same time.
From February 13-14, Dresden was destroyed by a firestorm after Allied bombing raids. March 6, 1945, was when the Last German offensive of the war when the Nazis wanted to defend oil fields in Hungary. March 7, 1945, was when Allies took Cologne and establish a bridge across the Rhine at Remagen. Soviet troops captured Danzig on March 30, 1945. By April, the Allies found stolen Nazi art and wealth hidden in German salt mines. The American troops encircled Germans on the Ruhr. The Allied offensive in Northern Italy happened. On April 12, 1945, Allies liberated Buchenwald and Belsen concentration camps; President Roosevelt died. America mourned the death of President Franklin Roosevelt who fundamentally changed the whole world. Harry Truman becomes President. Soviet troops began their final attack on Berlin; Americans entered Nuremberg on April 16, 1945. The Nazis surrendered in Ruhur by April 18. The Soviets reached Berlin on April 21, 1945. Mussolini was captured and hanged by Italian partisans and the Allies took Venice on April 28,1945. The U.S. 7th Army liberated Dachau on April 29, and Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945. Nazi troops surrendered in Italy on May 2, 1945, and there was the unconditional surrender of all Nazi forces to the Allies on May 7, 1945. VE Day (or Victory in Europe Day) is celebrated on May 8, 1945. May 9, 1945, was when Hermann Göring was captured by members of the U.S. 7th Army. May 23, 1945, was when SS-Reichsführer Himmler committed suicide; German High Command and Provisional Government imprisoned. June 5, 1945 was when the Allies divided up Germany and Berlin and take over the government. June 26, 1945, was when the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco. July 1, 1945, was when American, British, and French troops moved into Berlin.
The end of the Pacific Theater of World War Two was here. There was the Battle of Vella Gulf in the Solomon Islands on August 6-7, 1943, the Allies occupying New Georgia by August 25, and the Allies recapturing Lae-Salamaua, New Guinea on September 4, 1943. The Japanese executed about 100 American POWs on Wake Island on October 7, 1943. On October 26, Emperor Hirohito said that his country's situation is now grave. The U.S. Marines invaded Bouginville in the Solomon Islands on November 1, 1943. The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay happened on November 2, the U.S. troops invaded Makin and Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands on November 20, and the Japanese end resistance on Makin and Tarawa on November 23. U.S. troops landed on the Arawe Peninsula of New Britian in the Solomon Island on December 15, 1943, and there was the full Allied assault on New Britian as 1st Division Marines invaded Cape Gloucester on December 26, 1943.
By early 1944, British and Indian troops recaptured Maungdaw in Burma. U.S. troops invaded Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands on January 31, 1944. As time went on, American forces captured places in the Marshall Islands in February of 1944. The Japanese led offensives in China and in Imphal and Kohima. Later, the Allies invaded New Guinea by April and May of 1944. Americans use B-29 Superfortress bombers as 77 planes bomb Japanese railway facilities at Bangkok, Thailand. The American Marines invaded Saipan in the Mariana Islands on June 15, 1944. Japan was bombed again on June 1944. Japan leaves Imphal. American Marines invade Guam and Tinian. By July 27, 1944, American troops completely liberated Guam, so the Allied forces are going from island to island to defeat the Japanese military forces. The Allied forces also worked with Chinese troops to take Mtyikina. American troops captured the Marina Islands on August 8, 1944. The U.S. have air raids against Okinawa on October 11, 1944, and the U.S. Navy won the Battle of Leyte Gulf by October 26, 1944. Japanese use suicide air kamikaze attacks on U.S. warships in Leyte too. This was in October. The U.S. Navy bombs Iowa Jima by November 11, 1944. U.S. troops invade Mindoro in the Philippines by December 15, 1944. The U.S. Army Air Force prepare for dropping the atomic bomb on Japan using the B-29s. On January 3, 1945, Gen. MacArthur is placed in command of all U.S. ground forces and Adm. Nimitz in command of all naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan itself. The British fight in Burma, and the U.S. Sixth Army invaded the Lingayen Gulf on Luzon in the Philippines on January 9, 1945.
The Marines invade Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945. This came after the U.S. troops recapture Bataan in the Philippines. By March 1945, American and Filipino troops take Manila on March 3, 1945. British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma. B-29s continue to bomb Japanese territories. The U.S. Tenth Army invade Okinawa on April 1, 1945. Japanese forces started to leave China on May 20, 1945. The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff approve Operation Olympic, the invasion of Japan, scheduled for November 1. This was on May 25, 1945.
The Potsdam Conference took place from July 17 to August 2, 1945. It was a meeting of President Harry S. Truman, Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee, and General Secretary Joseph Stalin. The group decided on how to divide up Germany and agreed to an unconditional surrender of the Axis Powers. This conference focused on more details about establishing the post-war reality, solving issues on the peace treaty, and dealing with the effects of the war. Numerous representatives of America, Britain, and the Soviet Union were at the Potsdam Conference too. Harry Truman was more hawkish than FDR, so Truman and Churchill were allied to put more pressure on Stalin to support their goals. The conference allowed Germany to be divided into four occupation zones (being ruled by America, the UK, the Soviet Union, and France), a Soviet back group would be recognized as the legitimate government of Poland, Vietnam is to be partitioned at the 16th parallel, and the Soviets agreed to invaded Japanese held areas. Truman told Stalin that he had a powerful new weapon at the conference, but Stalin knew of the atomic bomb because Soviet spies were inside the Manhattan Project (that developed the atomic weapon). The Potsdam Conference set the stage of the Cold War allowing the Soviet Eastern Bloc to rule much of Eastern Europe. Germany's eastern border would be shifted west to the Oder-Neisse line via the Potsdam Conference too.
