#It’s a WWII era song about a military pilot | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

2o2o-kit · 4 years

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An American’s Thoughts on Horrible Histories Songs

Born 2 Rule: Iconic, really set the stage for Horrible Histories, not my favorite George III song though that prize goes to Hamilton, (also I was always taught George III was mad in an angry way)

Wives of Henry VIII: This song walked so Six can run, still iconic

Making a Mummy: Kind of forgettable, but if we are going by the pattern as seen in the first two, I predict the next big history musical will be about making mummies

The Tudors: I don’t know why but I love this song’s intro, but I find the dance moves cringe worthy

Georgian Lady: It’s great when you can read along to it, but Martha is still iconic

I’m a Knight: I love the whole Monty Python inspiration, this always makes me smile, just pure wholesome knight energy, one of my favorite season 1 songs

Caveman Love: It gets better the more you listen to it

It’s Not True: Probably my least favorite Horrible Histories song, still better than most songs on the radio

The Plague: The plague was made for musical theatre, besides this check out Spamalot and Something Rotten

British Things: Drags on a bit, but haha Britain, you are not perfect, (but America is far from perfect)

We are Greek: It’s king boring, but lyrics are still pretty clever

Burke and Hare: I’m not a fan of this TBH, maybe it’s because I’m not a huge fan of true crime and stuff like that, it’s not that catchy either

Literally: Nothing like an 80s rock parody, it’s also one of the funniest songs

Charles II: This was the first HH song I listened to and I’m glad, because it’s a banger, and this is probably the closest you will get to a kid friendly Eminem

Spartan Musical: This is so camp and just you have to watch to understand

WWII Girls: Katy Wix needs to be in more songs, I love the costumes in this

George IV: I’m obsessed with this one, Jim’s vocals in this are perfection, definitely one of my favorite of the whole series, I wish I could belt like that

Blackbeard: The acting in this is perfection, I still laugh while watching it

Victorian inventions: I’m not a big fan of this type of music, but it’s still funny

Hieroglyphics: Idk why Mat did a Texas accent, and I’m not sure but it’s not bad, but it’s not as great as the other songs

Cowboys: The accents are good but I could go without all the farts

Boudicca: This is an inspiration

Funky Monks: I’m not a big fan of this one, it’s funny but I wish they had more singing in this, but Terry is great as always

Pachacuti: At first I was bit nervous to watch it because of the brown face, and yes it’s in there and I also thought it would be too cheesy but that’s the point and makes it so much fun, also what’s a northern accent

Dick Turpin: For most people it’s the guyliner that makes this a thirst trap, for me it’s all the tricorn hats 😍. When I first watched this video I recently developed my tricorn fetish and this song was just... The music to this is great too, I listen to this daily. And imagine me learning that this thirst trap’s name is Dick

Monarchs: Iconic, super helpful, now I can name all the English monarchs, thanks

William Wallace: Better than Braveheart, seems like a lot of fun to film

Work! Terrible Work: Hey look theatre reference, this so is definitely not a mood booster, but those sideburns (and I’m not really into sideburns)

Ra ra Cleopatra: Martha is killing it, and I love all the Lady Gaga references

Richard III: Thanks for talking about the horrors of Tudor Propaganda and the lyrics in this are amazing

Evil Emperors: If you claim your bad, don’t make such a catchy song that can easily be confused as another thirst trap, love the parody and Caligula and Nero and some of my favorite HH characters

Suffragettes: This song proved how hard these ladies worked, also I want to sing this song with others, who’s in?

Ain’t Stain Alive: Okay just like Pachacuti, I’m sure this song can’t work today, but it’s great, so catchy and the screams, also the behind the scenes of this is iconic

Age of Stone: I like how it explains the time periods but I’m not really a big fan of how it was presented

English Civil War: The choreography is on point, Lawry needed to be in more songs and I love the song they parodied, it’s Cool from West Side Story

Celtic Boast Battle: I don’t know, I find it a bit too much but the ending is perfection

RAF Pilots: Now I’m not big on war history, epically WWII, but song is perfection, I love the coloring used for this, the music is just awesome, and this along with The Captain from Ghosts and Molly McIntire are proving the WWII is gay

Nature Selection: I’ve been using this phrase a lot during the pandemic,

The Thinkers: Alright, no strong opinions

It’s a New World: A jam, love the shade of how the pilgrims treated the natives, and it’s a great parody altogether, also I need a New New Castle now

Mary Seacole: So catchy I love it, and the dancing is great. I wish they didn’t cut out that one lyric about Florence because that’s important

Victoria and Albert: It’s kind of slow, but I can see why others like it, maybe it’s just because I’m alone

Blue Blooded Blues: I don’t really like Blues music, even though I’ve lived in cities known for their blues, but James Cape™️, GAAAYYYY!!!

