VJ Day Research Articles

The Summer of '46

The Summer of '46 Storey Clayton (bio) The meme about the origin of the Baby Boomers goes like this: all the men in America were off fighting bravely in World War II, keeping the world safe for democracy. In 1945, the Nazis surrendered and then Japan got nuked and surrendered and the world was saved and the boys came home. And since the war was won and the Axis was defeated and the world was safe, it was okay to make babies again. So there was a boom, a big boom, starting about nine months after the end of the war. VE Day was May 8, 1945, marking the end of the war against Hitler. VJ Day was a season later, August 14, 1945, though Japan didn't formally surrender for another two weeks. VJ Day is the day that produced that iconic photo you associate with the end of the war, where the navy sailor hears the news and grabs his main squeeze for a passionate, tilting kiss. Never mind that this kiss is actually a #MeToo story, that the woman being kissed didn't know the guy and never consented. "And then I was grabbed," Greta Zimmer told an interviewer decades later. "That man was very strong. I wasn't kissing him. He was kissing me." George Mendonsa, the guy in the photo, was home on shore leave. He didn't go home and make a Baby Boomer with Greta like so many of us were left to presume. He married Rita, the woman standing behind him, over his shoulder in the picture, with whom he'd been on a date when the movie was interrupted to announce Japan's surrender. They married in October 1946, but didn't have their first child until 1953. Had they conceived a child that night, the child would have been born in May 1946. But George was home on shore leave. It took a while to get the millions of men deployed in the Pacific back from the theater. So it's safe to say that the summer of 1946 is the real start of the Baby Boom as a cultural phenomenon. Donald Trump was born in June 1946. George W. Bush was born in July 1946. Bill Clinton was born in August 1946. For five of the last seven Presidential terms, spanning what will be, as of the forthcoming election, twenty of the last twenty-eight years, the US hasn't just been led by Baby Boomers. It's been led by tip-of-the-spear Baby Boomers whose birthdays embody the meme that gives the generation its name. ____ This level of clustering of Presidential birthdays is not only rare, it's unique. Four other pairs of Presidents share a birth year, but none of their birthdays are closer than three and a half months apart. George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter were both born in 1924, Richard Nixon and his pardoner Gerald Ford in 1913, U.S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes in 1822, and Andrew Jackson and the man who beat him while losing the popular vote, John Quincy Adams, in 1767. None of those pairs combined to serve more than twelve years as President and none shared their birth year with a third President. [End Page 166] Trump was born on June 14, W. Bush on July 6, and Clinton on August 19. The three Presidents were born in a span of 67 days. Both Clinton's and Bush's fathers fought in World War II, while the older Fred Trump, a real estate developer, built barracks and apartment buildings near stateside naval bases. And since you're probably wondering, none of the other candidates for President in 2020 were born in 1946. The closest is Elizabeth Warren, born in 1949. Hillary Clinton was born in 1947. Barack Obama was born in 1961, technically placing him in the Baby Boom generation, which most people close three years later in 1964. That year, our Summer of '46 trio reached the age of 18 just as the Gulf of Tonkin incident was opening the Vietnam War. All three enjoyed student deferments from the draft from 1964-68...

Remaining faithful to the city: Marshall Berman's provocative optimism

Marshall Berman was an optimistic and provocative writer on cities and urban life. The article begins by examining examples of Marshall Berman’s unique approach to understanding the potential of cities to help people discover themselves and each other, including his analysis of Alfred Eistenstaedt’s photograph of the VJ Day kiss in Times Square (included in his final book On the Town). Berman’s unique contribution to understanding urban culture, made across many books and articles, is shown to combine a humanist, or ‘warm stream’ reading of Marx, with Nietzsche’s enthusiasm for affirmation. The article argues how Berman’s work stresses remaining faithful to the city despite the challenges, hardship and complexities of urban life. For Berman, it is only the city that can help resolve the modern quest for authenticity and radical individualism. Finally, the article considers two critical issues that arise from Marshall Berman’s work: first, the problems of social and moral order that might arise from unbounded development of the self; and second, whether it is possible to construct a radical politics of affirmation—as Berman tries to do—and if so, why we might need it now more than ever.