Japanese Premier Suzuki announced Japan will fight to the very end rather than accept unconditional surrender. Japan have defeats in the Philippines until General MacArthur's headquarters announced the end of all Japanese resistance in the Philippines. The liberation of the Philippines was declared by July 5, 1945. After this event, there were 1,00 bomber raids against Japan from July 10th. The U.S. Navy bombs Japanese home islands. The first atomic bomb was successfully tested in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. Later, part of the Little Boy atomic bomb was sent to Tinian Island in the South Pacific. A Japanese submarine sinks the Cruiser INDIANAPOLIS resulting in the loss of 881 crewmen. The ship sinks before a radio message can be sent out leaving survivors adrift for two days on July 29, 1945. The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima from a B-29 flown by Col. Paul Tibbets on August 6, 1945. After that bomb, the world changed. People died instantly in Japan, graphic images of bodies were shown, and radiation poisoning harmed innocent lives for decades. It was a war crime against humanity and a crime against God period. It was blatantly evil and unjust which was done by Harry Truman. The Soviets declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria on August 8, 1945. The 2nd atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, from a B-29 flown by Major Charles Sweeney. - Emperor Hirohito and Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki then decide to seek an immediate peace with the Allies. On August 14, 1945, the Japanese accept unconditional surrender; Gen. MacArthur is appointed to head the occupation forces in Japan. August 16, 1945, was when Gen. Wainwright, a POW since May 6, 1942, is released from a POW camp in Manchuria. B-29s drop supplies to Allied POWs in China by August 27, 1945, and the Soviets shoot down a B-29 dropping supplies to POWs in Korea; U.S. Troops land near Tokyo to begin the occupation of Japan on August 19. The British reoccupy Hong Kon on August 30, 1945. September 2, 1945, was when there was the Formal Japanese surrender ceremony on board the MISSOURI in Tokyo Bay as 1,000 carrier-based planes fly overhead; President Truman declares VJ Day. September 3, 1945, was when The Japanese commander in the Philippines, Gen. Yamashita, surrenders to Gen. Wainwright at Baguio. Japanese troops surrendered on Wake Island on September 4, the British land in Singapore on September 5, MacArthur enters Tokyo on September 8, and the Japanese surrendered in Korea on September 9, 1945. The Japanese surrender on September 13, 1945. The United Nations was born on October 24, 1945, which was a dream of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. World War Two is finally over, but the Cold War was born.
In recent decades, there has been a merging of country music with other genres of music. Many people who complained about country being too pop were mostly silent when Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers did pop songs before. There is such a time called country music pop that originated in the 1960s. This type of music was created to appeal to a wider audience. Country music merging with pop music dealt with melodies and lyrics that were difference. Even the Nashville sound used pop, rock, and folk into country music. This style of music was promoted by Studio executives Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley. This sound was promoted to the younger crowd of people. Crossover hits were common among Patsy Cline, Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves, and Eddy Arnold. Crossing genres were shown by Charley Pride, Lynn Anderson, Mac Davis, and Donna Fargo. We know about Olivia Newton-John. Today in the 2020s, we have country music merging with hip hop too. Artists like Maren Morris, Dan + Shay, and Kelsea Ballerini have experienced with different styles. Florida Georgia Line have rock elements in their songs, and Beyonce's Cowboy Carter merges multiple genres into one album. There are tons of black young country music artists expressing themselves all of the time since country's inception.
By Timothy
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Friday, December 20, 2024
Late December 2024 News.
There are still government funding negotiations among Democrats and Republicans in Congress. There was once a deal, but then Trump and Elon Musk told Republicans not to follow it. Musk and Trump care more for an archaic economic philosophy than giving resources to the American people to live their own lives. Elon Musk is the richest person on Earth, and many Democrats are saying that Musk is acting like the President instead of Trump. This reality has pushed the country more into a government shutdown. A government shutdown means that Social Security payments are not given to people, (especially the elderly), people in the federal government could be delayed payments, and more people will suffer. Lawmakers are racing to stop a government shutdown now. Now, there is no new agreement now, so people are in square one. The previous bill will give billions of dollars to farmers and natural disaster relief. Elon Musk is an enemy of social progress. Some members of the billionaire class from Zuckerberg to Bezos are allying with Trump in meetings. Bezos wants to go the Trump inauguration which is highly wrong in my view.
I found out that my maternal 5th cousin is Veronica Elizabeth Glast, who was born in April 1972. She lives in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Veronica Glast has worked in Howard University as part of the Human Resources Business Partners (HRBP). She worked to help Howard University run more efficiently in Washington, D.C. She has experience from Virginia Commonwealth University and in other institutions. Her brother is Christopher Weylin Glast (b. 1968). Her parents are Willie James Glast (b. 1940) and Gracie Lee Bynum (b. 1945). Gracie Lee Bynum's parents were Jimmy Lewis Bynum Sr. (1920-2003) and Laura Elizabeth Claud (1923-1985). The parents of Laura Elizabeth Claud were Peter L. Claud (1891-1969) and Nettie Rogers (1894-1924). The parents of Peter L. Claud were Frank Thomas Claud (1856-1958) and Elizabeth Whitehead (1868-1939). The parents of Frank Thomas Claud were my 4th great-grandaunt Mason Claud (1840-1877) and Isaac Gilliam. The mother of Mason Claud is my 5th great-grandmother Zilphy Claud.
