I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but sometime in the last few years, I became more interested in the events of WWII. As I try to think back, I think it was a series of things that captured my interest and over time, it slowly became a fascination. I remember watching an episode of Expedition Unknown on Discovery, when Josh Gates took us through some of the events that unfolded after the Nazi Regime fell in 1945. Some of the regime fled to South America to avoid prosecution and to hide their stolen riches. Some of which, to this day, still hasn’t been found. Soon after, I stumbled upon another documentary on Netflix called The Greatest Events of WWII. What I presumed might be a boring recount of history, turned out to be quite the opposite. I was enamored. The interviews from historians were compelling, insightful, and shed light on things that weren’t covered in your average history books: How the Russians were some of the first to discover the Nazi brutality to European citizens, not us; How that news, in the beginning wasn’t immediately believed as truth, but as propaganda. Say what? Yeah, that happened. I think in the end I became more fascinated by what I didn’t know about WWII. The truths they don’t tell you, the facts that aren’t in books and the memories that still haunt some of us today.
My grandfather fought in WWII. He saw combat. But he didn’t talk about it. Like ever. My wife’s grandfather fought in the Pacific and was wounded in combat. Which brings us to Midway and the battles fought in the Pacific. Specifically - dive bombers. When I think of what those pilots went through, it gives me goosebumps. They just jumped in an aircraft, pointed it to an 80 degree downward angle toward their target, and rode the wave of terror down. At 1000-3000 feet, they'd drop their payload. If they were lucky enough to make it to drop depth, they still had to pull up in time and not pass out from the g-forces. And they had to successfully do that while being shot at, and while their buddies are being blasted out of the sky around them.
WWII ended 75 years ago this year and there are things we are still learning from it. I just wanted to create a cool piece of art to commemorate that, and honor the fearless who fought for our freedom with unrelenting courage. Not all heroes wear capes.
Stay safe everyone.