The noir forties: the American people from victory to Cold War

From one of our finest cultural historians, The Noir Forties is a vivid reexamination of America's postwar period, that age of anxiety characterized by the dissipation of victory dreams, the onset of the Red Scare, and a nascent resistance to the growing Cold War consensus. Richard Lingeman examines a brief but momentous and crowded time, the years between VJ Day and the beginning of the Korean War, describing how we got from there to here. It evokes the social and cultural milieu of the late forties, with the vicissitudes of the New Deal Left and Popular Front culture from the end of one hot war and the beginning of the cold one--and, longer term, of a cold war that preoccupied the United States for the next fifty years. It traces the attitudes, sentiments, hopes and fears, prejudices, behavior, and collective dreams and nightmares of the times, as reflected in the media, popular culture, political movements, opinion polls, and sociological and psychological studies of mass beliefs and behavior.

John A. Conkling and Christopher J. Mocella: Chemistry of Pyrotechnics: Basic Principles and Theory

In view of the books that I have recently reviewed from this publisher, I was beginning to think that nothing short of 1000 pages was regarded as worth publishing. It was, therefore, a surprise to find that this one was a monograph of a mere 225 pages in length. However, I found it more stimulating to a variety of thoughts and subjects than some of the weightier tomes. The first thought that came to mind was that, as this second edition is appearing 25 years after the first edition, it is clearly not a rapidly advancing subject. Indeed, I suspect that the famous Sinologist, the late Joseph Needham, would have argued that the Chinese had discovered most of what is worth knowing about fireworks some 1000 years ago. The second thought was that although nowadays there are many academic institutions in the UK offering (to my mind) rather weird courses, none have got round to offering one on explosives and pyrotechnics for fairly obvious reasons. Even chemistry students expressing interest in such things are liable to arouse suspicion in security circles. According to the preface of this book, in the USA the New Mexico Institute of Technology offers a programme in ‘‘Explosive Technology’’. Perhaps this course is sponsored by, and run for, the benefit of the military, otherwise I cannot imagine it lasting long. Where, therefore, does one acquire a knowledge of pyrotechnics? In the USA, short summer seminars arranged by Washington College have been run by the authors and their colleagues at this institution for many years. This volume appears to be the textbook for the course and it would seem that those attending come largely from a non-scientific background since the first quarter of the book consists of an introductory basic chemistry course. It is an admirable introduction that could be used by students in other fields in similar circumstances. The rest of the book deals with the general topics of oxidising materials, fuels and binders before going on to more specific topics such as ignition and propagation, sensitivity, and colour and light production. All of these are dealt with fully and comprehensively but I suspect that after studying this book very carefully, I would be totally unable to make a single firework successfully. The first reason for this is that government regulations are nowadays so strict that it is well nigh impossible for an amateur to purchase the required materials. I found out recently that the sale of sodium chlorate, which I used to use as a cheap and effective weed killer, is now banned in the EU. The second reason is that although this book may give all the science there is clearly a lot of art involved and the only way to acquire the latter is by joining a company producing fireworks since amateur efforts to gain this are very difficult, again for reasons of safety and security. In view of the need to increase the intake of students to chemistry, it is a pity that the more entertaining aspects of the subject are now so difficult to demonstrate. One thing that is clear from this book is that fireworks are big business. In the UK fireworks were once confined to November 5th but nowadays hardly a week passes without some public or private event involving a fireworks display. During the 1995 celebrations of VJ Day in London in 1995, E. R. Adlard (&) Burton, South Wirral, UK