Fascism continues. One example is how Trump and some GOP members want to investigate and possibly jail Liz Cheney for her January 6th committee investigation. Trump wants to whitewash the January 6th attacks as just some gathering. The truth is that the insurrectionists are terrorists, not patriots, who used violence against property, harmed the police, called many police officers racist slurs, waved neo-Nazi and neo-Confederate flags, and wanted to hang then-Vice President Mike Pence. These traitorous insurrectionists deserve prison time, not medals or pardons. Also, some Democrats join Republicans in support of passing the fascistic Crucial Communism Teaching Act. The problem with the bill is that it lacks nuisance in the history of communism. Many people who were Communists were involved in massacres like Stalin, but communists like Trotsky was not involved in the deaths of millions of people. Also, the bill omits the millions who were murdered by fascists and capitalists from the Maafa, far-right regimes in the world, and other atrocities that communists have nothing to do. I don't agree with Communism, but that bill is a slick way to try to indoctrinate people into viewing all communism as this monolithic block trying to destroy the whole world. The truth is that communism is a rival political and economic system that I don't agree with, but I don't agree with laissez-faire capitalism either.
The New York Mayor Eric Adams is praising Trump. He desires a Trump pardon for him being accused of corruption. Also, this is the end result of centrists like Adams. Many centrists believe in the myth that coddling extremists to be in league with the powers that be. Adams said that people compared Trump to Hitler. Most Democrats never compared Trump to Hitler. Yet, it is true that Trump believes in fascism like trying to potentially jail Liz Cheney, sue media services, and attempt to ban birthright citizenship. Those are clear examples of overt fascism. Adams omits this and he omits Trump's anti-working class agenda of promoting tariffs, seeking to cut the social safety net, and trying to restrict economic rights that people fought for. Liars like Adams also forget that Kamala Harris has talked about housing (she said she wanted a 25,000-dollar tax credit for new home buyers), groceries, and other important issues with policies on dealing with those political subjects too.
Yesterday was the Birthday of the late Sister Cicely Tyson. She was an icon who art of performing acting, her beauty inside and out (in refuting colorism), and her wisdom (in promoting the principle of standing out to be a beacon of light) have inspired the world. She was one of the greatest actresses in history portraying non-stereotypical images of our people, especially black women. She was born in New York City to Afro-Caribbean parents Fredericka Tyson and William Augustine Tyson. Her parents were immigrants from Nevis in the West Indies. Her father came to New York City via Ellis Island on August 4, 1919. Cicely Tyson was raised in a religious household and modeled. She was in the film Carib Gold in 19556. Later, she was in the play by Jean Genet called The Blacks (with Maya Angelou, James Earl Jones, Godfrey Cambridge, Louis Gossett Jr, and Charles Gordone). She has three Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, a Tony Award, and earned a Kennedy Center Honors in 2015. She earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 and the Honorary Academy Award in 2018. She lived to be 96 years old. Her humbleness was incredible, and her legacy will always be transcendent.
Rest in Power Sister Cicely Tyson.
By Timothy
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
True Facts.
The legacy of World War II encompasses many things. As we shall we 2025, which is the 80th year anniversary of the end of World War 2, we recognize that history may not repeat itself, but it rhymes. Decades ago, human beings saw fascists using genocide, violations of democratic rights, and imperialism to promote their interests. Now, we have one person (who is Donald Trump) who desires to jail Liz Cheney and the January 6 committee members, he wants to sue the media who dissent from his views, calls the media the enemy of the people, seeks mass deportation, and wants total loyalty to his agenda without restraint. World War 2 started with complex factors like the failure of the League of Nations, economic competition among imperialistic powers (from Germany, Japan, the UK, the USA, etc.), the rise of fascist governments (in Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, etc.), and economic tribulations in the four corners of the Earth (via the Great Depression). World War II was the bloodiest war in human history causing almost 100 million human beings to die. 100 million human beings dead in less than 10 years is unimaginable for our minds to ascertain. The Nazis used the Holocaust to murder Jewish people, black people, biracial people, Slavic people, Jehovah's Witnesses, Freemasons, Mormons, and other human beings. The Holocaust has no justification period. Many innocent Japanese Americans were placed in U.S. internment camps which was evil too. The Allied and Axis Powers not only fought for mineral resources. They fought for the future of the 20th century and the early 21st century. The irony is that the two major victors of WWII, America and the Soviet Union (who were allies during WWII) would be bitter enemies after the war during the Cold War (which lasted from 1945 to 1991). Hitler's reckless actions in Stalingrad, and Japan's overextension of its resources in Oceania and other parts of Asia contributed to the Axis defeat. Also, the Soviet Union used its military forces on the Eastern Front to make a huge difference in repelling Nazi expansion (even before D-Day).
