Remagen and Roosevelt

Two very different presentations that were both full of information I did not know.

The Remagen presentation was really able to shed some light on a battle that I'd heard of and seen bits of in movies, but didn't really understand very well. It is always strange to watch a once-great military start to crumble towards the end of the war, especially in this one where there wasn't one decisive battle that knocked Germany out of the war. To think that their communications had become so fouled that they couldn't even agree to destroy the bridge or defend it (instead opting to weakly defend it and then attempt to blow it at the last moment) is quite a testament to the Allied bombing campaign which had been busy for the last year or so destroying much of the German infrastructure. But in response to some earlier posts, I believe one of the reasons the Germans were planning on waiting til the last minute to blow the bridge was the stream of refugees, good German citizens, that were still streaming over the bridge to escape the moving front lines.

As for the presentation of Eleanor Roosevelt, I'd always heard that there was more to her than the typical first lady of her time, and the presentation outlined that nicely. She was certainly a stronog-willed woman and I suppose she has inspired the political ambitions of women since then. She showed that you could go out and get things done, much like the women in the factories were proving, best personified by "Rosie the Riveter" and others like her. I find it equally important to study the homefront, since the sentiments and values back there tend to affect the troops on the front lines. A nice change of pace.

Soil

We talked about today about the soil at Iwo Jima and Okinawa and I was wondering if the American higher ups did not know this information before going in or what. You think they would have planned better for this, especially the rain. I was just wondering if they didn't know about it or that they were on such short timetable that it didn't matter? Also, could they have planned better for it? One of the main things to know for battle is terrian and it seems they didn't look at it. So am I not understanding this or making to big of a deal over it?

Eleanor Roosevelt Presentation

The Eleanor Roosevelt presentation was a nice change of pace for the class. We have been learning about just the war and hearing about the homefront is nice. Eleanor did a lot of different things and was important in many different aspects of American life. I did not know that she wrote letters to soliders, I thought that was interesting. I learned a lot of new information about her in this presentation.

Remagen Presentation

I found the presentation very interesting. It is hard to believe that the Germans tried to blow the bridge and it didn't blow up and stayed standing for a couple weeks. The thing I don't understand is the Germans knew the Allies were coming and they didn' t have enough troops to stop them why didn't they blow the bridge earlier. I know bridges are important but Germany couldn't mount a counter attack at that time so the bridge was more important to the Allies than the Germans. So why wait and let the Allies take the bridge? This would have slowed the Ally advance for a little bit and maybe the Germans could have regrouped. I just wonder why people wait to blow bridges so long even if they don't need them.

Kamikaze

I did not know that there was so much history behind these missions.  I just thought that Japanese men were trying to complete last ditch efforts to win the war.  In fact the name came from an old tale of divine wind and a storm that destroyed a fleet in the past to save them.  The college intellectuals of WWII had committed themselves to save their families by becoming weapons to target aircraft carriers.  These thoughts and concepts were honorable much like Bushido and the code of the Samurai.  I think that these individuals were even more like the medieval soldiers than the Japanese army men were.  Did they compare themselves to the medieval soldiers?  

Presentation 4/14

As I learned more about the American's taking the Remagen Bridge and moving into Germany, I started to wonder if the Germans knew that they were beaten.  They were worried as the Americans moved towards the bridge, but they only protected it with 36 soldiers.  It was understood that if the americans crossed the river they would soon take victory for the war, but still the Germans did not do enough.  They pulled troops from other places, but it was not enough troops to protect this vital position.  What were the Germans thinking?  

Phillipine Campaign

I am currently taking a Korean War class alongside with this class and I have to say that both of these class have shown MacArthur as a arrogant, sometime ignorant person. It seems as though reputation, stature, and prestige are his motivating factors rather than actually caring about what is going on in the war. The story today shows this. He made sure that there were plenty of photographers and filmers watching is arrival on to the island. Another story I have heard comes from my Korean War class. During the Korean War MacArthur and President Wilson were to land on an island in the Pacific in order to meet to discuss the war. MacArthur told his pilot to make sure that he landed last in order for it to seem that Wilson was coming to greet him and meet with him rather than the other way around. I am sure that he was qualified for his position, but at times it looks like he cares far more about other things than war.