The moth of June has 3 anniversaries in a row.
1. June 4, 65 years ago (thanks to Old War Dogs):
65 years ago today, the war in the Pacific reached its turning point.
Less than seven months after Pearl Harbor, the Empire of Japan was planning another attack. This time, it was our outpost on tiny Midway Atoll. The plan was to take this foothold and threaten an invasion of Hawaii. Further, they hoped to lure the remnants of the US Fleet into a decisive, final battle and secure their holdings.
Unfortunately, the Navy was reading the Japanese code, and we knew their plans.
We were outnumbered across the board. They had four carriers and several battleships sailing for Midway -- and all the carriers veterans of Pearl Harbor. We had two in good shape, and a third -- the Yorktown -- in need of three months of repair after being mauled at the Battle of the Coral Sea.
Read it all. One commenter to this article wondered how the modern media would report this. The author had the answer readily available:
US SUFFERS MAJOR DEFEAT IN PACIFIC
Key Island Falls To Japan
June 14, 1942
(Honolulu) -- In a series of stunning moves, the Japanese have scored two bold victories against the United States -- and inflicted grave damage on the already-battered American fleet.
Anonymous sources within the Navy have confirmed reports that the Japanese have invaded and occupied two islands off the coast of Alaska and the strategically-critical atoll of Midway, about 1300 miles northwest of Honolulu.
The Japanese struck with complete surprise, the Japanese attacked US bases in the Aleutian Islands on June 3. They followed up by invading and occupying two of the islands, Attu and Kiska.
Then, on June 4, the main blow fell.
Planes from at least three and as many as five aircraft carriers attacked the two islands that make up Midway Atoll, savaging the base's defenders, who were equipped with obsolete fighters and ill-suited medium bombers. The defenders fought valiantly, but like the Marines abandoned by the government on Wake Island last December, were unable to fight off the Japanese. By June 7, the atoll was firmly in Japanese hands.
This is funny and very sad.
2. June 5, 40 years ago (thanks to Old War Dogs):
The Six Day War in real time
This June marks the 40th Anniversary of the Six Day War, a war that shaped Israel’s current geography and that continues to have a profound impact on the Middle East to this day. Last year, I got hold of a copy of a 1967 Life Magazine that was rushed into press immediately after the War. The collected articles in that magazine make fascinating reading because (1) they position Israel as David to the Arab Goliath, (2) they recognize that Israel has always been a proxy fighter (then, in the Cold War; now, in the Jihadist War against the West), and (3) they predict the coming refugee problem. I’m consolidating three old posts for this one new one, so long-time readers will recognize a lot of this. Familiarity shouldn't breed contempt for this content, though, because it’s very interesting stuff, both as contemporaneous news, and as a snapshot of reporting that enables us to understand how the American media has changed.
Bookwarm's essay is excellent. Read it all.
If the date "June 6, 1944" does not immediately jump at you, go see Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan". When you watch it, pay close attention to the opening scenes depicting the landing on Omaha Beach. Here I am going to attempt to guess reporting of the Normandy landings by the modern media:
New York Times, June 6, 1944, Late Edition:
Yesterday we reported about planned invasion of Normandy being postponed by one day due to weather concerns. Finally, in order to save himself from embarrassment, General Eisenhower gave the go-ahead, even though the weather was not any better today. Now, several hours and over 2000 casualties later, American GIs are still stuck on the beach code-named "Omaha". Our intelligence failure was obvious: the German resistance to such an extent was not anticipated. Congressman Don Kurtha, himself a veteran of the Great War, suggested that our troops should be re-deployed to Iceland, where they will be safe. "We needlessly and illegally got ourselves into a war between the French and the Germans", - said Congressman Kurtha. German Field Marshal Rommel said that if he had free hand in moving the armored forces, he would be able to crash the invasion. Unfortunately for him, German Chancellor Mr. Hitler still mistakenly believes that the main invasion will come at Pas de Calais. Our anonymous sources at the War Department suggested that if General Patton was given command of a real army instead of elaborate deception and really invaded at Pas de Calais, the invasion might have succeeded. As it is, it is likely to fail.
In related news, BBC correspondent Allen Jackson arrived to France a few days earlier and attempted to interview the German defenders. We haven't heard from him for a couple of days. He since made a radio broadcast. It turns out, the Gestapo detained him. He said that his captors treat him well and this whole mess of a war is really British and American fault. All Mr. Hitler wanted to do was to re-unite ethnic German populations of Europe into a great German state. Parts of ancient German territories were illegally occupied by countries like Czechoslovakia and Poland. As for the alleged persecution of the Jews, this is simply Jewish propaganda, and besides, Jews have only themselves to blame for the harsh treatment.
I can play with this for a while, but you get my point. It would be funny, if it wasn't so sad.
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