VJ Day Plus 80

Monument to Allied dead in the Kohima War Cemetery, India.

King Charles III released an audio message last night commemorating the end of World War II on this day in 1945:

Here is the speech broadcast by his grandfather, King George VI, in 1945:

Earlieri that day in Washington, President Truman had announced the unconditional surrender of Japan, sparking riotous celebrations across the United States:

My dad was an Air Force mechanic stationed in Aachen, Germany, at the time. I don't know how he celebrated, but I do know that just two months later, after being shipped stateside with maybe ten thousand other G.I.'s on the Queen Elizabeth, he was back home with his parents, safe and sound. Many others never made it home, or were disabled for life. Living or dead, we owe them all an immense debt of gratitude - as it says on the monument pictured above.

Their service and sacrifice saved the whole world from depraved tyranny and unspeakable horrors. As President Roosevelt had remarked some years before, that generation had a "rendezvous with destiny." They met it with courage and righteous determination, bequeathing to us who followed three generations of general peace, progress, and unparalleled prosperity in the free world.  

What destiny lies ahead for today's linked-in generation, and how will they meet it? This weary old man in his twilight years wonders -- but would rather not stick around to find out.

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Voices from the Past

An early newsreel crew, givers of immortality.

Your Head Trucker has always been something of an antiquarian, but since arriving on the shady side of 60, he feels more and more the impelling current of Time, carrying us onward as leaves on a river:  the irresistible, inescapable force moving men and civilizations from birth to maturity to death, driving us relentlessly from age to age and change to change, whether we would or not.

And in our great technological civilization, yesterday's marvels are always becoming today's mere commonplaces, and all the clamorous thoughts and passions of one age become as silent and insignificant as the dust on a tomb in the next.  It is useful now and again to ponder these things, I believe, and in the midst of all our busyness to be reminded that all we go down to the dust; therefore, we would be wise to use the fleeting time we have to good purpose, with humility and humanity.

Here are some voices, long since fallen silent, recorded for the ages by Movietone News when sound motion pictures were the Big New Thing.  I find it fascinating to watch and listen to these folks, who were born in the 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s, when railroads and telegraphy were new and rare, and lived into the age of airplanes and radio.  Instead of the stiff, stern stares we so often see in Victorian portraits, notice how very human, and even humorous, these folks seem - as indeed they were, just as much as we.  There is a lesson there for those who want to learn it.

A century from now, what will the supra-modern children of the 22nd century think and say about our long-forgotten images, dug up by some digital archeologists, perhaps?




N. B. -- Rebecca Latimer Felton, seen from about 8:30 to 11:00, was born in 1835 in Georgia and had quite a remarkable life: among other notable doings, she was a college graduate, temperance leader, suffragist, and U. S. Senator for one day.  Her Wikipedia article provides dates and details of her life that you may find intriguing - or appalling. Yet she was admired by many.

And how shall our works and words be judged by generations yet unborn? ¿Quién sabe?

Christmas Greetings from 1950

On a wet, cold, miserable Christmas Eve here in Texas, your Head Trucker finds this sixty-year-old newsreel particularly moving, and I am especially touched by the children singing "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing."  Perhaps you will be, too.



A full version of the beautiful lyrics can be found here.

Which your Head Trucker hopes will serve to remind those who need reminding that there is more to life and faith than the ignorant ravings of fundamentalists and totalitarians - be they Christian, or Muslim, or even atheist.