Lest We Forget

it's a fragile bag

George Santayana, originally Jorge Ruiz de Santayana y Borrais, Spanish-American philosophical novelist; was born December 16, 1863 in Madrid, Spain, came to America in 1872, was Harvard educated including Ph.D., returned to Europe in 1912 and died in Rome, Italy September 26, 1952. Among other things he is known for the quote, "Those who can not remember the past are destined to repeat it".
The following story which I have titled "A Fragile Bag" was taken from the book "Pictoral History of World War II - The war in Europe", copyrighted in 1951 and is part of a speech written by General of the Army George C. Marshall. Are we destined to repeat it?

"In August, 1940, Japan's army approximated 120 divisions. It was busily entrenching itself on the Asiatic mainland, and openly fortifing its outlying Pacific Islands, most of which we later took at a heavy price.
On the other side of the world a jubilant Nazi army of about 300 divisions was enjoying a brief rest before its planned attack on Briton across the English Channel. In one short year this army had crushed Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, and Belgium, and had disposed of France in six weeks. Italy, with about 70 divisions, had just declared war, and was readying to strike the British in Egypt. To many, the axis military machine appeared invincible. In Western Europe, England alone remained free, and many doubted that she could stave off defeat.
At that time the ground forces of the United States consisted of 28 poorly-equipped divisions (10 Regular and 18 National Guard) scattered in small units throughout the country and on isolated overseas bases. Our Air Force consisted of some partially equipped squadrons serving continental United States, Panama, Hawaii, and the Philippines: their planes were largely obsolescent and probably could not have survived a day of modern aerial combat. In short, though the world was rife with aggression and force, we were less than a third-rate military power.
And yet, three years later our forces grew to carry the fight to the enemy all around the world, and forced him to the unconditional surrender to which this nation and its Allies had dedicated themselves. During the last two years of the war the victorious advance of the United States sea, air and land forces, together with those of our Allies was virtually unchecked. They controlled the skies and the sea and no army could successfully oppost them. Behind these forces was the output of American farms and factories, exceeding any similar effort of man, so that the people everywhere with whom we were joined in the fight for decency and justice were able to reinforce their efforts through the aid of American ships, food, munitions and supplies.
Whether, because of these successes, this generation of Americans will keep in mind the black days of 1942 when the Japanese conquered all of Malaysia, occupied Burma and threatened India, while the German armies approached the Volga and Suez, is open to question. Yet in those hours Germany and Japan came so close to complete domination of the world that we do not yet realize how thin the thread of Allied survival was stretched.
Though our effort was stupendous after Pearl Harbor -- indeed,though it finally swung the scales to victory for the Allies -- we can in good conscience take little credit for our part in staving off disaster in those early, critical days. It is certain that the refusal of our Allies to accept what appeared to be inevitable defeat was the great factor in the salvage of our civilization. The security of the United States was saved by vast oceans, by Allies, and by the errors of the enemy. For probably the last time in the history of the world those ocean distances were a vital factor in our defense. If we elect again to depend on whims and error of potential enemies, we will be carrying the treasure and freedom of this great nation in a fragile bag".

That bag is even more fragile today than it was when General Marshall made that speech. How much longer can it hold our freedom? I may write more on General Marshall later but for now, stay tuned - William