Tuesday, April 27, 2010

WW2 Letter

I am going to be a U.S marine of a raider Battalion stationed in Okinawa off the south pacific occupied by Japanese forces. Its 1944 and I'm bandaging up the wounded and stocking up on ammunition. I'm going to talk about the last few months on Okinawa. I will be writing about the Empire of Japan and my opinions about it. my mission which is to rescue a reconnaissance team. My letter is going to have a warlike feel to it.

Letter

Draft 1

It’s been months; years it seems since I was stationed back on Pearl Harbor before the Japs demolished it. Now it’s just rubble. Now I’m thrown into the pacific war with all of the other war junkies. My jacket drenched in blood and the smell of turmoil makes me sick to my feet. I’ve seen it all from the banzi strikes to soldiers carrying dead weight. I thank god every that I’m alive. I lost a dear friend of mine. I didn’t see it coming, as a matter of fact we all didn’t see it coming. I’m fighting alongside General McArthur. We’re spending our last days on Okinawa. Nothing more than sand, trees and a small Japanese military base. I was briefed on my mission. We're being asked to rescue a reconnaissance team that left about a week ago. For all we know there already dead.

The last few months on Okinawa have taking their toll. Morale is low. Military supplies aren’t getting through. We can’t even mange to get the wounded out to safety. We’re running low on ammo. Good news is we rescued the reconnaissance team safe and sound. Pretty much everyday, we crawl through the mud and dirt while bullets whistle over our heads. Each day we carve deeper into the jungles of Okinawa, hoping that the Japanese don't slit our throats. We're making our final stand. This is the last time we put our lives on the line. The extraction point is a couple of klicks ahead. Today we're going home.


not done yet...

References

World War 2 books by Howard Zinn

WW2 Honors history

One might think of World War I and II as barbaric conflicts with much bloodshed and loss of property and life. Despite how horrific they were, many great ideas emerged. They sparked global interest in politics, technology, allegiances, and international agencies. Many aspects of these wars set the foundation of things to come in the future. After World War I, The League of Nations strove for peace but never really managed to succeed. In order to stop disputes between nations, the League of Nations sought the assistance of neighboring countries. The United Nations is a modern-day version of the League of Nations with peacekeeping forces at its disposal. After World War I, the demands of the League of Nations created resentment in Germany. In time, this resentment gave Hitler the support he needed for the Nazi Party to succeed. Hitler’s Nazi Party wanted to conquer other European nations and establish a super race.

Alliances played a crucial role during both wars. The Axis powers against the Allies. Forming alliances between several large nations enabled the Allies to win the war. Conversely, President Bush’s doctrine of going it alone during the Iraq War without the support of major super powers has hurt American foreign policy abroad. Nations other than Great Britain were against America’s invasion of Iraq. Without their solid support, achieving victory has been elusive. Having a strong coalition of nations could have resulted in trade embargos or other ways to get Iraq to cooperate without the need to go to war. Currently, the presidency of Barack Obama is trying to get support from other countries to win the war in Afghanistan. He believes that it is in everyone’s best interest to fight terrorism. In order for this to happen, America has to enforce the three doctrines. These doctrines are used to create cooperative alliances with other countries. Establishing these alliances can influence foreign governments to become more democratic.

After World War II, the Marshal plan proposed by Secretary of State George C. Marshal was implemented to provide economic aid to rebuild Europe. After winning a war against another country, the winning side is obligated to liberate the country and help it rebuild. When World War II ended, Germany had to pay reparations for all of the damage to other countries’.

The liberation of Europe towards the end of World War II by Allied forces freed Jews that had been imprisoned in Concentration Camps. Before the war ended, millions of Jews had been killed by the Nazis.

The atomic bombs that were dropped in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were horrific enough to bring an end to World War II. Ever since, nations around the world have agreed to seek nonproliferation of atomic weapons because of the incredible destruction they can cause to mankind.

History has taught us that all war exacts a heavy price. Because of this, super powers have sought alliances that will insure their freedom from invasion. We must seek to prevent war through peaceful means and end the proliferation of nuclear weapons so that mankind will not destroy itself but live in peace.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Blog #15: WW2 technology

Technology

World War 2 introduced an array of deadly and destructive weapons. A very special weapon that was available to the modern infantry was the phosphorous grenade. In ground combat, a soldier would use a phosphorous grenade against a machine gun post during battle. Napalm was another useful and affective weapon. It was used to take out more than 1 enemy. Napalm was mostly used to burn enemies inside bunkers. There was also aerial combat in World War 2. Jet fighters carried bombs over countries and were used to destroy military bases. There was also tactical combat in which soldiers use to distract or eliminate the enemy. Soldiers would dig trenches to shield themselves from enemy gunfire. All of this stuff interests me. I’m eager to learn more about the technology.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Blog #14

There was one interesting aspect that stood out to me. How the war began. I know that the war erupted after the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand’s death. I found it quite interesting because it triggered a very large and bloody war all over Europe. Everybody in ever part of the world was fighting.

I already learned about World War 1 last year. I am looking forward to learning more in depth about World War 2. I am very eager to learn about the frightening battles that took place during the war. I’m more interest in about the outcomes of each battle. I want to learn about the equipment and resources they used during the war.

This war was probably the most costly and destructive war of the 1900's. You can relate World War 2 to the war that is going on today. Financing the Iraq war was partially the reason why America is in an economic rescission.