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Text of the Memorial Day address delivered by 2 Lt. Jerry S. Dennis, USAR, Retired, at
Northport’s Leelanau Township Memorial Cemetery May 30, 2005.
WW2
Every year on Memorial Day Americans gather to remember and to pay tribute to those veterans who
made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. You honor them and their families by your
presence here today. To all veterans, on behalf of a grateful America, I thank for your service to our
country.
WW2 was much different from any of the previous wars America fought because it touched us
personally and still does even today 60 years later.
It was before television and embedded reporters. We caught glimpses of the war only in movie tone
clips in theaters; we heard its stories on radio and read letters written from places we had to look up in
the world atlas.
WW2 was the largest and most violent armed conflict in the history of mankind. It was waged on land,
sea and in the air over several diverse theaters of operation for over 6 years and took the lives of over
55 million people.
By the time the US entered the war, it had been raging for over 2 years in Europe, 4 years in Africa and 10 years
in China.
While WW2 continues to absorb the interest of military scholars, historians and veterans, a generation
of Americans has grown to maturity largely unaware of the political, social and military implications of a
war, that more than any other, united us as people with a common purpose. To understand WW2, let
us go back to 1918.
At the end of WW1, the Allies crushed the proud nation of Germany into utter defeat. Germans were
embittered by the terms of the treaty of Versailles and felt betrayed by their new government’s
willingness to capitulate.
The treaties were inadequately enforced by the victorious Allies and led to the resurgence of militarism
and aggressive nationalism in Germany… and to social disorder throughout much of Europe.
The world’s economy was in ruins in 1918. The Allied Powers of Europe had obtained from the US war
loans totaling 11.5 billion dollars.
These nations, creditors before the war, were transformed into debtor nations as a result of it and the
center of world finance shifted from Europe to the US.
Despite worldwide hopes that the settlement arrived at after the war would restore world peace on a
permanent basis; WW1 actually provided the basis for an even more devastating conflict to come only
a few years later.
In the 1920’s there was civil unrest throughout Germany. In 1923, a failed plot to take over the
Bavarian government sent a young German member of the Nazi Party Brown shirts to prison. While
there he dictated a rambling anti-Semitic book he called ―MY Struggle‖ ―Mein Kemph‖ to a fellow
prisoner Rudolph Hess.
In 1929, the US stock market crash and the worldwide depression that followed caused Americans to
turn inward and isolationism embedded itself in the American psyche.
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Times were hard in the 30’s. The minimum wage was 43 cents an hour and Congress designated the
―Star Spangled Banner‖ as our National Anthem. Americans listened to the big bands--Benny
Goodman, Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington—―It Don’t Mean a Thing, if it Ain’t Got That Swing‖. The,
Jitterbug, the Zuit Suit.
The Empire State building had just been completed and construction was beginning on the Golden Gate
Bridge.
In Germany unrest and bitterness had propelled the Nazi Party into power and by 1934, Adolph Hitler
was the new German Chancellor. Hitler gave top-secret orders to triple the size of the armed forces,
for the navy to build two battleships and six submarines and Hermann Goering to create an air force
and secretly train pilots in civilian flying clubs. These actions were all forbidden under the terms of the
Treaty of Versailles.
In the US, construction began on Hoover Dam and Americans were working in the CCC, the TVA & the
WPA.
In 1935, one year after becoming Chancellor, Herr Hitler became bolder and announced there would be
compulsory military service.
The countries around Germany were alarmed and Britain, France and Italy signed an agreement
condemning Hitler's announcement. But no country took military action to stop this breach.
Americans, meanwhile, were listening to ―Putting on the Ritz‖, George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess
débuted and FDR pushed the Social Security Act through Congress.
In 1936, Hitler ordered his army to march into the Rhineland. It was a pivotal point in Hitler’s strategy
and a big gamble; Britain and France had agreed ten years earlier that they would use their armies to
stop German troops from entering the Rhineland. However, anxious to avoid war, Britain and France
chose to appease Germany’s territorial demands.
Hitler had only 30,000 fully equipped troops to send in. He admitted later 'If the French had then
marched into the Rhineland, we would have retreated with our tails between our legs.‖ But they did
not, and the Germans stayed and were able to build up a great line of forts on the border with France
and Belgium. The building of this 'West Wall' meant that France and Britain could not easily take action
against Hitler in the future.
Meanwhile in China, the ongoing war there with Japan was heating up.
By the end of 1937, Japanese troops had landed near Shanghi, FDR transferred part of the Atlantic fleet
to the Pacific as a precaution and Hitler announced his support for Japan. By 1938, Japan had
conquered the whole eastern third of China.
Hitler made pacts with Mussolini and General Franco of Spain and Lindberg made several trips to
Germany, flew the new German fighter and was given a medal by Herman Goering. By this time, Hitler
felt strong enough to annex Austria.
Edward R. Murrow began his news program on CBS Radio, Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia, and
MGM cast Bert Lahr as the cowardly lion in the Wiz.