Encyclopedia of World War II: a political, social and military history

An unprecedented achievement in publishing-a multivolume encyclopedic resource, for both the general reader and specialist-on the central conflict of the 20th century, The Encyclopedia of World War II covers the entire scope of the Second World War from its earliest roots to its continuing impact on global politics and human society. A monumental five-volume work, The Encyclopedia of World War II is an achievement in scholarship that surpasses all such efforts on World War II before it. From the conflict's historic origins to VJ Day and beyond, it offers readers unprecedented coverage of all aspects of the war as it played out in the corridors of power, in the minds of military strategists, on the battlefields, and in the lives of ordinary soldiers and civilians. Full of fascinating characters and insights, including a wealth of new information and new thinking about the war's events and impact, The Encyclopedia of World War II will stand as the definitive single reference on the subject for years to come. With over one million words of richly illustrated text, it covers every important battle and weapon system; individual nations and geographic locations; and political, social, and military leaders. Featured essays offer deeper analyses of crucial events such as Pearl Harbor, the Holocaust, the atomic bomb, and other fascinating topics. Providing its content is an incomparable team of international academics and independent historians. Volume five, the documents volume, is unmatched in breadth and depth and includes primary sources such as important official writings and personal reminiscences of the war's key events. * Over 1,400 A-Z entries, including lengthy biographies of individuals, studies of battles, details of weapons systems, and analyses of wartime conferences, crucial battlefield and diplomatic turning points, and lingering historical controversies * Over 270 contributors, including an unprecedented number of international authorities (many from Japan and China), giving the work a global perspective no other encyclopedia on World War II can match * A wealth of primary documents, ranging from official documents to personal correspondence, is included in a separate volume * An introductory section with 70 detailed geopolitical and military maps providing a clear orientation for proceeding with research into specific topics and events, as well as 300 photographs, illustrations, charts, and tables * Includes a discussion of military ranks of the major warring powers and a lengthy comparative table of officers and enlisted men

Politics of prisoner of war recovery: SOE and the Burma–Thailand Railway during world war II

This article considers why SOE were given a prominent role in POW recovery in the Far East during the last months of the war and immediately after VJ Day. This was a task normally allotted to the International Committee of the Red Cross. It examines both strategic and humanitarian motivations as possible explanations of this policy. It reviews the means used to execute this policy along the Burma–Thailand Railway, including close cooperation with the Thai resistance movement. The success of SOE's operations are assessed and the impact of their testimony in the Tokyo War Crimes Trials is also reviewed against the background of a growing appreciation of the role of secret service in providing evidence to international tribunals.

Has he apologized or not?

This paper will examine the misunderstanding between the British and Japanese governments in the interpretation of the letter of apology (according to the British government)/ congratulation (according to the Japanese government) sent by the then Japanese Prime Minister to the then British Prime Minister just before the 50th anniversary of VJ Day in Britain. It will first investigate what the speech act 'apology' entails in these two different discourse communities and then explore how this speech act was differently interpreted on the special occasion of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War by the two former enemy governments according to their respective interests and differing social and political pressures from war veterans and bereaved families. Using a selection of newspaper articles from this period, the paper will illustrate how deeply wider social, political and historical backgrounds can affect the interpretation of linguistic meaning and how the interpretation of an utterance can vary depending on the context. It will also demonstrate how the use of vague expressions and culturally loaded styles could lead to misinterpretation or misunderstanding, referring to the letter written by the then Japanese Prime Minister. The letter was said to have originally been meant to be one of congratulation by the sender but was not interpreted in this way by the receiver. Finally, I will reemphasize the importance of taking the context into consideration in utterance interpretation.

