1941: A World at War [antikvár]

JAMES MICHENER ON THE WAR'S BEGINNINGWHO COULD FORESEE EXTENT OF COMING CONFLICT?It truly was a war that became worldwide. On that Friday morning in September 1939 when Adolf Hitler unleashed his army, his tanks and his dive bombers to destroy Poland, any sensible observer could see that soon the nearby nations of Europe would probably become involved. But who could have foreseen that before the war ended the world would wait breathlessly for news from unheard-of spots like Guadalcanal, Murmansk and Tobruk?And who in the United States believed that industrial sites like an auto plant in Detroit or a shipyard in Mississippi would be converted into arsenals of democracy to make tanks, airplanes and Liberty ships.^ And, most important to us as individuals, who realized in those first days that millions of young Americans would go into uniform to serve in places like Anzio, Benghazi and the Coral Sea, or that our aviators would fight life-and-death battles in which the safety of the entire world was involved at places like Midway Is-land, Saipan and Peenemünde.? Or that our amphibious forces would storm ashore at Salerno, Normandy and Iwo Jima?Chance took me on my Navy duty to 49 different islands in the South Pacific, most ofwhich I had never heard of before, but there I fol-lowed with avid interest the great land battles at Stalingrad, the infantry maneuvers at the Remagen bridge and the agonizing warfare at Anzio, for I knew that whereas I fought in the Pacific, at least half of my destiny lay with what was happening in the larger battles in Europe. In the same way, Americans serving in Europe were concerned with the outcome of our land battles on Saipan, our vast naval and air engagements in Leyte Gulf and our bombing runs on Tokyo. We fought on radically different fronts: Normandy, Italy, North Africa, the Mariana Islands and the gates of Japan itself.As the war progressed I was amazed at the transformations it was producing in ordinary human lives. A shy young woman worked in an assembly line and became so politically involved that later she would run for Congress. I knew young men so distraught by what they saw of war that they resolved: "Come peace, I'm going to study for the min-Best-selling author James Michener, who gathered material for his endur-ingly popular Tales of the South Pacific while serving in World War U (far right) added to his reputation as a historical novelist nonpareil with the likes 0/Texas, Hawaii, Space and Alaska.istry," or the rabbinate, or the priesthood. Hundreds of thousands, utilizing the G.I. Bill, would go on to college and brilliant careers in law or medicine or politics; in normal times they would never have gained an education. And untold numbers simply found a deeper sense of life and personal direction. I became a writer.As I look back upon that great war, I am stunned by its duration. Our recent war in the Gulf lasted only 100 hours of actual fighting and was limited to a small geographical focus. World War II, which started in 1939 for European armies, lasted not hours but years, seven of them, 1939-1945 inclusive. For Americans it lasted an appalling 1,365 days filled with such drama, tragedy, triumph and pressure that they altered our national life in almost every aspect. Women gained new freedoms and responsibilities. Moral standards were altered. When peace came, our economy boomed. And above all, what had been an isolationist nation, its people satisfied with their own corner of the world, became one with worldwide interests and experiences.Now, 50 years later, it is appropriate for the United States Postal Service, on whose Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee I served for many years, to remember this cataclysmic world event and to pay honor to the men and women who saw it through to victory.James A. MichenerTexas Center for Writing, Austin