The Luddites: Definitely one of my favorites, I love the cinematography, the costumes are my type, and nothing like historical heavy metal, ironic right, and Jim has the vocal range

The Borgia Family: I love everything about this, the music, the accents, costumes, this is better than the Showtime series, wish Ben got a solo in this song though, (also is it just me or do the Borgias remind you of the Trumps expect the Borgias are more like able)

Mary I: It’s okay, Sarah in this is great and it’s a great parody but I always thought of Mary having a deeper voice (I know weird)

William Shakespeare and the Quills: I love Shakespeare, but I’m not a big fan of this type of music, also I low key wish Shakespeare was sexy in this one

Georgian Navy: Please forgive my star spangled ass, but I’m not a fan of the British military during the Georgian era, and yes I know Nelson didn’t really fight in the American Revolution, but I’m not a big fan of war history

Flame: Will get stuck in your head, but who cares it’s an awesome parody, Jesse Owens in amazing, we love Jim’s Nero, and Mat you said you were all nude (I feel cheated)

Death’s Favorite Things: Hilarious, and a mood for me

Rosa Parks: Now Rosa’s story is something we get drilled in our heads in America, which is good, this song is so catchy and I love the costumes, but the ending did say ‘segregation was ended in America,’ but technically...

Vikings and Garfunkel: Aww so peaceful,

Charles Dickens: I love the music on this and the cinematograph, but there is something about it that I’m not a big fan of it, but I’m not sure what

Crassus Minted: A freaking underrated banger, just like the real Crassus

Joan of Arc: I’m sorry but this song is a bit cringe worthy but still way better than the new seasons

Alexander the Great: I mean is there any other song that can truly depict Alex

Owain Glynwr: Wish they had more Welsh history on the show but Tom Jones parody I never knew I needed

Transportation: The dancing in this is amaze, and I’m obsessed with Ben’s accent in this, how is his Midwestern accent better than mine, and I have a Midwestern accent, (stop making me like Henry Ford!) and I love whenever they do musical parodies

Henry VII: This song makes me want to be Henry VII, he made the monarchy great again

Matilda Stephen and Henry: There are more ABBA references in this than a production of Mamma Mia, and it’s brilliant,

Australia: I’m surprised they got away with saying Hellhole in this, but still very catchy, low key wish Thomas sang this in Ghosts

Cousins: It’s silly and I like it

Love Rats: Lyrics make me want to remain single, video is having me crush on actors that are old enough to be my parents

Final: Supersweet, but I can only watch it once because it makes me emotional

#horrible histories #my opinion #history

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ethelindawrites · 7 years

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Song Review: The War Was In Color by Carbon Leaf

I’m honestly not even sure if song review are a thing, but I’ve been in love with this song for months and really want to talk about it, so I’m doing it anyway.

So, I first discovered The War Was In Color through this fan video that someone made based on the first Captain America and Avengers movies, which is honestly kind of perfect, so I would definitely recommend watching that. But the song is also really gorgeous just by itself, so that’s what I’m going to focus on here: it is a tribute to those who fought during World War II, from a U.S. perspective.

I happen to be involved in a big WWII project at work right now, so I’m already feeling a bit invested in the time period and also pretty emotional about it. That makes the lyrics for this song hit me a little harder even than they did when I first discovered it.

I see you've found a box of my things - Infantries, tanks and smoldering airplane wings. These old pictures are cool. Tell me some stories Was it like the old war movies? Sit down son. Let me fill you in

I love the imagery here – it’s just a box of old photographs, but to the WWII veteran, it’s a lot more than that: “infantries, tanks and smoldering airplane wings.” These are the pieces of the war that he remembers, not the two-dimensional pictures. I like also the imagery of a younger family member actually asking a veteran about his time in the war, and the veteran being willing to answer and speak about it.

Where to begin? Let's start with the end This black and white photo don't capture the skin From the flash of a gun to a soldier who's done Trust me grandson The war was in color

There is something about the last line of this verse/the title of this song that really hits me. Even as an historian who knows better, it is still sometimes easy to get caught up in the immediate depictions of the war that are readily available to me...the black and white photographs, newspapers, and movies of the time. There are other artifacts as well, of course, that are not black and white (colorful propaganda posters, flags, etc.). But so many of the direct photographs of that era are black and white, that it can be easy to forget: like life for all people, in all places and all times, this war too was in color. It was immediate and real...the present for many millions of people, even if it is the past for us now.

From shipyard to sea, From factory to sky From rivet to rifle, from boot camp to battle cry

There is so much alluded to in just two lines here, a whole nation of people who came together and built things in order for America and the Allies to win. Reading up about the defense industry in my local area has been part of what I’m doing at work, and the sheer speed at which some of it got going, and the sheer amount of war material produced over the course of the war, even just right around here, is almost mind-boggling. There were the women who stepped up to work, either in the factories or by enlisting in the armed forces to do work here in the States (the first time they were officially allowed to enter the US military). And of course there were the millions of men who took up arms and trained and then went overseas to fight. I wore the mask up high on a daylight run That held my face in its clammy hand

The allusion for me here to a pilot, flying with Death’s hand on his face, is just chilling. Always riding on the edge, and any flight might be your last. My grandfather was a pilot with the Marines, although in the Korean War, rather than WWII, so it hits pretty close to home that way too. Crawled over coconut logs and corpses in the coral sand

The juxtaposition of things in this line really gets me: lovely tropical coconut logs and coral sand...covered with corpses. And not just any corpses, but the dead bodies of your fellow soldiers that you must crawl over because the fight isn’t won and you have to keep going. This is a clear reference to the fighting in the Pacific theater, trying to take islands back from the Japanese. It really makes me think about the three men from my area who won Medals of Honor during WWII – all three were in the Pacific, and all three were awarded the Medal for covering Japanese grenades in order to save fellow soldiers. That’s not a part of our research that I can read with dry eyes.

