A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PAID SUBSCRIBERS -AND FUTURE PAID SUBSCRIBERS
I’ve written often that 1944 was “the high tide of the American republic,” that it was “the year America liberated the world.” And yet here we are 80 years from those momentous days, wondering if 2024 will be “the end of the American republic.”
It’s easy to be discouraged;there isn’t a day goes by that I don’t run across something done by somebody that gives me pause regarding the outcome of the Most Important Terrible Year of Our Lives. I frequently have to remind myself of what my friend the late Dick Best told me about how he and his shipmates got from the shock of Pearl Harbor to the victory at Midway - an event that was against the odds - “We did our job, and concentrated on that, because the alternative was unthinkable.”
However, it also strikes me that remembering - or for some, discovering - what those times and those people were like 80 years ago may provoke some encouragement for us today. And since 1944 happens to be a year I know well as an historian, this is what I am going to do:
I’m presenting a new series that will run through the end of the year: 1944 - The Year America Liberated The World. I’m going to post accounts of the events of that year, adapted from my books. The first will go up this coming Saturday, February 17: “Defeating the Luftwaffe: the Road to Big Week.” It will be followed as they are chronologically relevant by the rest of the stories.
Hopefully this will be a break from pointing out all the fine messes around us, and a rejuvenation of spirit.
This is a benefit for paid subscribers only. There will be a short post for everyone giving you a taste of what’s there and an opportunity to jump aboard as one of the paid subscribers who keep That’s Another Fine Mess operating.
I hope you all like it, and I mostly hope that many of the new free subscribers will find this a reason to change their status.
Paid subscribers are the folks whose support keeps That’s Another Fine Mess operating. I hope you will consider joining this excellent community.
Comments are for paid subscribers.
Wow! I so look forward to your providing a great way to look back at 1944! As you may know, the people of Dresden will remember the fire bombing of their incredible city the night of 13 February into 14 February. They will do what they do most years...gather by the thousands hand in hand to encircle the Frauenkirche that was almost completely destroyed. In fact the russians left it and most of the bomb destruction as it was in the former east Germany. The russians stole everything they could and never rebuilt the ruins...just put up their famous concrete apartment blocks, built detention facilities, and encouraged everyone to spy on their own family members and neighbors for the STASI. (Watch the film The Lives of Others as it is quite accurate). It was not until the wall was finally breached and broken that there was rebuilding of all the destruction from WW2! Guess how it was done? The Germans agreed to tax themselves for the purpose of reconstructing. They called it a "solidarity tax". It was only fairly recently ended. It takes unity to do great things that make the world a better place for everyone. So...thank you Tom for giving us all one more way to remember what is truly most important.❤️
In 2018, in the midst of the daily psychic assault of living through the first-and-God-help-us-may-it-be-the-last Trump administration, my husband and I took a trip to France and visited the American Cemetery and beaches at Normandy. It was an incredibly reverent experience, and a visceral reminder of the greatness we're capable of as a nation. So yours is a worthy project!