Every Day Is Special: World War II

Showing posts with label World War II. Show all posts

July 3 - Independence Day in Belarus

Posted on July 3, 2022

This is an update of my post published on July 3, 2011:

Belarus celebrates its main national holiday on July 3 to mark its 1944 liberation from Nazi German troops.

Belarus was devastated by World War II. During the three years that Nazis occupied the nation, they destroyed 209 out of the 290 cities in the nation, more than 9,000 villages, 85% of its industry, and more than a million buildings! Worse, between two to three million people died! This means that Belarus lost from one-fourth to one-third of its population during the war!

Map of Europe, with Belarus in red.
Belarus is located between Poland (to
the west, or left on this map)
and Russia (to the east, or right).

Germany is just west of Poland.

Belarusians fought back hard against the Nazis. Even from the beginning of the Nazi occupation, a resistance movement emerged: Belarusian patriots hid in the woods and swamps and coordinated a guerrilla war that succeeded in inflicting heavy damage to German supply lines, communications, depots, fuel dumps, and transports. Of course, they also ambushed German soldiers themselves. Because of this hard-fought resistance to Nazis, the capital city of Minsk was awarded the title Hero City, and the fortress of Brest was awarded the title Hero Fortress.

For several years, Belarus celebrated its 1990 independence from the USSR (the Soviet Union) on July 27, but in 1996, the people were asked in a referendum whether they wanted to keep the July 27 date or to move the independence day celebrations to July 3 in honor of Nazi liberation. For whatever reason, 88% of the people agreed to move the holiday to the earlier date.

Unfortunately, Belarus has been ruled since the 1994 election (the first and only FAIR presidential election after its independence from the Soviet Union) by a guy named Alexander Lukashenko. He is a dictator who cares little for human rights.

Protests have rocked the capital in recent years.
Many carry a traditional flag for Belarus, which is
white-red-white rather than red-and-green. They
often dress in white and red as well.

Also on this date:

Festival of Ceridwen

Anniversary of the first actor to play Superman

Compliment Your Mirror Day

Anniversary of the first modern strawberries

Idaho's Statehood Anniversary

Danish West Indies Emancipation Day

Stay Out of the Sun Day

Anniversary of a quick-draw portrait

Drop a Rock Day

The "Dog Days" begin

Plan ahead:

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May 22 - National Maritime Day in the U.S.A.

Posted on May 22, 2022

This is an update of my post published on May 22, 2011:

This holiday was declared by U.S. Congress in 1933 and honors the maritime industry and particularly the American merchant marines, who are civilians who are often called upon to act in a military context, with less recognition and fewer benefits than members of the military.

Since my father-in-law was in the American merchant marine during World War II, I was interested to read that it was responsible for the largest sealift in the world during that war. (A sealift is the large-scale transportation of troops, supplies, and equipment by sea.)

Did you know...?

It took 7 to 15 tons of supplies to support one soldier for one year, during WWII.

Some argue that, since the Allies would have lost WWII if there had not existed the means to carry men and supplies to where they were needed, the U.S. wartime merchant marine was “one of the most significant contributions made by any nation to the eventual winning of the Second World War.”

Many call the Merchant Marines the "unsung heroes"
of World War II.

The prewar number of experienced mariners in the U.S. was 55,000—and that number was increased to over 215,000 through U.S. Maritime Service training programs. Wow!

In 1988, Merchant Mariners who served in
the last year and a half of WWII were finally
given veteran's burial benefits, including the
right to be buried in a national cemetery.

The Merchant Marines suffered the largest percentage of war-related deaths than all other U.S. services. One in 26 mariners were killed in the line of duty over the course of the war, with an average of 33 Allied ships sunk each week during 1942!!! Horrifying!

Also on this date:

Botanical artist Margarert Mee's birthday

Unity Day in Yemen

Composer Richard Wagner's birthday

International Day for Biological Diversity

Harvey Milk Day

Sherlock Holmes Day

Canadian Immigrants Day

Birthday of artist Mary Cassatt

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

December 7 - Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day in the U.S.A.

Posted on December 7, 2021

This is an update of my post published on December 7, 2010:

December 7, 1941, a “date which will live in infamy,” Japanese fighter pilots launched a deadly surprise attack on Hawaii. About 2,400 U.S. service men and women were killed, and more than a thousand were injured, as the naval base at Pearl Harbor was bombed. Four battleships were sunk, and aircraft, cruisers, destroyers, a training ship, and a minelayer ship were either sunk or damaged.

The attack brought the U.S. into World War II, allies with England, France, and Russia and other nations in the world, fighting against Japan, Germany, and Italy.

The Remembrance Day is celebrated with observances and services, concerts and dinners.

Some of these observances take place on the USS Arizona Memorial, which spans the sunken hull of the battleship on which 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors were killed.

The National Park Service maintains the memorial, and more than one million people visit every year. When I went to the memorial, years ago, a large group of Japanese tourists was there with flowers and paper cranes to honor the dead.