There are tons of Allied forces heroes who rescued Holocaust victims, liberated countries, and showed awe-inspiring compassion for the suffering. The black women in the Triple Eight postal service organization deserve credit for helping the Allied cause (their service is promoted by a recent 2024 film by Tyler Perry, Kerry Washington, Ebony Obsidian, etc. I can't entirely agree with Tyler Perry on every issue, but he deserves great credit for showing the true story of these black heroes in a film). WWII resulted in the growth of the anti-colonialism movement causing African, Latin American, and Asian peoples (in Nigeria, Ghana, Indonesia, etc.) to be free from colonial rule, and further globalization of trade and technology (a massive increase in life expectancy, inventions, and the rise of the Baby Boomers started after WWII). The United Nations was formed to handle international disputes. After WWII, the Cold War existed wherefore the American Empire and the Soviet Union fought over resources, politics, and philosophy. Stalin after the war became more anti-democratic and overtly anti-Semitic. After Stalin died, Stalinism crippled the freedom of many people in Europe which is why the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 took place allowing socialists to stand up to the Warsaw Pact. America promoted the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after the war, and General MacArthur used his influence to rebuild Japan. The American Empire (funded by wealthy capitalist interests) hypocritically claimed to love democracy but enforced Jim Crow apartheid, aided in right-wing coups, and went about to support unjust wars overseas. So, the Soviets and the wealthy elites in America made huge errors. There were always progressive Americans and others in the world (like Ella Baker, Malcolm X, Septima Clark, Diane Nash, Dr. King, Rosa Parks, etc.) who fought for real equality and freedom plus democracy to be clear. The modern war on terror existed since the September 11, 2001 attacks, which was our new Pearl Harbor moment. Now, we live in a post-Afghanistan war era where there are regional wars (found in Gaza, Syria, Congo, Haiti, etc.), but Americans are split on what to do. Some want isolationism, some want imperialism, and others want to support democracy overseas via rational means. The legacy of World War 2 is never again (we always remember the Holocaust), we should defend our democracy (i.e. the rule of law, the dignity of human life, equal rights under the law, and human justice), and standing up for freedom is a legitimate act to pursue, especially in our generation. I thank God that the Allied forces won World War II, and I will forever believe in the progressive principles that my ancestors fought and died for (many of my ancestors and relatives were in WWII, including having involvement in the Normandy D-Day invasion in real life). So, this is personal for me.
There are growing calls for action as sightings of drones continue in the Northeast and other regions of America. Many of these drones are seen at night. No one knows why they are in the air and for what purpose. Some people claim that it could be from Americans, foreign sources, or other origins. Others say that the drone are monitoring missing nuclear material. We just don't know. Many in the public don't accept the government's statement that these drones pose no national security threat to America. Many human beings have skepticism about the federal government's words on this issue. Many people have seen them heavily in New Jersey, New York, and as far south as Virginia. As we get closer to 2030, we see more strange events. Whatever the truth is, we have to accept it.
There is another school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin. A teacher and student were killed along with the suspect. This happened at Abundant Life Christian School. Police Chief Shon Barnes talked about the tragic events today on Monday. Six people were injured, including two with life-threatening injuries, according to Barnes. The shooter is a teen 15-year-old girl who died from a self-inflicted wound, according to a law enforcement official. The police chief said that the suspect was a student at the school. Abundant Life Christian School is a K-12 school that serves about 390 students. It was planned to close for the holiday vacation after this week. Many of the injured were taken to St. Mary's Hospital and others were taken to University of Wisconsin hospitals. The gun used was a 9-millimeter pistol. There will be a candlelight vigil on Tuesday evening at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison. This shows that the deification of guns above the dignity of human life remains a sickness that must be opposed.
Vice President Kamala Harris gave a speech to inspire young voters to carry on the fight for justice. She wanted to make the point about people having something to fight for. Kamala Harris is a great communicator. It is time to get busy to fight fascism promoted by Trump and get busy to stand up for our democracy. She told the truth that America's progress involves the people who stay true to their ideals in the face of difficulty. She spoke those words in Prince George County, Maryland, home to a large African American population. Kamala Harris wants people to roll up their sleeves to stand up for our principles. The argument that Harris made is that America is meant to be a multiracial democracy by birthright. America at its greatest represents an ideal that equality for all is a truism.
By Timothy
Monday, December 16, 2024
Historical Information.
