WWII and D-Day

   I am on my third reading of Rick Atkinson’s trilogy on WWII.  In fact, I have been independently studying WWII so much this year that I feel like I have been told that I am going to have to pass an exam on the subject in order to get into heaven.  For example, in the last six months I have read the biographies on Guderian, Manstein, and Rundstedt and have been watching “Battlefield,” “The Soviet Storm,” and the 1973 series entitled, “The World at War.”  There are many reasons as to why I would commit so much time to a conflict that ended eighty years ago but, for me, it is as simple as my father would have loved these books and television series.  After all, we watched “The World at War” together when it first was telecast and I remember laying on the floor, my mouth agape, as I learned about the atrocities and the battles.  It made me want to become a history teacher.  And it helped to form a bond between my father and I because he clearly enjoyed explaining the complexities of WWII  to me.

   When asked about what people should do in retirement, an expert on the subject said, “try to remember what brought you joy when you were ten years old and do that.”  That was good advice and, since I have always loved to read and write, and now that I have the time, an awful lot of my day is spent doing these two activities.  It has been eight years since I taught history and what I was afraid of when I quit was that my brain would become ossified from non use.  To aerate my brain, I started reading challenging books and took a lot of mental notes on what separates good writing from great writing.  I paid attention as I noticed that Rick Atkinson took his time in leading up to major events, like OVERLORD, but he filled the pages with interesting information like what it was like to fight on the front lines, medicine, the misery inflicted on civilians, and a typical soldier’s experience with “rest and relaxation” in London.  His narrative is peppered with side stories that include mini biographies of the politicians and generals so that I feel like I have become to know them personally as he has quoted extensively from their diaries.

   Examples of how Atkinson is a master of using direct quotes to drive the narrative home comes from his section on D-Day.  One soldier wrote that machine gun bullets tore through his grounded Higgins boat so that “men were tumbling out just like corn cobs off of a conveyor belt.”  Mortar fragments said to be the size of shovel blades “skimmed the shore, trimming away arms, legs, and heads.”  Steel-jacketed rounds kicked up sand “like wretched living things,” or swarmed overhead in an “insectile whine.”  It wasn’t all valor.  Atkinson reminds us that these soldiers weren’t much older than boys and they found their amusements wherever they could.  When they found a German corpse with a distended stomach they would step on the man to make the dead Nazi fart.  One soldier wrote in his diary, on D-Day +1, “Dear God, please come down here and help us.  Don’t send your son, Jesus, because this is no place for a boy.”  I love these anecdotes because they remind me that the soldiers who fought in WWII were real people who used humor as a coping mechanism.  

  
   There are a lot of reasons as to why I have confined my reading to WWII lately.  Learning about the misery of the American soldiers as they suffered through one barrage after another at Anzio, for example, makes me appreciate what a good life I have in 2024.  Also, WWII has nothing to do with my present life so there aren’t any triggers to bring me back to reality.  D-Day was eighty years ago so I don’t have to worry about Atkinson sneaking in references about social issues or our current political environment.  Finally, there has been no glory in the global conflicts since WWII.  The history of the United States fighting in Asia and the Middle East in the last eighty years is glum and I would rather read the inspirational stories that Atkinson shares in his trilogy on WWII.

Armistice Day 11:11:11

    Armistice Day celebrates the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month of 1918, when the Germans declared a cease fire in a railroad car in Compiegne, France.  For most people, Armistice Day doesn’t have that much meaning because they have no connection to it, but my grandfather was in World War I.  Donald Cheyne Strachan joined the 106th Infantry (L) as a 1st Lieutenant and then transferred to the American Expeditionary Force in May, 1918.  He had previously served in the National Guard Mexican Border service and later was in World War II as a member of the Judge Advocate in North Africa.  He received an honorable discharge as a major in October, 1942.

   No one seems to know much about the American battles in WWI so I have written a short primer on the topic.  In “Operation Michael,” Hindenburg was the commanding German general and in 1918 he planned one last great offensive to take over Paris.  The Second Battle of the Marne shattered the trench deadlock that had gripped the opposing armies for three years.  The offensive was stopped at the key battle of Reims.  The objective had been to capture the railroad junction, separate the Allies, and send the British packing.  It was a desperate thing to do but the Germans were starving and needed to end the war quickly.  The offensive failed. 

