GP did his usual stellar job of honoring our Military. He also included Hal Simmons in his Farewells this week.
Category: Re-blogs
Merriam-Webster’s 13-Letter Words Quiz
Unless you are Triskaidekaphobia, you may find this quiz easier than you anticipated. This multiple choice quiz offer four choices for each of it’s thirteen 13-letter words. I guessed wrong on one (but did really know the answer to) and guessed wrong on two others.
Reblog: from Kym Gordan Moore’s Post to mark the close-out of National Poetry Month
If this important historical Black poet were better known, her works might have made a banned book list somewhere by people who have never read her works because of who she was and what she wrote about.
Punintended from Kaushal Kishore
Reblog: Interesting Facts about English
Repost of Shipping Them Home at the End of WWII
Like to dream, yes, yes
Right between the sound machine
On a cloud of sound, I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near
To the stars away from here
Well, you don’t know what
We can find
Why don’t you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf
From a forwarded email:
Can you imagine the logistical and administrative challenges involved in this operation?!! And, all before any computers! Staggering! AND, once they were in the US, getting them to out-processing stations and eventually home!
Remember what Eisenhower said at the end of the war, “Take pictures of the dead Holocaust Jewish people, a generation or two will never believe it happened”!!!
Returning the troops home after WWII was a daunting task….
The Magic Carpet that brought everyone home.
In 1939, there were 334,000 servicemen, not counting the Coast Guard.
In 1945, there were over 12 million, including the Coast Guard.
At the end of the war, over 8 million of these men and women were scattered overseas in Europe, the Pacific and Asia.
Shipping them out wasn’t a particular problem but getting them home was a massive logistical headache.
Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall had already established committees to address the issue in 1943.
Soldiers returning home on the USS General Harry Taylor in August 1945.
When Germany fell in May 1945, the US. Navy was still busy fighting in the Pacific and couldn’t assist.
The job of transporting 3 million men home from Europe fell to the Army and the Merchant Marine.
300 Victory and Liberty cargo ships were converted to troop transports for the task.
During the war, 148,000 troops crossed the Atlantic west to east each month; the rush home (east to west) ramped this up to 435,000 a month over 14 months.
Hammocks crammed into available spaces aboard the USS Intrepid
In October 1945, with the war in Asia also over, the Navy started chipping in, converting all available vessels to transport duty.
On smaller ships like destroyers, capable of carrying perhaps 300 men, soldiers were told to hang their hammocks in whatever nook and cranny they could find.
Carriers were particularly useful, as their large open hangar decks could house 3,000 or more troops in relative comfort, with bunks, sometimes in stacks of five welded or bolted in place.
Bunks aboard the Army transport SS Pennant
The Navy wasn’t picky, though: cruisers, battleships, hospital ships, even LSTs (Landing Ship, Tank) were packed full of men yearning for home.
Two British ocean liners under American control, the RMS Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, had already served as troop transports before and continued to do so during the operation, each capable of carrying up to 15,000 people at a time, though their normal, peacetime capacity was less than 2,200.
Twenty-nine ships were dedicated to transporting war brides: women married to American soldiers during the war.
Troops performing a lifeboat drill on board the Queen Mary in December 1944, before Operation Magic Carpet
The Japanese surrender in August 1945 came none too soon, but it put an extra burden on Operation Magic Carpet.
The war in Asia had been expected to go well into 1946 and the Navy and the War Shipping Administration were hard-pressed to bring home all the soldiers who now had to get home earlier than anticipated.
The transports carrying them also had to collect numerous POWs from recently liberated Japanese camps, many of whom suffered from malnutrition and illness.
U.S. soldiers recently liberated from Japanese POW camps
The time to get home depended a lot on the circumstances. USS Lake Champlain, a brand new Essex-class carrier that arrived too late for the war, could cross the Atlantic and take 3,300 troops home a little under 4 days and 8 hours.
Meanwhile, troops going home from Australia or India would sometimes spend weeks on slower vessels.
Hangar of the USS Wasp during the operation
There was enormous pressure on the operation to bring home as many men as possible by Christmas 1945.
Therefore, a sub-operation, Operation Santa Claus, was dedicated to the purpose.
Due to storms at sea and an overabundance of soldiers eligible for return home, however, Santa Claus could only return a fraction in time and still not quite home but at least to American soil.
The nation’s transportation network was overloaded, trains heading west from the East Coast were on average 6 hours behind schedule and trains heading east from the West Coast were twice that late.
The crowded flight deck of the USS Saratoga.
The USS Saratoga transported home a total of 29,204 servicemen during Operation Magic Carpet, more than any other ship. Many freshly discharged men found themselves stuck in separation centers but faced an outpouring of love and friendliness from the locals. Many townsfolk took in freshly arrived troops and invited them to Christmas dinner in their homes.