Just before Pearl Harbor, America was involved in the Lend-Lease program to help the Allied forces to fight Nazis and other members of the Axis Powers. America was mobilizing its military forces. By this time, many experts knew that America would overtly participate in WWII on the Allied side. It was only a matter of time. Then, Pearl Harbor existed which was a Japanese surprise attack against American military forces in Hawaii. The Japanese military forces used a cowardly assault that damaged property, killed innocent human life, and inflicted massive trauma on Americans. Japan and America were once allies during World War I. That would change as negotiations over trade involving oil, rubber, and other resources failed between America and Japan. Japan didn't want any nation to threaten its empire in the Pacific Ocean. Japan didn't like America's influence in Guam, the Philippines, and China (yes, China was an ally of America back then). Japan wanted more trade with America to gain natural resources to build up its military and economic resources in the region. Japan conquered a large portion of China. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wanted to stop Japanese expansion in Asia and Oceania. FDR in July 1940, created an embargo on important naval and aviation supplies to Japan (like oil, iron ore, fuel, steel, and rubber, especially in the Dutch East Indies). Japan signed the Tripartite Pact in 1940 with Italy and Nazi Germany. Then, FDR implemented a stricter embargo against Japan. Japan's expansion was not stopped by the embargoes. It was only slowed. By 1941, General Hideki Tojo was Japan's prime minister. Tojo had a smart mind and continued to militarily expand. He wanted America to be neutral in the war. By the summer of 1941, Japan and America had attempted to negotiate an end to their disagreements. These negotiations didn't work. Japan's expansion was strongly opposed by the American government. By late November 1941, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull rejected Japan's latest demands. Tojo gave up on peace a week later. By the start of December, Tojo made the decision to deliver a military blow against America. There is debate on whether Franklin Roosevelt had foreknowledge of this attack or not. Tojo wanted Hawaii to be attacked because it would prevent Americans from using a strong resistance against Japanese expansion in Tojo's mind. The Japanese forces sent to Hawaii were headed by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. The Japanese forces included 6 aircraft carriers, 360 airplanes, and battleships plus cruisers. Submarines were involved in the attack too. Japan destroyed the USS Arizona. Many American military forces were caught by surprise by the attack. The strike took place just before 7:48 am. local time on Sunday, December 7, 1941.
The Pearl Harbor base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese aircraft (including fighters, level and dive bombers, and torpedo bombers) in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. Of the eight United States Navy battleships present, all were damaged and four were sunk. All but USS Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. More than 180 US aircraft were destroyed. A total of 2,393 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded, making it the deadliest event ever recorded in Hawaii. It was also the deadliest foreign attack against the United States in its history until the September 11 attacks of 2001. Important base installations, such as the power station, dry dock, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section), were not attacked. The U.S. battlefleet was knocked out of commission for nearly 6 months. Japan did have access to raw materials. The aircraft carriers from America were out to sea during the attack. Nagumo canceled a third wave of attacks because he feared an American counterstrike. The American Fleet survived. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines were lost, and 129 servicemen were killed. Kazuo Sakamaki, the commanding officer of one of the submarines, was captured. Japan declared war on the United States and the British Empire later that day (December 8 in Tokyo), but the declarations were not delivered until the following day. The British government declared war on Japan immediately after learning that their territory had also been attacked, while the following day (December 8), the United States Congress declared war on Japan. On December 11, though they had no formal obligation to do so under the Tripartite Pact with Japan, Germany, and Italy each declared war on the United States, which responded with a declaration of war against Germany and Italy. While there were historical precedents for the unannounced military action by Japan, the lack of any formal warning, as required by the Hague Convention of 1907, and the perception that the attack had been unprovoked, led then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in the opening line of his speech to a Joint Session of Congress the following day, to famously label December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy." Americans rallied together, and most Americans wanted a military response to stop the evil spread of fascism in Europe and Asia. Things would never be the same again. The Soviet Union was not with the Allied side after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union back in June of 1941. After President Roosevelt's speech, the House voted 388 to 1 to declare war, and the Senate joined them unanimously. Both Democrats and Republicans united to support the American involvement in WWII militarily. Isolationism died for a time.
First, the American public must be prepared and mobilize for World War II. There was a spirit of patriotism and determination after Pearl Harbor. Tojo and his forces underestimate the grit and determination of Americans. Many Americans joined the military, volunteered with the Red Cross, and worked in many jobs to help the Allied causes. Unfortunately, innocent Japanese people were scapegoated for Pearl Harbor and were victims of being placed in internment camps for a long time unjustly. More than 16 million Americans served in the U.S. military. The U.S. Army grew from about 1.4 million to more than 3 million people. The Navy grew from under 300,000 people to more than 600,000 people. The Marines grew from 54,000 to almost 150,000. Americans of every color and background worked very hard to be in the military to defeat the wicked Axis Powers. There were almost 1,000,000 African Americans, about 300,000 Mexican Americans, 25,000 Native Americans, etc. who were in the military. Most of them were in segregated units. Over 350,000 women were in the military via the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (being later called WAC or Women's Army Corps). Many women were postal workers, truck drivers, instructors, lab technicians, etc. Many women were nurses, and many were in the Navy and Coast Guard units. FDR set up the War Production Board or WPB) to handle wartime industries. Some goods were made into civilian goods and military operations. The massive defense spending contributed to the end of the Great Depression. Many women and men had jobs. The Ford Company was promoting war production in B-24 bombers, ships, and other supplies. The Allied production services made them having a clear military advantage over the Axis Powers along with the Soviet's massive army forces in the Eastern Front of the war.
By this time after Pearl Harbor, the Soviet Army made a major counter-offensive around Moscow. By December 16, 1941, Rommel started to retreat to El Aghlia in North Africa. WWII in North Africa included some of the most important battles of the whole war. Hitler runs the whole German Army by December 19, 1941. January 1, 1942, was when the Declaration of the United Nations was signed by 26 Allied nations. The Nazis started a U-boat offensive along the east coast of America on January 13, 1942. SS Leader Heydrich held the Wannsee Conference to coordinate the Holocaust (or what the Nazis called "Final Solution of the Jewish Question"). Rommell made the counter offensive form El Agheila from North Africa on January 21, 1942. American forces arrive in Great Britain for the first time on January 26, 1942. The internment camp injustice against Japanese Americans started in April of 1941. I agree with FDR on many economic issues, but I strongly disagree with FDR on promoting internment camps against Japanese Americans. The Nazis used air raids against cathedral cities in Britain by April 23, 1942. Rommel made an offensive against the Gazala Line on May 26, 1942. SS Leader Heydrich was attacked in Prague on May 27, 1942. The British used the first thousand bomber air raid against Cologne by May 30, 1942.
