Midway: Turning Point in the Pacific Theatre

Hello again! Long time no talk to...

OK... I'm guilty as charged! I allowed the busyness of life to overwhelm me, and I haven't posted anything to our blog for months. Sorry about that! In any case, I'm back.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm a West Point graduate (class of '83) who served as an Army Aviator (CH-47 Chinooks) for 6.5 years before getting out of the Army for my higher calling as a wife and mother. Now I have 3 boys (Christopher - 12, Shawn - 10 and Matthew - 9) and a full-time job as an IT Project Manager for a Fortune 500 company. My eldest son loves anything and everything related to World War II. His brothers are also interested in WWII, but not with the love that Christopher possesses. I have to admit, the same was true of me until I partnered with my eldest to develop our World War II for Kids web site last year. Now I eagerly engage in subjects that allow me to share my sons' interest.

Last year, Christopher won the county and regional Social Studies Fairs and was a finalist at the state Social Studies Fair for his project titled The Role of American Airborne Forces in the European Theatre of World War II. I was so proud of him! This year, he opted to turn his sights to the Pacific theatre, covering the most decisive naval battle in U.S. history: the Battle of Midway. More specifically, his project addresses how the superior Japanese fleet was defeated by the inferior U.S. fleet in this battle that served as the turning point in the Pacific theatre. His conclusion: Determination to strike back at Japan for its devastating attack at Pearl Harbor, plus superior American naval leadership, intelligence and tactics, and maybe a little bit of luck, led to the major defeat of the Japanese fleet by the smaller U.S. fleet at the Battle of Midway. Once again, Christopher took home the blue ribbon at the county Social Studies Fair, and he anxiously awaits the regional and state Social Studies Fairs in January and March 2009.

I must admit, I learn as much as Christopher does when I help him pull together papers and projects. As a cadet at West Point, I did a research paper on how Japan managed to deal such a decisive blow on the U.S. at Pearl Harbor. I won't go into the details, but one of the conclusions that I reached was that Admiral Chester Nimitz should have been fired for allowing the U.S. Navy to be caught with its pants down at Pearl Harbor. Almost thirty years later, as we read many references related to Midway, I came to respect Admiral Nimitz as a brilliant man and instinctive tactician. He was a calculated risk taker. His adversary, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, was also a brilliant man, but he was too cautious while the U.S. Navy pulled out all stops. This enabled the U.S. Navy to stay a step ahead of the Imperial Japanese Navy, leading to a history changing defeat at Midway.

I encourage you to visit our web site read more about the Battle of Midway. And feel free to comment on our blog if you have anything to add.

Here's wishing you all a wonderful 2009!
Marge@wwii4kids

Another Victory for American Airborne in World War II

Hello again!

The Regional Social Studies Fair judges were quite impressed again with Christopher's project about The Role of American Airborne Forces in the European Theatre of World War II. He took home another First Place ribbon (county and regional fairs now). He scored 100 out of 100 possible points. Wow! Next he moves on to the State Social Studies Fair on March 22nd. I'll let you know how well he does there.

We've already begun brainstorming potential topics for next year's Social Studies Fairs. Of course, they all have to do with World War II! Christopher's first thought has to do with World War II weaponry. We'd have to hone in on something a little more specific than that, because he could write dozens of pages on that subject, and that's too long for one of these events (at least for his age group). Another topic under consideration is the impact of the African theatre on the outcome of the war. We don't hear as much about the war in the African theatre, but it did contribute to the Allied victory in World War II. So he might explore that topic.

Christopher's still working on the new WWII Ships page for our website. He's been a tad busy with preparing for Social Studies Fairs, keeping up with his school work, and playing basketball. He's able to find a fair amount of information on some ships, but he struggles to find information on others. His grandfather served on the USS Metcalf, a Fletcher class destroyer. He's found lots of info on other ships in this class, but not much on the Metcalf. But he wants to include this particular ship in his article because it was his granddad's, and he lost his granddad to cancer last year. So if any veterans or historians out there have some info for him on the Metcalf, please let us know.

Don't forget to check-out our World War II for Kids website if you haven't already. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into developing it... for you, our readers. Thanks for your continued support and interest. We'll look for something new and exciting to share with you in the weeks to come. Until then...

Keeping our love of WWII history alive...
marge@wwii4kids

World War II Is Still Relevant!

Greetings! Once again, it's taken me a month to get back to you. Please forgive my delinquency.


I have some exciting news for our readers... My eldest son Christopher (11) took home the blue ribbon (first place) in the county Social Studies Fair for his project titled "The Role of American Airborne Forces in the European Theatre of World War II". I shared most of his paper with you in my last post.

His victory communicated two things to me:

1. My son, is a bright young man. (He takes after me, of course.) He currently aspires to go to West Point and then go on to be a General in the U.S. Army. Hopefully, this recognition will motivate him to keep working hard in school. (He's not always self-motivated.)
   
   
2. Intelligent people recognize that World War II is still relevant today. It was a dark, yet inspiring, period of our nation's history. If future generations don't study it and learn from it, then history, with all its horrors, is bound to repeat itself.
   

Christopher next has the privilege of representing our county at the Regional Social Studies Fair on February 2nd. This will present a little bit more of a challenge for him in that he must respond well to the judges questions. He knows the information, but is hesitant to communicate with confidence to adults he doesn't know. What an opportunity this event will be to challenge him in this area!

For those of you who have visited our website, we're currently developing another tab for the About WWII page. It will be called WWII Ships. We recognized when we were preparing to launch our site in Nov-07 that it hardly touched on the Navy in WWII. It wasn't intentional. It's just not our strong suit. My military background was Army Aviation (CH-47 Chinook pilot), and my father's was Air Force. It only stands to reason that we'd be more familiar with the land and air battles. So over time, we intend to build on the information posted about the Navy and Marines. As always, we welcome any input you have for us in this area.

Thanks for your interest in World War II for Kids!
marge@wwii4kids