Letters for George: Memorial Day 2018

Dear George,

In my youth (and I’m sure it’s the case now) my hometown of Menominee celebrated Memorial Day with the year’s largest parade, heading north on Sheridan Road and then west on Ogden Avenue. Our boy scout troop marched in the parade, and we prepared for months beforehand. This was shortly after the end of World War II, and the war had had a life-altering impact on everyone. My dad was in the navy, stationed in the Pacific, and my uncles Kent and Karl were in the army, fighting in Europe. Many family friends served in the Army, Navy, and Marines.

Memorial Day has a long history. First known as Decoration Day, it originated shortly after the Civil War, with observances in numerous towns and cities. Waterloo, NY, has been designated the official birthplace of Memorial Day. Businesses were closed, and residents decorated the graves of Union soldiers. In 1868 General John A. Logan called for a nationwide day of remembrance on May 30 for soldiers who died in the Civil War, calling it Decoration Day. With major U.S. losses in World War I, the newly named Memorial Day evolved to commemorate American military deaths in all wars. In 1968 Congress established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. (4)

Below are the estimated numbers of American military deaths in major wars and percentages of military deaths per total U.S. population. (8) I’ve also added a list of Menominee County Vietnam war dead (my and my siblings’ generation) (10) and miscellaneous facts about World War II, many horrendous, some quirky.

Love,

Dave

Table: Military deaths and deaths as a percent of the U.S. population.

 Civil War (1861-65)              655,000 (2.4%)

 World War II (1941-45)           405,399 (0.3%)

 World War I (1917-18)            116,516 (0.1%)

 Vietnam War (1955-75)             58,209 (0.03%)

 Korean War (1950-53)              54,246 (0.04%)

 Revolutionary War (1775-83)       25,000 (1.0%)

 War of 1812 (1812-15)             15,000 (0.2%)

 Mexican-Amer. War (1846-48)       13,283 (0.06%)

 Iraq War (2003-11)                 4,497 (0.002%)

 Philippine-Amer. War(1899-1902)    4,196 (0.006%)

 Spanish-American War (1898)        2,246 (—)

 War in Afghanistan (2001-pres.)    2,216 (—)

Vietnam War Dead (Menominee County)

William Richard Alfredson, Army

Wayne Richard Bebo, Army

Wayne David Johnson, Army

David John Klippel, Army

Michael Conrad Larsen, Army

William Benedict Nolde, Army*

Ronald Joseph Phelps, Marines

Jon William Rich, Army

Dennis Lawrence Stiglitz, Army

Albert James Van Horn, Marines

*Colonel William Benedicdt Nolde, a professor of military science at Central Michigan University before joining the army, was the last official combat casualty of the Vietnam War, dying just 11 hours before the beginning of the cease fire on 1-27-73. Serving in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War, he was awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Vietnam Service Medal, Air Medal, and Vietnam Campaign Medal. (8)

Miscellaneous World War II Facts

There were between 50 million and 70 million casualties in World War II. 80% came from four countries: Russian, China, Germany, and Poland. Over 50% of casualties were civilians, a majority of them women and children. (1)
80% of males born in the Soviet Union in 1923 died during the war. (1)
At the beginning of WW II, the U.S. army was smaller than the army of Portugal. (3)
The Gulf War cost America $306 per person; the Korean War, $2,266 per person; and World War II, $20,388 per person. (3)
The Battle of the Bulge was the deadliest battle for U.S. troops, with over 80,000 American casualties. (2)
The Nazis murdered approximately 12 million people during the war, nearly 6 million being Jews killed in the Holocaust. (2)
To avoid using the German-sounding name “hamburger” during the war, Americans used the name “Liberty Steak”. (1)
A well established Nazi party operated in the U.S. until 1940, Henry Ford being one of the major financial backers. (5)
The Nazis stole the Harvard “fight song” to compose their “Sieg Heil” March. (2)
Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, opened 6 years before WW II. (3)
London zookeepers killed all their venomous animals in case the zoo was bombed and the animals were to escape. (3)
The invasion of Okinawa (40,000 U.S. troops) was larger than the D-Day invasion (24,000 U.S., British, and Canadian troops). (5)
A Polish Army bear named Wojtek carried boxes of shells to the frontline and was taught to salute. (3)
A serviceman in the U.S. Air Corps had a 71% chance of dying during World War II. (7)
The American 8th Air Force brought down one enemy fighter for every 12,700 shots fired. (7)
WW II American pilot Nicholas Alkemade survived a fall from 18,000 feet without a parachute, crashing through a glass roof and suffering only a sprained leg. (3)
The Mosque of Paris helped Jews escape the Nazis by giving them Muslim ID’s. (3)
During WW II Japan bombed China with fleas infected with bubonic plague. (3)
21% of U.S. casualties in WW II occurred through friendly fire. (3)
At Buckingham Palace Queen Elizabeth taught herself to shoot in case a German parachutist attacked. (3)
The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima destroyed 90% of the city and killed 80,000 people. (9)
The intended target of America’s second atomic bomb was Kokura (pop. 130,000), but it was shrouded in fog and planes were rerouted to Nagasaki. (6)