In June, Joe Louis knocked out the German champ Max Smelling before 70,000 fans in Yankee
Stadium. In July Howard Hughes flew around the world in 91 hours to set a record in his Lockeed Vega
and the Bluewater Bridge opened Sarnia to Port Huron.
Time magazine named Hitler ―Man of the Year,‖ for 1938 but for the first time did not show his face on
the cover.
FDR opened the World’s Fair in NY and early television captured the event; Lou Gehrig ended his streak
and told fans he was the luckiest man alive.
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Enrico Fermi reported that the atom had been split and a letter from Albert Einstein to FDR suggesting
the US construct an Atomic Bomb, led to the Manhattan Project.
King Saud was granted the oil concession to Aramco. Roosevelt signed the appropriations bill that
began construction of a 6000 plane Air Force – planes to be built by an armada of Rosie the Riveters
and a radio broadcast narrated by a young Orson Wells called ―War of the Worlds‖ scared everyone who
listened.
Then on September 1, 1939, the Nazi’s hit Poland with the Blitzkrieg. Warsaw fell after 20 horrendous
days of fighting and constant air bombardment. Britain and France finally declared war against
Germany. Two days later, FDR declared the US neutral.
President Roosevelt had been trying desperately to get the US in the European war, but the American
people and Congress were strongly opposed.
On November 10, Hitler sent his troops on a rein of terror. They set fire to synagogues, looted Jewish
businesses, killed Jews and rounded up 30,000 more and sent them to concentration camps. In
Washington DC FDR set the cornerstone to the Jefferson Memorial and in Bancok, Siam changed its
name to Thailand.
In May of 1940, Germany attacked the western front. Hitler’s troops seized Norway and Denmark, the
Netherlands, Belgium and France.
In September, Japanese troops moved into Indochina, FDR ordered all Americans out of the Far East
and called up the naval reserves. FDR based the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor to act as a deterrent.
On Nov 5, Roosevelt defeated Wendell Wilke to win a third term, a young Frank Sinatra debuted with
the Dorsey Band and in England, the Battle of Dunkirk began.
In the US, both political parties had platforms opposing entering the war and FDR in his campaign of
1940 told Americans he was doing everything he could to keep us out of the war. Nothing could be
further from the truth.
Roosevelt was supplying arms to Britain and Russia using Lend-Lease money and was shipping the war
materials openly, daring the Germans to attack our ships. In Britain, the Nazi Blitz rained bombs on
London for 57 consecutive nights as Churchill rallied the Brits on radio urging them to persevere and
never surrender.
Then in the spring of 1941, Germany invaded Yugoslavia and Greece and then Russia. Back home, in
the last summer before the war, Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak was at 56 and FDR wanted to have night
doubleheaders to keep war workers on their day jobs.
Roosevelt was at his wit's end. He knew that the Germans were not going to react to his provocations
with an attack on the U.S. and he still could not get Congressional support to enter the war.
By December 7, 1941, Hitler was the Fuhrer of all of Europe, 74% of Americans were still opposed to
entering the war and Japan attacked the US Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. Americans were now ready to
fight. This attack accomplished what FDR had been unable to; get the US into the war.
Few Americans ever stopped to ask why the relatively small island nation of Japan would attack one of
the most powerful nations in the world. After all, the war was in Europe fighting the Nazis.
Japan was waging war to capture China and the Japanese war machine was dependent on Western oil
and other vital resources to win. Roosevelt knew this and acting in conjunction with other Western
powers, placed an oil embargo on Japan and froze all Japanese assets in the U.S. Both of these actions
were taken before December 7 — against a nation which was not at war with the United States.
The Japanese dictators were placed in an untenable position for their supply of oil to continue waging
war in China was soon going to be depleted.
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Entering into secret negotiations, American officials told the Japanese ―Get out of China and we'll
release the embargo and let you have your assets back.‖ As it became more and more obvious that
the negotiations were going nowhere, Japan prepared for their attack on Pearl Harbor.
This approach would ultimately turn out to be FDR’s ―back door to the war‖ in Europe.
Unknown to the Japanese and to the American people at that time, the Japanese secret codes were
broken and the US was reading the Japanese diplomatic messages before the attack on Pearl Harbor!
To understand Japan’s perspective better, let’s look back to the end of WW1. Japan had joined the
Allied powers but played only a minor role in fighting German colonial forces in East Asia.
Arrogance and racial discrimination towards the Japanese had plagued Japanese-Western relations
since the forced opening of the country in the 1800s, and were again a major factor in the deterioration
of relations in the decades proceeding World War Two. In 1924, for example, the US Congress passed
the Exclusion Act that prohibited further immigration from Japan.
Japan's already bad economic situation worsened when the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 destroyed
Tokyo and Yokohama and then the world wide depression of 1929 intensified their plight.
During the 1930s, the military established almost complete control over the government. Many political
enemies were assassinated, and communists persecuted.
Indoctrination and censorship in education and media were further intensified. Navy and army officers
soon occupied most of the important offices, including the one of the prime minister. In 1933, Japan
withdrew from the League of Nations since being heavily criticized for its actions in China.
In July 1937, the Japanese forces succeeded in occupying almost the entire coast of China and
committed severe war atrocities against the Chinese population.
