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Were You Alive and Do You Remember This

6/11/2017

3 Comments

 
Submitted by Dick Martin

As 1944 dawned, Victory was in the air.  The officials in Washington were worried that overconfidence would become their number one enemy.  To counter this, Washington devised an ingenious series of pep rallies culminating in the January 1944 Army-Navy show at the Los Angeles Coliseum.  Film studios provided sets built by Navy Seabees, where a mock battle was fought, ending with a flag waving rendition of “God Bless, America.”

The public relations offensive began with a two-day meeting in January with 650 Industrial leaders and labor leaders, public officials, and radio and newspaper executives in Los Angeles.  The governments message was clear: “Don’t let up because the war Is far from over.”

Nearly a quarter of a million-people jammed the coliseum for the climatic show.  Craftsman had converted the football field to a lifelike Pacific atoll, complete with palm trees and enemy fortifications.  Enemy soldiers, supplied by the 140th Infantry Regiment, stormed the field with blank grenades and machine-gun fire. As spectators watched the attack, bright searchlights pierced the sky as wave after wave of US Army Air Force planes zoomed over the stadium.

With ears ringing and heads spinning, the audiences stood and recited a solemn pledge to “devote themselves wholeheartedly to the war effort.”  The show ended with a rousing version of “God Bless America.”  The stay-the-course show was repeated in San Francisco.  The show worked, and war production soared throughout America in 1944.

Summarized from “Storm the Coliseum,” in the June 2017 World War II magazine.

3 Comments
Laura Martin link
6/11/2017 07:36:28

For photos of this event use this link http://framework.latimes.com/2016/06/24/1944-army-navy-war-show-at-coliseum/#/0

Reply
Annetta Talsma
6/11/2017 21:01:43

I enjoyed reading this hope you can continue to write these historic event

Reply
Dick Martin link
6/13/2017 09:02:29

Annetta,

We are going to try to put a new one in every Sunday, but we need help from the public to submit the articles.

Dick Martin

Reply



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This web page is a work in progress. It has been created through the donated efforts of Laura Genant Martin, Dick Martin, and Jim Hornstra. When Laura was made aware of what we needed, she took the initiative to research and educate herself on how to create a web site to identify, respect and honor the military veterans in Springfield. The web site had to be easy to navigate and had to provide the viewer a method of providing feedback. Most of the written material has been provided by Dick Martin over the past couple of years with some important contributions from others, i.e. Jim Kirk.  Jim Hornstra has been the reliable source as he has been the collector of information concerning Springfield Veterans and has provided Laura much of what has gone into the web site.
  • World War I
    • Veteran Photos
    • Veteran Photos
    • Biographies >
      • Edwin Dwight Wood
  • World War II
    • The Rest of the Story >
      • Lawrence Namminga
      • Fred C Hornstra
      • Chuck Dawes
      • Grover DeLong
      • John Palsma
      • Clarence Ludens
      • Jack Martin
      • Bob Slade
      • Joe Uken Jr
    • Springfield Was There
    • Biographies A-H >
      • Walter Babcock
      • Wayne Barham
      • Charles "Chuck" Dawes
      • Grover DeLong
      • Jake DenOuden
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        • Bernard Kastein
        • James Kirk
        • Leonard Lange
        • Ted Lindeman
        • Clarence Ludens
        • John C. Ludens
        • John "Jack" Martin
        • Richard "Darby" Martin
      • Robert DeRoos
      • Shorty Halsey
      • Nanno Hiemstra
      • Fred C Hornstra
    • Biographies Mi-O >
      • Floyd Mitchell
      • Jacob Namminga
      • Lawrence Namminga Sr
      • Ode Odens
      • Lawrence Owens
    • Biographies P-S >
      • Allen Palsma
      • John Palsma
      • Virgil Rauch
      • Jack Rich
      • Robert Slade
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      • Clark Thomas
      • Neil Thomas
      • Merle Toyne
      • Joe Uken
  • Korean War
    • Veteran Photos
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      • Robert "Bob" Ludens
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      • Donald Dempster
      • Gelvin "Gil" DeRoos
      • Robert "Bob" Ludens
      • Virginia McClure
      • Donald McMillan
      • Peter Monfore
      • Wilbert Renner
      • Clarence Vanderlei
  • Cold War
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      • Robert McCollum
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      • Daryl Heusinkveld
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    • My Week in Hue City
    • Biographies >
      • Daryl Heusinkveld
      • Harvey Kastein
      • Perry Lundin
      • Dan Mejstrik
      • Lee Merchen
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      • Larry Talsma
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      • James "Uke" Uken
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