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History Tag

There are days in the year we should commemorate yearly: 9/11, D-Day, V-Day, July 4. December 7, the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, is one of those days. We lost 2,400 in the attack, the majority on the USS Arizona. Today at Pearl Harbor, a sailor who saved six men finally received his recognition. Also, President Donald Trump signed a presidential proclamation to recognize December 7 as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Seven survivors joined him for the event.

First, they came for the Confederate flag, but I didn't fly a Confederate flag, so I did not speak out.  Then they came for Confederate statues, but I didn't feel strongly about Confederate statues, so I did not speak out.  Then they came for statues of George Washington and Andrew Jackson, and I have a chance to speak out . . . so I am. While I purposely evoke Martin Niemöller's famous quote about Germans turning a blind eye to Hitler's incremental buildup to genocide, I mean not to diminish the Holocaust but to show how we can so easily inch into dangerous territory ourselves. What we are seeing now has unfortunate parallels to the insidious escalation and gradual expansion of beliefs and mores that drove Germany into the abyss.  At this time in our nation's history, the radical left has identified as obscene and offensive George Washington.  They've deemed him and his great legacy worthy only of being eradicated not just from the face of the earth but from historical and socio-cultural memory.

The government released some more of the files pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Harvey Lee Oswald along with files about Oswald's death at the hands of Jack Ruby. I scoured through a handful and noticed one particular name kept coming up: Arnold Johnson, the public relations director of the Communist Party the USA (CPUSA). In three instances that I have found so far the files stop when the documents are about to go into the substance of a Johnson speech or his correspondence with Oswald. I also found a file that documents a conversation between Oswald and a KGB agent.

Legal Insurrection colleague Kemberlee Kaye noted that one would be hard pressed to name the dumbest thing to happen last week in the name of inclusivity and tolerance. However, I think it would be a safe bet that the actions of a California Catholic school would pose fierce competition for that title.
A California Catholic school is facing a backlash from parents after officials took down some religious statues -- including one of Mary and baby Jesus -- over concerns that they were “alienating” prospective students. The head of the San Domenico School in San Anselmo said parents of some prospective students who visited the campus – which was founded in 1850 and serves 671 students grades K-12 -- expressed concern about the religious figures, according to the Marin Independent Journal.

More than $300 million in debt, Colonial Williamsburg has been forced to outsource some functions and cut staff. One of the best, long-standing American Colonial History attractions, Williamsburg has experienced a sharp decline in attendance over the last few years.

The anti-history crowd responsible for the eradication of Civil War statues and monuments around the country is destroying tourism in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Much of the original Gettysburg battlefield is preserved and maintained by the National Park Service. The Gettysburg History Museum, a separate entity, is also a well-frequented attraction. Or it was. And it's the Museum that's publicly lamenting the damage they claim is caused by extreme revisionists.

I first blogged about Juneteenth last year. As I noted then, the day's significance is almost criminally under appreciated. This year though, I'm thrilled to see more national publications commemorating the 19th of June. Juneteenth even received the Heavy treatment.

On this day, 73 years ago, the Allies stormed into Normandy, France, and led an invasion to liberate Western Europe from the Germans. These men risked everything to bring an end to one of the most evil regimes in history. American, British, and Canadian soldiers took part in Operation Overloard, also known as D-Day, along the 50 miles of five beaches. D-Day is "one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history."

On May 8, 1945, the German army collapsed around Europe after Adolf Hitler's successor Karl Dönitz officially surrendered to the Allies. This date has become known as Victory Day in Europe, aka VE Day, to mark the end of World War II on the continent. At first, the German High Command led by General Alfred Jodl only wanted to surrender to the Western Allies. General Dwight D. Eisenhower demanded the Germans surrender on both fronts. Dönitz told Jodl to comply. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced the surrender on May 8:
Yesterday morning, at 2.41, at General Eisenhower's headquarters, General Jodl, the representative of the German High Command and of Grand Admiral Doenitz, the designated head of the German State, signed the act of unconditional surrender of all German land, sea and air forces in Europe to the Allied Expeditionary Force, and, simultaneously, to the Soviet High Command. General Bedell Smith, who is the Chief of the Staff to the Allied Expeditionary Force-and not, as I stated in a slip just now, Chief of the Staff to the United States Army-and General François Sevez, signed the document on behalf of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and General Susloparoff signed on behalf of the Russian High Command.