In 1940, Japan occupied Vietnam and joined the Axis powers of Germany and Italy. These actions
intensified Japan's conflict with the United States and Great Britain which resulted in FDR’s oil boycott.
The resulting oil shortage and failures to solve the conflict diplomatically made Japan decide to capture
the oil rich Indonesia, bomb Pearl Harbor and start a war with the US and Great Britain.
The December 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor killed or injured over 4,500 Americans. It destroyed most
of America's Pacific fleet. Almost 200 American aircraft were lost. Although America's defenders at Pearl
Harbor fought bravely and courageously, the attack resulted in a massacre.
The US did not have the ability to strike back quickly and within just 6 months, Japan was able to
expand its control over a large territory that extended to the border of India in the West and New
Guinea in the South.
Japan’s ultimate goal was to complete the conquest of China. Without Western oil, they intended to
capture the oil-rich East Indies islands. The Pearl Harbor attacks were to weaken U S reprisals and
establish a Japanese aura of invincibility.
They then planned to negotiate peace from a position of strength over the intimidated Allies, already
under pressure with the European war.
Japan would retain its newly expanded Empire and use their Pacific troops to continue with the war to
control China. Without oil, none of this was possible.
In order to supply the war effort, the US rationed almost everything. We had books for gasoline, tires,
bacon and butter. We did not complain; it was our contribution. The war raged on with savage
fighting on the islands and on the seas in the Pacific Theater.
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America needed good news and got it in April of 1942. The successful Doolittle carrier bomber raids on
Japan shocked the Japanese while lifting American spirits. This raid and success in the battle of Midway
turned the momentum of the war.
The Allied forces slowly won back the territories occupied by Japan and began the bombing of Japan’s
industry.
Back in Europe, Germany’s war machine had conquered most of Western Europe, swept into the
deserts of North Africa and into the hinterlands of Russia.
But on June 6, 1944, the sweeping Allied D Day Invasion began the liberation of Europe. Horrific
battles ensued and within a year, the Allies gathered strength and eventually crushed the German
Army and the Axis powers.
In February 1945, the end was near for Hitler. Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta to decide the
fate of Europe.
Stalin’s army was 300 Divisions, 12 million men and was poised for the final attack on Berlin.
Eisenhower’s 85 Divisions of 4 million men were still west of the Rhine. Stalin demanded $20 billion
dollars of reparations from Germany, for Poland to be redrawn, for three seats in the new UN and for
territory in the Far East including some of the Japanese islands.
Roosevelt, who would be dead in two months, told the public he was pleased with the results of the
conference, but told Adolf Berle privately, ―I didn’t say the result was good, I said it was the best I
could do‖.
Both Churchill and Roosevelt recognized the reality of Soviet power in 1945. As a result, the Russian
people would be enslaved for the next 45 years.
It is believed Hitler’s remains were discovered on May 5, 1945 and on May 7, 1945, Germany
surrendered. May 8th was declared V E Day – Victory in Europe.
And on July 27, 1945, the Allied powers requested in the Potsdam Declaration for Japan to surrender
unconditionally or even more destruction would come.
The Japanese military did not consider surrender and on August 6, 1945, President Truman gave the
order.
The A Bomb named ―Little Boy‖ was loaded aboard the Enola Gay and dropped over Hiroshima. 70,000
people were killed. No surrender. Three days later, Nagasaki. No surrender. However, 5 days later,
on August 14, Emperor Showa decided to end it and to surrender unconditionally.
In WW1 8 million people died. Over 55 million died in WW2. The US lost 400,000. Another 670,846
were wounded. China and the Soviet Union lost almost 35 million lives. The cost in financial terms was
$2.1 trillion in 1990 dollars.
Names of places foreign to us then, when mentioned today to those who were there, bring back
memories too painful to remember, yet too vivid to ever forget.
Dunkirk, Normandy, Omaha, Midway, Wake, Iwo Jima, Guam, the Philippians, Okinawa, Guadalcanal,
the Coral Sea, Anzio, Berlin, Corrigidor, Battan, El Alamain, they go on and on and the names remind
us of the tremendous courage and bravery American solders demonstrated in battle and of the
sacrifices they made.
Life is given to us and is a profound and passionate thing. Over 400,000 mostly young Americans did
not return from foreign lands after WW2 and closure never came to their families. Their sacrifice was
the ultimate and we still owe them and their families our most sincere gratitude and our deepest
respect.
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America never fought for empires. America never fought for territory, never fought for dominance but
many Americans gave their lives fighting for freedom. As we pause this Memorial Day to remember, let
us give thanks to all Americans who have stood their ground to defend freedom and democracy and
human dignity.
Let us remember, as painful as it is, because sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance. We choose
to remember, because the payment for forgetting is too dear.
As we honor the memory of our fallen heroes, let us pledge that their lives, their valor shall be justified
and remembered, for as long as God gives life to this nation.
May God Bless you and May God bless America. Thank you.
Jerry S. Dennis
P. O. Box 185, Northport, MI. 49670
lakemi@localnet.com
May 30, 2005