CECILIA JIMENEZ

LINDSEY – 7TH PERIOD

Newman Smith High School

WORLD WAR II

The World War II interview of veteran Chief Horris Brooks had the purpose of allowing the hearing of a testimony to help many reflect on the reality of this important event. This war took place in order to save billions of lives that could have been lost all at once. For a veteran to have gone through many trails at the war and still live to tell what he experienced is a great honor given through the effort put in every drop of sweat for the love shared with many other young men for their country. Now retired out of the Navy, currently eighty four years of age, legally blind, and born in Young County. Chief Brooks had been in the Navy for exactly twenty one years from 1942 in September to 1963 in October when he finally retired at the age of thirty eight. He was stationed at South Pacific for three years during the war and at Europe. The mission of his group was to locate any men and destroy them and escort any aircraft or large ships. They were assigned to carrier pilot and get ice cream for returning a pilot back safely to the ship. To Chief Brooks the Battle at Midway was the most important that served as the turning point of World War II. The US planes had destroyed four attacking Japanese aircraft carriers and defeated their navy allowing them to establish naval superiority within the Pacific being familiar with all types of weapons, torpedoes, and most efficient with aircraft. President Franklin D Roosevelt was one of the great leaders that had an impact in the events that took place because of the decisions which were made for the United States. Roosevelt knew that the neutrality acts that had been passed in the 1930’s to prevent the US from taking sides or becoming involved in any of the European wars could encourage aggression and wanted the acts repealed. The series of neutrality acts that had been passed were seemingly less unforced as the US supplied food, ships, planes, and weapons to Britain.

In Chief Brook's opinion, President Truman made the correct decision of ordering the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This not only ended the war quickly but saved about on million American lives and three million Japanese lives. He was at Pearl Harbor stationed in Hawaii getting trained and about to go into Japan. His initial reaction was happiness because the war could soon end. It was a bad decision to bomb Pearl Harbor recognized by Yamamoto as he had described him “awoke a sleeping giant” because he knew the United States would do something about it having already broken Japans secret code at the beginning of the war now knowing their every move. In the last years of the war, the axis forces in Tunisia surrendered on the thirteen of May of 1943. Among the leaders involved within the World War II, Eisenhower and Churchill are respected as both political leaders who shared the job of protecting as many people as they could.

Nevertheless, the war effort then and the war in Iraq now has not changed and has been continuous. One main difference now is the fact that in World War II the enemy was easily spotted, but in the current war taking place in Iraq, the enemy is not known.

I wasn’t able to clearly and accurately write down every work spoken from Chief Brook’s lips, but I listened and was able to reflect upon them. Honored and anxious to hear him, I expected him to say a lot. When he told us that he was willing to fight or his country as he chose to join the Army, I felt certain knowing that I probably wouldn’t have enough courage to be able to do something like that. He’d told us a couple occurrences when some were lost to having completely disappearing. One man had been delivering magazines and fell off the ship as he climbed up a ladder. Many were lost in action and unable to be recovered.

I felt sad and almost cried, but was glad that the war had ended before more people could’ve died. I was amazed Chief Brooks was still alive having gong through World War II and was thankful for those that have given their lives and those that risk their lives day to day for our safety and freedom.