Check the PBS link
[url=mms://pbs.wmod.llnwd.net/a1863/e1/general/windows/thewar/war_web_clip23_384.wmv?v1st=62EECCC5F3360ACF]Video[/url]
The War
The War, more
The local PBS station ran these all day Sunday, it was great. There is some combat footage that I haven't ever seen before. My dad was a boy during this time and he had told me about the rationing back in the US.
One of his older brothers served in the Philpines and never talked about it, but one of my aunts had a scrap book of all of the newspapers clippings on him and his field promotion to Lt and the medals that he earned. He is still a quiet, easy going person of 83, you'd couldn't guess the hell he and his buddies went through on re-taking the island and Manila in particular.
It's amazing to think that with the country with a population of 130 million, we had 16 million of them in the military during that time. Most of them had a contract that committed them to "the duration of the war, plus six months", and nobody really knew how long it was going to take - even in the summer of 1945. Even after the 2nd Atomic bomb drop, there was a near coup by some of the Japanes military to prevent the Emperor from announcing the surrender.
My hat is off to that generation that sacrificed so much, there's no telling what the world would be like today if they hadn't.
One of his older brothers served in the Philpines and never talked about it, but one of my aunts had a scrap book of all of the newspapers clippings on him and his field promotion to Lt and the medals that he earned. He is still a quiet, easy going person of 83, you'd couldn't guess the hell he and his buddies went through on re-taking the island and Manila in particular.
It's amazing to think that with the country with a population of 130 million, we had 16 million of them in the military during that time. Most of them had a contract that committed them to "the duration of the war, plus six months", and nobody really knew how long it was going to take - even in the summer of 1945. Even after the 2nd Atomic bomb drop, there was a near coup by some of the Japanes military to prevent the Emperor from announcing the surrender.
My hat is off to that generation that sacrificed so much, there's no telling what the world would be like today if they hadn't.