On June 4

In 1942, the Battle of Midway began.  That marked the beginning of the end of the Japanese Empire, an empire that rivaled Nazi Germany in its horrors and body count.

One of my uncles fought in the battle.  He was on the island of Midway as part of the army air corps.  This battle loomed large in my childhood imagination.  As did the war itself.  The thought that this war, made into so many movies and – in those days – still a major topic of conversation, featured members of my own family held me in awe.

My uncle seldom talked of his experiences.  Like another uncle who was a medic with Patton’s army in Europe, he kept his experiences to himself.  Which is often the case.  It’s said that war stories are most often bragged about by those who never fought in war.

Nonetheless, June is a big day of anniversaries from that war, often overlooked because of the one anniversary that seems to represent not only the best of the entire conflict, but the generation that fought in it.

Donald McClarey has two excellent posts on this time of remembering.  I don’t idolize that generation.  Part of our problems today extend to their conclusion that the best thing to do for their kids was to make life as comfortable, prosperous, and easy as possible.  In hindsight, the results weren’t the best.  Nonetheless, credit where it is due.