The first week of June is one filled with emotion for me. As a lover of history, and someone who’s made a point of learning our own, both the good and the bad I of course have extensively studied World War II. From how things came to that awful time, to how the allies prevailed. In his remarks on the Missouri at the signing of the documents that ended the war MacArthur, signing on behalf of the U.S. and Allies powers gave moving remarks. His hopes that humanity would after such devastation and loss always use the example of WWII to make a better world for all. It hasn’t of course worked out that way.
There were a number of pivotal moments in the long fight to defeat the Axis powers. Including for the United States. Two of them took place in the first week of June. The Battle of Midway (mostly) on June 3, 1942 (it was fought back & forth over the international date line) and the landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944. The odds against us at Midway were insanely bad. The losses of aircraft and aircrews were grievous and the Yorktown which wasn’t even supposed to have made it into the fight would be sunk. Yet the Japanese lost their four most prized carriers and the lion’s share of their best aircrews. For the rest of the war they’d never be able to replace what was lost at Midway.
Operation Overlord, which began with the landings at Normandy also faced long odds. Rommel had built up formidable defenses and had the right units positioned safely back of the serious bombings of invasion beaches. Yes, like others in the German command he was sure Patton would lead the invasion and at the Pas de Calais. Still, he hedged his bets and had he been free to act an already dicey attempt to establish a beached might well have failed.
Growing up I learned as most kids did all kinds of stuff about D-Day. Midway got barely a mention. There was I recall a documentary style movie in the early 1970s, and though the director couldn’t resist adding a superfluous love story plot another that told much of the story with a fair amount of accuracy. More recently another Midway movie was made. It too couldn’t resist adding dramatic flourishes but it too got a lot right about both details of the battle and those who fought it. Also, two or three years ago a pretty good movie was made about D-Day with Tom Selleck starring as Eisenhower. It revealed things much of the public didn’t know.
I’m writing tonight because I want you to think back on the past week. In particular when you were looking at what would be on TV that you might want to watch or record. Did you see The Longest Day? Either of the Midway movies? Or that one with Selleck? I kept looking, even on military themed channels I can’t afford in my cable package on NONE of them, not a single one were shown. Not. ONE!
I’ve written more than once here on PZ that I believe there are people behind the scenes, powerful and rich people who have engaged in a decades long effort to set up a power play AFTER not just those who bore witness directly to WWII either by fighting in it living through it (even if they were only children) have died. They waited until a whole bunch of us who are descendants of those people, our elders who gave us their accounts have died off too.
Now it’s just mostly pages in history textbooks that kids use in school. You have to go looking on the internet if you want to really learn what happened. And, more importantly WHY it happened and the appalling cost in blood and treasure to defeat Nazi and other authoritarianism. Those who suffered through the death camps, or lived in countries where bombs rained down and large numbers of opposing forces fought each other and left devastation when the battles were over are dead. So are the bulk of their children. However with no reason, nothing that sparks a little curiosity why would people go looking to learn about that time in our history?
And that brings me to why I’m both pissed off but also disappointed to the point of mournful tonight. Even if events are altered some, or dramatic license is taken to dramatize certain events in the battles or even if unrelated cheesy love story crap is added movies such as I’ve talk about pique people’s interest. Perhaps even enough they will go online and start doing some searching for more information. Granted, not many will get engrossed with learning more and more the way people like me do. But they will remember stuff a lot of old farts like me have forgotten and talk about it to their kids and grandkids. Or if younger learn more than the page or two in their history texts and a single lesson lasting all of five to ten minutes most teachers provide!
Yet this week which saw pivotal battles two years apart that changed the course of the war in our favor, one in the Pacific and the other on the European continent went without notice. Not a single main TV network, or even cable channels devoted to military stuff aired a single one! Nor did they show any other WWII movies, Patton for example. The ONLY thing I saw was last weekend a re-airing of the mini-serious Band of Brothers which had the airborne drop behind enemy landings before the invasion started on June 6. That’s it. And it’s a disgrace as far as I’m concerned.
You might say I need a tinfoil hat but from where I sit IGNORING the Battle of Midway and D-Day by not showing any movies about them, the kind that draws enough interest that people used to pay to see them in theaters and who find themselves both entertained and moved when the credits start to roll is no accident. There is an agreement amongst those who dream of a handful of people in complete control to first make people forget which has been all too successful. Yet also to specifically AVOID giving people reason to not just remember but to learn.
So much was sacrificed in those two battles. Those who stood into harm’s way knew their odds of seeing the sun set were low. At Midway entire squadrons knew they were close to the Japanese carriers but couldn’t spot them visually, yet kept on flying search patterns even after they didn’t have enough fuel to get back to their carriers. And they found them and sank them! Given the weather conditions Eisenhower took a huge gamble on there being perhaps twelve hours of relatively clear weather, enough to get a sizeable amount of troops and equipment ashore. But the commanders of the airborne units looked at the losses they could expect from anti-aircraft fire AND the high winds and estimated well over half, perhaps as much as three-fourths of the airborne troops would be killed or captured because dropping them just where they needed to be and as units large enough to fight seemed impossible.
Then there are the soldiers (and sailors) in those Higgins boats hitting the beach with well prepared enemy pill boxes ready to rake them with machine gun fire, as well as artillery. They too had not much reason to believe they’d see the sun set. Yet in both places (and others during the war) they did their duty. And as everyone knew would happen huge losses were sustained. THAT my friends is something that should be remembered. Every single year. But no TV channel wants to show movies that will remind people.
You won’t convince me there isn’t a reason for that. That its by agreement amongst rich and powerful people to hide away such reminders. Movies that will grab people’s attention. And get them to think about the price that got paid. A price far greater than Desert Storm in the early 1990s and the ‘War on Terror’ Bush initiated after 9/11. So please, look for movies such as I’ve mentioned on streaming services assuming they haven’t been wiped from those as well. Or shell out ten or fifteen bucks to buy one. Better still, all of them.
We owe it to those who came before to “Never Forget” and in the face of people who want us to do exactly that we all need to make sure each year during the first week of June we set aside some time to get a sense of what really happened. We OWE those who gave so much at least that.
***From Ursula*** Zoomers, if you’re able to contribute in any way, we could use help. I’ve been ill and recuperating from a brief hospitalization. Times are tough for political commentary to begin with, and that’s been the case since November 5. Half the country is in a major depression. But we need to keep on keeping on. This too shall pass and there will be a brighter, post-Trump day if we work for it. Please join us and help if you can. Thank you. Ursula
I completely agree, Denis, and I’m ashamed to say I only own one of those movies. I need to go get the others and watch them. Thank you for this very moving, heartfelt piece.