Where to begin? Let’s start with the end This black and white photo don't capture the skin From the shock of a shell or the memory of smell If red is for Hell The war was in color

I like the reminder here that not only was the war in color, but it was more than just a visual experience. The concussive blast of a shell exploding, the smell of the gunpowder and the dead and the dying...those are things that most of us haven’t experienced, and that’s an integral part of a soldier’s experience of the war that is pretty much forever out of our reach. We might occasionally have sound to go with the visuals...but that experience of the war is very different from that of someone who lived through it. Even a movie (with that constant subconscious knowledge that it is fiction) does not have the same impact.

I held the canvas bag over the railing The dead released, with the ship still sailing, Out of our hands and into the swallowing sea

No time to grieve in war. I know it’s a fairly well-known phrase, but for some reason that “into the swallowing sea” here really gets me. The reminder of the immensity of the ocean, I guess, and its indifference to our tragedies. I felt the crossfire stitching up soldiers Into a blanket of dead, and as the night grows colder In a window back home, a Blue Star is traded for Gold.

For those who may not know: If someone in your family was away fighting in the war, you got a “Blue Star Banner” to hang in your window. Officially, they are called a Service Banner, and they look like this. If that person was killed, then you took down the blue star, and hung a Gold Star Banner in its place. Thousands and thousands of American families had gold stars hanging in their windows before the war was over. (Additional history facts: These were first used during WWI, and are still used today.)

Where to begin? Let's start with the end This black and white photo don't capture the skin When metal is churned, and bodies are burned Victory earned The War was in color

That repeating line of “This black and white photo don’t capture the skin,” that acknowledgment that this photograph isn’t enough to capture what the soldier went through...but it’s all that he has. It is enough, at least, to evoke the memories, enough for him to tell the story. The war was hard-fought and hard-won, and victory, like everything else, was in color.

Now I lay in my grave at age 21 Long before you were born Before I bore a son It is one of the harder things to learn about, as you study WWII, just how young many of the soldiers were (on all sides, and certainly here in the US as well). The three Medal of Honor winners I mentioned earlier? One of them joined before he was even out of high school, and the other two on their 18th birthdays, as soon as they no longer needed parental permission to enlist. This is true of others killed in action from my area as well. Many of them weren’t even 21 yet when they died. What good did it do? Well hopefully for you A world without war A life full of color

That was the real question – what good did it do? With the lives of so many individual human beings cut brutally short – was it worth it? I think that, in the case of WWII, the answer is a clear yes. Many, many people were able to go on and live their lives in greater peace and freedom (whatever the conflicts that came later). And that is probably what so many of the soldiers were fighting for: a chance for themselves and their loved ones, friends, and neighbors to live good lives, lives full of color

Where to begin? Let's start with the end This black and white photo never captured my skin Once it was torn from an enemy thorn Straight through the core The war was in color

Where to begin? Let’s start with the end This black and white photo never captured my skin From the flash of a gun to a soldier who’s done Trust me grandson The war was in color Trust me grandson The war was in color Trust me grandson The war was in color (Performed by Carbon Leaf. Written by Barry Thomas Privett, Carter Gravatt, Scott Andrew Milstead, Terrell H. Clark • Copyright © BMG Rights Management US, LLC)

The refrain at the end, trying to emphasize the realness of it to someone who was not there, who has only “old war movies” and this box of black and white photographs to learn from. But the soldier was there, and he saw it all, and smelled it and heard it and breathed it, and now he can give a little piece of that story to his grandson, to help him learn and understand.

I don’t know that I have much else articulate to say about this, and this is really more of an “oh god the FEELS” than a proper review, but I needed to get some of this down. I hope other people enjoy the song, and perhaps even the mini, rather disjointed history lesson.

~Ethelinda

#the war was in color #WWII #world war II #history #carbon leaf #music #song review #song recommendation #feels

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sirgoodmovie-blog · 5 years

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Film Castle Retrospective: War of the Worlds (2005)

A largely forgotten sci-fi gem.

I'm going to talk about this film's plot in detail! If you've never seen it, I would highly recommend giving it a watch and coming back!

I always felt like War of the Worlds just came and went. You hear folks talking about great science fiction films of the last 15 years and this movie rarely comes up. After rewatching it recently, I think I understand why. It's still as affecting and brilliantly paced as I remember it being but it's not exactly what I would call timeless. In fact, this film is so firmly planted in its era that watching it today feels uncanny.

Steven Spielberg did this one! Well, he directed it. It was written by David Koepp (known for Jurassic Park and Mission: Impossible) and Josh Friedman (writer on... Avatar 2, currently in post-production :/ ).

The plot very loosely follows the 1897 novel written by H.G. Wells. Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a dock worker living in New Jersey. His two kids, Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and Rachel (Dakota Fanning), live with their mother and view him as a deadbeat. On a weekend visit, an unnatural lightning storm leads to an enormous three-legged machine emerging from the ground and disintegrating crowds of people with laser beams. These are the beginnings of a global alien invasion, and we follow Ray and his kids as they travel north towards Boston in an attempt to seek refuge from the tripods with their extended family.

