Wednesday Medley - 14/8/19

The Wednesday Medley is hosted by Terri over at Your Friend from Florida.
The questions usually start with the National Day and follow on from there. No rules and there is no obligation. Link up if you want to over at Terri's site and see who else is joining in the fun.

The National Day today is V-J Day (Victory over Japan in WW2). Here are Terri's questions and my responses:

1. I'm sure many kids today have no idea what V-J Day is all about. Did you have a loved one who fought in WWII?
 
Yes my Dad was in the army during WW2.

2. The iconic sculpture from the famous photograph of "The Unconditional Surrender" has been defaced recently because of the #metoo movement. I know we can get very political about this subject, but just keeping it in the spirit for which it was created, what are your thoughts? 
 

Well of course I googled this and it seems the sculpture is based on a photograph taken in Times Square, New York on VJ day. Given that it's been reported that the woman was unknown to the sailor it's understandable that it's been tagged with the #metoo slogan.

3. Terri's grandson, Tristan, loved playing a game called "Axis & Allies". It was quite complicated, took up the entire dining room table, and was not something Terri wanted to play (Grandpa understood it and played though). Can you name three Axis countries and five of the many Allies (okay to look it up!)?
 
Well I don't remember them being referred to as the Axis countries although it makes sense. It was a lot easier to name the Allies.

4. Terri was surprised to learn that most historians agree that WWII began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Others say it started when Japan invaded Manchuria on September 18, 1931. And some scholars suggest WWII is actually a continuation of WWI, with a break in between. Have you ever visited Pearl Harbor in Hawaii or any other WWII memorials around the world?

Interesting that there are differing opinions but unfortunately with conflicts still going on around the world today you can understand why. I've not visited Hawaii or any major war memorials.

5. Calvin Graham was only 12 years old during WWII when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He won a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart before the Navy found out how old he was. (God bless him.) Terri doesn't know any 12-year olds today who could qualify or get away with something like that. Times are so very different now but (in the US) we do have ROTC in high schools. Do you know anyone who started in ROTC and went on to enlist in one of the services?
 
No I don't. You have to be 16 to enlist in the armed forces in the UK. I think my Dad was probably 16 when he enlisted so that would have been in 1935. He joined the army to get away from working in the coal mines in Yorkshire.

6. Please tell us something about your week so far.
 
It's another fairly quiet week although there are quite a few things on my to do list which I'm slowly working my way through. Mainly linked to our family holiday at the end of the month.