By June 1942, there were mass murder of Jewish people by gassing starting at Auschwitz. Heyrdich died of his wounds on June 4, 1941. The Nazis invade Sevastopol. Later, the Nazis kill Lidice in reprisal for Heydrich's assassination. Rommel then captured Tobruk, General Dwight D. Eisenhower came to London, and Rommel reached El Alamein near Cairo, Egypt by June 1942. The first battle of El Alamein took place from July 1-30, 1942. The Nazis took Sevastopol on July 3, 1942. The Nazis wanted to conquer Stalingrad in the USSR. By July 22, 1942, there were the first deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto to concentration camps, and the Treblinka extermination camp was opened. By August of 1942, British General Bernard Montgomery took command of the Eighth Army in North Africa, Stalin and Churchill met in Moscow., there was the first all-American air attack in Europe, and there was a massive German air raid on Stalingrad. Rommell is driven back by General Montgomery in the Battle of Alam Halfa. A German eyewitness saw the SS mass murder on October 5, 1942. Operation Supercharge was when the Allied broke Axis lines in El Alamein by November 1, 1942. Hitler wanted to execute all captured British commandos. Operation Torch started on November 8, 1942, when America invaded North Africa to defeat the Nazis. The Nazis and Italians invaded unoccupied Vichy France on November 11, 1942.
In the Pacific, World War II accelerated. After America and Britain declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941, Japan went near Singapore and entered Thailand. This was the time when Japan conquered massive lands in Oceania rapidly. The Japanese invade the Philippines and seize Guam. Japan also invaded Burma on December 11, 1941. By December of 1941, the first Japanese merchant ship was sunk by a U.S. submarine, Japan invaded British Borneo, Japan invaded Hong Kong, and they invaded Luzon in the Philippines (on December 22, 1941). General Douglas MacArthur had to withdraw from Manila to Bataan on December 23, 1941. General MacArthur promised to return to the Philippines under a liberated Philippines from Japanese occupation. The British surrendered at Hong Kong on December 25, 1941, Manila was an open city, and Japan bombed Manila on December 17, 1941, too. The Japanese Empire was at its peak in 1942. On January 2, 1942, Manila and U.S. Naval base at Cavite were captured by the Japanese, Japan attacked Bataan in the Philippines on January 7, 1942, and Japan invaded the Dutch East Indies and Dutch Borneo by January 11, 1942. Burma was invaded by Japan on January 16, 1942. The German/Japan/Italian military agreement was signed in Berlin on January 18, 1942. Japan took North Borneo. Japanese take Rabaul on New Britain in the Solomon Islands and also invaded Bougainville, the largest island. The British go into Singapore by January 30, 1942. By February 1, 1942, the first U.S. aircraft carrier offensive of the war as YORKTOWN and ENTERPRISE conducted air raids on Japanese bases in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. After that Japan invaded Java in the Dutch East Indies and they invade Singapore. The British surrendered Singapore on February 15, 1942. The Japanese had a large air raid since Pearl Harbor against Darwin, Australia and Japan invaded Bali on February 19, 1942. By February 20, 1942, the first U.S. fighter ace of the war, Lt. Edward O'Hare from the LEXINGTON in action off Rabaul. General Douglas MacArthur is ordered out of the Philippines by February 22, 1942. By February 23, 1942, there was the first Japanese attack on the U.S. mainland as a submarine shell an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California.
The Enterprise attacked Japan on Wake Island on February 24, 1942. The First U.S. carrier, the LANGLEY, was sunk by Japanese bombers on February 26, 1942. From February 27 to March 1, 1942, there was the Japanese naval victory in the Battle of the Java Sea as the largest U.S. warship in the Far East, the HOUSTON, is sunk. Two Japanese flying boats bomb Pearl Harbor; ENTERPRISE attacks Marcus Island, just 1000 miles from Japan on March 4, 1942. The British left Rangoon in Burma. Japan invaded Salamaua and Law on New Guinea. The Dutch on Java surrendered to the Japanese on March 8, 1942. March 11, 1942, was when Gen. MacArthur left Corregidor and was flown to Australia. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright becomes the new U.S. commander. March 18, 1942, was when Gen. MacArthur appointed commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater by President Roosevelt. The Japanese attack the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. Admiral Chester Nimitz was appointed as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Theater on March 24, 1942. April 3, 1942, was when Japanese forces attacked U.S. and Filipino troops at Bataan. American troops came to Australia by April 6, 1942. April 9, 1942, was when there was U.S. forces on Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. The Bataan Death March started on April 10, 1942, when 76,000 Allied POWs including 12,000 Americans were forced to walk 60 miles under a blazing sun without food or water toward a new POW camp, resulting in over 5,000 American deaths. American morale is increased when there was the surprise Doolittle B-25 air race from the Hornet against Tokyo. Then, Japan took central Burma and Mandalay plus Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. Japan wants to invade Midway and the Aleutian Islands by May 5, 1942. On May 6, 1942, Japanese take Corregidor as Gen. Wainwright unconditionally surrendered all U.S. And Filipino forces in the Philippines.