Most folks know this story from the 1938 radio drama by Orson Welles, remembered in infamy for causing some people to actually believe Martians were invading Earth. Spielberg's adaptation doesn't have much of anything to do with Welles', at least on the surface. But let's think about the time periods at play. In the late 30's, America was on the cusp of WWII, with the constant threat of German invasion looming in the national consciousness. The radio play was thoroughly tapped into these fears and was able to exploit them, accidentally creating a horror so palpable that people actually called the police to ask about the broadcast.

Turns out, history repeats in predictable but fascinating ways! The 2005 film is baked in post 9/11 anxiety. It's deep in the DNA of the thing, and there's even a point in the movie where this fear is stated outright (the kids ask their father if the invading aliens are "terrorists"). It's all here folks! Robbie spends almost all of his screen-time trying to join the military to "get back at them", Ray comes home from the initial attack covered in dust and ash, lots of shots of Heroic American Soldiers. There's even a fucking plane crash early in the invasion. I found it amazing how little of this stuff I remember and how it all seems so obvious now, but it's also telling. American culture was steeped in this iconography at the time. It just seemed normal when I was a kid. Every single house on Ray's street having an American flag out front was normal.

but watever!!! Let's talk about robots! Let's talk about what works in this movie!

The tripods are fairly interesting and menacing on their own. The way their little metal tendrils move around is distressingly organic, and that's before they start leaking fluids and sucking people up into their... orifices (sigh). They do this big foghorn yell that's still really frightening! I still remember it shaking the theater. If you have a good sound system you'll probably get a bit of that effect. Their lasers turn people to dust but leave the clothes, leading to a brilliant shot late in the movie where articles of clothing start falling from the sky.

On top of all that, their design takes on a new significance when the pilots are revealed: the aliens are a three-legged species. They are piloting mechs created in their own image, mimicking all giant-robot media ever created ever in the history of intelligent life. Goofs aside, this kind of internal design consistency is what I live for in sci-fi films. I'm even willing to look past the fact that they're triangle-headed, which is the most cliche head shape for an alien to have.

The pacing and moment-to-moment plotting in this film is excellent. The tension and desperation are constantly rising, and it all comes to head in a fantastic penultimate act wherein Ray and Rachel are forced to hide in a basement with Harlan (Tim Robbins), a prepper with a dubious grasp of reality.

Oh sorry, you thought this was a sci-fi thriller? nice try idiot it's a sci-fi horror now.

It starts off with a genuinely touching scene of Ray attempting to comfort his daughter before she sleeps. After tearfully admitting that he doesn't know any lullabies, he starts quietly singing The Beach Boy's "Little Deuce Coupe". It's the only song he knows by heart, or at least the only one he can recall. This is the moment where the emotional core of the movie really comes together.

And just in time, because a spooky alien mechanical eyeball tentacle comes down to investigate the basement, followed closely by the aliens themselves! These scenes are incredibly tense. Not only is Ray trying desperately to hide and protect his daughter from robots, Harlan's delusions of grandeur and desire to attack the invaders almost gives away their position several times, forcing Ray to fight him as well. You find yourself holding your breath as the two men silently struggle for control of a loaded shotgun, with the strange tripedal creatures mere steps away.

These events culminate in the reveal that the aliens are using human blood as the main ingredient in a strange plant/fungus, with the purpose of terraforming the Earth to their liking. Harlan panics. He starts yelling and refuses to stop, and Ray is forced to kill him while Rachel waits in the other room, blindfolded and singing to herself. It's haunting. It's tragic. It works, and Tim Robbins steals every scene he's in.

But uh, not everything in the film hits those highs. I know I've been giving this movie a lot of sugar so far, but it has some big problems.

For one thing: Steven Spielberg Kid Shit™. Ray's children are supremely unlikable for most of the runtime. It's difficult to care about Rachel before the aforementioned basement act, and Robbie's arc never really makes any sense at all. He's a shitty teenager who immediately wants to join the army upon seeing one (1) robot. His insistence that Ray has to just "let him go" runs counter to his attitude in the early parts of the film, where he feels Ray doesn't care enough about him or his sister. It felt like the writers didn't quite know what they were trying to say with Robbie. Figures, since they kinda just shoo him away before the best scenes in the movie, only to unceremoniously bring him back at the end.

Speaking of, the ending is bad. Very bad actually!

It sticks with the "aliens killed by Earth microbes" ending of the original story. This has always been kind of a hard sell. It's difficult to believe that a spacefaring race wouldn't take precautions against that sort of thing, but maybe they evolved to be really resistant to diseases on their planet or something. However, in one of the changes the film makes to the original story, the tripods were buried on Earth a million years ago and were lying in wait for their pilots to arrive and begin the invasion. This just makes the aliens seem even stupider. It's hard to suspend my disbelief when I'm thinking about how during dozens of millennia of planning, catching an Earth cold was seemingly never a concern.

The ending is also too damn happy. Ray and Rachel make it to Boston, and not only is all of their family alive and completely safe, but Robbie is also alive and completely safe and he beat them there! I know it seemed like he exploded and caught fire and was directly in the path of a killer blood robot, but don't worry he's fine! Yeah I know, it feels ridiculous and unearned. But it makes sense in retrospect given that post 9/11 trauma. Nobody at that time would've responded to the bittersweet ending that this film deserves.

Closing thoughts, this film isn't gonna work for everyone. I saw it as a kid so I admit some bias. I can easily see someone watching this thinking it's cheesy and heavy-handed. But I think if you're a fan of science fiction, it's at least worth it to see this classic story loaded up with all of 2005's baggage. For old times sake.