England, Britain and the Audit of War (The Prothero Lecture)

THE award of the Booker Prize for 1995 to Pat Barker'sGhost Roaddid more than pay tribute to the latest powerful novel in the author's ‘Regeneration Cycle’. It also emphasised once again how much the historical and cultural consciousness of twentieth-century Britain is dominated by images of war. With the obvious exception of Northern Ireland, Great Britain has been an unusually peaceful and stable country in a century marked by revolution and upheaval. Yet our national experience has been shaped, almost obsessed, by two world wars in a way true of few, if any, other countries. Memories of 1914 and 1939 tower over us like Lutyens's massive monument at Thiepval. The war leaders, David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, are commonly thought of as our two greatest prime ministers in modern times (though another, more recent, prime minister, victorious in the Falklands, still has her champions). Armistice day, Remembrance Sunday and the wearing of poppies retain their potency as all-powerful national symbols of sacrifice. The British Legion remains an influential pressure group. The eightieth anniversary of the battle of the Somme in July 1996 emphasised anew the enduring impact of the tragedies of the first world war. More generally, the fiftieth anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day the previous year were nationwide ceremonies of remembrance for the sacrifices of the second. Almost every episode in current history, especially where Europe is involved, is commonly linked with memories of earlier conflict. Even the 1996 crisis in Anglo-German relations, such as it was, arising from ‘mad cow disease’ evoked comparison with 1939.

The 'Good War': The Second World War and Postwar American Society

During the various fiftieth anniversary celebrations of the second world war, culminating in D-Day, VE and VJ Day commemorations, many Americans, with participants from other nations, remembered countrymen who died in the years following Pearl Harbor. Others also looked back nostalgically to the second world war which, according to some observers, was 'the Good War', America's 'finest hour', and 'the most popular war in American history'. The historical profession, having for long ignored the war altogether, is writing increasingly of it as a glorious and, in modern parlance, defining moment in modern American history, shaping a 'postwar era' which lasted up until the 1970s.' In this article I want to attempt some assessment of the war's impact on American society and try to locate it in relation to the pre-war and postwar periods. An increasing volume of scholarship has contributed to a subtle but persistent shift in emphasis in the writing of modern American history. Where once contemporary United States history was seen to begin in the New Deal era with the creation of the modern presidency, the formation of new political alliances, the rise of organized labour, and development of a welfare system, increasingly it is the second world war which is used to mark the emergence of modern America. While the limitations of the New Deal's achievements have been endlessly debated by revisionist historians, the war years are seen in a comparatively more positive light. According to Geoffrey Perrett, the war

World War II: the Army Dental Corps in the Far East.

During the recent remembrance of VJ day, war veterans have related their own experiences as prisoners in the Japanese PoW camps. In this article, members of The Army Dental Corps recount their own histories during the war in the Far East. Whilst the conditions in which they lived are horrifying, the ingenious creation of dental tools and chairs from what materials they could find in order to carry on performing what they were enlisted to do--dentistry--is inspiring to say the least.

World War II: the Army Dental Corps in the Far East.

August 15 is the anniversary of VJ Day--Victory in Japan. This article, the first of a 3-part series dedicated to remembering the efforts of the Army Dental Corps during the second world war, reproduces the personal experiences--some horrifying, some desperate, some funny--of those dentists who did their service in the Far East and who experienced VJ Day at first hand.

The build-up to VJ Day and its aftermath as recorded in ‘The Tjitjalengka Times’

The build-up to VJ Day and its aftermath as recorded in <i>‘The Tjitjalengka Times’</i>

VJ Day 1990: time to remember.

VJ Day 1990: time to remember.

Thailand's Declaration of War Against the United States and Great Britain in 1942

