1945

Articles from 1945

When Bushido Took a Back Seat
(Collier’s Magazine, 1945)

During the closing days of the Okinawa campaign, Japanese infantry decided to treat the much-ballyhooed Bushido warrior code as if it was a plate of week-old sushi.


“The mass-surrenders were a circus for our troops. It became a race to see which outfit could take the most prisoners. And Major General Lemuel C. Shepard’s Sixth Marine Division won the championship with 3,279 prisoners, while Major General Archibald V. Arnold’s 7th Army Division was runner-up with 2,627.”


More about the Battle of Okinawa can be read here.

When Bushido Took a Back Seat
(Collier’s Magazine, 1945)

During the closing days of the Okinawa campaign, Japanese infantry decided to treat the much-ballyhooed Bushido warrior code as if it was a plate of week-old sushi.


“The mass-surrenders were a circus for our troops. It became a race to see which outfit could take the most prisoners. And Major General Lemuel C. Shepard’s Sixth Marine Division won the championship with 3,279 prisoners, while Major General Archibald V. Arnold’s 7th Army Division was runner-up with 2,627.”


More about the Battle of Okinawa can be read here.

The Doughboy in the Pacific Theater
(Liberty Magazine, 1945)

The U.S Marine Corps is not in the practice of sending their oldest members into harm’s way – they aren’t now, and they weren’t in 1942. But when they imparted this information to Gunnery Sergeant Lou Diamond (1890 – 1951), he would have none of it – the mere idea that the world was to be at war, and he would be excluded: not going to happen:


“Lou roared his way through the battles of Guadalcanal and Tulagi and did much to back up the Marine Corp’s contention that he is far and away the the most expert mortar sergeant in any branch of the service.”

Frank P. Witek on Guam
(All Hands Magazine, 1945)

“For risking his life twice to save his platoon when they were pinned down by Jap fire during the Battle of Finegayan on Guam, Pfc. Frank Peter Witek, USMCR, has been posthumously awarded the Congressional medal of Honor.

Bergen-Belsen Survivor Speaks
(PM Tabloid, 1945)

Abigail Spannjard was an American citizen of Jewish heritage who was incarcerated in Bergen-Belsen with her husband and teen-age son. They were released early in 1945 as part of a prisoner-swap, and the account she gives of the abuses they endured is chilling.

Memories of Bergen-Belsen
(PM Tabloid, 1945)

Here are the observations of Patrick Gordon Walker (1907 – 1980), a broadcast journalist with the BBC who was present with the British Army when they liberated the Bergen-Belsen Death Camp on April 15, 1945.


“Men were hung for hours at a time, suspended by their arms, hands tied behind their back in Belsen. Beatings in workshops were continuous, and there were many deaths there. Just before I left the camp, a crematorium was discovered.”

VE-Day in Philadelphia
(Philadelphia Record, 1945)

The citizens of Philadelphia took the news calmly. There were isolated pockets of tremendous joy, but many were wary because they had celebrated the event the previous month when a false rumor had circulated.


“Many soldiers and sailors were gathered in small groups in Market, Walnut and Chestnut streets. One said: ‘Even if it’s true, it doesn’t mean a thing. It’s over for us when we get out of this uniform.'”

VE-Day in Philadelphia
(Philadelphia Record, 1945)

The citizens of Philadelphia took the news calmly. There were isolated pockets of tremendous joy, but many were wary because they had celebrated the event the previous month when a false rumor had circulated.


“Many soldiers and sailors were gathered in small groups in Market, Walnut and Chestnut streets. One said: ‘Even if it’s true, it doesn’t mean a thing. It’s over for us when we get out of this uniform.'”

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