1945 — A Most Eventful Year

By Tom Morrow

Of the 10 decades of the 20th century, the 1940s were the most eventful – Particularly the year 1945, some 75 years ago this coming August.
The year 1945 was the climax of the world’s greatest historical event: World War II. More than 50 million people died during 1938 through 1945. The Japanese began the aggression attacking China, then the Germans began engulfing most of Europe, beginning with Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. In 1940, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium and France followed under the boot Nazi Germany.
The year 1945 began with the final decisive encounter between the Allies: the “Battle of the Bulge.” It began in Belgium with a counter attack by the Germans in an attempt to recapture the harbor of Antwerp. The fighting began just before Christmas in December1944, ending in the early days of 1945. It was the last big effort for the Germans, who literally ran out of fuel for their powerful panzer (tank) units.

FDR Dies

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, often referred to by his initials FDR, served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945. FDR won a record four presidential elections and became a central figure in world events during the first half of the 20th century. Roosevelt directed the United States during most of the Great Depression, the worst economic crisis in world history. His third and fourth terms were dominated by World War II, which ended shortly after he died in office (August 1945).

Ernie Pyle

Ernie Pyle Killed in Okinawa
fighting in the Pacific. He was with a Marine unit’s assault on the island of Ie Shima during the battle for Okinawa in the waning days of World War II, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ernie Pyle was killed while imbedded with the Marines. He was best known for his stories about ordinary American soldiers during the War. Pyle is also notable for the columns he wrote as a roving human-interest reporter from 1935 through 1941 for the Scripps-Howard newspaper syndicate. He attached himself to both the European front and with the Marines as they fought the Japanese in the Pacific.
President Harry Truman said of Pyle, “No man in this war has so well told the story of the American fighting man as they would want it told. He deserves the gratitude of all his countrymen.”

The “Gadgets” Do Their Jobs

The test of the Atomic Bomb was successfully exploded on the White Sands of New Mexico. The development of the bomb began in 1942, with dozens of scientists and hundreds of workers and military personnel at a remote village of Los Alamos. Called the “Manhattan Project,” it was the most expensive project the U.S. had ever undertaken: ‘’xxxx billion.
Harry S. Truman

Little Boy and Fat Man Hit their Targets

New President Harry S. Truman made the historic decision to drop two A-Bombs on Japan, causing them to surrender. It was estimated “Little Boy, a uranium bomb, and “Fat Man,” a plutonium device, saved as many as 1 million lives, both Japanese and American. Each had the power of 20 tons of TNT. With the war ended, Americans went home and got on with their lives; the rest of the war-torn world gradually pieced back the remnants of their countries.

Speaking About Future History

On Nov. 4, 2020, this year’s presidential election (Nov. 3) will be history. Consider this for inclusion into future history tomes:
The best thing Joe Biden had going for him was support of the liberal left-wingers; the worst thing in his way was Joe Biden.
The best thing in the upcoming election President Donald Trump had going for him was Joe Biden; the worst obstacle in his way was …. (wait for it) … Donald Trump.