VE Day is celebrated in America and Britain
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
On May 8, 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine during World War II .
The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms: In Prague, Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably more; in Copenhagen and Oslo; at Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern Latvia; on the Channel Island of Sark—the German surrender was realized in a final cease-fire. More surrender documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany.
READ MORE: What V-E Day Looked Like Around the World
The main concern of many German soldiers was to elude the grasp of Soviet forces, to keep from being taken prisoner. About 1 million Germans attempted a mass exodus to the West when the fighting in Czechoslovakia ended, but were stopped by the Russians and taken captive. The Russians took approximately 2 million prisoners in the period just before and after the German surrender.
Meanwhile, more than 13,000 British POWs were released and sent back to Great Britain.
Pockets of German-Soviet confrontation would continue into the next day. On May 9, the Soviets would lose 600 more soldiers in Silesia before the Germans finally surrendered. Consequently, V-E Day was not celebrated until the ninth in Moscow, with a radio broadcast salute from Stalin himself: “The age-long struggle of the Slav nations… has ended in victory. Your courage has defeated the Nazis. The war is over.”
READ MORE: World War II Ends: 22 Photos of Giddy Celebrations After Allied Victory
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75 years ago today, good defeated evil.
Please limit your comments to the patriotism of our mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles and those of our Allies
who made VE day possible. Thanks in advance.
SEVENTY-FIVE years ago, the streets of Britain and America were filled with war-weary citizens celebrating the end of the long and terrible conflict in Europe.
Sadly, we cannot hold street parties this year, but coronavirus will not stop us coming together in our homes and on our doorsteps to celebrate the triumph of the Allied forces, a monumental achievement in our shared history.
Sadly this year we can’t hold street parties to honour the 75th anniversary of VE Day, but we can still celebrate the triumph of the Allied forces – a monumental achievement in our shared history
As our wartime veterans remain in isolation and we battle to protect them from the virus, there has never been a more important time for us to join together, from Cornwall to California, to show what Americans call “the Greatest Generation” how proud and grateful we are for their tremendous service to freedom and democracy.
In a small town in northern Minnesota, there is a weeping birch tree that was planted in 1946, it's 70 feet tall or more. There is a bronze plaque that states Monroe Greywolf Wilcox, ''A Rendezvous with Destiny''
The tree is a memorial to my cousin that was KIA at the Battle of the Bulge (Bastogne) Christmas, 1944.
The ''Rendezvous with Destiny'' is what the commanding general of the 101st Airborne told the troopers of the 101st before they left the US to fight in Europe.
I have always wondered what my father, his brothers and cousins would have been like if not for their service in Europe.
Most had PTSD that manifested itself in one extreme or another, from brawlers to the quietest men I ever knew.
They are all gone now but we remember them all.
all the guys I knew that served in WW2 are gone too, but each and every one of them were a big influence on my childhood in the 60's. those service people, even the average citizens were a different breed of Americans back then, patriotism was in one of it's purest forms.
My grandfather, drafted into the navy less than a month after pearl. served in 2 theaters, Atlantic and Pacific, on the same ship. My lifelong fishing buddy that always had a boat or a body of water close by after the war ended.
my uncle, who joined the merchant marine and served in the Atlantic. when the war ended he never set foot on a boat again.
my great uncle, quit dental school and joined the submarine service. served on a famous boat that had a book and movie made about it's exploits in the pacific.
my old friend Pete, father of my childhood babysitter audra. we would watch WW2 movies on TV in the basement and he would wow me with war stories from D day to the battle of the bulge where he was wounded. I learned later in life that I was the only person he ever told any war stories to. steel shrapnel from the bulge continued to work it's way out of his body his entire life.
I remember sitting in a restaurant with some friends during All American Week on Fort Bragg a years ago. When you get groups of paratroopers together naturally the conversation ALWAYS includes how many jumps everybody has. As usual the bragging went on for a while until a WW II veteran walks up to us and states "I only have five jumps". That 5 word sentence silenced all of us and he had all of our respect immediately. This small but lively gentle man was more bad ass than we could ever dream of. He had taken part in every major Airborne Operation during WWII. This man was is a very big part of history. What he and thousands of other paratroopers did on those jumps is still taught to this day.
What started as a few people going out for food and a few drinks quickly turned into a teaching moment. It was very humbling to be in his presence. I learned so much from him that night.
WWII always seem just a little bit ahead of me. My dad's oldest brother fought in it and the 2 wars that followed. My mom was born in 41 in Siberia, her parents running away from the Nazis. They all seemed both tough and accessible. They took so much and gave us a world. How can we ever repay them? We can't. May they forever be remembered.
Someone on some program the other night, said they gave so much,
expected so little
and would do it all again if asked...
so why cant you wear a mask for a few weeks?