If there are, stand or wave, wherever you might be. And if we do not have any veterans, that is a shame. We would love to have them as always. Anybody working on the home front that is here . Theres somebody. Dont be bashful. I thought so. [applause] i saw them earlier. Holocaustors of the who might be here, i would like to recognize them as well. And veterans of any period of time wherever you are in the audience, would you please stand and raise your hand . Thank you. [applause] service. All for your and thank you again for being here. In the Early Morning hours of may 7, 1945, and a Little Red Schoolhouse in france in a Little Red Schoolhouse in france, world war ii officially came to an end in europe with the surrender of German Military alfred jodel. It is the anniversary date of ve day, the 72nd anniversary of that event, which celebrates the allied defeat of the nazis. 72 years ago, the west was facing a new beginning, a Herculean Task to ensure that another war would not break
Poland i was prepared but it wasnt, the mightiest military behemoth World History up to that point and poland had a sizable army, very small navy, it didnt have the financial wherewithal that germany did and did think the germans rolled over them. The date was a surprise but was the rest of europe preparing for war . They suspected war was coming. Most European Countries hoped it wouldnt happen. Half were neutral, declared their neutrality. Some had prepared for war to a certain extent but none of them were really ready for what was about to happen. They hope to somehow something would happen to prevent germany from embarking on what hitler had been preparing for for a number of years, keeping their fingers crossed but obviously that didnt work. Host why werent they prepared if they were aware of hitler . Guest remember 1939, only 20 years aftxx years after thed war i, the greatest bloodbath in history to that point. Many of those countries lost hundreds of thousands if not millions of
History up to that point and poland was, had a, sizable army. Small air force, small navy. It was basically a poor country. It didnt have the sense and financial wherewithal germany did. They thought they could hold off germany at least for a while but germans rolled over them. Cspan you say it wasnt a surprise. The date was maybe a surprise but was the rest of europe preparing for war at this point . Guest they expected war was coming. Most European Countries hoped it wouldnt happen. Half the European Countries were neutral. They declared neutrality. Some prepared for war to a certain extent but none of them were really ready for what was about to happen to them. They hoped somehow something would happen to prevent germany from embarking on what, you know, hitler had been really preparing for a number of years. So they were basically keeping their fingered crossed. Obviously that didnt work. Cspan why werent they prepared . If they were aware of what hitler wanted . Part of the reason