May 8th marks the Allied victory in Europe in 1945.
May 7th 1945, the Nazi party signed an unconditional surrender, ending the onslaught of German attacks. The Allied forces planned to announce the news on May 9th, but after news journalists found out early, the U.S. and Europe moved the date to the 8th. The Russians kept the original date of the 9th. Even though the Nazi party was defeated, it would be another few months before the Japan forces would finally cease fighting and give their surrender.
Although we don’t celebrate VE Day as a national holiday, other countries do. France, Slovakia, Norway and Russia are just a few that consider VE Day a day to celebrate and remember. The war effort centered in these countries, destroying cities and killing many innocent people that were caught in the middle, so, this holiday is an important one for them.
In Russia, they call it Victory Day and it’s a national holiday where schools and businesses are closed. There are parades, lying of wreaths in cemeteries to honor those that died and the country honors those veterans that survived the war.
In Europe, VE Day meant the end of a six year war that had raged on, taking with it the lives of thousands of their people. Europe felt the hit of the war, losing cities and people to the air assaults and attacks of the Nazi and Japan regiments.
As I studied about this holiday, I was surprised how much I found out about the Japanese forces. In school, I remember learning about the Nazi party and Hitler of course, concentration camps and the destruction of the Jewish people. But besides a commentary on Pearl Harbor, I don’t remember discussing what they did as they moved through Europe.
The Japanese forces were brutal, raping and killing everything in sight and destroying what they could. It was a different type of war than what I remembered from the history classes I attended.
The Greatest Generation as coined by Tom Brokaw is the WWII generation and they are slowly leaving us. To remember their sacrifice and the patriotism they have is vital to our history as well. They lived through the depression, lived on rations from sugar to copper and worked hard on victory gardens, so that their food supply could go to the soldiers overseas.
Whenever I go through the information on WWII, it amazes me that this country has changed so much! We need to hear the stories of those men and women, remember them and take to heart their lessons of duty and patriotism.
Talk to a veteran today, hear their story and thank them for their service!
Don’t forget to sign up to receive the calendar of Military Holidays and Birthdays so you can keep up with the celebrations of the veterans in your life.