leejo

What tragic losses of life caused by Southern Aggression? That was the war of Northern Aggression, my friend. The South wanted to be left alone.

I'm not really worried about how the Japanese feel about VJ day just like I don't worry about how the Germans feel about V-E day. They aren't very well observed these days anyway, but they were very big deals at the time. I don't think you appreciate the deep relief that must have swept the globe on those days. And if you're going to piss anyone off, it might as well be your vanquished enemy. Lord knows the allies deserved a party.

Tarenth

The Civil War started in March when the city of Charleston refused to reprovision Fort Sumter of staples in an attempt to starve the soldiers out of that position. Later they ordered that the commander surrender the fort on April 11th when supplies reached dangerous lows and requests for reprovisioning by ship were sent out.

On April 12th the first shots were fired when batteries opened up on Fort Sumter from Fort Moultries. Sumter returned fire and was then put under fire from batteries on Mount Pleasent, Cumming's Point, and a Floating Battery.

Fort Sumter was put under continuous fire even to the point of changing targets to soldiers sent to the water line to retrieve water in an attempt to put out fires that were raging in the fort. Eventually Major Anderson in Fort Sumter surrendered on April 13th with the Fort in flames.

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Silas Ender

Wait, I always thought that the first shots of the civil war were artillery rounds fired at a Union supply ship by cadets from the Citadel? In any case, Taraneth is correct in his information on the bigger picture.

Civil wars are devastating, dirty affairs. It's not the same to kill your own as it is to kill foreigners, awkward as it may be to say. How would you feel if you were a soldier tasked with putting down a rebellion in Washington state? To kill other Americans like that? It's not something to celebrate like victory over a foreign enemy is. It's also best not to celebrate it when you actually live with them in extreme proximity every day, without subjugating them.


Japan was a different nation back then, and we destroyed it. We're celebrating whipping the Imperial Japanese, not the Japanese we know today. Just like we celebrate defeating the Nazi Germans, not the Germans as they are today. They were EVIL, and we defeated them. So, let's celebrate. As far as it "not flying" in the international community, I think we can safely say "Screw you, we're sticking to our heritage and history" on this one, as it is so low key and mostly compartmentalized to the U.S. I can assure you that, after living in Europe for many years, they remember the war FAR more vividly than we do. There are still serious tensions between European nations to this day. I think we can have our celebratory holiday.

Oh, I forgot. The Japanese have slanty eyes and speak a different language, so if we celebrate anything that has negative connotations towards previous generations, it must be RACIST! My mistake.

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leejo

I was kidding with the "War of Northern Aggression" thing, y'all. It's a sometimes-name for the war down he-uh. Did I forget to mention that I used to live in Charleston, SC? I've been to the Citadel, the Battery, and Ft. Sumter many times.

FWIW my grandfather's house has bullet holes in it still. My great-something grandmother's diary has passages in it about running off Union Soldiers (from Sherman's march) who had come to collect some food and goods. I have read the Shelby Foote books and several others. I had Gone With the Wind underoos when I was a kid. I dunno, maybe that's why I chuckle at your sensitivity to the whole VJ thing: only a Yankee or a Californian could win a war then feel guilty about it.


I'm guessing that anyone who has watched Band of Brothers (which a cousin of mine who was an infantry officer in the airborne made my grandfather watch with him because it wasn't "all hollywooded up") can appreciate how huge V-E day was, and then again V-J day for everyone who was training to slog through the jungles. It's not a racist holiday, it's a celebration of the end of the war. When they put you in charge you can have your people celebrate "yay we can all just get along day" or something. Woo hoo!

Steeler

That's an awfully nuanced distinction. I doubt it translates well.

I also question the continuing need for subsequent generations to "celebrate" a victory that they took no personal part in. Hence, celebrations give way to memorials, remembrances, and eventually (in the long term), historical footnotes. But that is a bigger issue involving basic human nature and the role of nations in personal identity.

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