Happy VE day, everyone.

[Lionel Mandrake]

VE stands for "Victory in Europe".

May 8, 1945 was (give or take a day, depending on time zones and whatnot) when Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. Hitler's successor, the former Großadmiral Karl Dönitz, now Reichspräsident of Germany, signed the documents of surrender.

President Truman turned 61 on the same day.

Most of you young whipper-snappers weren't even born yet, but you have probably studied this stuff in school, and you know that VE day was not the end of World War Two.

Nevertheless, it was a time for celebration.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. calls for the iconic photo, me thinks

[Lionel Mandrake]

4. This iconic photo was taken on August 14, 1945.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VJ_day_kiss

That sailor was a lucky man. Not only was he alive, he was in Times Square on the day the war ended. Many soldiers, sailors, and marines were still far away. In those days, troops were transported by ships, not airplanes. It took a while to bring most of them home.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. oh yeah. my bad. mea culpa... getting my V days confused ...

thanks for the re-education.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear Lionel Mandrake!

Thanks for the history lesson!

Since I'm not a young whipper-snapper, never mind young, I remember this stuff.

[Lionel Mandrake]

6. My dear CP,

It's extraordinary that you remember events that happened when you were so young. I was about six, and I don't remember this stuff. I do remember watching Victory at Sea and other TV programs about the war, and reading a few books on the subject.

[femmocrat]

3. Thank you!

Several of my uncles served in Europe.

[Lionel Mandrake]

7. You're quite welcome.

Your uncles were heroes. Their service is indeed something to celebrate.

[freshwest]

18. My dad didn't get back until after VJ Day. We used to go outside and he taught me the constellations

in the sky as they learned those to calculate where they were in the Pacific. He saw a lot but came back all right.

[Callmecrazy]

8. VE Day?

is so last century.

[Taverner]

9. Nope! That would be V-J day.

But technically, we've been constantly at war since Pearl Harbor was bombed...

[Lionel Mandrake]

10. Yes, but opinions differ as to which day that was.

"August 15 is the official V-J Day for the UK while the official US commemoration is September 2."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VJ_Day

Here, as usual, Wikipedia does a good job of clarifying the ambiguity.

For me, August 14 is the real VJ Day. This agrees with the day celebrated in the UK, modulo a few time zones. Most of the fighting had stopped by then, and long before MacArthur's signing ceremony aboard the USS Missouri.

[Taverner]

13. But still - no matter what V-J day, it never meant the end of military operations

Sadly...

[Lionel Mandrake]

15. Very true.

First of all, in Japan, we felt obliged to occupy the place and keep the Soviets out (which is ironic, since the Soviets had attacked Japan on August 9 at our request). In Germany and Austria, we shared the chores of occupation and de-Nazification with our erstwhile allies. If Patton had had his way, we would have teamed up with the Germans to fight the Soviets. As it was, we could look forward to a long "cold war" against the same adversary and other communists. In the 50s there was the Korean War. (We still have troops stationed in Korea.) In the 60s and early 70s there was the Vietnam War, after which Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City. And on it goes. War is to the USA what rain is to Seattle: either it just ended, or it's about to start, or it's happening right now.

But there I go getting all negative on a day when we should be celebrating.

[Taverner]

16. I just want the war to stop

We don't want it

Why should it exist?

[OriginalGeek]

11. Today is also my grandpa's 92nd birthday

We had a party Sunday. Retired Airforce CWO, WWII and Korea...

[femmocrat]

12. Happy Birthday to your grandpa!

I hope you get him to talk about his experiences. My dad and uncles never did. I learned that one of them had received a Purple Heart after he passed away. So much of their history has been lost.

[OriginalGeek]

14. Thank you :-)

He talks more about being stationed in Okinawa than he does Europe...lol, he's never had an alcoholic drink in his life but he brought a bottle of Nazi wine back from France and kept it wrapped up and stashed all these years and then, a few years ago, he wanted to show it to me and he dug it out and we found out it had leaked over the years and all the wine was gone and it had disintegrated the label so all he had was an old empty bottle. As far as I know that was the only thing he brought back from over there. That and his government issue Remington .45 that has never been fired.

He and my grandma had just started dating after a blind date picnic and he had already decided to ask her to marry him (He says it was a really great picnic!) when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and he got sent out of the country. He had to ask her to marry him by sending her a ring in the mail. He says it took weeks (maybe over a month) to get her answer back by mail. They were married until she died 3 years ago.

They are the main reason I'm a Democrat.

[mrmpa]

17. I had two uncles and 3 great-uncles and one uncle by marriage.......

who served in WWII. The two uncles served in the Navy and the Army in the South Pacific, the soldier received 2 purple hearts.

The uncle by marriage was an Army bomb disposal expert in Europe, he was also wounded twice, once when a bomb blew up in front of him.

The 3 great uncles served in the Army in Europe. One was killed in France in August of 1944.