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WORLD WAR II 1941 - 1945. PORTRAIT OF THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.
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WORLD WAR II1941 - 1945 PORTRAIT OF THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
From 1939 – 1945, the world went to war. In all, over 50 countries were involved contributing more than 80 million soldiers. The conflict included 16 million Americans. In all, 410,000 Americans were killed in places never before known in America like Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Known as the “Greatest Generation” these events shaped them. These are their stories.
“A day that will live in infamy” On Sunday, December 7, 1941, the Pacific Fleet was attacked by Japanese forces. The attacking planes came in two waves; the first hit its target at 7:53 AM, the second at 8:55. By 9:55 it was all over, and by 1:00 PM the carriers that launched the planes from 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were heading back to Japan.
Behind them they left chaos: 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships.
The battleships moored along “Battleship Row” were the primary target of the attack’s first wave. Ten minutes after the beginning of the attack, a bomb crashed through the Arizona’s deck. The explosion ripped through the ship’s sides, and she sank within minutes taking 1.300 lives with her. One sailor aboard the Arizona at the time was Marine Corporal E.C. Nightingale.
The Longest Day The Allied invasion of Hitler’s “Fortress Europe” began in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, when American and British paratroopers were dropped behind the intended invasion beaches along the Normandy coast of France. At dawn, the sea invasion began as an Allied Invasion of 5 beaches. The U.S. targets: Utah and Omaha Beaches.
Some 50,000 U.S. troops stormed the beaches. By the end of the day, the Allies had achieved a tenuous toehold that would be slowly expanded over the next weeks ultimately leading to the Nazi defeat along the Western Front. One soldier involved in that first wave was a 21 year old paratrooper from Toledo, Ohio. His name was Albert Hassenzahl.
Albert M. Hassenzahl • Albert M. HassenzahlAlbert Hassenzahl, age 21.War: World War II, 1939-1946Branch: ArmyUnit: C Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne DivisionService Location: Camp Livingston, Louisiana; Officer Candidate School (OCS) and Jump School, Fort Benning, Georgia; England; Normandy, France; Holland (Operation Market Garden); Bastogne, Belgium; GermanyRank: CaptainPlace of Birth: Toledo, OH
Women Do Their Part While soldiers were fighting throughout Europe, it became important to develop some way to intercept enemy information; a new machine was being invented and being used in Dayton, Ohio.
This new equipment, called the Enigma machine, was developed by an Oakwood man, Frank Desch. Under tight security, Building 26 at NCR was being turned in to a top secret location. WAVES from all over the U. S. were coming to Dayton and staying in housing known as Sugar Camp.
Each day the WAVES would march down the hill to Building 26. Over time, this workforce grew from 100 to 2,000 workers. One of these women was Joan Precht.
Flags of our Fathers One of the bloodiest battle of the Pacific Theater was the little known island of Iwo Jima. This battle began in February 19, 1945 and lasted until March 26, 1945. Also known as the Operation Detachment, the purpose of this battle was to push the Japanese navy closer to their homeland.
While not an extremely long campaign, it was a very costly one in loss of life. The Japanese were dug into underground tunnels and fought fiercely. At the end of the campaign American Marine dead or wounded numbered over 26,000. Japanese dead numbered over 18,000 but only 216 were ever captured and taken prisoner.
One of the most memorable events of World War II was the raising of the flag at Mount Suribachi. Listen to Cpl. Charles W. Lindberg’s account of this now famous event.
“Oh my god, what have we done?” After 6 months of bombings in Japan and a refused ultimatum, Harry S. Truman signed an executive order to unleash a “secret weapon” on a Japanese city. A well known pilot, Paul Warfield Tibbets was chosen to command the mission. He had begun training in 1944 for such a mission in Utah as part of the 105th Composite Mission in connection with the Manhattan Project.
On August 5th, Tibbets officially named B-29 bomber 44-86292, the Enola Gay after his mother. Then on August 6th at 2:45 AM, this famous mission left Tinian in the Marianas Islands carrying just one bomb. At 8:15 AM the plane reached its destination of Hiroshima. The bomb, “Little Boy” was dropped and history was changed forever.
It’s Over !!!! For four years our young Americans fought bravely along side of our Allies throughout the world. On May 8, 1945, the European Theater had ended signaling VE Day. While there were celebrations at the end of Nazi occupation in Europe, they were tempered by the realities of work yet to be done in the Pacific.
Then finally on August 14, 1945, the long awaited news of Japan’s surrender filled the airwaves: VJ Day. It was finally over.
Next year we will celebrate the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Our young soldiers of World War II have now become the elderly population in their 80s and 90s.
We are losing this generation at a rate of more than 7,000 every week. Let us take the opportunity to save and share their amazing stories while they are here to tell them.