"THEY EVEN GOT A MORGAN FREEMAN NARRATION IN THERE BEFORE THAT BECAME A CLICHE!" - Sir Goodmovie

Related links! Here's a recent episode of Radiolab about the history of the radio play, and here's a stellar video by Lindsay Ellis on post 9/11 media.

youtube

#dreamworks #sci-fi #science fiction #steven spielberg #tom cruise

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melindarowens · 7 years

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Virgil: On This Memorial Day, Breitbart Readers Remember and Look to the Future

I. Memorializing the Greatest Generation

Memorial Day is the day in which we remember, with solemn gratitude, all those who gave their lives in military service to our country. Elsewhere here at Breitbart News, others have recollected the fallen; as Abraham Lincoln said in eulogizing those who died at Gettysburg in 1863, “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”

Interestingly, Memorial Day was once known as Decoration Day. After all, it was, and is, the virtuous custom to decorate the graves of the war-dead. And in the name “Decoration Day,” we see something important for the sake of our civic life: the ability of each patriot to offer appropriate honors in his or her own way. That is, with flowers, cards, notes, or perhaps a bit of memorabilia.

Today, such personalized displays of devotion are particularly common at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Mall in Washington, DC. Why? Most likely, because that war is relatively recent; plenty of people alive now still feel a close connection to Vietnam-era warriors.

Yet the passing of the years has meant that other American wars are rapidly receding from our personal memory. For instance, we might point to World War II. During that conflict, from 1941 to 1945, the population of the US was about 133 million. And yet in 2010, less than 5.5 million Americans were over the age of 85; that is, born in 1925 or earlier. Which is to say, the number of Americans today who could have had any adult participation in the war is small—and rapidly getting smaller, as old age takes its toll.

Yes, it’s painful to think that all the heroism of that era is no longer with us, at least not in a personal way. To be sure, there are many museum displays, history books, movies, and TV shows about World War II. And yet still, there’s nothing like the power of a personal reminiscence, as anyone who has ever sat at the knee of a revered elder knows full well. It will indeed, be a sad moment when the last voice from that era is stilled. So the least that each of can do is help to make sure that every one of those vital voices is archived in some form.

Moreover, perhaps on this Memorial Day we can recall more of the voices from World War II, reaching beyond the ranks of the heroes who died in uniform. That is, for the sake of the enlarging the historical record, we can recollect some of the memories about those who served, too, on the homefront, namely, in war production. If their personal risk and sacrifices were less than those who fought in battle, their contributions were nonetheless enormous: As Virgil has argued many times, America’s greatest comparative edge in World War II was its industrial production.

For instance, in a March 17 piece, “Donald Trump, Rosie the Riveter, and the Revival of American Economic Nationalism,” Virgil took note of President Trump’s speech, two days earlier, recalling the B-24 plant at Willow Run, Michigan. That was the plant that built 9,000 bombers that we used to flatten enemy targets.

The B-24 assembly line, 1943, Willow Run Plant. (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

A B-24 flying over a burning oil refinery at Ploesti, Rumania, during Operation Tidal Wave, August 1, 1943. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

And that piece brought forth an outpouring of WW2 memories from Breitbart readers, many of them recording what they had heard, over the years, from fathers, mothers, and other loved ones who lived, worked, and fought in that era. Virgil sifted through all the comments, more than 1800 of them; these left him inspired, informed, amused, and, okay, sometimes bemused.

For starters, Virgil enjoyed the comments specifically about a key theme of the article, which was war production in World War II; these postings were often from descendants of workers and veterans. Let’s take a look:

Reader “MadMen” said simply, “It makes me really miss my grandparents who both worked in those factories.” Meanwhile, reader “NHnative” reported that one family’s inheritance from WW2 includes, to this day, a devotion to sewing:

My grandmother was sewing parachutes . . . She moved on to sewing the uniforms. She’s still sewing daily at age 91 on her 1953 Singer. . . . All the girls in my family are accomplished seamstresses and it all started with those parachutes.

Reader “Last Ride” recalled a father who is, shall we say, particularly close to the B-24 Liberators made at Willow Run, Michigan, and other parts of the country:

My dad started his career in the USAF as a B-24 pilot just as they were being retired from service, and ended his career as a B-52 pilot. He loves the B-24 and moved to Ohio to be near the USAF Wright-Patterson museum to be able to visit one of the last ones around. He told my mom she should feel lucky that the plane could not say “I do” or she would have been replaced, I believe him.

B-24 Liberator bombers of the U.S. 8th Air Force flying towards their targets in occupied Europe on Aug. 12, 1943. (AP Photo)

Meanwhile, the legendary Rosie the Riveter received much attention. Reader “Feet2Fire” reminded fellow commenters that there’s plenty to learn about Rosie from the website Diaryofarosie.

Women Riveting a B-24, 1944, Willow Run Plant (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

Yet reader “53Skylark” raised a point of personal privilege—or, more precisely, Pittsburgh privilege—when he asserted:

The iconic Rosie the Riveter was based on a woman riveter employed by Westinghouse in Pittsburgh. In the original iconic picture she is wearing a Westinghouse employee badge. She did NOT originate at Willow Run. And, all of the steel for the planes, ships, tanks, bullets, etc. was made in Pittsburgh. The former steel capital of the world.