Extremely divergent opinions about the Thailand's declaration of war against the United States and Britain in 1942 have been represented among nations in Thailand, Japan, the U. S. and Britain, since the period of World War II. In Thailand, Phibul Songkhram, the wartime Prime Minister who declared the war, cooperated with Japan in the early stage of the war, wishing to get back the border territories of British Burma and Malaya, but by the end of the war, has became critical for the Japanese policy to promote the idea of Great East Asia Coprosperity Sphare for the Japanese sakes. While, Pridi Phanomyong, the Regent in the wartime Thai Royal Palace, led the anti-Japanese Free Thai movement, on which he imitated the Free France Force of the General Charles de Gaule of the same time and desired to establish his anti-Japanese Thai Government in exile in vain, because of the strategic disapproval of the United Nations. On the day after VJ Day, Pridi issued a proclamation repudiating the declaration of war against the U. S. and Britain which was null and void. The U. S. approved it, but Britain did not accept it. Thai centric ways of thinking of these political leaders during and just after the war, have continued until today and Thai scholars of these years are still used to be explained the same ways of evaluation for their study on the wartime history as these political leaders did in the past ages.As to the assessment of the declaration of war viewed from the U. N. side, the U. S., and Britain in the early period of the war marched in line and did not make any declaration of war against Thailand, but, by the end of the war, Anglo-American confrontation has emarged for the treatment of Thai-land's situation in the postwar period. The U. S. wanted to support the Southeast Asian peoples without making any concession to the demand of Britain and France, while Britain planned to impose economic and military controls of Thailand after the war. One of the Thai scholars today regards such U. S. policy as “altruism” and British policy as “oppression”, while a British scholar today standes on the British side and insist on the “Thai people's astonement before absolution” for their responsibility of the declaration of war. The egocentric ways of thinking which is common to both side, therefore, deserve to be given special attention. Comparative studies on the background of these divergent opinions which caused confrontation of historical aspects between Thailand and Britain, will be helpful for understanding cultural conflict on the subject.

THERAPEUTIC MEASURES PROMOTING RECOVERY FROM THE PHYSIOLOGIC DISTURBANCES OF INFANTILE DIARRHEA

ALTHOUGH the improvements in fluid therapy have seemed to result largely from recent clinical observations, actually the fundamental ideas were developed by research on experimental animals in laboratories of physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology and clinical medicine. In many aspects, the progress has depended on laboratory work using physiologic and biochemical methods but applied with a point of view arising from clinical experience. The opportunities for this type of research came largely with full-time medicine in clinical departments. I was led to the use of potassium in fluid therapy by studies which were carried out on experimental animals throughout a period of 10 years in association with Drs. Yannet, Harrison and Miller. We had the excellent technical assistance of Miss Carey, Miss Coville and Mr. lannucci and Mr. Barringham. During these years, the knowledge of the metabolism of water and electrolyte was advancing rapidly under the leadership of Gamble, Van Slyke, Peters, Loeb, Hastings, Fenn, Adolph, Butler, Homer Smith, and Newburg to mention only a few. In 1945, I summarized this knowledge of body water and electrolytes as related to clinical problems. Through the courtesy of Dr. Park, I came to Baltimore on VJ day to work for 60 days with the facilities of the pediatric department at Johns Hopkins. The study of diarrhea was made possible by the nurses, the resident, Dr. Govan, the head of the laboratory, Dr. Kaydi, and a superb technician, Mrs. Radcliffe. Through Hansen's generosity, Flett, Pratt, Wiese, Alice Gamble and I later extended these observations in Texas. We were able to show that deficiency of potassium occurs in diarrhea, that potassium may safely be used parenterally or orally and that improved results follow its use.

USE OF "ISO-PAR" OINTMENT IN THE TREATMENT OF OTITIS EXTERNA

THIS ARTICLE is based on a report sent to the Surgeon General's office from Okinawa, a report which was made in an endeavor to have the new drug Iso-Par, put on the accredited list and thereby made available to those medical officers who cared to use it in the service. Since the writing of this article early in 1946, I have been informed by the Surgeon General's office that Iso-Par ointment has been put on the standard list for the Army and that the drug has been urgently recommended in the Pacific. I was the E. E. N. T. officer of the 27th Station Hospital, which functioned at New Caledonia for two and one-half years and on Okinawa from May 1945 until after VJ Day. During that time the outpatient department of this hospital was the largest on either of the two islands. Owing to the fact that this hospital