I watched Fat Man and Little Boy tonight; I hadn't seen it since high school physics class. Then I got online and started listening to WWII speeches. And now I'm depressed.
One news broadcast in particular has caught my attention: the announcement of the end of the war in Europe.
Here is the great news for which the world has been waiting for almost six long years.... Thus it is that eleven months to the day since the invasion of Normandy...the Allies have utterly smashed the German enemy that came close to enslaving the world.
The rest of the report is just the facts -- who signed the surrender, the terms of agreement -- and does not contain 1) any effort to give the Nazis credit for being "freedom fighters" or "opposed to the American occupation" 2) any mention of a body count for Allied soldiers or 3) any interviews with so-called experts about why it has taken so long for the war to end and whether it could be considered a quagmire.
I'd give anything to hear a broadcast like that today.
Posted by Sarah at May 8, 2004 08:50 PMSarah, I'd sure like to hear that type thing, AGAIN. I remember those newscasts. I was 5 when Pearl Harbor was bombed. I remember it well, I remember the family gathering around the radio and listening to the news. We were all on the same side. What you watched in the Waltons was very realistic. We were patriotic. We collected cans and scrap metal in my big brothers wagon and sold it for the war effort. We even saved the metal toothpaste tubes! On Saturday we went to the movies and watched B movies with heroes in them, then the cartoons were propaganda in case we hadn't alread got the message. And NO ONE questioned what was going on and how much money was being spent for the war effort. The newscasters even grieved for battles lost and rejoiced over OUR victories, their implied victories, too. Oh, I truly would, like to hear it again. Dan Rather should know this, he is old enough to remember also! What has happened to our world? (Now I'm sounding like a certain mother in Bagdad). Anyway Cheers. Ruth
Posted by: Ruth H at May 9, 2004 01:43 AMWhat was Fat Man and Little Boy doing in a physics class? I do think it's a better choice than what we watched which was Top Gun (no kidding!). I am generally really opposed to the idea of showing videos in class. I've never shown any and don't plan to start. But hey, I'm even opposed to PowerPoint. Does that make me a Luddite? :)
Posted by: Amritas at May 11, 2004 12:51 PM