To which reader “Jonsen” replied:

Rosie became a symbol of more than one woman, though. She was a symbol for all women working at home to help the cause.

(As Virgil noted, while the actual Rosie the Riveter worked at Willow Run, the larger story of “Rosie” is complicated: The immortal “We Can Do It!” image does, indeed, come from Pittsburgh. Yet the great artist Norman Rockwell, too, added his own image of Rosie–and his model was from Vermont.)

Norman Rockwell, Rosie the Riveter, Saturday Evening Post

Indeed, Rosie was more than just an individual; she was, and is, an archetype. Reader “TexanForever” recalled:

My mom was a “Rosie the riveter” at the North American plant in Grand Prairie, Texas. While I was in grade school in Dallas she was riveting together P-51’s. Being by nature very modest, she hated wearing slacks, but she did it for the war effort.

Or as reader “Sam Houston” put it:

This hits home to me as my Father and Uncle were WWII Vets. My Step Mom was a Rosie the Riveter on the B-24 Liberator, tail section, at Consolidated Air Force Plant #4 at Carswell Army Airfield in Fort Worth, Texas. She left the dairy farm in Yantis (East Texas) for the War Effort. . . . I am so proud of her and our Greatest Generation!

The actual Rosies, of course, are mostly departed by now, which makes commenters wish all the more to savor their memory. As reader “william couch” recalled, “In the early ’70’s, I worked with 2 Rosies. It was @ the plant in Rosecrans, CA.” And reader “Gary Eaker” offered a strong summary lesson:

Great image. Rosie the Riveter. Americans joining together to do what needs to be done to PROTECT AMERICA. We must join together.

Of course, Rosie will always live on in spirit. Indeed, as reader “Vypurr” explained, she holds up well: “Rosie had more Moxie and balls than any liberal crybaby Beta male today.”

Yes, the Rosies had spunk; reader “backhome1999” recalled this anecdote of female feistiness:

My Mom was one of those women. The story she tells, she was responsible for 1/2 of the airplane to connect everything to the pilot’s area, and she would finish in a few days while her male counterpart doing the same job on the other 1/2 of the airplane took up to 2 weeks finishing his side. She asked for a raise . . . she finally made as much as a man during that time, which was unheard of. But she did her job in 1/2 the time (and they knew it).

Other commenters compared and contrasted two very different women named Rosie, often adding observations about how things have changed, for the worse, since the 40s. One such was reader “Cindy”:

Now instead of Rosie the Riveter, we have the likes of Rosie O’Donnell and Amy Schumer making more for doing worse than nothing than most of us make in a lifetime. Long before the celebs showed their true colors, America made the yuge mistake of placing people who don’t contribute to our society in a meaningful way on a high pedestal so kids would dream of becoming THAT.

And speaking of popular culture, reader “chicodon” added:

Every young person should see this. Glenn Miller was the hottest musical act on the scene for young people in 1942. The entire country was patriotic, including Hollywood. It’s from before my time but it was America. . . . Can you picture ANY act today doing this? Rooting for the military?

Glenn Miller (1904 – 1944) in military uniform. (Photo by D. Hess/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Indeed, the lyrics to the Glenn Miller song “chicodon” links to, “People Like You And Me,” are stirring:

Say, get a load o’ those guys, High in the skies, Wingin’ to victory; Up and at ’em in the fight for People like you and me!

Hey, get a load o’ those gobs, Doin’ their jobs, Keepin’ the sea lanes free; Just to make the future bright for People like you and me!

“Gobs,” we might note, was affectionate slang for “seamen.” At the same time, in that song, the vital work on the homefront was also not forgotten:

We’ll have to roll up our sleeves, Tighten our belts, But through the dark we’ll see The lady with the liberty light for People like you and you and you, And people like me, People like you and me!

Miller, we might recall, joined the US Army during WW2 at the peak of his career—and at age 38. He died on December 15, 1944, when his airplane crashed into the English Channel; he had been preparing the next leg of his famed orchestra’s morale-boosting tour for the troops.

Of course, Miller’s sacrifice was common; many celebrities joined the armed services, and many more pitched in—and more than a few died.

For his part, reader “Euclid” took note of the visual elements of Virgil’s article, for which the author can claim no credit:

LOOK AT THOSE PHOTOS! Black and white American men and women all working together in harmony. . . . Look at us now! The most divided ever among race, gender, class, age, etc!

Men assembling the cockpit of a B-24, 1942, Willow Run Bomber Plant (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

Yes, everyone found a way to pitch in back then; as Trump likes to say, the blood of patriots is all the same color.

Without a doubt, we were mostly inspired by patriotism back then, and yet for some, the production effort was personal. Here’s how reader “Katherine” recalled the war work of her grandfather; please note the family-values kicker at the end:

My grandfather was a tool and die maker for Ford, and was asked to be a foreman at the Pratt and Whitney plant in Highland Park, Michigan, which built the engines for the B-24. He didn’t want to be a foreman, but he did it because one of his three sons who were in the service was a B-24 bomber pilot, and he wanted to be sure his son had good engines to fly.

