The profound gratitude I found in New Orleans

A few years ago, I attended a political organizing conference in New Orleans. With a half-day to spare, I was looking for a good way to spend the afternoon. Ranked as the eighth-best museum in the world by TripAdvisor, just behind the Louvre, the WWII Museum seemed promising. My visit was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Spanning six acres with six pavilions on 178,000 square feet, with an additional 100,000 square feet under construction, the museum is enormous. It covers every aspect of WWII, from Japanese internment camps and the Holocaust to Pearl Harbor and the Manhattan Project. If you are planning a trip to New Orleans, I recommend setting aside 1-2 full days just to explore the museum. If you have children, wait until they are teenagers to visit. WWII will likely be overwhelming and difficult for younger children to fully appreciate.

WWII marks a terrifying chapter in human history. Visiting the museum, I anticipated feeling grief and sorrow, but surprisingly, the most overwhelming emotion was a profound gratitude towards the Americans who fought to protect our country. For weeks, I reflected on my own fortune in living the life I lead today. My experience was life changing.

The home front: America's sacrifice during WWII
It wasn't until I visited the museum that I truly grasped the sacrifices made by the Greatest Generation, those born between 1901 and 1927, for the freedoms we enjoy in America. today. During WWII, 16MM Americans, 12% of the population, served in the military representing one-third of all males aged 15 and older. It’s hard to fathom one in three households on my street with a family member away at war. Over 400,000 Americans never returned home, and countless others came back wounded.

When WWII erupted in 1939, the United States was largely unprepared for conflict. It had been a century since the last major war on North American soil, and the vast oceans to the east and west made invasion unlikely. U.S. military forces, numbering approximately 300,000, paled in comparison to Japan, with 1.5 million, and Germany, with over 4 million. To meet the war’s demands, the U.S. military expanded dramatically, growing to over 12 million troops in six years—six times larger than today's military, despite the population having tripled in size.

It wasn’t just those who fought in the war that contributed, as the entire country was mobilized. Food and supplies were rationed to redirect resources toward the war effort. Automobile sales virtually ceased, plummeting from 3.8 million in 1941 to a mere 139 by 1943. A "Victory Speed Limit" of 35 mph was established to conserve tires and gasoline. Families were issued ration books; purchasing high-demand items such as sugar, flour, tires, and bicycles required ration stamps in addition to money.  While effective, rationing alone was insufficient to sustain the country. Nearly 60% of American households planted "Victory Gardens,” which provided 40% of all vegetables consumed.

WWII had a dramatic effect on the workforce. As men enlisted in large numbers, women had to not only take care of their families, but also fill the burgeoning job vacancies created by the war. Six million women took wartime jobs and three million volunteered for the Red Cross. Female workforce participation quickly grew from 24% in 1940 to 34% by 1945. Tragically, despite their desire to continue working, most of these women were laid off after the war.

Truly a world war
My primary exposure to WWII was through history class as well as playing the board game Axis and Allies. In both contexts, the narrative primarily focused on Germany's conflict with Europe and Japan's battles against the U.S. The war’s scope was so vast that I failed to appreciate its global impact. I was well aware of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Normandy. I didn’t realize that Japan had advanced across Asia to engage the British in India, or that German submarines patrolled the Eastern seaboard from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico, sinking more than 100 ships. 

What I remember most vividly from school about WWII was the Holocaust and the immense suffering endured by Jews in Europe, where over 6 million were murdered. I didn’t realize how many more perished around the world. Total worldwide deaths were between 50-85MM. About one third of the casualties were military and concentrated in four countries: Russia (9-11 million), Germany (5.5 million), China (3-4 million), and Japan (2 million).

What I learned about civilian casualties during WWII was startling. The highest losses were in China (20-50 million), the Soviet Union (24 million), Germany (7-9 million), Poland (5.6 million), the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) (3-4 million), Japan (3 million), India (1.5-2.5 million), French Indochina (1-1.5 million), Yugoslavia (1 million), and the Philippines (0.5-1 million). The suffering in Asia was particularly astonishing. The scale of loss in China and Russia was more than I realized. The millions of civilian deaths in India, French Indochina, and the Dutch East Indies were revelations to me. When I asked my wife to guess how many civilians died in India during WWII, she guessed zero—similar to my own estimate. If the Japanese slaughtering millions of Indians was taught in US or Indian schools, we both missed those lessons.

Operation Fortitude South
There have been countless books and movies on D Day and the Battle of Normandy. Yet, one aspect of the war truly captivated me. The US started dispatching troops across the Atlantic in 1943. By 1944 there were 1.5 million troops stationed on British soil ready to enter battle in continental europe. The most obvious sea crossing was from Dover to Pas-de-Calais. The Strait of Dover (see map below) offered the least amount of water to traverse and was the easiest location to provide air cover. However, this area of Europe was strongly fortified and would be difficult to attack. To enhance their chances of success, British officers conducted a large-scale deception known as Operation Fortitude South to mislead the Germans into believing the Allied invasion would target Pas-de-Calais.

In addition to convincing the Germans that the attack would occur across the Strait of Dover, the Allies intended to fool the Germans into believing that the attack on Normandy (along the bay north of Caen in the map above) was merely a diversion. For as long as possible after the real invasion, they wanted Hitler to believe that the main invasion would be coming from the Dover area. This would ensure that Hitler would not divert German forces from the Pas-de-Calais to provide reinforcements in Normandy. 

To fool the Germans, the Allies created a fictitious army stationed in southeast England led by General Patton. Patton, the most senior American field commander and greatly feared by the Germans, was chosen to lend credibility to the deception. The "army" in Dover was an elaborate illusion, complete with dummy landing craft that looked authentic from a distance or when viewed from the air. Alongside these ships, numerous fake tanks and vehicles were strategically placed throughout southeast England, simulating an army gearing up for invasion.

A critical element in the success of Fortitude South was the intelligence gathered at Bletchley Park, where a team of codebreakers had deciphered the German coding system Enigma (wonderfully depicted in the film “The Imitation Game” starring Benedict Cumberbatch). To reinforce the deception of an impending attack on Dover, a large volume of fake radio traffic was transmitted across southeast England, which was supported by double agents’ careful ‘leaks’ about the army in Dover. The intelligence from Bletchley park allowed the Allies to confirm the success of Fortitude South before launching an invasion. 

After more than two years of meticulous planning, on June 6, 1944, more than 175,000 Allied troops from the U.S., U.K. and Canada stormed the beaches of Normandy, marking the largest amphibious military invasion in history. Within one year, Germany capitulated, surrendering on May 7, 1945.

Pray for peace
While there continue to be atrocities committed every day, the world has experienced relative peace for almost 50 years since the end of the Vietnam war. Living in NYC during 9/11 was the closest I have come to experiencing war. But within a decade, the Twin Towers were a distant memory. It wasn’t until my visit to New Orleans almost 20 years later that I was starkly reminded to never take peace for granted.

In the past, when I contemplated who I should be thankful to, I thought of the hardships endured by my parents. After visiting the museum, I realized that I owe as much—if not more—to those who fought in WWII. Not only the millions of Americans, but the millions of Russians, Europeans and other Allied troops who sacrificed their lives. Without their efforts, I would not be living the life I enjoy today. It's a sobering realization that during WWII, Japan and Germany sacrificed 8MM soldiers to murder ten times as many civilians around the world. For those of us who have never experienced the horrors of war, we should be grateful. I pray the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza do not escalate further and troops on all sides can safely return home to their families.

Sangeeth Peruri - Jack of Many Trades, Master of None
P.S. If you like this article, please share on social media or forward to a friend! Click here to see past issues.