Richard Sullivan has graced the world with some footage his father took on VJ Day in 1945. For my younger readers, VJ stands for Victory Over Japan. Sullivan explains the whole process of having the 16mm film transferred to the digital format in his post. Sullivan also shares some stills on his website Discovering Hawaii (which doesn't sound like a bad idea right now). This film footage is a wonderful collection of sights and sounds from that important day. We are so lucky Sullivan was dogged in getting this transferred over.
Watching this struck a poignant chord: we all want a Victory day, as exuberant and final as was this one. Call it a VA Day or a VI Day, we miss not having a time where we knew that the opportunity to move forward and build our own nature was finally at hand.
Don't get me wrong: I support the mission we're in. But watching this takes us to a much different time, one that doesn't exist anymore. Nostalgia is said to be the death knell of reality or moving forward. And so it is that I roll up my sleeves, push forward, make plans to send more boxes, make a few phone calls to soldiers I know having a tough time, give thanks to those people who give and give and give, and power on. Bravo Zulu, Richard Sullivan!
VJ Day, Honolulu Hawaii, August 14, 1945 from Richard Sullivan on Vimeo. h/t J Scott Shipman, who always has swell posts.
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1 comments:
Wow, that is unbelievable. . .The colors are amazing. Go Navy!
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