B-24 Liberator Bombers in Flight, 1943 (Source: The Henry Ford/Flickr)

So it’s little wonder that even today, many remember the good work that was done. For instance, reader “Havegunwilltravel” wrote:

My father was a B-24 pilot in WW 2. He flew from England over Germany and he often told me that it was his airplane that brought him back every time. The B-24 was hard to fly, no pressurization but she was tough not like what we have today, “MADE IN CHINA” crap. I would like to thank all the people who worked at Willow Run who took pride in their work and built one of the greatest airplanes in the world.

Another commenter, reader “Jake Manchester,” added:

I love stories about America’s exceptionalism. Imagine building one B-24 every hour. Now that, my friends, is American exceptionalism.

Yet in those days, as reader “sally forth” recalled, just about everyone was exceptional:

It wasn’t just Rosie, it was everyday citizens with victory gardens, & scrap metal drives. Those that sold war bonds & those that bought war bonds. It was rationing of food & gas. Farmers & entire families produced more food. Every PATRIOTIC American was somehow involved to win the big one & bring the boys home.

And yes, Virgil will say it again, a great commander-in-chief led us to victory. As reader “backhome1999” remembers:

My Mom worked in a factory building planes for the WWII effort, and the photo of FDR reminds me of her story about FDR driving through the plant one day on her way into work and waved at her. She helped build B-17’s, Douglas plant, Long Beach, Calif.

Virgil recognizes that not every Breitbart commenter, including reader “Crazycatkid,” is a fan of Franklin D. Roosevelt. And yet we all might recall that his fellow Americans thought so highly of FDR that they elected him to the White House four times; indeed, each of his presidential victories was a landslide. Moreover, the fact that his image has been on the US dime for the last 70 years tells us something about his enduring popularity; even two Republicans, Nancy and Ronald Reagan, revered him.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on board an American warship, circa 1935. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images

Yet in addition to the warm glow of nostalgia from those days, there’s also the chill pang of loss. Reader “Texan Forever” wrote:

We were a nation united. . . .During this period my favorite cousin, T.J. Morrow, was a left waist gunner on a B-24. In 1943 while over Germany he was killed instantly by flak. The crippled bomber managed to limp to Belgium where the remaining crew bailed out. T.J.’s body went down with the plane and was buried by a Belgian farmer. His remains were later brought back to America.

Indeed, we never forget those who gave all. And if personal memories are now flickering out, well, the rest of us will have to step up our game and keep the remembrance going. As reader “HandsomeRogue” added, “It’s our American history. It’s a legacy our Parents/Grand-Parents lived and we have—largely—failed to share.”

Those who hear the call to remember our history should, of course, visit grave sites and battlefields. Yet in addition, there are other ways to gain perspective. As reader “WTP1776” noted, “Every year they fly the WWII planes right over my house . . . I love hearing the dishes shake in the cupboard . . . they look so swell.”

In fact, learning about the winged marvels that brought victory in WW2 can be fun, as well as informative. As another reader posted:

If you EVER have the opportunity to ride in a WWII warbird and have the money, do it. It’s an experience of a lifetime. Not just for the flight experience itself, but for at least getting a hint first hand what those young kids crewing them must have gone through in combat conditions.

II. The Task Ahead

The point of Virgil’s article was not only to take note of President Trump’s celebration of Rosie and the Greatest Generation, but also to observe that the outlines of an American manufacturing revival—which is to say, a revival of American greatness, including military greatness—can now be seen. And plenty of readers see it, too: Virgil lost track of the number of “MAGAs” scattered through the comments.

Yet some Michiganders had a more immediate reaction. For instance, one Michigan reader wrote, “I have seen President Trump mention us in Michigan more (in a good way) in the past 3 months, than my entire life (since 1960).”

Yet at the same time, there are lessons for all Americans to learn. For example, one reader connected the success of the national effort during WW2 to earlier American team efforts:

This is truly the American way. It has always been our way. It is only a short distance in time and space from the barn-raising in farm country to the factory at Willow Run. From that barn-raising to Willow Run to today we are Americans who work and succeed together.

As reader “Vypurr” observed, “Nationalism is what kept America alive in WWII.” And reader “Tiger Kitten” turned that point into a larger sentiment:

Nationalism is a good thing, it keeps cultures intact, countries strong, and morale high, whereas globalism does nothing but destroy cultures. Without borders you not only have no country, you have no culture, either.

Meanwhile, reader “FLGibsonJr” added valuable historical perspective, linking Trump’s ideas on trade today with the American tradition—as described by Virgil—of Alexander Hamilton and Henry Clay:

America was famous around the world for its Protectionism. In fact it was Protectionist Tariffs that paid for essentially our entire government including all of our military. Furthermore, it was Bismarck who looked at the American System of high tariffs and the British System . . . of free trade and chose the American System of high tariffs and then went about building one of the great economic powers in the world.

“FLGibsonJr” continued by urging a fellow commenter not to be seduced by “globalist corporate propaganda.” The free-trade policies stemming from such propaganda, he added, might enrich companies, but they will be “devastating for countries like the United States.”

Meanwhile, reader “American Worker’s Warrior” put the matter in even starker terms:

We couldn’t win a war like WW2 today, not after the uniparty’s NAFTA decimated our industrial base, and now we have to rely on China and Asia to make the microchips for all our smart missiles and tech.