   The first battle for the American Expeditionary Force was at Saint Mihiel, which we won, but it was anti-climatic because the Germans claimed that they were already retreating from the place.  Our first clear victory was when we stopped the German advance at Chateau-Thierry, which was a main railroad line on the Marne River that led to Paris.  Our final participation in “Operation Michael” was to push against the German line at Belleau Wood, where the Germans had sidled to after Chateau-Thierry.  The Americans were replacing the French, who were beaten and running away while yelling, “Retreat!”  A member of our Marine Corps famously yelled back, “Retreat Hell!  We just got here!”  It was the first battle where the odds were even and the Americans beat the Germans fair and square.

   After Belleau Wood, our attention was turned further east to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.  The Americans crossed the Meuse River to get to Sedan, severing the German rail links that supplied the rest of their front.  Situated in the Argonne Forest, this battle was a stalemate at first, but the Americans eventually forced the Germans to retreat.  A little known battle was at Montfaucon, or Falcon Mountain.  Its importance was being the “Little Gibraltar” of the Argonne Forest, lying northwest of Verdun and Metz, and as part of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.  The Americans eventually took this fortress at the southern edge of the western front but only with great effort and loss of life.

   I think that no one knows about World War I because there were no epic battles like Normandy or Guadalcanal.  Also, after Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, we as a society have become anti-war and don’t want to celebrate our victories.  My grandfather lost his youth in World War I and his health in World War II and I think that he, like all veterans, would like to be remembered on this one day of the year.

Rhone

    My friends ask me why I continue to take these trips with U. of L.  They know that flying to another continent is expensive and that traveling is an ordeal.  My reply is that “it is nice to get away for awhile so that we appreciate what a good life that we have and it helps to break up the year.”  These river cruises are perfect for us because we are treated like royalty and half of the fun is to live like kings and queens, if only for a little while.  The Rhône was great because on every day on the cruise there was a new historical town to discover.  We saw the Roman amphitheater in Arles, the Palace of the Popes in Avignon, the Viviers cathedral that was built by the Romans, the Lyon cathedral which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the historical hospital in Beaune.  We came back to the ship in the afternoon so we had time to take in the sun on the upper deck of the ship.  It was the perfect trip for Tracey and me.

   We spent a week on Uniworld’s “S.S. Catherine.”  The ship was small enough for Tracey to memorize its floor plans so she had complete freedom and independence,  That means a lot to a blind woman.  On the other hand, the Palace of the Popes in Avignon was challenging.  There were many flights of stairs and they were of uneven height, the edges were worn down so they bowed in the middle, some steps were narrow while others were wide, some were steep while others were shallow, some had handrails and others did not.  Also, some of these old towns have been around forever and have been reconstructed many times so the surface of the streets alternated between cobblestone, asphalt, tile, and brick.  Tracey can navigate the tile easily but her cane became useless on the other surfaces.  A half day tour was about all that we were up for because of the ordeal of walking.

   I like to joke around with our tour guides whenever possible.  As part of our excursion to Viviers, for example, MaryAnne invited us into her house.  She said that even though we had a large group, everyone could take a restroom break because she had four bathrooms.  I smirked when I said, “Hopefully their isn’t any carpeting around the toilets.”  That joke landed flat so I tried gain.  As we were leaving I said, “You should check eBay in about two hours if you want to get your stuff back.”  I thought that I was hilarious but she remained stone-faced.  In Tournon, we took a walking tour with Pierre and as we passed the slaughterhouse he pointed out the heads of cows carved into stone and imbedded into the walls.  I said that the heads served as a warning to any passing cows that they should stay away.  Pierre didn’t laugh so I tried to sell the joke.  “You see, there wouldn’t be any loose cows walking around the middle of the city and that makes the joke funny.”  There still wasn’t a laugh so I tired again.  “A cow wouldn’t recognize its face carved out in stone because it is a cow.”  Finally, Pierre smiled, but it was more out of charity than because he liked the joke.      
   There were a lot of moments on this trip that made it special.  For example, it had rained for three solid weeks before we arrived in Arles but now the weather was perfect so parents took advantage of the sun by letting their kids play in the public square.  It was wonderful to hear the happy noises of the kids playing and laughing.  Another example was in Viviers where a woman teared up as she recalled how the guide had helped Tracey feel the altar in the cathedral.  Also, she was inspired by watching me guiding Tracey through the buildings and on the streets.  You just know that she is going to share the story of the blind woman to family and friends when she gets back home.  Of course, the nicest moment was celebrating Tracey’s 60th birthday.  Todor, the manager of the dining room, put up streamers, set out special plates, and blew up two big balloons which expressed a six and a zero.  I don’t think that I have ever seen my wife so happy as they served her a birthday cake with her name on it and popped the cork on a champagne bottle.  It was a wonderful evening, one that we will not forget for the rest of our lives.