Still others gave their train tickets to soldiers and still others organized quick parties at local train stations for men on layover.
A Los Angeles taxi driver took six soldiers all the way to Chicago; another took another carload of men to Manhattan, the Bronx, Pittsburgh, Long Island, Buffalo and New Hampshire. Neither of the drivers accepted a fare beyond the cost of gas.
Overjoyed troops returning home on the battleship USS Texas
All in all, though, the Christmas deadline proved untenable. The last 29 troop transports, carrying some 200,000 men from the China-India-Burma theater, arrived to America in April 1946, bringing Operation Magic Carpet to an end, though an additional 127,000 soldiers still took until September to return home and finally lay down the burden of war.
Father GOD, BLESS THE GREATEST GENERATION (Above) and the Generations that have served this Great Nation since WW II !
A Veteran-whether active duty, retired, served one hitch, or reservist is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The Government of the United States of America”, for an amount of “up to and including their life.” That is honor, and there are too many people in this country who no longer understand it -Author unknown.
Reblog of 6 Heroic Wartime Animals
From dogs (Rags the Scottish Terrier, Judy the Pointer, and Rip the Terrier) to a carrier pigeon (Cher Ami) , a horse (Warrior) and even a bear (Wojtel), these animals supported the humans they were with and represent the hundreds of other animals that also supported humans in wars.
For more information click here.
Some of them have won the PSDA Dickin Medal
“The PDSA Dickin Medal is the highest award any animal can receive whilst serving in military conflict. It is recognised worldwide as the animals’ Victoria Cross. Instituted in 1943 by PDSA’s founder Maria Dickin CBE, it acknowledges outstanding acts of bravery or devotion to duty displayed by animals serving with the Armed Forces or Civil Defence units in any theatre of war throughout the world.
The PDSA Dickin Medal is a large, bronze medallion bearing the words “For Gallantry” and “We Also Serve” all within a laurel wreath. The ribbon is striped green, dark brown and sky blue representing water, earth and air to symbolise the naval, land and air forces.
During the Second World War (1939-45), PDSA’s founder Maria Dickin CBE was aware of the incredible bravery displayed by animals on active service and the Home Front. Inspired by the animals’ devotion to man and duty, she introduced a special medal specifically for animals in war.
The Medal has been awarded 75 times since 1943 plus 1 Honorary PDSA Dickin Medal which was awarded in 2014. The recipients comprise 38 dogs, 32 pigeons, 4 horses and 1 cat.”
Reblog: Interesting Facts about English
This post taught this native English speaker and college English major some things I didn’t know about the language.
Merriam-Webster Animal MegaQuiz
If you watch a lot of BBC, Nature channel or read Joanna’s https://naturetails.blog/ recent series on desert animals, you may do better on this quiz.
I did ok, but could have done at least one animal better.
Reblog: Janine’s Mission 105
Reblog: 10 Qualities of Highly Persuasive People
I read this and immediately thought of one of my all-time favorite sale reps. To me, he embodies these attributes and even though I am now retired, he is still my go-to guy if I have a question about the profession.
Reblog: Disney and WWII
A lovely gift from GP. This a lighter and laughter-filled look at one aspect of World War II. Great ‘toons too!
Merriam Webster Commonly Misspelled Word
Do you have a sense of how words should be spelt? Do you miss many commonly used word with tricky spellings? Is your mind a vacuum? Test you knowledge of commonly misspelled words.
I missed three, one from inattention. How did you do?
Feb 2–More than Ground Hog Day
Other cultures celebrate the end of Winter before the Vernal Equinox (March 19th) or Meterological Spring (March 1)
- Makara Sankranti in India (January 14, 2024)
- Lunar New Year in China (Feb 12, 2024)
- can you provide other examples?
Reblog: USS Barb SS-220
I vaguely remember sending GP the info. His write-up surpassed the original info and the cartoons are first rate.
Reblog: Fear Vs Courage
What would you chose? And what would determine which you decided?
Reblog Compliments (Memorable Good or Backhanded)
Have you ever received an unexpected compliment (even a back-handed one) that you still remember fondly? It can be from childhood, a relationship, or from anywhere.
My husband once called me a Glorious Bitch. While I wasn’t pleased with the Bitch, the addition of the word Glorious made the sting much less bitter because it was unexpected and showed appreciation even when we were arguing.
Reblog about Butch O’Hare
This man was taught to do the right thing by his father and boy did he learn his lesson.
Merriam-Webster Sound Check: A Musical Word Quiz
All those years of piano lessons probably improved my musical word vocabulary more than my ability to play the piano. I got what I think is my first perfect quiz. Click here to see how you do. Hope you feel allegro with your results.
e-Quips 