Generally we Americans take this holiday far too lightly. We normally view Memorial Day as simply the first day of the summer season, a day to cook out, a day to spend with family and most importantly a day that we don't have to go to work. I can't criticize anyone for that because that's generally what I think about it. The truth is, however, that Memorial Day is a rather somber occasion where we should at least spend some time reflecting on those people who gave their lives so that we could enjoy our selves on a day just like today.
The first photo I want you to take a good look at is the one above. Being a child of the 1970s I saw this image numerous times in books and magazines. It always gave me a sense of what the true horror of war looks like. This photograph taken on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill on may 11th, 1945 after the vessel was hit by two Japanese Kamikaze attacks. To me the image of the fleeing crew members always displayed true fear and confusion in that moment. On that day 396 people lost their lives aboard the Bunker Hill.
Below I have numerous photographs that were taken during World War II. These images illustrate just what it was like to serve, fight and, for thousands, ultimately die during this war to end all wars. Our brave service men and women served all over the globe from Europe, Africa and the South Pacific. They marched and fought in the rain, snow in in the blazing heat. They ate out of cans and slept in a hole in the ground. Mother Nature was a much their enemy as the Japanese, Italians, or Germans. They knew fear, like no person knew fear. Was a snapping twig an enemy soldier or just a rabbit? What horrors lay just over the next ridge? Is today the day that I meet my maker?
For the 292,131 Americans who lost their lives during the Second World War these images reflect some of the last sights they ever saw. The died on foreign soil, sometimes alone, thousands of miles away from their homes and families. I want you to take a look at each image, a good long look. Reflect on what you see. Imagine yourself there and see what feelings and emotions come over you. Remember that some of the soldiers you see didn't make it home alive. Be forever grateful for their sacrifice, for without them you wouldn't have your freedom, liberty, or cushy way of life. You could be living under a tyrannical dictatorship that controls every facet of your life from where you live, where you work, what you eat and what you pray to.
I'm not going to write a commentary on every one of these images, I think that they speak for themselves. I do, however, want to talk about the image above. It's a photograph taken of the B-17G 'Wee Willie' that took a direct from a German anti-aircraft gun while flying a bomb raid on the railyard in Stendal, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany on April 8, 1945. Apparently the explosion blew crewmember 1st Lt. Robert E. Fuller out of the cockpit and he was able to parachute to safety. Sgt. Le Moyne Miller, 2nd Lt. Woodrow A. Lien, Staff Sgt. James D. Houtchens, Tech. Sgt. Francis J. McCarthy, Staff Sgt. Ralf J. Leffelman, Staff Sgt. Wylie McNatt Jr. and Staff Sgt. William H. Cassiday all died inside the aircraft as it crashed to the ground.
As with the first image in this article, I saw this image in numerous books and magazines growing up. It always terrified me. No image can truly express the violence, and horror of aerial combat like this one can.
Check Out:
Memorial Day: Remembering Erskin Leon Hulsey First Lieutenant US Army Air Corps
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