Others added similarly-minded policy prescriptions, connecting past to present. One such was reader “newsies2”:

The Willow Run Bomber Plant was as example of what our great Country was capable of doing, when the need arose. This plant went up in the space of less than a year, and was capable of producing an airplane that helped win the war. One has to admit that it was a great success. In my thinking, the article, as it mentioned, is about SELF-SUFFICIENCY! . . . Trump is talking about our People working together to be strong and self sufficient once more.

Today, some are already doing their part. For instance, reader “JRG” has a personalized trade policy:

During WW2 my mom worked in a factory making piston rings while my dad was in the Pacific doing what Marines do. I go out of my way to purchase products that are made in the USA even though I know it will cost me more.

Still, many commenters made the point that automation will change the factory of the future and factory employment in the future. And this is undoubtedly true. Indeed, some, such as reader “greg,” went out of their way to make the point, sharply, at Virgil’s expense:

This article is ridiculous. It would have you believe that there is some chance that there will be manufacturing jobs coming back to the US.

To which reader “Jonsen” riposted, “It’s about the can do spirit.” “Jonsen” added, quoting Virgil, “before WWII ‘we had the resources in place.’” And those at-the-ready resources, as Virgil noted, included a quality workforce.

As reader “Kris Johnson” wrote of those we’re-all-in-this-together days:

Tears fill my eyes at the thought of the America of my grandfather. . . .To imagine a time when management was proud to provide good people with good jobs. Good American companies built excellent American products that worked and lasted beyond expectation.

Indeed, as reader “AngelHorseMomMD223” pointed out, even today, labor is still important:

If automation was THE issue in regards to employment, they’d be importing machines, not highly skilled H1B visa workers or unskilled laborers.

Indeed, the issue of trade came up often in the comments. For instance, reader “MechMan” wrote, “We must be careful not to become anti-free trade. Free trade is a good thing.” To which reader “Mbekos” responded, “There is no free trade, none. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Germany, all of them had non-tariff ways to win the trade war with US.” And reader “GSR” added, “Free trade can benefit a company, but too much of it can destroy a nation.”

Meanwhile, reader “GahD of Socialism,” the name notwithstanding, made a powerful point about capitalism: “When a country has a manufacturing-based economy, it thrives.”

Yet at the same time, reader “Franco” added a point that was widely understood in the 40s, and less widely understood today: “Can’t have a manufacturing sector without strong consumption and demand.” That is, people need the money in their pockets to buy the things that are being made; too much concentration of wealth at the top means too little demand for products—and so the economy stalls.

Thus reader “Tyler’s” point on the distribution of wealth, then vs. now, deserves to be taken seriously: “During those years CEO and leadership pay was 80 times the median worker. Now it’s 900 times the median worker.”

In addition, reader “Gregory Brittain” added another good point about the value of widespread prosperity:

In addition to the economic effects, the social effects of good jobs are at least as important. Good jobs leads to more marriage, two-parent families, more children, more stable communities, less crime and more social harmony as a bigger piece of pie is available to all who work for it.

Another reader took note of a line from Virgil’s article, describing corporate culture back then: “A well-paid employee was loyal to a company, and the company, in turn, was loyal to the employee.” Then the reader added a crucial observation about all-too-common corporate practices today:

THIS is what has fallen by the wayside with the infection of the globalist mindset. Billionaires see themselves as countries unto themselves, and have no loyalties to anyone or anything else.

For his part, reader “Lew Ross” was even more blunt:

I wish there was some way to prosecute politicians who purposely hurt American wages [by] assisting globalists in cheap labor and higher profits abroad and south of the border. For almost two decades average household earnings have been stagnant for the working-to-lower-middle-class, and nobody has paid any price for betraying the nation.

Not surprisingly, President Trump figured in many of the comments. Reader “Stella S” posted, “I listened to that speech. It was heartfelt from an American President to American workers.” Or as reader “NYPATRIOT” declared, “Make America Great Again, and the manufacturing powerhouse of the world!” And reader “Buckeye Ken” wrote:

President Trump bringing the globalists to heel is a good thing. Lord knows that he is not opposed to anyone making money, but the overall good of the nation must be considered first.

To be sure, Trump had critics, too, among the commenters. One such was reader “Stever Collette,” who jibed: “ALL of Dishonest Donald’s products are made overseas. His hotels and clubs continue to use foreign workers on temp visas.”

Okay, in American everyone can have his or her own opinion, and more than a few of those opinions seem to end up in the Breitbart comments section.

And reader “ConfidentSpaceman” put all these diverse options into a useful context, saying of this site,“It has become the modern equivalent of the public square.”

And so maybe that’s a good place to stop. WW2 was fought, in part, for freedom, and so those who fought—on the battlefront and on the homefront—would be gratified to know that freedom is still a cherished value.

Finally, Virgil is grateful to the following readers for their nice comments: “aha!,” “Alexa,” “AngelHorseMomMD223,” “Brick Wilson,” “DesertSun59,” “DJTWILLWIN,” “HandsomeRogue,” “Jake Manchester,” “larry king,” “Lizzy,” “MadMen,” “Marianne,” “NHnative,” “NK210,” “Sam Houston,” “Texan Forever,” and “Tiger184.”

And thanks to all the other commenters, too, even those who were not so nice; Virgil learns from all of them.

And more to the point, thanks to those who shared their personal histories, the overall canon of American history has thus been enriched.

Listen to Breitbart’s Rebecca Mansour discuss this article on Breitbart News Daily on SiriusXM:

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