May 7-8, 1941, was when Japan had its first defeat of the war during the Battle of the Coral Sea off New Guinea - the first time in history that two opposing carrier forces fought only using aircraft without the opposing ships ever sighting each other. The last U.S. Troops holding out in the Philippines surrendered on Mindanao. That was on May 12, 1942. Later, Japan captured all of Burma and reach India.
From June 4-5, 1942, was a turning point in the Pacific theater of World War II. This was about the decisive victory for the U.S. against Japan in the Battle of Midway as squadrons of U.S. torpedo planes and dive bombers from ENTERPRISE, HORNET, and YORKTOWN attack and destroy four Japanese carriers, a cruiser, and damage another cruiser and two destroyers. U.S. loses YORKTOWN. Japan invaded the Aleutian Islands in June 7m 1942. Japanese troops are near Gona on New Guinea. By August 7, 1942, there were the U.S. amphibious landing of the Pacific War occurs as 1st Marine Division invades Tulagi and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. On August 8, 1942, U.S. Marines took the unfinished airfield on Guadalcanal and name it Henderson Field after Maj. Lofton Henderson, a hero of Midway. August 8/9 -was when a major U.S. naval disaster off Savo Island, north of Guadalcanal, as eight Japanese warships wage a night attack and sink three U.S. heavy cruisers, an Australian cruiser, and one U.S. destroyer, all in less than an hour. Another U.S. cruiser and two destroyers are damaged. Over 1,500 Allied crewmen are lost. Later Marines attack Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. The Marines stop the first major Japanese ground attack on Guadalcanal. U.S. And Japanese carriers meet in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons resulting in a Japanese defeat. - The Red Cross announced Japan refused to allow safe passage of ships containing supplies for U.S. POWs. U.S. Troops invade Adak Island in the Aleutian Islands. This was in August of 1942. On September 9-10, 1942, a Japanese floatplane flies two missions dropping incendiary bombs on U.S. forests in the state of Oregon - the only bombing of the continental U.S. during the war. Newspapers in the U.S. voluntarily withhold this information. After this time, the American and British forces attack Japanese forces in Oceania. From September to December of 1942, U.S. and Japanese forces clash at Guadalcanal. Both sides lost carriers, but America won by December 31, 1942. Allied forces took Buna in New Guinea on January 2, 1943. By January 1942, Japan started its evacuation of Guadalcanal. Japan bombed Calcutta, India back in December of 1942 too. U.S. code breakers (made up of Native Americans too) found out that Japanese Admiral Yamamoto was flying in a Japanese bomber near Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. Eighteen P-38 fighters then locate and shoot down Yamamoto. This was on April 18, 1943. America fought the Japanese in the Aleutian Islands. May 31, 1943, was when the Japanese ended their occupation of the Aleutian Islands after America liberated Attu. American forces fought in the Solomon Islands and bombed Wake Island. Allied forces go to New Georgia and continued to fight in the Solomon Islands by the end of 1943. On August 1-2, 1943, a group of 15 U.S. PT-boats attempted to block Japanese convoys south of Kolombangra Island in the Solomon Islands. PT-109, commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy, is rammed and sunk by the Japanese Cruiser AMAGIRI, killing two and badly injuring others. The crew survives as Kennedy aids one badly injured man by towing him to a nearby atoll. Japanese forces executed 100 American POWs on Wake Island. By early 1944, Allied forces slowly ended the spread of the Japanese Empire filled with war and fierce fighting.
The Battle of Stalingrad started on September 13, 1942. The Soviets had a counter offensive at Stalingrad by November 19, 1942. By December of 1942, Professor Enrico Fermi sets up an atomic reactor in Chicago, Rommel withdraws from El Agheila, Soviets defeat Italian troops on the River Don in the USSR, British Foreign Secretary Eden tells the British House of Commons of mass executions of Jews by Nazis; U.S. declares those crimes will be avenged, and there was the Battle of the Barents Sea between German and British ships. By January 2-3, the Nazis left the Caucasus. January 10, 1943, was when the Soviets began an offensive against the Germans in Stalingrad. January 14-24 was the time of the Casablanca conference between Churchill and Roosevelt. During the conference, Roosevelt announced the war can end only with "unconditional German surrender." January 23, 1943, was when Montgomery's Eighth Army took Tripoli. January 27, 1943 - First bombing raid by Americans on Germany (at Wilhelmshaven). February 2, 1943, was the date when Germans surrendered at Stalingrad in the first big defeat of Hitler's armies. After the Allied victory of Stalingrad, the Nazis were about to be defeated in less than 2.5 years from that moment. It was the beginning of the end of the Nazi imperialist empire. General Dwight D. Eisenhower led American troops in the Allied invasion of North Africa. By February 1943, General Rommel or the Desert Fox led his Afrika Korps against Americans at the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia. Rommel broke through the American lines in trying to go the the Allied supply base at Tebessa, Algria. American soldiers stopped the Nazi attacks. Rommel retreated as he lacked supplies. This was when General George S. Patton Jr. was used to fight in North Africa. General Patton was an aggressive commander who knew how to fight in desert conditions. He would inspire U.S. troops to take initiative to defeat the Axis enemy. Patton helped to make North Africa free from Nazi occupation. The British forces came to Egypt, and Rommell escaped. By February 1943, the Soviets re-take Kharkov, the Nazis arrested White Rose leaders in Munich. The Nazis recaptured Kharkov by March of 1943, the Battle of Atlantic climaxes with 27 merchant ships sunk by German U-boats on March 1943, and the Warren SS attacked the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw ghetto in Poland.
