We live in a bad documentary, where everyday we get one more foreshadowing of the next disgrace to our government and our way of life. Then after a few hours or a few days or weeks — voila! That awfulness which was predicted manifests. We noted here earlier today in a piece that Trump’s May the 4th meme had a double headed eagle — which happens to be Vladimir Putin’s symbol in Russia. Go check that out. And in that article it was reported that May 8 was Russia’s victory in Europe. And now guess what date we are going to celebrate when speaking of the end of WWII?
I’m pretty sure we took plenty of credit. pic.twitter.com/WzK3HKQ1CU
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 6, 2025
What does Trumpty have up his sleeve, besides aligning with the will of his lord and master in Moscow?
The United States does not have a federal holiday specifically dedicated to commemorating World War II, but does observe related events through other national holidays. Veterans Day, observed on November 11, was originally known as Armistice Day to mark the end of World War I in 1918. Over time, it evolved into a day that honors all U.S. military veterans, including those who served in World War II.
Memorial Day, held on the last Monday in May, is another significant observance. It honors all U.S. military personnel who died in service, which includes the hundreds of thousands of Americans who lost their lives during World War II. Memorial Day was originally created as a way to honor those who gave their lives in the Civil War but transformed over the years to honor all service members.
World War II was won by the Allied Powers, including Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union, who defeated the Axis Powers, primarily comprising Nazi Germany, Japan, and Italy, although the term can be more loosely applied to any country that signed the Tripartite Pact during the war
The war officially ended in Europe on May 8, 1945 (V-E Day), when Germany surrendered unconditionally. It ended in the Pacific on August 15, 1945 (V-J Day), following Japan’s surrender, which was formally signed on September 2, 1945 aboard the USSÂ Missouri.
While V-E Day and V-J Day commemorate the end of World War II in Europe and the Pacific respectively, these dates are not recognized as federal holidays and are primarily observed through historical acknowledgments, commemorative events, and educational efforts rather than nationwide celebrations.
Trump says it’s a new holiday but we’re not going to celebrate it. What good is it, then? All I can say with certainty is that this has all the earmarks of getting weirder before it’s done. Maybe he just needs a distraction to take the focus off of his ill advised Alcatraz comments. (Spoiler: Alcatraz is not, I repeat not, going to be reopened as a prison, except in Trump’s stewed fantasies.) He better find another movie that appeals to him and cobble together a fantasy about that.
Throughout Europe, May 8 is a national holiday, and rightly so. The continent was devastated by WW2, the bloodiest war in all of our violent history, so the end of it was and is seen as worthy of celebrating forever. Unfairly perhaps, VJ Day doesn’t carry the same weight, but it, too, should be celebrated worldwide, as it was the official end of the global war.
Trumpler’s ignorant comment about the USA never taking credit for the victory would be hilarious if it weren’t proof (yet again) of his abysmal stupidity. To the annoyance of everyone else, the US has long claimed that it won WW2, with scant mention of any other combatants.
Most non-Native American’s heritage is European, a demographic fact even more true during WWII and for a long time afterwards as American history was being written and taught. From the beginning there was a Euro-centric attitude about the war even though it was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (combined with taking important U.S. territory in the Pacific including the Philipines right after) that prompted the Declaration of War by Congress.
The Battle of Midway in June 1942 was the turning point of the war in the Pacific. While the Japanese unleashed a devastating attack on the tiny atoll the invasion force steaming towards it was called back due to the outcome of the true battle which took place at sea. Against impossible odds and at great loss of our own planes and aircrews we sank Japan’s four most prized aircraft carriers and lost only the Yorktown. The battle also killed off the cream of Japanese naval aviation. While later on they would replace lost carriers they never were able to replace those priceless, talented and experienced aircrews to anywhere near the degree that existed before that crucial Naval battle.
Our first ground offensive, on Guadalcanal proved instructive in many ways and speaks to your point. Like most of the operations in the Pacific prior to the end of the war in Europe it was a “shoestring” affair because the prevailing attitude in this country including and especially among military and civilian command in DC was beating Hitler and Mussolini. And at the beginning Russia too. People overlook that at the start Stalin had aligned with Hitler believing the latter’s promise that Russia would be spared from Germany’s goals. It was only AFTER Hitler attacked into Russia they became an ally.
Anyway, the initial admiral assigned to get Marines landed on “The Canal” and support them was, despite the turd polishing of his reputation a cowardly piece of shit. The same guy who abandoned the Marine garrison and also the civilian contingent (there was a key airport used for civilian airlines) Wake Island right after Pearl Harbor. The admiral he appointed as point man for the invasion fleet was even worse. The Marines weren’t even allowed to land all their forces, and almost none of their equipment and supplies before he abandoned them. It would take Bull Halsey’s being put in charge of the Naval task force in the area but for month s the Marine were forced to fight with minimal resources including food and medicine.
In his novel, William Manchester (he was a Marine but didn’t see combat until later in the war) accurately noted at one point more money was being spent to resettle Italian refugees in the European theater than to the Marines fighting (and dying) on The Canal. He bitterly stated the news was celebrated in “Little Italies” across the U.S., while the Marines (and sailors) fighting on the Canal were less than thrilled reading the news in the “pony additions” of newspapers that made it into the cryingly few efforts to supply their needs.
The fact is, the Pacific theater unlike Europe (not much bigger than the continental U.S.) was staggering in size. You can take the entire land mass of the earth and drop it into the Pacific basin and leave a good sized chunk of ocean surrounding it. Most of the islands were land battles took place were tiny dots in the ocean, valuable only because of priceless airstrips and in some cases deep harbors that could serve as ports for naval ships. So much of the fighting literally took place out on the open ocean between naval ships. Given that it’s no wonder most people don’t “get” what it took to defeat Japan and the Axis in the Pacific. And getting back to where I started most U.S. citizen’s ancestry can be traced to Europe instead of Asia. That’s why VE day matters to the average American and VJ day when it was all truly over is an afterthought. It’s mostly remembered for the use of atomic weapons to end it.
I have my share of issues with McCarthur but will never deny his strategic genius. With a bit less ego he’d have avoided some things that to many of us tarnish his legacy. He was uncannily accurate in predicting casualties and his estimate for the planned invasion of the Japanese home Isles was a MILLION. Those who say Japan was beaten and the bomb wasn’t necessary don’t know WTF they are talking about. It’s true the civilian population was war weary and wanted it all to be over. It’s equally true they were devoted to their Emperor, holding him in god-like status and Hirohito was aligned with his military commanders who were hawks to the end. If called upon to do so Japanese civilians would have fought any invasion. Awful as what happened on Saipan was at the end, it would have been far, far worse on the Home Isles. Yes, even their leaders knew they were beaten BUT they were determined to cause as much damage and death as they could. There is more than one lesson in all that when you think about it.
Actually, the Russians celebrate May 9th as their Victory Day. Papers were signed between German Generals and the Allies in Europe at Reims, France on May 7th, including the Russian general assigned to Ike’s HQs. We (and Europe) recognized May 8th as V-E Day, the day the Germans stopped fighting on all Western fronts and in Italy. Stalin threw a hissy fit, can’t remember what he did to the poor general who signed for Russia, but insisted on having his own V-E Day celebration. We lost over 400,000 dead in WW2, Russia lost over 33 million – so I can’t blame Joe Stalin for wanting a day where Russia could take pride in destroying Naziism and honoring their own sacrifices.