On This Day

September 1, 1939: German military forces storm across the border into Poland, quickly capturing the country and officially beginning World War II. Seventy years ago today, the world erupted into a furious conflict which would last for six years and one day. As I hope you are familiar with this great historical struggle, I will not attempt to summarize it myself, but will provide the words of some men intimately involved in World War II.

"We have but one aim and one irrevocable purpose. We are resolved to destroy Hitler and every vestige of the Nazi regime. From this nothing will turn us - nothing. We will never parley. We will never negotiate with Hitler or any of his gang. We shall fight him by land. We shall fight him by sea. We shall fight him in the air, until with God's help we have rid the earth of his shadow and liberate its people from his yoke. Any man or state who fights Nazidom will have our aid. Any man or state who marches with Hitler is our foe." ~Winston Churchill

"Never in the field of human conflict, has so much, been owed by so many, to so few!" ~Winston Churchill: September, 1940

"The fate of the Empire rests on this enterprise every man must devote himself totally to the task in hand." ~Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto - Commander in Chief of the Japanese Navy: December 7th, 1941

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan...As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense...With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounded determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God." ~President F.D. Roosevelt: December 8th, 1941

"You'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me!" ~Captain Henry P. Jim Crowe: January 13th, 1943 - (Guadalcanal)

"They (the Americans) are, I think, a bit unwarrantably cock-a-hoop as a result of their limited experience to date. But they are setting about it in a realistic and business-like way...I have a feeling that they will do it..." ~British Air Vice-Marshal Sir John Slessor - 1943

"Casualties many; Percentage of dead not known; Combat efficiency; we are winning." ~Colonel David M. Shoup: (Tarawa) - November 21st, 1943

"Defend Paris to the last, destroy all bridges over the Seine and devastate the city." ~Adolf Hitler: August, 1944

"Let the indomitable spirit of Bataan and Coregidor lead on...In the name of your sacred dead, strike! Let no heart be faint. Let every arm be steeled." ~General Douglas MacArthur: On the beach at Palo, broadcasting his return - October, 1944

"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue." ~Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz: March 16th, 1945

Tutela ex Vulnero,

John