By May 13, 1943, the Nazi and Italian forces of about 240,000 troops surrendered. The Jewish resistance ended in the Warsaw Ghetto happened by May 16, 1943. By May of 1943, there were the British raid raid on Rhur and Donitz ended U-boat operations in the North Atlantic. Himmler wanted the liquidation of all Jewish ghettos in Poland on June 11, 1943, the Nazis had their last offensive against Kursk on July 5, 1943. The Alsurrenderedlied forces soon land in Sicily, Italy by July 9-10, 1943. The British and American forces invaded Sicily, Italy separately. Eisenhower commanded the joint American and British forces. The Allied bombed Rome and captured Palermo, Sicily by July 22, 1943. The British bombed Hamburg. Mussolini was arrested on July 25, 1943, and the Italian fascist government ended. Marshal Pietro Badoglio ruled Italy and negotiated with the Allied powers. The Nazis soon evacuate Sicily and go to Northern Italy. The Americans had daylight air raids on Regensburg and Schweinfurt in Germany. The Allied reached Messina, Sicily by August 17, 1943. The Soviets get Kharkov by August 23, 1943. Italian surrendered to the Allies by September 1943. Yet, the Nazis occupy Rome by September 11, 1943. Northern Italy would be ruled by the Nazis. Fighting in Italy would continue until 1945 because of snow, mountains, and hills. The Nazis rescued Mussolini and Mussolini lives until 1945. The Allies went to Naples, Italy on October 1, 1943. Italy declared war on Germany on October 13, 1943. Soon, the Soviets recaptured Kiev by November, raids from Britain happened in Berlin, and The Tehran Conference happened (with Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin). By the end of 1943, the Soviet Union rapidly defeat Nazi forces and fight in Ukraine and Poland by January 6, 1944.
The Allied forces in Italy fight in Anzio, Monte Cassino, by January and February of 1944. The Nazis fought back. The Soviets fight in Belorussia. Then, Berlin was bombed in daylight by the Allies on March 4, 1944. The British bombed 3000 pounds in Hamburg, Germany. The Soviets fight to liberate Crimea, they recapture Sevastopol, and the Allies attack the Gustav line south of Rome. The Nazis surrendered in the Crimea by May 12, 1945. The Nazis left the Adolf Hitler line, retreating from Anzio. By June 5, 1944, the Allied forces entered Rome. The D-Day landings on the northern coast of France took place on June 6, 1944. The success of the Allied D-Day liberation of France caused the liberation of Europe from the Nazi enemy.
The American Revolution War changed the world in tremendous ways. The war ended in the modern expansion of the United States of America with its paradox of implications. America was birthed in the two sins of the genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of black African human beings. I know many people want to whitewash history, but this is the reality of America's true history. Native Americans lived in the Americas first. Later, Europeans, Africans, and other human beings came to the Americas in many different ways. The colonies in the English colonies of North America have grown rapidly since the 1500s. By 1765, the American colonies were a major economic powerhouse. After the French and Indian War, the British Empire was a brutal monarchy. The Monarchy had an autocratic system where there was the British Parliament, but the King still had major political and economic power via mercantilism, the Maafa, colonialism, etc. The British Empire wanted the American colonies to pay taxes to end the debt that was accumulated from the French and Indian War. Parliament promoted more taxes, and many American colonies refused to pay taxes, because they didn't have representation in Parliament. The colonists opposed the Stamp Act. The Townshend Act, the Boston Massacre, and other events caused the colonists to rebel against the taxation policy from Parliament. The Patriots either wanted representation or American independence. The Loyalists were colonists who wanted to stay with the British Empire. The conflict lasted from 1765 to 1783. The colonists formed the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia by late 1774. They organized Patriot resistance in networks of committees. Then, the war started when British forces wanted to disarm local militias in Boston, and the Patriots fired their weapons at the Redcoats by April 1775. The war was on. The 2nd Continental Congress responded by June 14, 1775, to fight the war with George Washington as its commander in chief. The King George III occupied Boston for a time. The Patriot forces were heavily defeated at first, but they showed resiliency with help from the Dutch, the French, and Spanish, and other people. Black Americans joined both sides to desire freedom from the tyranny of slavery. By July 1776, the Second Continental Congress formed the new nation of the United States of America. Its Declaration of Independence was influenced by the philosophies of liberalism, republicanism, the Enlightenment, the 1689 British Bill of Rights, etc. against monarchy and aristocracy. Thomas Jefferson wrote "all men are created equal," but he owned slaves. American forces allowed the Redcoats to tire itself out in the South and other regions of America to cause an American victory. The war ended by September 3, 1783, when the Treaty of Paris was signed. America had lands east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes, and Native Americans heavily got their lands stolen and their treaties broken. America had a group of righteous people who wanted liberty and evil people who wanted slavery, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, sexism, and bigotry to reign. We won many progressive victories, but we have a long way to go nearing 2025. The American Revolutionary War was a very important epoch of world history that must be acknowledged to make America better than the past indeed.
By Timothy
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