You Missed World War II

     Your blogger did also. I played with little jeeps, tanks, soldiers, planes and flags, without knowing what in the world was going on. Lines of real jeeps passed through town. A new Army base was 5 miles away.

     August 1945. Dad's radio, "The  war  is  over!" What more did I need to know? 

     Soldiers, pilots, sailors and nurses came home, many to college, and America returned to normal. FDR was over too. There was no television. Baby births in 1946 probably set a record. 

     I graduated high school before my history lessons reached our century. Duh! Drafted into the Army, I spent some free time reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Hitler: eyes on England and Russia.

     I learned about Pearl Harbor. So, I disliked the Japanese. Didn't know thousands lived in my country. 

     Much later, three Japanese worked in our Pittsburgh office, relating only to an American electrical engineer on an unknown project.  

     Still later, in a Florida mall, a squadron of Japanese soldiers walked by. They never looked at us, only the store windows. That's Japan. They are loyal to themselves. They may be our allies today, out of fear of China (a reversal). But there is little use sending missionaries.

     Oh. One more thing. For 10 years we've owned a good car made by a Japanese company. No major expenses...yet. 

     With this background, don't miss next week's series on Japanese Americans. What did they have to do with Pearl Harbor?

             Jimmy