WORLD FOREVER CHANGED

[Rudi]

September 1st. 1939 was the day everything changed. Hitler invaded Poland, WWII was on. The whole world was involved. Mass destruction and upheaval. Nothing like it had been seen before. Then WWII ended with the atomic bombings. The nuclear age dawned. And here we are.

 

[arjay]

Two of my aunts (Swiss) sailed from Genoa to NY two weeks later and weren't allowed to contact family for the duration while the rest of both sides of my family (Swiss and Scottish)remained in Europe throughout the war.One aunt married a gi who was sent from DC to Camp Hale as a member of the 10th mountain division and that's how my branch eventually ended up in Colorado

 

[PALADIN85020]

I have a good friend from our college days who was born on September 3, 1939. That was actually the date that WWII started. Great Britain declared war on Germany then because Germany had invaded Poland on September1. I was 8 months old then, so I don't remember much first hand...

Here's a shot of the Germans crossing the Polish border on September 1, 1939 -

John

 

[llowry61]

Yes, and here we are ...... Well said Rudi

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

and here we are fascinated by the men and machines that waged that titanic struggle. Our kids look on WWII, the way we look back on the Civil War.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

I remember Dec. 7th very well. I was playing in my room when my Dad came in & told me Pearl Harbor was bombed. asked him where Pearl Harbor was. I was 10 YO.

 

[austintexas]

When I was stationed at Bitburg, Germany '71-'73 All the older Germans that worked for the Air base said they never fought the Americans, all of them fought on the Russian front.
SWCA 892

 

[Puller]

and here we are fascinated by the men and machines that waged that titanic struggle. Our kids look on WWII, the way we look back on the Civil War.

Ha, there's a lot of folks in the workplace these days who look on September 11th like we look on WWII.

 

[Chubbo]

WW2

The date, 9/1/1939 is a significant date, and started WW2.

I was 10yrs old when Perl Harbor was bombed. I was sitting in our small local theater, watching a move, when the movie stopped and a handwritten note appeared on the screen. We're forbidden to use the correct name of the people who bombed Pearl Harbor, but most of us, old timers, know it, expressly. The message read; "The XXXX bombed Pearl Harbor". That dastardly deed thrust the USA into WW2. After the war, I'll quote Rudi, "the nuclear age dawned, and here we are'.

Being a curmudgeon, the future scares the dololy out of me. The humans of today, continue to find even more horrendous methods to wrest money from their comrades. I'll honor Rudi again, "here we are", and I'll suggest that we'd best seek guidance, compassion, and endurance.

It's mind over matter, if you don't mind, it don't matter.

Chubbo

 

[Imissedagain]

Did someone say Camp Hale?

When the 10th came down to the lowlands, this is what they encountered at Camp Swift.

Must have been the NCOs that advised the Generals to go with:
Be Army Strong .... years later as opposed to...
Everything Army Wrong ... when this postcard was issued.

 

[arjay]

A number of veterans who trained at Camp Hale helped develop the post war ski industry. My aunt told me,after my uncle died,that he hated the snow,cold and skiing and griped endlessly lol. He ended up shipping out to the South Pacific!

 

[Sam McCord]

And almost exactly six years later the Japs signed surrender documents on Mighty MO...and here we are.

 

[Imissedagain]

Roger that arjay.

As a confirmed Downhiller, the history of Alpine skiing here owes thanks to the 10th.

We decided to fire the unfired 1860 when the South Lake Tahoe branch and the rest of the family meet in Leadville some day.

Pic of the Colt with my Swiss ACC 460.
Avalanche Control Carry.
Wee Lad was almost 4, last year, and carrying on with the family tradition.

Squaw Valley in '68, I found myself in an Avalanche, as I was the first and only one up and ready at sunrise.
Ski patrol missed noticing the ledge but here I am.
Dug my way up a bit and laughed.

 

[Dave_n]

September 1939 was the last date range that males who were born that month were "inducted into Her Majesty's Forces" as draftees under National Service. I would have been in that particular group (headed for the Royal Navy as an instructor officer) but I was deferred beyond the "inductee date" as I had not finished my Chemistry BSc "in time". Dave_n

 

[Beemerguy53]

While September 1, 1939, was the date the first shots were fired in Europe in World War II, the real precipitating event was the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor on January 30, 1933.

It is truly remarkable to consider how quickly the world can change. German leaders of the day thought that by appointing a populist crackpot as Chancellor they could control him...and only 12 years later much of Europe was in ruins and tens of millions of people were dead.

 

[Jessie]

Here we are wondering " What's next? "

 

[Donn]

When I was stationed at Bitburg, Germany '71-'73 All the older Germans that worked for the Air base said they never fought the Americans, all of them fought on the Russian front.
SWCA 892

Dad, (RIP), was a WWII vet. Stationed in Berlin after the war, he told me every German POW said the same thing, "I was on the Eastern Front."

 

[Exmilcop]

For all the strides mankind has made toward striving for peace since the horrors of WWII, it's heartbreaking to see what's happening in Ukraine. My background is Ukrainian and I have friends and kin still in Ukraine and therefore was privy to some information that rarely makes the news here. The parallels between Hitler's rhetoric and actions with those of Putin are starkly obvious to anyone who's studied military history. What is not well known or mentioned by most journalists is this war is all about OIL!!! Put aside all the BS rhetoric. Ukraine was on the cusp of developing her oil and gas reserves in Crimea in conjunction with BP. Guess what? Putin annexed Crimea! Next they looked at the Donbas. Lots of gas and oil there which would make Ukraine independent of Russian fuel and allow the Ukrainians to market fuel to neighbouring countries, which (coincidentally) would have cut deeply into Putin's personal revenue stream since he owns Gazprom. Guess what? Russian agitators fomented a revolt in the Donbas, funded and armed the "rebels", and Russia sent in their military. There are oil and gas reserves in western Ukraine but what consortium is going to invest in a politically unstable country? I'm seeing and hearing about the brutal horrors of the second world war repeated and it's heartrending.